MKTG

Facebook can mess up your life in a whole bunch of ways. It can get you fired or evicted, plunge you into debt with its addictive games, and even (yeah, right) infect you with syphilis. We wouldn’t look at all of those as serious threats, but we all know from experience that one threat is real: Facebook makes dating far more complicated than it used to be.

You can cleverly use Facebook’s privacy settings to mitigate the pains, and you can even make an impossible-to-maintain rule that you won’t accept friend requests from people you’re dating, but it’s almost guaranteed that Facebook will somehow catch up to your budding relationship and challenge it with some confusion eventually.

The site can be a boon for dating in some ways too, of course, but for now we’re talking about how it makes things complicated. Here are five ways that Facebook’s erosion of personal boundaries and privacy has made finding security in love and sex more difficult.

1. Overanalyzing Will Drive You Crazy

He posted on your wall four times today — does that mean he’s too into you? She keeps posting status updates about the cute guys in her office — should you be worried that you’ll be outdone? You’ve hardly seen any updates on his profile since you had a fight — is he hiding the updates from you, is he so depressed that he’s not engaging, or is it just a coincidence? Why does she keep untagging herself from photos with you in them?

If you’re already feeling insecure or suspicious, your partner’s Facebook feed will do more than fuel the fire — it’ll pour about ten gallons of gasoline right on top of it.

It’s obviously best not to indulge any obsessive or stalking behaviors, but love (and lust) drive people to do silly things. Sometimes you just can’t help but wonder what this or that update means for your relationship. Chances are it means nothing, but that won’t stop those nagging insecurities.

2. You See All the Action Your Ex Is Getting

That guy just posted on her wall thanking her for the wonderful time they had last night, but she just broke up with you last week. Man, that smarts.

Most of the items on this list have something to do with privacy. In this case, it’s not your privacy, it’s hers. It’s tough to get over someone you’ve just lost, but it’s even harder when you know she’s having a smashing time without you. Facebook makes sure of that.

Maybe it’s important for Facebook users to carefully watch their feeds to make sure that nothing comes up that will cause any hurt to any exes, or maybe their exes are responsible for clicking “hide” in the news feed until they’re over it. If at least one of those things doesn’t happen, it can get painful for one person, minimum.

3. Relationships and Breakups Are Public

Dramatized in the above scene from the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, it’s the most classic Facebook dating dilemma: Who pulls the trigger to make a relationship official on Facebook first? It would be embarrassing if you declare yourself to be in a relationship and your (you thought) significant other doesn’t reciprocate.

Changing Facebook relationship status has, for better or worse, joined first date, first kiss, first night together, exclusivity talk, and first “I love you” on the list of important relationship milestones. It’s one of the most awkward milestones because it’s public by necessity.

That first status change isn’t the only challenge. When a relationship ends, how soon is it okay to switch back to single? Doing so right away seems callous, but holding on for too long makes you look fixated. And God forbid that somebody break the news that she’s dumping her partner by publicly switching her status over to “Single.” But we’ve all heard stories of that happening.

We’ve also heard stories of people seeing their dates switch to “In a Relationship” with someone else. That can’t feel good.

4. It’s a Record of Every Relationship Mistake You’ve Made

If he can’t help but snoop, he can look back and see all those consolation posts from friends about your last breakup. Maybe he’ll see your previous partner’s angry wall posts after you let him know that you wouldn’t be seeing him again. Maybe this new friend of yours will see your immature responses. Worst of all, he might see just how much of a loser your last man was and decide you’re playing in different leagues.

Facebook serves up a record of everything you’ve done since you created your profile. It’s best to carefully curate all that information to make sure none of it comes back to haunt you later, but that takes a lot of work, and some things are bound to slip through the cracks.

To make things even more frustrating, you can’t modify the privacy settings for things you’ve already posted. You might have hidden that incriminating status update from your last boyfriend, but since your new one just friended you today, you’ll have to remember to go back and delete it if you’re afraid he’ll be browsing.

5. Other People’s Comments Will Make Your Date Jealous

This has caused many a breakup. Some people tend towards jealousy, and as with item #1 on this list, the flame of insecurity will get doused in gasoline.

Let’s say some girl has a bunch of innocuous guy friends who are innocently posting flirtatious messages on her wall. Most folks are okay with flirting, but some can’t handle it, and something about seeing it written out on Facebook makes it worse. That girl’s boyfriend will either become passive aggressive or burst out in jealous rage, setting the stage for the end of an otherwise positive relationship.

This one illustrates the same point as all the others: Facebook brings us too close to people too quickly. Dating is as much about maintaining healthy and safe boundaries as it is about intimacy — at least at first — and social networking makes that harder than ever. It’s not dissimilar to dating someone who works in your office; you can’t control the exposure you’ll have, and that can be a recipe for disaster.

Have you had any awkward dating situations thanks to Facebook? Share your funny (or tragic) stories in the comments; we’d love to compile a list of the best ones.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

More Facebook resources from Mashable:

- HOW TO: Keep Your Facebook Updates Private

- HOW TO: Clean Up Your Facebook Profile

- HOW TO: Block FarmVille on Facebook

- 4 Easy Ways to Engage Your Facebook Fans

- 10 Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, A1Stock

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: dating, facebook, Feature, features, Lists, social media, social networking

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka has uploaded a video interview with a New York artist named Ken Solomon, who has replicated Google Image Search results and Facebook profile pages by hand for an exhibit that will be on display at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery from April 8 through May 15.

Solomon strung together recreations of Google Image searches for terms like “Andy Warhol” and “Stars and Stripes.” When asked why he did this, he said: “I am trying to preserve definitions and phrases. I feel like Google Image search is sort of our contemporary dictionary and encyclopedia. It’s what we use to define things, phrases.”

By recreating screen shots of the results by hand, he provides the viewer with a new, non-utilitarian perspective that allows him or her to reflect on the meaning of the searched-for terms in the moment that the search was performed.

The artist is also showing off three hand-made renditions of Facebook profile pages and wall feeds. Each profile on display belongs to another person named Ken Solomon. He described this as “a collaborative self portrait,” saying there’s a little of him in all of them.

Exhibits on Internet media in the contemporary art scene might be a budding trend. New York’s Museum of Modern Art just acquired the @ symbol, too.

Here’s a video of the interview. You can see Solomon’s work by visiting the gallery in Manhattan or by taking a gander at the virtual gallery at his website.

