Facebook Feed Widgets Using Widgetbox (New!)

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Thanks to Chai's new Newsfeed RSS application, you can now use Widgetbox to create Blidgets and Blidget Pros from your Facebook Feed. Add you Twitter activity, blog and/or RSS feed to make your comprehensive social media widget.

Here's how:

1. To get started, allow the new Newsfeed RSS Application on Facebook and grant it access. The application will access your Facebook feed and convert it into an RSS feed. read more about Newsfeed RSS on ReadWriteWeb.

2. Once you have granted Newsfeed RSS access, you will be provided a link to your feed. You can now enter that directly into the Widgetbox Blidget Pro editor (enter directly from the homepage). You will now have the options to:

- customize the Blidget Pro's appearance - customize the feed's layout (supposedly images are coming soon!) - add multiple tabs to the widget (such as Twitter, blog feeds, etc)

Here is an example using: - my Facebook Badge as my Blidget's header - three tabs: my Facebook feed, my Twitter feed and my blog feed

Google iPhone App Version 0.3.1448

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Strangely, I read through all of the update announcements for my iPhone Apps. And I enjoy it.

Sometimes you learn about bugs - either common (slowness, crashing) or unique to that app. Sometimes you wonder who wrote the marketing blurbs (for instance, 'this version now comes with ads! Yes: ads!')

And then there is Google, who released version 0.3.1448 of the Google Mobile App yesterday. Included in their enhancements: - Speed improvements for voice search (thank you!) - British and Australian accents (great?) - Various bug fixes (very descriptive) - Longer version number (akin to still being in "beta") - Ninja (really?)

Apple Takes Over ESPN.com's Frontdoor - Again

This isn't the first time that Apple and ESPN have aggressively experimented with unique, clearly custom ad integration on ESPN.com's homepage. A little under two months ago, Apple ran an interactive expanding ad for the iPhone / iPod Touch.

Yesterday, Apple and ESPN teamed up for another integrated campaign that ties into current television / print advertising... and it too was well done - although a little more aggressive as ESPN actually pushed all of their content below the ad and below the fold. Take a look:

Two things to notice here: 1. Ads have replaced the standard headline links on the right side (now below the fold) 2. Those ads are 'fake' - they actually link to Apple and are part of the experience (not sure how I feel about this)

Notice how those 'fake' ads are now overtaken by the "PC. Easy as 1-2-3" roll out.

After the ad concludes, you get the above message. It is strange that the horizontal unit is so plain. I would expect that it would at least have two large calls to action: replay or go.

The NYT Erroneously Concludes iPhone Users Don't Do Work

The New York Times is claiming today that iPhone owners do not use their devices for work:

A new report from Compete surveying the behavior of 600 smartphone users found that 73 percent of iPhone owners used their mobile devices primarily for personal reasons, like entertainment. By comparison, 59 percent of owners with other types of smartphones — from manufacturers like HTC, Research in Motion and Nokia — primarily used their devices for business and work-related needs.

Step back a moment:

1. iPhone users obviously consume more content than non-iPhone users because no other mainstream device allows users to do so... or has the available library of content: 35,000 applications and high-speed internet browsing.

2. In contrast, Blackberry users likely use their devices for what they do best: email. You could argue, that outside of limited web-browsing, email and calendaring (or if they want to define that as "work") is all the Blackberry does.

3. iPhone users might use their phones for activities beyond just email and calendaring - but that is because they are able to. That doesn't mean that the iPhone is incapable of "work"; rather, it means that the iPhone is capable of much more than work utilities. Likewise, it doesn't mean that iPhone users do not use their device for work - it means that those utilities are one available usage.

Seesmic Desktop: Every Marketer Should Use It

There is no arguing that Twitter is a powerful marketing lever. There is also no arguing that Twitter can be remarkably noisy and difficult to navigate (in part because of the presence of so many marketers).... And that is where Seesmic Desktop comes in. Let me first make the assumption that, as an online marketer, you already use Twitter. Second, I will assume that your main interests are one or several of the following:

1. Growing a community of followers 2. Tracking discussions of your brand / website across the web (not just on Twitter) 3. Interacting with relevant Twitterers (either publicly or privately) 4. Receiving real-time notifications based on set alerts (keywords, retweets, etc) 5. Doing everything efficiently Seesmic Desktop does all of these things - and most importantly - efficiently. My main struggle with Twitter as a consumer is noisiness - sifting through all of the activity is downright difficult and time consuming.

With Seesmic, I am able to manage my followers, get real-time access to their stream, monitor activity for Widgetbox, define a list of searches and userlists, and respond from multiple accounts. It is a powerful utility for customer support, brand surveying and promotion.

