Samsung has finally spilled the details about its long-awaited tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab, during a press conference at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin. Samsung calls its tablet a “smart media device,” and Galaxy Tab definitely has the specifications to back it up: Android 2.2 support, a Cortex A8 1 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and 16/32 GB of internal memory with the possibility of upgrading through microSD memory cards. Furthermore, there’s a 7 inch TFT-LCD ..   show all text

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Of all topics, this is one of the perennials. People want more traffic, more attention, more awareness to their blog. It’s fair. We work hard on our blogs. We want more attention and traffic. If your business depends on volume, this is especially important (for instance, if you’re using ads). Getting traffic is a tricky business, and it requires a lot of experimentation. I’ll tell you what’s worked for me, so far, and I’ll tell you what you might try. Maybe others ..   show all text

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As he was boasting that Apple is activating 230,000 iOS devices a day at Apple’s San Francisco event yesterday, Steve Jobs took the opportunity to accuse competitors of boosting their numbers when it comes to device activations. “We think some of our friends are counting upgrades in their numbers,” said Jobs, most probably referring to the recent figures from Google, whose Eric Schmidt claimed 200,000 activations daily in August 2010. Google has quickly responded to Jobs&rsquo..   show all text

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People are increasingly sharing different types of information on Twitter. For example, Tweets point to web pages, photos, videos, hashtags, people, check-ins, and more. Exploring Tweets is a great way to discover new and interesting information. And with devices of all shapes and sizes connecting to the Internet, we’re constantly looking for new ways to make this easier. To date, we’ve created applications for a variety of mobile phones, giving you instant access to Tweets and grea..   show all text

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Are you addicted to Twitter? Do you have an iPad? Even if the answer to both is “no” right now, after you see Twitter for iPad, those answers are going to change — quickly. Yes, the wait is over. Launching tonight in the App Store is Twitter for iPad — the first official native iPad app from the company. We all knew it was coming (Twitter even said so a few months ago), but it has been a long wait. It was definitely worth it. Like most people, I wander into hyperbole fro..   show all text

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I am a huge fan of Om Malik. I just read his post on Apple’s Ping service, and have a difference of opinion. Om points out that it’s great that Apple is finally adding a social layer to their iTunes store. He goes on to mention that it’s about time, because Amazon has done a great job with this, and has enabled social commerce like letting bloggers become affiliates to sell products that Amazon offers (I am an Amazon affiliate, for instance). But what I might have missed in th..   show all text

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In the debate between the old version of Digg and the new Digg, the readers have spoken. Last week, Digg launched version 4.0 of the popular social news website. It’s been a rocky road pre-launch, so why would it be any different post-launch? Since the launch of the New Digg, which introduced the ability to follow friends, a faster architecture and personalized news, users have been in revolt, mostly over the types of stories reaching the front page. Digg has since addressed some of these..   show all text

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If I were MySpace, I would be shaking in my boots. Earlier today, Apple launched iTunes 10, the latest rendition of its wildly popular music software. Really though, iTunes 10 is just a vessel for Ping, Apple’s new music-centric social network. Available immediately to iTunes’s 160 million+ users through the desktop, iPhone and iPod touch, Ping is a social network where users can follow their friends and their favorite artists. As Apple CEO Steve Jobs described it, Ping is Facebook ..   show all text

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Target will be the first retailer to sell Facebook Credits in its stores come Sunday. The Facebook Credits gift cards will be available in $15, $25 and $50 denominations at all 1,750 Target locations and at Target.com. The cards will soon make their way to two or three additional national retailers, according to USA Today. Facebook Credits is a virtual currency redeemable for primarily in-game Facebook purchases. In Farmville, for instance, gamers can use Facebook Credits as a currency, in lieu..   show all text

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Steve Jobs has revealed iTunes 10, the newest version of iTunes complete with a new logo, new features and its very own social network for music called “Ping” that he described as Facebook meets Twitter for music. Ping allows users to follow others, just like Twitter. You can follow artists or your friends to find out what they’re listening or what they’re creating. It has custom song and album charts, a news feed, 17,000+ concert listings, and is available to 160 millio..   show all text

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Apple’s Steve Jobs has taken the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco to make a slew of announcements related to iOS, Apple TV, iTunes and the iPod. First though, he dropped some big stats on the state of the iOS ecosystem. According to Jobs, Apple has sold more than 120 million iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. This is up from 100 million devices just three months ago. What may be more impressive is that Apple is activating 230,000 new iOS device every single day...   show all text

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This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. In addition to writing for their human readers, web writers and bloggers have to consider the digital web crawlers employed by search engines like Google. Your business can’t skip the task. Since most would-be readers use search engines to find blog posts, you need to make sure that Google ranks your site highly whe..   show all text

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Sweden’s chief prosecutor has reopened a rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Recently, Assange was accused with crimes of molestation and rape by the Swedish authorities. Assange has denied the allegations, claiming they are “without basis,” and later calling the case a “smear campaign” against him and WikiLeaks. The rape charges were soon dropped by Eva Finne, chief prosecutor in Stockholm, but after the lawyer of the allegedly assaulted w..   show all text

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Electronic Arts’ wildly successful Madden NFL franchise has made the leap from the Xbox to Facebook. The gaming giant has launched Madden NFL Superstars, the company’s second social game since it acquired social game maker Playfish. The company’s first social game, FIFA Superstars, is one of Facebook’s most popular apps with nearly 4 million monthly active users. Madden NFL Superstars isn’t a port of the popular console games; it’s a completely new experience..   show all text