[img credit: Ken Solomon]

Reviews: Facebook

Tags: art, Google, Google images, josee vienvenu gallery, ken solomon, Search

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka has uploaded a video interview with a New York artist named Ken Solomon, who has replicated Google Image Search results and Facebook profile pages by hand for an exhibit that will be on display at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery from April 8 through May 15.

Solomon strung together recreations of Google Image searches for terms like “Andy Warhol” and “Stars and Stripes.” When asked why he did this, he said: “I am trying to preserve definitions and phrases. I feel like Google Image search is sort of our contemporary dictionary and encyclopedia. It’s what we use to define things, phrases.”

By recreating screen shots of the results by hand, he provides the viewer with a new, non-utilitarian perspective that allows him or her to reflect on the meaning of the searched-for terms in the moment that the search was performed.

The artist is also showing off three hand-made renditions of Facebook profile pages and wall feeds. Each profile on display belongs to another person named Ken Solomon. He described this as “a collaborative self portrait,” saying there’s a little of him in all of them.

Exhibits on Internet media in the contemporary art scene might be a budding trend. New York’s Museum of Modern Art just acquired the @ symbol, too.

Here’s a video of the interview. You can see Solomon’s work by visiting the gallery in Manhattan or by taking a gander at the virtual gallery at his website.

[img credit: Ken Solomon]

Tags: art, Google, Google images, josee vienvenu gallery, ken solomon, Search

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka has uploaded a video interview with a New York artist named Ken Solomon, who has replicated Google Image Search results and Facebook profile pages by hand for an exhibit that will be on display at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery from April 8 through May 15.

Solomon strung together recreations of Google Image searches for terms like “Andy Warhol” and “Stars and Stripes.” When asked why he did this, he said: “I am trying to preserve definitions and phrases. I feel like Google Image search is sort of our contemporary dictionary and encyclopedia. It’s what we use to define things, phrases.”

By recreating screen shots of the results by hand, he provides the viewer with a new, non-utilitarian perspective that allows him or her to reflect on the meaning of the searched-for terms in the moment that the search was performed.

The artist is also showing off three hand-made renditions of Facebook profile pages and wall feeds. Each profile on display belongs to another person named Ken Solomon. He described this as “a collaborative self portrait,” saying there’s a little of him in all of them.

Exhibits on Internet media in the contemporary art scene might be a budding trend. New York’s Museum of Modern Art just acquired the @ symbol, too.

Here’s a video of the interview. You can see Solomon’s work by visiting the gallery in Manhattan or by taking a gander at the virtual gallery at his website.

[img credit: Ken Solomon]

Tags: art, Google, Google images, josee vienvenu gallery, ken solomon, Search

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka has uploaded a video interview with a New York artist named Ken Solomon, who has replicated Google Image Search results and Facebook profile pages by hand for an exhibit that will be on display at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery from April 8 through May 15.

Solomon strung together recreations of Google Image searches for terms like “Andy Warhol” and “Stars and Stripes.” When asked why he did this, he said: “I am trying to preserve definitions and phrases. I feel like Google Image search is sort of our contemporary dictionary and encyclopedia. It’s what we use to define things, phrases.”

By recreating screen shots of the results by hand, he provides the viewer with a new, non-utilitarian perspective that allows him or her to reflect on the meaning of the searched-for terms in the moment that the search was performed.

The artist is also showing off three hand-made renditions of Facebook profile pages and wall feeds. Each profile on display belongs to another person named Ken Solomon. He described this as “a collaborative self portrait,” saying there’s a little of him in all of them.

Exhibits on Internet media in the contemporary art scene might be a budding trend. New York’s Museum of Modern Art just acquired the @ symbol, too.

Here’s a video of the interview. You can see Solomon’s work by visiting the gallery in Manhattan or by taking a gander at the virtual gallery at his website.

[img credit: Ken Solomon]

Tags: art, Google, Google images, josee vienvenu gallery, ken solomon, Search

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka has uploaded a video interview with a New York artist named Ken Solomon, who has replicated Google Image Search results and Facebook profile pages by hand for an exhibit that will be on display at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery from April 8 through May 15.

Solomon strung together recreations of Google Image searches for terms like “Andy Warhol” and “Stars and Stripes.” When asked why he did this, he said: “I am trying to preserve definitions and phrases. I feel like Google Image search is sort of our contemporary dictionary and encyclopedia. It’s what we use to define things, phrases.”

By recreating screen shots of the results by hand, he provides the viewer with a new, non-utilitarian perspective that allows him or her to reflect on the meaning of the searched-for terms in the moment that the search was performed.

The artist is also showing off three hand-made renditions of Facebook profile pages and wall feeds. Each profile on display belongs to another person named Ken Solomon. He described this as “a collaborative self portrait,” saying there’s a little of him in all of them.

Exhibits on Internet media in the contemporary art scene might be a budding trend. New York’s Museum of Modern Art just acquired the @ symbol, too.

Here’s a video of the interview. You can see Solomon’s work by visiting the gallery in Manhattan or by taking a gander at the virtual gallery at his website.

[img credit: Ken Solomon]

Tags: art, Google, Google images, josee vienvenu gallery, ken solomon, Search

Each month, our partner Visible Measures compiles a list of the top ten most popular web video series, and we share those results with you and provide analysis. Visible Measures tracks views, comments and other data on web video.

If you’re looking for some video entertainment to watch on your lunch break, this chart is a great place to start. Find a show you’re interested in and click the play button to the right to check it out.

This month we saw huge bursts in popularity for two shows that were on the chart last month — The Annoying Orange and Key of Awesome. We have some old standards too, including one of the original web series — Red Vs Blue.