Other apps exist - but I haven't found another that compares to Seesmic in functionality and ease of use. Go ahead - cut through Twitter's noise by downloading Seesmic Desktop.

My only complaint - I want Facebook integration (badly!). Perhaps it is coming after Facebook's most recent announcement for app developers?!

2009 Syracuse Fashion Show - Video

I spent the weekend at Syracuse University for my sister Randi's Fashion Show. As part of Syracuse's Fashion Design program, Randi put together an entire collection for her senior year - including concept, creation (sewing, printing, etc) and presentation. The below video shows her six-outfit, Egyptian-inspired collection... which was outstanding. Be sure to watch in HD:

Syracuse University's Annual Fashion Show: April 24 The fashion design program in the School of Art and Design's Department of Design presents its annual fashion show. Goldstein Auditorium, Schine Student Center.

1 Billion Apps - So Now What for iTunes' App Store?

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It's a staggering number: 1,000,000,000.

The iPhone App store launched in July of 2008 and grew faster than most anticipated - both inventory and adoption. The App Store's 25,000 apps will reach one-billion downloads sometime in the next 48 hours. That's an average of 40,000 downloads per app.

So what's next for Apple's App Store? The iPhone 3.0 OS that will launch this summer will create a new wave of applications and inspire a new series of innovations. But equally important, the App Store needs to change. It needs a total overhaul.

The App Store is overwhelmed by the flood of content - which is sorted in only three ways: - recency - popularity (which is somewhat of a black box) - featured content

The result is that users are left downloading already popular applications or sifting through new content (25 at a time). It is akin to buying music from either the Billboard Top 25 or being placed in front of a rack of everything else - sorted only by release date. Shouldn't my recent purchases play a role? Better yet, my reviews and defined preferences? How about my social graph and their selections?

Another great example is the difference between shopping on Amazon and on eBay / Craigslist. They both have seemingly unlimited inventory - but Amazon's shopping experience is efficient because it is based on recommendations and user history / data. Meanwhile, you have to sift through listings on eBay and Craigslist to find the right product, seller and price.

The other constraint is that the App Store is most conveniently accessed on the iPhone / iPod Touch - which makes search-based navigation even more cumbersome.

I think there are two clear solutions:

1. Integration into the Social Graph

Ideally, iTunes would integrate Facebook Connect. I want to know what apps my friends have downloaded and how they were rated (and it's in the developers' best interest to share that information). Furthermore, most applications are more engaging if connected to the social graph (whether socially or directly through Facebook Connect).

2. Premium App Store

I believe editorial can and should play a role. Whether it's featured content or paid placements (a revenue opportunity for iTunes) - there is an opportunity to expand on what they already do for music (Editor's Picks, lists, etc). A pay-for-placement (or performance) marketplace could arise as well.

LOLapps: Reaches 22% of Facebook Users

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Never heard of LOLapps? Don't worry - most of their 44,000,000 active monthly users probably haven't either.

LOLapps enables users to easily create custom Facebook Apps using their tools. The basic application templates are currently quizzes and gifts (with more robust gaming templates on the way). So while you have likely not heard of LOLapps (as you have heard of Slide or RockYou) - you have likely encountered a gift or taken a quiz that was built using LOLapps. In fact, they now reach 22% of Facebook users (44m monthly).

Yesterday I wrote about Facebook's Toop Developers by monthly reach. LOLapps doesn't appear in those reports because they do not show up as the developer of each application. Their 44,000,000 monthly uniques though would put them on par with Zynga at the #1 spot. As an example, take a look of one of their top Apps: "What Sex in the City Character are You?"

Nearly 200,000 users - which is a big number. But to reach 44m, you begin to realize how many long-tail quizzes and gifts have been created!

Read more about LOLapps on: - LOLapps.com - ReadWriteWeb - InsideFacebook

LivingSocial Now 3rd Largest Facebook Developer (Behind Zynga & RockYou)

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The top four developers on Facebook have three very recognizable names... and one you probably are familiar with by product - but not by name: LivingSocial (whom I have covered in recent weeks):

#1. Zynga: 40,000,000+ monthly active Facebook users #2. RockYou: 40,000,000 monthly active Facebook users #3. LivingSocial: ~27,500,000 monthly active Facebook users #4. Slide: ~25,000,000 monthly active Facebook users The trends are as remarkable as the numbers (consider that 20,000,000 actives represents 10% of all Facebook!).

Zynga is growing steadily; RockYou has stabilized and Slide has dipped. Meanwhile, the LivingSocial growth rates are phenomenal. The below chart is over one month's time:

It will be interesting to see if LivingSocial supplants Zynga at the #1 spot and where / when the growth flattens.

The full charts are shown on InsideFacebook.com. I encourage you to take a look because it puts the velocity of InsideSocial's growth in perspective.