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Original Siri service is dead, long live Apple Siri


If you scoffed at the news that Apple's Siri would only be available on the iPhone 4S, thinking that you could just use the standard Siri app that was still available on the App Store, then scoff no more. The freely available Siri app has been removed from the App Store completely, and as TechCrunch reports, the whole service is being taken down in advance of the official debut of the app as part of iOS 5. TUAW reader Luc reports that the current app now gives a note as it starts up that the app will be "leaving for home" on October 15th, so you have until then to enjoy the app as is if you happen to still have it installed. Presumably at that point, the old service will end, and you'll have to buy an iPhone 4S if you want access to the new service.

This basically makes sense: Apple's trying to sell devices, and it wouldn't really work to have a version of the service out there running around for free, even if that service isn't as integrated. Apple's done the same thing with other companies they've picked up and made official, including CoverFlow back in the day.

Unfortunately, if you're currently a big Siri user, then you'll have to upgrade your handset to keep using the service as is -- there is no built-in plan to let you keep using the current app.

Original Siri service is dead, long live Apple Siri originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter Launches Advertising Blog, Twitter Account



Signaling its growing commitment to advertising, Twitter has launched an advertising blog and a Twitter feed devoted to the category.

The blog notes that marketers have, on average, a 3% to 5% engagement rate for Twitter’s Promoted Tweets in search, which trumps response rates for most forms of digital advertising (except search advertising). The blog and the new Twitter feed, @TwitterAds, are designed to inform the ad community about the company’s related activities.

Twitter, which has been around for six years, just launched advertising products like Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends and Promoted Accounts, last year. Since then, the company has moved a bit slower than some analysts thought on the advertising front, but now appears to be kicking things into high gear with a new London ad sales office, its first foreign post, and the inclusion of advertising messages in users’ feeds.

Facebook, which also continues to evolve its advertising platform, has also made more overtures toward the ad industry recently, including Facebook Studio, a site that aims to provide a resource for agencies and marketers.

Image courtesy of Flickr, shawncampbell

More About: Advertising, Facebook, Twitter

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PhoneGap basics: What it is and what it can do for mobile developers


PhoneGapPorting mobile apps across systems is, to put it kindly, an inelegant process. There's considerable work involved — so much so that developers are sometimes forced to limit their efforts to one platform.

PhoneGap, an open-source mobile framework, offers an alternative: It helps developers build a common codebase for their apps so the apps work across devices and systems.

I recently spoke with Joe Bowser (@infil00p), creator of PhoneGap's Android implementation, to get his take on the strengths and limitations of PhoneGap and what developers need to know before putting it to use. Bowser will dive into a number of related topics during his session at next week's Android Open conference.

Our interview follows. (Note: this interview was conducted before Adobe announced its acquisition of PhoneGap's parent company, Nitobi.)

What is PhoneGap and why should mobile developers consider using it?

Joe Bowser: PhoneGap is an application framework that allows developers to use HTML, JavaScript and CSS to create apps that are present as first-class applications on the phone. That means the apps have their own icons and operate similarly to native applications without a browser frame around them. They are distributed via the application stores, such as the Android Market and the Apple App Store, and they have access to a set of native functions to further make them work like native apps.

Developers use PhoneGap because it allows them to have a common codebase for all their application code. It doesn't force developers to reinvent the wheel every time they move from platform to platform.

Are there downsides to using PhoneGap?

Joe Bowser: You are subject to the limitations of the browser and the JavaScript engine that comes with your device. On Android 2.3, this isn't too bad. Earlier versions of Android don't support certain features, and many of them use older JavaScript interpreters, which can impact an application. Also, there are certain things that are better implemented in native code, like cryptography or 3-D graphics. Most apps don't use features like this — they simply display information, which the web does well.

Android Open, being held October 9-11 in San Francisco, is a big-tent meeting ground for app and game developers, carriers, chip manufacturers, content creators, OEMs, researchers, entrepreneurs, VCs, and business leaders.

Save 20% on registration with the code AN11RAD

What challenges did you face when creating the Android PhoneGap implementation?

Joe Bowser: The Android PhoneGap implementation was our first implementation after the iPhone, so there were questions about whether this was possible at all. At that time, the Android 1.0 SDK was just being released, and the only devices that ran Android were the HTC Dream and T-Mobile G1. This has obviously changed, but the most challenging thing is still testing on all the real devices that are out there. Every device has its own implementation of the Android OS and its own implementation of the WebKit rendering engine.

What's the best way for PhoneGap developers to handle device-specific needs?

Joe Bowser: It depends on the feature set. Most applications don't need many device-specific features beyond the user interface, but there are numerous plugins that can help with this approach. The best approach is to decide what features you need and to use only those features. There are many applications that have permissions turned on that they don't need. For example, a simple ebook doesn't need access to your phone state, GPS or contacts.