The Chart: March 2010

Rank

Last Month’s Rank

Title

Studio

Genre

True Reach View Count

Change in Views

Sample Episode

1

1

The Annoying Orange

GagFilms

Humor

52,255,333

82%

Play

2

4

Key of Awesome

Next New Networks

Comedy, Music

21,585,869

58%

Play

3

3

Happy Tree Friends

MondoMedia

Animation

16,245,344

3%

Play

4

2

Fred

NA

Comedy

15,318,046

-17%

Play

5

5

Smosh

Deca TV

Comedy, Sketch

15,165,895

38%

Play

6

NEW

Charlie the Unicorn

FilmCow

Animation, Comedy

7,144,246

NEW

Play

7

NEW

Potter Puppet Pals

NA

Sketch

5,131,372

NEW

Play

8

Back On Chart

Red Vs Blue

Rooster Teeth

Animation, Comedy

4,407,858

Back On Chart

Play

9

7

The Station

The Station

Comedy

3,581,868

-17%

Play

10

8

Jake & Amir

CollegeHumor

Comedy, Sketch

3,359,443

3%

Play

*The Visible Measures Top 10 Webisodes Chart focuses on digital studio-driven Web series that appear on Internet video-sharing destinations. Each Web series is measured on a True Reachô basis, which includes viewership of both studio-syndicated video clips and viewer-driven social video placements. The data are compiled using the Visible Measures Viral Reach Database, a constantly growing repository of analytic data on more than 100 million Internet videos across more than 150 video-sharing destinations.

Note: This chart does not include vloggers, interviews, how-to series, news shows, or product review shows. View-count results are incremental by month.

To notify Visible Measures of an upcoming Web series, or for an end-to-end assessment of your campaign’s overall performance, please contact us directly.

If you’re interested in exploring this data further, go to visiblemeasures.com/mashable.

initVisibleMeasures();

Breakout Hits: The Annoying Orange and Key of Awesome

The Annoying Orange debuted on the chart at #1 last month with an already impressive 29 million views. In March it grew 80% to 52 million, leaving most of the competition far behind. Some folks will observe that it’s surprising that those 52 million people don’t find the orange that stars in the series too annoying. Others will just keep on laughing.

The other big winner this month is Key of Awesome, which jumped from fewer than 14 million views to more than 21 million, moving from #4 to #2. This was thanks in part to two hugely successful Lady Gaga-related music videos: “No Lady Gaga Telephone! Adam Lambert: Behind the Awesome” and “Lady Gaga Telephone Parody (ft Beyonce): Key of Awesome #17.”

Apparently the Internet loves Lady Gaga. Who knew?

Newcomers: Charlie the Unicorn and Potter Puppet Pals

Look at these two new successes and you might notice a pattern: Many of the top series on the list combine kid show presentation with some edgy, grown-up humor. The Annoying Orange, Happy Tree Friends, Charlie the Unicorn, and Potter Puppet Pals all seem like they might be for kids at first glance, but they can be pretty morbid.

Even Fred is edgy sometimes thanks to its implication of a difficult family life for the title character.

Charlie the Unicorn and Potter Puppet Pals are also comparatively old; both are on the list thanks to traffic on episodes published several years ago. Viral success can be gradual, it can be delayed, or it can even come in spurts.

Why is Fred Less Popular Now?

Fred slipped from its usual #1 or #2 spot to #4. Why did that happen?

The simple answer is that actor Lucas Cruikshank has (at least for now) moved on to bigger, more lucrative things. He’s playing the role of Fred in a made-for-TV movie on Nickelodeon called Fred: The Movie. As a result, he has dedicated less of his time to producing YouTube videos, so viewership declined 17%.

Fred: The Movie won’t be Cruikshank’s Nickelodeon debut, though; he has previously appeared in a cameo role as Fred on the series iCarly. Oh, and if this new movie is successful, a theatrical follow-up is possible, so be prepared for the possibility that this downward trend will continue for his YouTube videos.

Reviews: YouTube, beyonce

Tags: Charlie the Unicorn, Fred, happy tree friends, jake and amir, key of awesome, monthly top webisodes, Potter Puppet Pals, Red Vs Blue, smosh, television, the annoying orange, the station, tv, video, visible measures, web series, Web TV, webisodes, youtube

This summer, the iPhone and iPod touch will get an operating system update (iPhone OS 4.0) that will include a new service called the Game Center. The service will launch on the iPad this fall, too.

The Game Center will resemble Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to folks who make and play games.

Don’t brush this off as a minor item in Apple’s update notes; Steve Jobs included it as a major “tentpost” alongside multitasking and folders during the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement for a reason. It’s the biggest development in mobile gaming in several years, and we expect it will be a success with both game makers and game players.

Here are three reasons we believe the Game Center is a big deal. Do you agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments.

1. No One Has Pulled This Off Before (On Mobile)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 is the standard-bearer when it comes to social gaming services, along with its less popular Games for Windows Live network for PC gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Network, which is similar in functionality; it covers all the bases well enough but most gamers believe it’s not as well realized as Xbox Live. The popular PC game distribution service Steam (soon to hit Macs, too) also has the same features as Apple’s Game Center.

However, Game Center is likely to be the first successful service of its type on any mobile platform.

Sony’s PSP offers a watered-down version of the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network that lacks some of those features, Nintendo’s DS lacks anything even remotely similar, and Microsoft — the current leader of online gaming services — doesn’t offer a portable gaming device yet. We say “yet” because Xbox Live integration of some kind will be a feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform that will launch later this year.

Third party networks like OpenFeint and Gameloft Live have attempted to do this on the iPhone OS before, but they only reached a small number of users. The fact that Apple’s Game Center is built into the iPhone OS 4.0 development tools will make it the de facto choice for iPhone OS game developers and players.

2. It’s Xbox Live for Mainstream Game Players

Game Center is also notable because it brings those social gaming tools to a new crowd of nontraditional and casual gamers. Microsoft has made some progress down that road itself; while Xbox Live was originally designed for hardcore competitive games like Halo, over the past couple years it has become a mainstay in family friendly casual games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

But the Xbox 360’s most significant successes are still in the realm of traditional gaming: fiercely competitive multiplayer matches, expensive and elaborate graphical presentations and complicated game play mechanics. The iPhone is home to games of both types, but it’s skewed towards titles that are light and not very time consuming; compared to the Xbox 360, it has more games like Plants and Zombies and fewer like Gears of War.

Gamers of that type aren’t as accustomed to these features. They’re more likely to play the Nintendo Wii than the Xbox 360, and the Wii’s online features are limited by comparison. We expect Game Center to be a hit with this crowd, though.

3. It Will Be Available to Small, Independent Game Makers

There’s a rigorous approval process to get a game on the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Most small, garage-dwelling game developers can’t make the cut, and while the web and PCs offer independent developers ways to show off and monetize their work, there’s no unified social gaming system that they can use.