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Most plants require sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to survive. We’ve found one that requires Facebook fans and wall posts. Meet Eater is a “real garden that feeds on social interaction.” It is an experiment in human interaction and design, focused on rebuilding the connection between human being and plants. Here’s how it works, according to its creator: “Meet Eater is rigged up with a system to register physical contact and social media interaction. Watering is..   show all text

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Apple has announced that it will be live streaming its September 1 “special event,” where the company is expected not only to reveal a new line of iPods, but a new version of Apple TV as well The announcement is surprising. Historically, Apple has not provided live video for any of its keynotes or special media events. It’s unclear what prompted the tech giant’s change of heart, but you will be able to watch Steve Jobs revealing Apple’s newest line of products for ..   show all text

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Here at Mashable, we’ve been putting the iPhone 4 through its paces, and have come up with some handy tips and tricks that can help you get more out of your Apple-flavored mobile. We’ve covered all kinds of basics, like making search results more relevant, creating shortcuts for your favorite websites, better organizing your apps, and making the most of Maps. And, as ever, if you’ve got suggestions for more iPhone magic not covered here or in our previous Keyboard Shortcuts po..   show all text

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Do you set your alarm to harvest your crops? Do you value Farm Cash over your own country’s currency? Is your other vehicle a tractor? Then you’re going to love this list! You know where we’re going with this — FarmVille is a phenomenally popular social game boasting more “virtual farms” than the number of real ones in the entire United States and has more than 80 million users. So, beyond the promotional 7-11 items and Green Giant Fresh produce that took Far..   show all text

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Improv Everywhere is probably best known for being underdressed — you know, riding the subway in their skivvies — but recently the comedy troupe got suited up to go beaching at New York’s Coney Island. And by “suited up,” we don’t mean “in their bathing suits.” A month ago, Improv Everywhere put out a call via its New York Mailing List for folks willing to dig up some cheap formal wear and kick it at Coney. The result is a rather uplifting video f..   show all text

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In the last couple of hours, Facebook has been unstable for many users (including us), according to numerous tweets from those affected. In the last 15 minutes or so, Facebook seems to be completely inaccessible. While downtime happens far more rarely to Facebook than, say, Twitter, world’s largest social network has occasionally had stability issues. It’s a big deal: with 500 million active users, complaints about downtime mount up pretty quickly. We’ve contacted Facebook to ..   show all text

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Google’s Wave was a project that garnered a huge amount of interest, only to see the buzz completely die within a year of the launch, even after Wave stopped being invite-only and opened to the public. This prompted Google to shut the service down in August, making some parts of Wave open source. Furthermore, Google promised to create tools that will help users extract their content from Wave. Now, in a blog post, Google has an update on Wave, promising two things. First, Wave will be ava..   show all text

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Email overload has finally met its match. Tomorrow, Gmail is rolling out a new feature called Priority Inbox that is going to be a Godsend for those of you who dread opening your email. In short, Google has built a system that figures out which of your messages are important, and presents them at the top of the screen so you don’t miss them. The rest of your messages are still there, but you don’t have to dig through dozens of newsletters and confirmations to find the diamonds in ro..   show all text

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As millions of students are trudging back to the classrooms this August, Facebook is returning to its roots: colleges and universities. Just in time for the back-to-school season, the company has partnered with social marketing firm Context Optional to build a Facebook Page of resources and information for new and returning students and their families. Students can find out about publicizing events, engaging with their larger campus community and distributing their own content on this page. And..   show all text

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This series is supported by Gist. Gist provides a full view of the contacts in your professional network by creating a rich business profile for each one that includes the most news, status updates, and work details. See how it works here. Today’s CEO is not social. So says Forrester Research’s CEO George Colony. Very few of the CEOs at top companies in the U.S. and the rest of the world have any material presence on the popular social media sites. Colony believes they should be so..   show all text

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This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. For all the praise that brand advertisers have for social media, they must be aware that it’s very much a double-edged sword. And for all the free marketing, advertising and brand promotion via Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and other platforms used to help build an identity and relationship with your customers, it ..   show all text

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After being down for an entire week, popular random video chat service Chatroulette is back with a new version. The transition to version two wasn’t exactly graceful; Chatroulette was supposed to be down one day, but the extended downtime, during which the site was nothing more than a white page with a simple text message, saying the new version will launch “shortly,” was a sign that not everything had gone according to plan. So, what did the new (and, hopefully, improved) Cha..   show all text

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Cisco has made an offer to acquire Skype before they complete their IPO process, says one of our more reliable sources. We have not been able to confirm this rumor one way or another via other sources, which isn’t surprising. A company in lock down during the IPO process is usually even more tight lipped than normal. But if true this would be one very big acquisition. Skype insiders are hoping for an out of the gate valuation of $5 billion or so, we’ve heard. Presumably Cisco would ..   show all text

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“Unlimited choice” can “produce genuine suffering,” argues Barry Schwartz in The Paradox of Choice. His research basically sums up what your mother has been telling you for years: You don’t even know what you want. Thankfully, the Internet does know what you want — or at least its algorithmic recommendation services are trying to figure it out. Pandora is great for music, but these seven sites will help narrow down that agonizingly long list of choices in a v..   show all text

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