What is a hybrid app?

Joe Bowser: A hybrid application is one that has features of both a web application and a native application. Certain features, such as Image Capture, NFC or Android OpenAccessory, may be implemented natively since there is currently no way to do this in JavaScript. But the application logic and the UI are implemented using web technologies to allow for a consistent and unique user experience across devices.


This interview was edited and condensed.

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PhoneGap basics: What it is and what it can do for mobile developers


PhoneGapPorting mobile apps across systems is, to put it kindly, an inelegant process. There's considerable work involved — so much so that developers are sometimes forced to limit their efforts to one platform.

PhoneGap, an open-source mobile framework, offers an alternative: It helps developers build a common codebase for their apps so the apps work across devices and systems.

I recently spoke with Joe Bowser (@infil00p), creator of PhoneGap's Android implementation, to get his take on the strengths and limitations of PhoneGap and what developers need to know before putting it to use. Bowser will dive into a number of related topics during his session at next week's Android Open conference.

Our interview follows. (Note: this interview was conducted before Adobe announced its acquisition of PhoneGap's parent company, Nitobi.)

What is PhoneGap and why should mobile developers consider using it?

Joe Bowser: PhoneGap is an application framework that allows developers to use HTML, JavaScript and CSS to create apps that are present as first-class applications on the phone. That means the apps have their own icons and operate similarly to native applications without a browser frame around them. They are distributed via the application stores, such as the Android Market and the Apple App Store, and they have access to a set of native functions to further make them work like native apps.

Developers use PhoneGap because it allows them to have a common codebase for all their application code. It doesn't force developers to reinvent the wheel every time they move from platform to platform.

Are there downsides to using PhoneGap?

Joe Bowser: You are subject to the limitations of the browser and the JavaScript engine that comes with your device. On Android 2.3, this isn't too bad. Earlier versions of Android don't support certain features, and many of them use older JavaScript interpreters, which can impact an application. Also, there are certain things that are better implemented in native code, like cryptography or 3-D graphics. Most apps don't use features like this — they simply display information, which the web does well.

Android Open, being held October 9-11 in San Francisco, is a big-tent meeting ground for app and game developers, carriers, chip manufacturers, content creators, OEMs, researchers, entrepreneurs, VCs, and business leaders.

Save 20% on registration with the code AN11RAD

What challenges did you face when creating the Android PhoneGap implementation?

Joe Bowser: The Android PhoneGap implementation was our first implementation after the iPhone, so there were questions about whether this was possible at all. At that time, the Android 1.0 SDK was just being released, and the only devices that ran Android were the HTC Dream and T-Mobile G1. This has obviously changed, but the most challenging thing is still testing on all the real devices that are out there. Every device has its own implementation of the Android OS and its own implementation of the WebKit rendering engine.

What's the best way for PhoneGap developers to handle device-specific needs?

Joe Bowser: It depends on the feature set. Most applications don't need many device-specific features beyond the user interface, but there are numerous plugins that can help with this approach. The best approach is to decide what features you need and to use only those features. There are many applications that have permissions turned on that they don't need. For example, a simple ebook doesn't need access to your phone state, GPS or contacts.

What is a hybrid app?

Joe Bowser: A hybrid application is one that has features of both a web application and a native application. Certain features, such as Image Capture, NFC or Android OpenAccessory, may be implemented natively since there is currently no way to do this in JavaScript. But the application logic and the UI are implemented using web technologies to allow for a consistent and unique user experience across devices.


This interview was edited and condensed.

Related:

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Is Gmail THE Mail Used By Colleges and Universities?


Gone are the days of trying to navigate your college’s confusing email system. Instead, you can sync up your personal Gmail account to your school email account. Google has announced that over half of the country’s most revered institutions have switched to Google Apps for Education to help improve communication and collaboration on campus.

Google publicized the news after U.S. News and World Report released their annual college rankings. Out of this year’s top 100 universities, Google serves 61 of them, including Boston University, Harvard and Brandeis.

“While this list of schools represents traditions of academic excellence that span centuries, these institutions also clearly recognize the importance, and value, of modern technology in academia,” wrote Tom Mills, the director of education for Google.

Fourteen million students, faculty and staff are now using Google Apps for Education, which includes Docs, Groups and Calendar, among other Google features. Within three weeks since Google began hosting webmail accounts for Harvard, 98 percent of the 5,610 students made the switch, according to Harvard’s IT site.

Backupify, a Boston-based startup that’s become the leading backup provider for cloud based data, including Google Apps, has certainly seen the increase in popularity.