Apple’s Game Center is the first Xbox Live-like social gaming service available to any small team or individual that makes games out of passion. That means these features will be included in innovative new games from creative people who can afford to experiment. Expect surprising and fun applications and innovations that you haven’t seen on other gaming platforms.

The iPhone OS is a frontier environment where you never know what the next gaming hit will be. We’ve never seen these social features exist in a frontier like that before, so it will be interesting to see what people will do with them.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: achievements, apple, gaming, gaming center, ipad, iphone, iphone os 4.0, iPod Touch, online gaming, video games, XBox live

This summer, the iPhone and iPod touch will get an operating system update (iPhone OS 4.0) that will include a new service called the Game Center. The service will launch on the iPad this fall, too.

The Game Center will resemble Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to folks who make and play games.

Don’t brush this off as a minor item in Apple’s update notes; Steve Jobs included it as a major “tentpost” alongside multitasking and folders during the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement for a reason. It’s the biggest development in mobile gaming in several years, and we expect it will be a success with both game makers and game players.

Here are three reasons we believe the Game Center is a big deal. Do you agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments.

1. No One Has Pulled This Off Before (On Mobile)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 is the standard-bearer when it comes to social gaming services, along with its less popular Games for Windows Live network for PC gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Network, which is similar in functionality; it covers all the bases well enough but most gamers believe it’s not as well realized as Xbox Live. The popular PC game distribution service Steam (soon to hit Macs, too) also has the same features as Apple’s Game Center.

However, Game Center is likely to be the first successful service of its type on any mobile platform.

Sony’s PSP offers a watered-down version of the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network that lacks some of those features, Nintendo’s DS lacks anything even remotely similar, and Microsoft — the current leader of online gaming services — doesn’t offer a portable gaming device yet. We say “yet” because Xbox Live integration of some kind will be a feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform that will launch later this year.

Third party networks like OpenFeint and Gameloft Live have attempted to do this on the iPhone OS before, but they only reached a small number of users. The fact that Apple’s Game Center is built into the iPhone OS 4.0 development tools will make it the de facto choice for iPhone OS game developers and players.

2. It’s Xbox Live for Mainstream Game Players

Game Center is also notable because it brings those social gaming tools to a new crowd of nontraditional and casual gamers. Microsoft has made some progress down that road itself; while Xbox Live was originally designed for hardcore competitive games like Halo, over the past couple years it has become a mainstay in family friendly casual games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

But the Xbox 360’s most significant successes are still in the realm of traditional gaming: fiercely competitive multiplayer matches, expensive and elaborate graphical presentations and complicated game play mechanics. The iPhone is home to games of both types, but it’s skewed towards titles that are light and not very time consuming; compared to the Xbox 360, it has more games like Plants and Zombies and fewer like Gears of War.

Gamers of that type aren’t as accustomed to these features. They’re more likely to play the Nintendo Wii than the Xbox 360, and the Wii’s online features are limited by comparison. We expect Game Center to be a hit with this crowd, though.

3. It Will Be Available to Small, Independent Game Makers

There’s a rigorous approval process to get a game on the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Most small, garage-dwelling game developers can’t make the cut, and while the web and PCs offer independent developers ways to show off and monetize their work, there’s no unified social gaming system that they can use.

Apple’s Game Center is the first Xbox Live-like social gaming service available to any small team or individual that makes games out of passion. That means these features will be included in innovative new games from creative people who can afford to experiment. Expect surprising and fun applications and innovations that you haven’t seen on other gaming platforms.

The iPhone OS is a frontier environment where you never know what the next gaming hit will be. We’ve never seen these social features exist in a frontier like that before, so it will be interesting to see what people will do with them.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: achievements, apple, gaming, gaming center, ipad, iphone, iphone os 4.0, iPod Touch, online gaming, video games, XBox live

This summer, the iPhone and iPod touch will get an operating system update (iPhone OS 4.0) that will include a new service called the Game Center. The service will launch on the iPad this fall, too.

The Game Center will resemble Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to folks who make and play games.

Don’t brush this off as a minor item in Apple’s update notes; Steve Jobs included it as a major “tentpost” alongside multitasking and folders during the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement for a reason. It’s the biggest development in mobile gaming in several years, and we expect it will be a success with both game makers and game players.

Here are three reasons we believe the Game Center is a big deal. Do you agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments.

1. No One Has Pulled This Off Before (On Mobile)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 is the standard-bearer when it comes to social gaming services, along with its less popular Games for Windows Live network for PC gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Network, which is similar in functionality; it covers all the bases well enough but most gamers believe it’s not as well realized as Xbox Live. The popular PC game distribution service Steam (soon to hit Macs, too) also has the same features as Apple’s Game Center.

However, Game Center is likely to be the first successful service of its type on any mobile platform.

Sony’s PSP offers a watered-down version of the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network that lacks some of those features, Nintendo’s DS lacks anything even remotely similar, and Microsoft — the current leader of online gaming services — doesn’t offer a portable gaming device yet. We say “yet” because Xbox Live integration of some kind will be a feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform that will launch later this year.

Third party networks like OpenFeint and Gameloft Live have attempted to do this on the iPhone OS before, but they only reached a small number of users. The fact that Apple’s Game Center is built into the iPhone OS 4.0 development tools will make it the de facto choice for iPhone OS game developers and players.

2. It’s Xbox Live for Mainstream Game Players

Game Center is also notable because it brings those social gaming tools to a new crowd of nontraditional and casual gamers. Microsoft has made some progress down that road itself; while Xbox Live was originally designed for hardcore competitive games like Halo, over the past couple years it has become a mainstay in family friendly casual games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

But the Xbox 360’s most significant successes are still in the realm of traditional gaming: fiercely competitive multiplayer matches, expensive and elaborate graphical presentations and complicated game play mechanics. The iPhone is home to games of both types, but it’s skewed towards titles that are light and not very time consuming; compared to the Xbox 360, it has more games like Plants and Zombies and fewer like Gears of War.

Gamers of that type aren’t as accustomed to these features. They’re more likely to play the Nintendo Wii than the Xbox 360, and the Wii’s online features are limited by comparison. We expect Game Center to be a hit with this crowd, though.

3. It Will Be Available to Small, Independent Game Makers

There’s a rigorous approval process to get a game on the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Most small, garage-dwelling game developers can’t make the cut, and while the web and PCs offer independent developers ways to show off and monetize their work, there’s no unified social gaming system that they can use.

Apple’s Game Center is the first Xbox Live-like social gaming service available to any small team or individual that makes games out of passion. That means these features will be included in innovative new games from creative people who can afford to experiment. Expect surprising and fun applications and innovations that you haven’t seen on other gaming platforms.

The iPhone OS is a frontier environment where you never know what the next gaming hit will be. We’ve never seen these social features exist in a frontier like that before, so it will be interesting to see what people will do with them.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: achievements, apple, gaming, gaming center, ipad, iphone, iphone os 4.0, iPod Touch, online gaming, video games, XBox live

This summer, the iPhone and iPod touch will get an operating system update (iPhone OS 4.0) that will include a new service called the Game Center. The service will launch on the iPad this fall, too.

The Game Center will resemble Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to folks who make and play games.

Don’t brush this off as a minor item in Apple’s update notes; Steve Jobs included it as a major “tentpost” alongside multitasking and folders during the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement for a reason. It’s the biggest development in mobile gaming in several years, and we expect it will be a success with both game makers and game players.

Here are three reasons we believe the Game Center is a big deal. Do you agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments.

1. No One Has Pulled This Off Before (On Mobile)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 is the standard-bearer when it comes to social gaming services, along with its less popular Games for Windows Live network for PC gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Network, which is similar in functionality; it covers all the bases well enough but most gamers believe it’s not as well realized as Xbox Live. The popular PC game distribution service Steam (soon to hit Macs, too) also has the same features as Apple’s Game Center.

However, Game Center is likely to be the first successful service of its type on any mobile platform.

Sony’s PSP offers a watered-down version of the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network that lacks some of those features, Nintendo’s DS lacks anything even remotely similar, and Microsoft — the current leader of online gaming services — doesn’t offer a portable gaming device yet. We say “yet” because Xbox Live integration of some kind will be a feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform that will launch later this year.

Third party networks like OpenFeint and Gameloft Live have attempted to do this on the iPhone OS before, but they only reached a small number of users. The fact that Apple’s Game Center is built into the iPhone OS 4.0 development tools will make it the de facto choice for iPhone OS game developers and players.

2. It’s Xbox Live for Mainstream Game Players

Game Center is also notable because it brings those social gaming tools to a new crowd of nontraditional and casual gamers. Microsoft has made some progress down that road itself; while Xbox Live was originally designed for hardcore competitive games like Halo, over the past couple years it has become a mainstay in family friendly casual games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

But the Xbox 360’s most significant successes are still in the realm of traditional gaming: fiercely competitive multiplayer matches, expensive and elaborate graphical presentations and complicated game play mechanics. The iPhone is home to games of both types, but it’s skewed towards titles that are light and not very time consuming; compared to the Xbox 360, it has more games like Plants and Zombies and fewer like Gears of War.

Gamers of that type aren’t as accustomed to these features. They’re more likely to play the Nintendo Wii than the Xbox 360, and the Wii’s online features are limited by comparison. We expect Game Center to be a hit with this crowd, though.

3. It Will Be Available to Small, Independent Game Makers

There’s a rigorous approval process to get a game on the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Most small, garage-dwelling game developers can’t make the cut, and while the web and PCs offer independent developers ways to show off and monetize their work, there’s no unified social gaming system that they can use.

Apple’s Game Center is the first Xbox Live-like social gaming service available to any small team or individual that makes games out of passion. That means these features will be included in innovative new games from creative people who can afford to experiment. Expect surprising and fun applications and innovations that you haven’t seen on other gaming platforms.

The iPhone OS is a frontier environment where you never know what the next gaming hit will be. We’ve never seen these social features exist in a frontier like that before, so it will be interesting to see what people will do with them.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, Windows Phone 7

Tags: achievements, apple, gaming, gaming center, ipad, iphone, iphone os 4.0, iPod Touch, online gaming, video games, XBox live

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: Kroogi

Quick Pitch: Kroogi is a “content community” for artists, musicians, writers, videographers and photographers to post content for fans to download and pay for on a “pay what you want” model.

Genius Idea: According to a company representative, Kroogi “offers a middle ground between free and fixed-fee models in ways that respect both artist and user rights.”

BitTorrent and RapidShare serve music and other creative content at no cost illegally, while iTunes and Amazon MP3 charge fixed rates. Alternatively, Kroogi allows consumers to pay whatever they feel a piece of content is worth, and creators are given tools to try and prove its value.

About 20% of the content on the site actually generates revenue, and while the revenue isn’t always substantial enough that content creators can thrive as businesses, it can be an auxiliary source of income for artists who want to upload special content there. For example, musicians could upload B-Sides, rejected album tracks or works-in-progress.

The site was founded by Russian developer Miro Sarbaev, who also worked at Napster and Snocap. Much of Kroogi’s content is from Russia, but expansion is underway. Artists who sign up now will already have access to blog widgets and a Facebook application because those features and perks have been in development since the Russian launch more than two years ago.

To celebrate its expansion to North America, Europe and South America, Kroogi is hosting a remix contest using the music of popular Russian band t.A.t.u. Whether or not you’re interested in the contest, you can sign up to download content from the site right now or join the 45,000 creators already distributing on the site.

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”

Reviews: Amazon.com, Facebook, PHP, Rapidshare, iTunes

Tags: art, bizspark, kroogi, music, photography, spark-of-genius, startups, video

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: Kroogi

Quick Pitch: Kroogi is a “content community” for artists, musicians, writers, videographers and photographers to post content for fans to download and pay for on a “pay what you want” model.

Genius Idea: According to a company representative, Kroogi “offers a middle ground between free and fixed-fee models in ways that respect both artist and user rights.”

BitTorrent and RapidShare serve music and other creative content at no cost illegally, while iTunes and Amazon MP3 charge fixed rates. Alternatively, Kroogi allows consumers to pay whatever they feel a piece of content is worth, and creators are given tools to try and prove its value.

About 20% of the content on the site actually generates revenue, and while the revenue isn’t always substantial enough that content creators can thrive as businesses, it can be an auxiliary source of income for artists who want to upload special content there. For example, musicians could upload B-Sides, rejected album tracks or works-in-progress.

The site was founded by Russian developer Miro Sarbaev, who also worked at Napster and Snocap. Much of Kroogi’s content is from Russia, but expansion is underway. Artists who sign up now will already have access to blog widgets and a Facebook application because those features and perks have been in development since the Russian launch more than two years ago.