“Gmail is growing at rapid speed,” said Kristin Dziadul, the marketing analyst at Backupify. “Gmail is the most widely used app within the apps family, and schools can get it, virtually, for free.”

Although some higher ed institutes seem weary to use the service because they think it’s so public, others have made the switch under budget constraints and have, since, never looked back. Between the cost of purchasing an internal email system and the hiring of an IT team to maintain that system, things get expensive.

“When schools are reevaluating their budget, they’re looking more to Google Apps,” Dziadul said. “You don’t need an entire IT team, because Google has dedicated IT experts who are on-hand 24/7 to make sure it’s up and running.”

Because most students already use Gmail, the swap only feels natural, and with the different services Google offers, schools are only saving themselves money in the long run. Dziadul said that everyone she’s talked to within the higher education sector has said they’re either considering switching over to Google, are in the process of doing it or have already implemented the program.

“Backupify has definitely seen an increase because of it,” Dziadul said.

Is Gmail THE mail? Should more schools be making the switch?

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With 1 iPhone Being Sold Every 15 Seconds by Users, Gazelle is Preparing for Record Numbers Today


Local re-commerce giant Gazelle is experiencing the new iPhone announcement buzz all the way up here in Boston in BIG ways. As of 9am this morning, someone has sold their iPhone every 15 seconds on Gazelle.com. Since I’ve been writing this article over 40 iPhones have been sold for cold hard cash as users ready their wallets for the new iPhone unveiling.

“Its unprecedented to see consumers sell their phone before the new one is announced… or even confirmed to exist for that matter. The flurry of early activity shows how excited people are about this phone. It’s more than just a new product, it’s become a pop culture event,” said Kristina Kennedy, Director Brand and Communications at Gazelle.

Gazelle has been ahead of the iPhone 5 or iPhone 4s announcement as well. They have already seen over 10,000 trades since the official press invite for the Apple event, 2,000 of those coming just yesterday. The company has also built an iPhone app that will actually let you sell your iPhone from your iPhone (got it?).

“We know that iPhone owners will want to get their hand on the latest model as soon as possible,” said Israel Ganot, co-founder and CEO of Gazelle. “We want to help them do that by providing a simple, trusted experience that will enable them to quickly get cash for their used phone that they can use to upgrade to the new one. We’re committed to doing so by creating the best experience through customer-centric innovation and support.”

At the time of this press release, Gazelle offered up to $284 for iPhone trades (AT&T white 32gb iPhone 4). Prices are expected to drop rapidly so please see gazelle.com/iphone for latest pricing.

If you are going to upgrade, ACT NOW!

After being founded in 2006, Gazelle has seen tremendous growth and has become leading player in the reCommerce™ space. Last year, the company achieved 155% growth and has lead over 200,000 Customers to trade in or recycle over 550,000 used electronics.

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2012 Election: 3 Digital Platforms Poised to Change the Conversation



While not as sexy as politician elbow jabbing, the race to develop winning political platforms for the 2012 U.S. election cycle is a hot contest among strategists and programmers.

Following its win in 2008, Blue State Digital is the shop to beat. The company built the dynamic My.BarackObama.com and enabled the president’s campaign to integrate CRM, fundraising, email and other communications, along with organizing tools for their field program. The historic results were so revolutionary that it has since been copied by other candidates, issue groups and consumer marketers, leading to the clogging of countless inboxes with three years worth of cookie-cutter calls to action.

Top BSD execs have returned to lead President Obama’s re-election digital strategy, but the market they face now has changed drastically. We’ve seen the country’s political atmosphere shift as Republicans ramp up, Tea Party organizers forge grassroots support, Independents search for post-partisan ground, and Democrats vacillate over campaign promises kept and broken. Consequently, the tools that fuel these political movements have adapted to serve a more complex electorate.

Across the political spectrum, creative solutions will have notable implications for the upcoming election, not to mention for issue-based organizers and lobbyists post-election. Digital strategists will incorporate social gaming tactics in order to mobilize casual activists, and will draw on the OK Cupid! matching system to circumvent partisan differences. They will build and leverage massive open source networks. The new tools currently being developed have the potential to establish a strengthened, more engaged public in the long term.

The question, once again, is how these tools will lead to a dramatic shift in the way politics is fundamentally practiced in the modern people-powered electorate.

One thing is certain: Hiring or emulating BSD this time around will not magically catapult a candidate to Barackstar status. Other groups have stepped up.

“Hats off to BSD. They have a product that’s used by massive numbers of people, and obviously won a consequential election in 2008,” says Patrick Ruffini, partner at Engage, one of Washington D.C.’s top conservative digital strategy firms, and a veteran of the past three presidential races. “Since then the web is becoming more social, as is activism online.”