To celebrate its expansion to North America, Europe and South America, Kroogi is hosting a remix contest using the music of popular Russian band t.A.t.u. Whether or not you’re interested in the contest, you can sign up to download content from the site right now or join the 45,000 creators already distributing on the site.

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”

Reviews: Amazon.com, Facebook, PHP, Rapidshare, iTunes

Tags: art, bizspark, kroogi, music, photography, spark-of-genius, startups, video

A geek going by the name DoctorOctoroc has recreated the entire first act of Neil Patrick Harris and Joss Whedon’s hit web show Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog as a non-interactive, 8-bit, Nintendo-type video game using Flash animation.

The confluence of web culture favorites is what drew our eyes to this video — Joss Whedon, Dr. Horrible, Neil Patrick Harris, 8-bit video game nostalgia (just like that geeky wedding invitation) and do-it-yourself Flash creativity is like a top five list of popular YouTube standards.

Dr. Horrible has placed in our top webisodes chart, and it was used by Neil Patrick Harris to mock the 2009 Emmys. Way to make it into the web culture zeitgeist, NPH.

8-Bit Dr. Horrible (Act 1)

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[via MTV Multiplayer]

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: animation, celebrities, dr horrible, dr. horrible’s sing-along blog, Flash, joss whedon, neil patrick harris, NES, Nintendo, video games, viral videos, web series

A geek going by the name DoctorOctoroc has recreated the entire first act of Neil Patrick Harris and Joss Whedon’s hit web show Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog as a non-interactive, 8-bit, Nintendo-type video game using Flash animation.

The confluence of web culture favorites is what drew our eyes to this video — Joss Whedon, Dr. Horrible, Neil Patrick Harris, 8-bit video game nostalgia (just like that geeky wedding invitation) and do-it-yourself Flash creativity is like a top five list of popular YouTube standards.

Dr. Horrible has placed in our top webisodes chart, and it was used by Neil Patrick Harris to mock the 2009 Emmys. Way to make it into the web culture zeitgeist, NPH.

8-Bit Dr. Horrible (Act 1)

For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

[via MTV Multiplayer]

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: animation, celebrities, dr horrible, dr. horrible’s sing-along blog, Flash, joss whedon, neil patrick harris, NES, Nintendo, video games, viral videos, web series

Music streaming service Rhapsody has cut the price of its unlimited listening plan from $15 to $10 per month in an effort to increase signups and become profitable by the end of the year.

The company also just launched a native app for Android smartphones, so iPhone users don’t have a monopoly anymore. A BlackBerry app is planned for later this year.

Rhapsody was previously jointly owned by RealNetworks and Viacom, but recently spun off on its own. The folks who run Rhapsody hope that the newly independent company will be successful as a result of the price drop, a string of upcoming TV ad buys and its position as one of the few options for unlimited, à la carte music on mobile devices.

Some competing services — like Napster — cost less but only work on computers, not handsets. MOG, however, is about to compete directly with Rhapsody on mobile; it currently offers a $5 per month plan for computers and plans to launch a $10 per month mobile streaming service within a few months.

Some music lovers prefer to buy songs from iTunes so that they can easily load them onto their phones or portable music players, while others gravitate toward free streaming radio services like Last.fm and Pandora that do not allow users to pick individual songs. Rhapsody’s subscriber base has declined from 800,000 to 675,000, but it’s still big for a pay-to-listen music service.

[via MediaMemo]

For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Android, BlackBerry Rocks!, Facebook, Last.fm, Pandora, Rhapsody, Twitter, iPhone, iTunes

Tags: android, android marketplace, apple, blackberry, iphone, itunes, music, realnetworks, rhapsody, streaming audio, viacom

Music streaming service Rhapsody has cut the price of its unlimited listening plan from $15 to $10 per month in an effort to increase signups and become profitable by the end of the year.

The company also just launched a native app for Android smartphones, so iPhone users don’t have a monopoly anymore. A BlackBerry app is planned for later this year.

Rhapsody was previously jointly owned by RealNetworks and Viacom, but recently spun off on its own. The folks who run Rhapsody hope that the newly independent company will be successful as a result of the price drop, a string of upcoming TV ad buys and its position as one of the few options for unlimited, à la carte music on mobile devices.

Some competing services — like Napster — cost less but only work on computers, not handsets. MOG, however, is about to compete directly with Rhapsody on mobile; it currently offers a $5 per month plan for computers and plans to launch a $10 per month mobile streaming service within a few months.

Some music lovers prefer to buy songs from iTunes so that they can easily load them onto their phones or portable music players, while others gravitate toward free streaming radio services like Last.fm and Pandora that do not allow users to pick individual songs. Rhapsody’s subscriber base has declined from 800,000 to 675,000, but it’s still big for a pay-to-listen music service.

[via MediaMemo]

For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Android, BlackBerry Rocks!, Facebook, Last.fm, Pandora, Rhapsody, Twitter, iPhone, iTunes

Tags: android, android marketplace, apple, blackberry, iphone, itunes, music, realnetworks, rhapsody, streaming audio, viacom

Tiger Woods is hosting his first news conference since returning to golf this afternoon at 2 p.m. ET, and CBS News and Ustream are teaming up to offer a live video feed of the event.

Tiger announced last month that he’d be returning to the sport and that The Masters at Augusta National would be his first stop, which is where today’s press conference takes place.

Last time Tiger hosted a press conference, he drew 683,000 online video viewers on Ustream. He did not take any questions from the press at that event, however.

If you’re hoping to watch the conference on your newly purchased iPad, you’re in for a small disappointment. While Ustream has announced plans to release an iPad app, it’s not live yet. You’ll have to settle for the iPhone version or just use your laptop or desktop computer instead.

We’ve embedded the video below so you can watch it here.

Update: We’ve added Livestream’s feed as well.

Live Video: Ustream

Live Video: Livestream

[img credit: Keith Allison]

For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, ustream

Tags: cbs news, celebrities, Golf, live video, press conference, sports, tiger woods, ustream

The trailer of popular TV sitcom Glee’s return to FOX on April 13 has been bouncing around the Internet for a while now. But if you haven’t watched it yet, now’s the time: FOX has put up what it calls “the Glee hypertrailer” that plugs into Facebook, YouTube and other social media outlets.

Start the video and you’ll see head shots of each of the cast members along the bottom. From there you can click on individual cast members to fan them on Facebook. Once the video is done playing, you can follow the links to FOX’s Glee website and the Glee YouTube channel.

Glee’s producers is also holding a video casting call on MySpace, so this is not the first social media promotion for the show.

The hypertrailer is powered by software made by Coincident.TV, the same company that helped produce the interactive Avatar trailer. The software suite was also used in a content-rich broadcast of The Hills.

The Facebook-integrated trailer is not embeddable — neither was the Avatar one. If that’s a limitation of the technology, it’s an unfortunate downside. You’ll have to head over to FOX to watch it, but we’ve embedded the regular Glee mid-season premiere trailer without all of the social media bells and whistles below.

Standard Trailer

Update: Coincident.TV did not, in fact, create the interactive Avatar trailer.

[via NewTeeVee]

For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: coincident.tv, facebook, Fox, GLEE, music, News, social media, television, trailer, tv, video, youtube

A magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook Baja California on the afternoon of Sunday, April 4. It was felt from San Diego to Mexicali to Phoenix. There was some damage, but thankfully, casualties were low.

We turned to Twitter for a closer look at the earthquake’s impact on the communities along the Pacific. These photos of the damage in Mexicali and other locales were shared via Twitter and TwitPic this afternoon by people who experienced the earthquake first-hand.

We saw it (perhaps more aptly) after the Chile earthquake, too: Social media can make personal experiences universal. Twitter advocates like to talk about how much more quickly news and images can get out through the service, but that’s not the only thing that’s changed in today’s world as a result of social media.

[via r13639]

[via Cimarron98]

[via La_Cherry]

[via elbetOe]

Evacuating Disneyland

[via ms_kristin]

Have you found any compelling photos of the quake on Twitter or Facebook today? If so, feel free to share them in the comments.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitpic, Twitter

Tags: baja california, baja earthquake, california, Earthquake, mexicali earthquake, mexico, san diego earthquake, trending, twitpic, twitter

Alternative physician and transcendental meditation guru Deepak Chopra used his Twitter account to apologize for causing the 7.2-magnitude earthquake felt in California and parts of Mexico and the southwestern United States on Sunday, April 4.

He was probably just kidding, of course, but his tweets made for an entertaining Twitter moment regardless. Shortly after the earthquake occurred, Chopra tweeted out the following:

He explained further in his next tweet, saying:

CNN reports that the earthquake originated in Baja California at 3:40 PM Pacific time and then spawned five aftershocks, including a 4.1-magnitude shake in the northern California town of Santa Rosa. There haven’t been any reports of significant casualties or damage despite the severity of the initial quake, but the quake was felt as far away as Phoenix, Arizona.

TwitPics of the earthquake have been floating around, but most of them show minor disorder like fallen items in convenience store aisles. It doesn’t look anything like what we saw out of Chile. However, Twitter lit up right away; “Baja California” is currently a trending topic.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: baja california, california, celebrities, deepak chopra, Earthquake, quake, twitter

Mashable Apple guru Christina Warren took some time out of her holiday to sit down with a video camera, an iPad and the nifty Yahoo Entertainment [iTunes link] iPad app; what resulted was this video walkthrough and review.

When you load the app, it presents its features within a virtual rendition of a home theater, with a TV and an ottoman. That kind of visual flair is one of the things the iPad’s multi-touch interface does best. From that home theater you can access news, videos, TV listings and schedules, and more.

Our impressions of the app are positive — particularly of the news layout and the home theater motif in the presentation. Watch the review below to see all the features in motion; we’re finding that iPad apps are best demonstrated and reviewed in videos because of their visual and aural elements, though this one is obviously easier to figure out without a video than Smule’s Magic Piano.

If you have your own iPad and it’s all set up, you can download the Yahoo! Entertainment app for free from the Apple App Store right now. Be sure and let us know if you have any insights of your own if you decide to give it a spin.

The Video Review

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: App, apple app store, Apple iPad, christina warren, ipad, review, video, Yahoo, yahoo entertainment

A girl going by the YouTube handle Applegirl002 has performed very accurate covers of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” and Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” solo using four iPhones. She set up the phones in her living room, pointed a video camera at the rig, and performed.

For “Irreplaceable,” (currently at 885,920 views) she just used three iPhones, but she started the four-phone “Poker Face” video (1,167,000 views) by demonstrating which apps she was using and how she was using them to put together the composition. One iPhone — the one oriented like a microphone — was running the I Am T-Pain [iTunes link] Auto-Tune app. Two were running the BeatMaker [iTunes link] looping app an the other was running an unspecified analog synthesizer app.

There have been other musical iPhone performances in the past, often using Smule’s Ocarina app — for example, the Stanford iPhone orchestra. This girl has made herself a YouTube star within just a couple weeks, though. Her performances are already among the most popular iPhone music videos. Don’t be surprised if she puts out another one for her fans soon.

“Poker Face”

“Irreplaceable”

[via Buzzfeed]

For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: applegirl002, autotune, beatmaker, beyonce, college humor, i am t-pain, iphone, iPod Touch, irreplaceable, Lady Gaga, poker face, viral videos, youtube, [vi

The iPad already has an app for credit card transactions thanks to Twitter creator Jack Dorsey’s Square project.

Originally planned for the iPhone, the app works with a peripheral credit card scanner that attaches to the headphone jack. Once the scanner is in place, you can use your iPad as a mobile cash register.

Customers will be impressed by the multi-touch interface, and they will be able to sign for their purchases on the screen. The app then verifies the credit card transactions through Square’s servers for a flat fee plus a small percentage of the sale.

In some cases, this application will be easier than using a regular credit card machine. An art dealer, for instance, could approach a potential buyer at a gallery opening with the iPad in hand to make a sale.

After the sale is completed, you can send receipts to customers via e-mail or SMS. Here are some pics.

For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iPhone

Tags: App, apple app store, Apple iPad, business, credit cards, ipad, jack dorsey, Square, transactions, twitter

Netflix released an app for Apple’s new iPad, allowing subscribers who bought the device on launch day to access the service’s vast library of streaming films and television. The iPad won’t be stealing all of the thunder from the already-popular iPhone and iPod touch, however; a Netflix Watch Instantly app is in the works for those devices, too.

Netflix made that clear in a very brief blog post today:

Steve Swasey, VP of Corporate Communications, here. Terrific response to our news today about Netflix on the iPad. For those of you asking whether Netflix will be on the iPhone and iPod Touch: We wouldn’t invite you to dinner without planning to serve dessert. In other words, we’re working on it so stay tuned.