1. Multiply


To serve the social web’s activists better, Ruffini and his team at Engage have developed a platform called Multiply, one of numerous competitors that will play a role in shaping the future of Republican digital organizing and certainly the upcoming election. Ruffini describes Multiply as a “platform based around social gaming.” By targeting existing networks like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, where communities of both dedicated and casual activists already exist, Multiply uses game mechanics to incentivize increasingly difficult actions. For example, in a test-drive this past summer, users were asked to do things ranging from the simple (sharing a news story in their feed) to the much heavier (making a donation or phone banking). Multiply awarded badges, points and exclusive rewards to these participants, who might otherwise never have provided their email addresses to a campaign website or taken an action beyond clicking Facebook’s “Like” button.

“By gamifying the pieces, one of the things we found was increased engagement in the actions they were asked to do,” he says. “When prompted to take the next easiest action, we found a lot of people went through that process – up to the point where about 35% of users had completed all the actions.”

Tools like Multiply may allow Republicans to prove that they, too, can pack a digital punch in a presidential race. However, tools don’t operate in isolation. It wasn’t MyBO alone that made the 2008 Democratic party successful, but the way it facilitated spreading then-Senator Obama’s popular, hopeful message. Now that we’re faced with a terse, highly partisan and divided Congress, many of the first-time and moderate participants from 2008 have banded together in a deliberate effort to eschew party lines. They, too, have tools.


2. Ruck.us


One of the hotly anticipated launches of the political season, Ruck.us emerged Sept. 21 as an organizing platform designed for political independents, the apolitical, and bipartisan buddies. Co-founder and chief strategy officer Raymond Glendening says Ruck.us allows users to work directly on the issues they care about with like-minded individuals, whether they are liberal or conservative. Visitors to the site are prompted to respond to user-generated questions (yes, based on the OK Cupid! system) about their positions on a variety of issues. Subsequently they are placed in a “ruck” where they can communicate, organize and take action with others who share their views.

“You don’t have to be a slave to partisan labels,” Glendening says. “It’s crazy that with the growth of technology we still only have two choices for politics. It’s unnecessary to have to settle for black and white options. If we can change the culture of how people communicate and make this an extra outside-the-party thing, political discourse will get better.”

The site is just out of beta, so it’s too soon to predict if Ruck.us users will still align themselves along traditional party platforms, or whether this even matters. “There is a tendency among people to say, ‘Can’t we organize around non-partisan issues rather than through the party?’” says Ruffini. “It’s a delicate balancing act, because most people who are active are either one way or the other. Will social media change that? It’s a broader question.”

Veteran organizers who do believe in the essential nature of ideological party allegiances seem to be grappling with another strategically imperative question going into 2012: Are we really going to reinvent the wheel every election cycle under the auspices of a new candidate?

When Obama took office in 2008, he had a heady 13 million users in his network, which were turned over to the renamed Organizing for America as part of the Democratic National Committee. (For an exhaustive resource on this controversial move, see this TechPresident report.) Many have questioned whether these users would have been better served had they been funneled to groups that tackled specific issues, as opposed to being united around the re-election of a candidate.


3. Salsa Labs


Today, digital organizers are still grappling with the repercussions of the Obama network decision, and looking to avoid setting a precedent. Democrats divided over whether the Obama presidency has been a success will need to determine which tactics will rally voters to the ballot box next November. For example, climate or same-sex marriage activists could argue that Team Obama has dropped the ball on their issues. Therefore, they’ll need to communicate in a nuanced way to sell their bases on a second go-around.

In 2008, this was very expensive. Now it might not be.

April Pedersen is the co-founder of the progressive-leaning Salsa Labs, which just raised $5 million in funding to expand and develop its existing platform. The community now consists of more than 2,000 groups and reaches about 50 million people. Her organization’s objective is to find a way to drive down significant costs of models like BSD to be effective and scalable.

Salsa Labs seeks to accomplish that goal using Salsa Market, an open source developer’s resource that allows third parties to take advantage of apps and build new ones.

“It puts our users in the driver’s seat,” Pedersen says. “It takes the SalesForce app exchange model and applies it to our sectors. It allows for more advanced donor management, CRM and helps take organizing to next level.”

Some fantasize that progressive groups using the Salsa platform will be able to band together as necessary to take advantage of the full breadth of the network. However, Pedersen says there are some challenges to that vision since the user data belongs to the individual groups. The company is investigating how to move forward.


As with all tools, the substance of the candidates, dialogue, ideas and world events will be significant drivers behind the results. However, each of these approaches to user engagement offer a new way to empower voters and activists, making 2012 a cycle of tremendous potential.

Says Ruck.us’ Glendening: “In the long-range view, I hope we’re a piece of what changes the way politics is run in this country.”

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, CostinT

More About: 2012 election, contributor, features, platform, Politics, Social Media

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