We already knew that a Netflix app for the iPhone and iPod touch was a possibility because Netflix has been asking users for their opinions on a hypothetical iPhone/iPod touch app in online surveys. Given that an iPad app has already been released and that the iPad and the iPhone are very similar platforms, you can understand why we’re not surprised.

This is just another step in a long march for Netflix. The service started out mailing DVDs to customers, but it has signed numerous film and TV studios to provide content for its Watch Instantly streaming service, which is now the main draw for many tech-savvy folks. More recently, video game consoles like the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have been updated with Netflix streaming capability.

Plans start at $8.99 per month. Available films and shows include 30 Rock, Weeds, King of the Hill, 24, Julie and Julia, The Proposal, Angels & Demons, The Sixth Sense and numerous others.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: App, apple app store, Film, ipad, iphone, iPod Touch, Movies, netflix, netflix watch instantly, News, streaming video, television, tv, video, web video

American sitcom Modern Family ran an entire episode about the iPad this week. A character’s birthday is April 3 — the same day the iPad launches — so his wife decides to try and get him an iPad.

The episode begins with an impassioned pitch. “The iPad comes out on my actual birthday. It’s like Steve Jobs and God got together to say, ‘We love you, Phil,’” he says. “It’s a movie theater, a library and a music store all rolled into one awesome pad.”

The show features an actual iPad — not a mockup, but the real thing. His wife brings the iPad home, he blows out the virtual candles in a birthday cake app and then the family gathers around and oohs and ahhs at the device.

We’ve embedded a YouTube video below, but you can watch the complete episode at ABC.com’s streaming site.

This reminds us of the canned Windows 7 Family Guy episode. Is a whole episode of product placement too much, or are you OK with it as long as it’s funny?

[via The Unofficial Apple Weblog]

For more Apple coverage, follow Mashable Apple on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: abc, advertising, Apple iPad, comedy, disney, humor, ipad, MARKETING, modern family, product placement, sitcom, steve jobs, television, tv

Both ABC and CBS plan to stream their TV shows on the Apple iPad just in time for its Saturday launch, The Wall Street Journal reports. They’re each doing it a little differently, however. ABC will use an app, while CBS shows will stream over the web through the iPad’s Safari browser.

Not all shows will be available right away, but CBS has promised episodes of Survivor on day one, along with promos for other shows including the sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Critics initially argued that the iPad would not be ideal for watching video online because most video websites use Adobe’s Flash technology, which the iPad doesn’t play nice with. However, several sites have launched iPad-friendly versions using new HTML5 tech and there’s also a Netflix iPad app on the way for the device. Additionally, Hulu’s iPad app is rumored to be in the works.

Some CBS shows will also be available on day one via the iPad-compatible TV.com iPhone app. NBC also offers some of its shows on an iPhone-friendly version of NBC.com that will presumably work on the iPad as well.

Apple and Adobe have been scuffling over the iPad’s lack of in-browser Flash support. Apple prefers the newer HTML5 format for rendering rich media like games and videos, claiming that Flash is responsible for a large number of application crashes on Mac computers. HTML5, however, is still in its infancy while Flash is ubiquitous around the web. Who will win the war?

For more Apple coverage, follow Mashable Apple on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: abc, adobe flash, apple app store, Apple iPad, cbs, Flash, HTML5, ipad, safari, streaming video, television, tv, web browser, web video

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: SeatGeek

Quick Pitch: SeatGeek is a free, innovative search and forecasting web application that helps users save money on sports and concert tickets.

Genius Idea: SeatGeek is a website that analyzes ticket sales for events and makes predictions as to the best time to buy in the resale market.

Ticket prices tend to fluctuate as events get closer; that’s based on a number of factors, but SeatGeek doesn’t go out of its way to explain the reasons for the fluctuations. Rather, it uses behind-the-scenes algorithms that the company claims lead to 80% accurate predictions of where ticket prices will go. Here’s a picture of the tools in action.

As you can see, SeatGeek tracks ticket resellers and compares their deals much like a site like Price Grabber does for consumer products. You can buy these through the SeatGeek website, or look at its predictions to decide when you’ll save the most money. There are also sharing options for Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and MySpace.

Visit the site each week and you’ll see top 10 lists for events, too.

The New York-based site launched in September 2009, and it launched a new service called TicketPortfolio just in time for the 2010 Major League Baseball season. TicketPortfolio allows season ticket holders to “manage, price and sell their portfolios.”

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”

For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, MySpace, PHP, Twitter

Tags: bizspark, seatgeek, spark-of-genius, startups

Will Wright — creator of innovative video games such as SimCity, The Sims and Spore — is working with former Nickelodeon and SpikeTV president Albie Hecht to develop a TV show called The Creation Project for Al Gore’s Current TV.

According to IGN, the unconventional show would give viewers the chance to develop their own TV episodes via a “StoryMaker Engine,” which provides them with all the tools and images they need to create original tales. The StoryMaker Engine was designed by Wright himself.

Wright, Hecht and their team would sort through the submissions and choose winners, turning each winning story into two half-hour episodes. This vision is in keeping with the theme of creation present in all of Wright’s games.

If it gets a greenlight, the series could premiere by the end of this year, but nothing’s certain yet. Wright has a record of success, though; The Sims is the bestselling computer game of all time, and SimCity and Spore didn’t fare too badly, either. Wright is tapping into the human desire to create, and you never know — that might translate from the family computer to the living room TV.

[img credit: designbyfront]

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: current tv, online games, sim city, social media, Spore, televisiont, the creation project, the sims, user-generated content, v, video games, will wright

This viral video of a cat’s response to its owner scratching its neck would be mildly amusing on its own, but mash it up with Russian singer Eduard Khil’s accidental viral hit “Trololo” and it becomes “epic,” as they say on the interwebs.

When scratched, the cat props its neck and head up in such a way that it becomes the spitting image of Khil in the Trololo viral video.

Cat videos are a staple of YouTube’s viral video culture, so this qualifies as a meme mashup. Both memes are going strong; the new Keyboard Cat video just hit the web recently, and Trololo has its own iPhone app now. Weird, wild stuff.

Trololo Cat

Trololo

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, cat

Tags: cat, humor, trololo, viral videos, youtube