NBC.com

Today is finally here for the iPad, as the NBC morning-news show released its free Today App for iPad, which uses the Apple table’s high-resolution display to allow users to view video segments, interact with video transcripts, view slide shows, and read other content. Videos can be viewed in full-screen mode, as well.

Users can also share Today content via email, Facebook, and Twitter.

Today.com director Jen Brown said:

We know our audience wants to be in the loop on the latest news and information. We created the Today App to allow them to stay connected with their favorite segments throughout the day and on the go.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.

The Celebrity Apprentice debuts on NBC Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT, and GetGlue will not be the first one fired by Donald Trump, as the entertainment-based social network prepared a host of stickers for members who check in during the show.

Stickers will be updated each episode with the unlucky dismissed competitor of the week, and users who check in to every episode will earn a complete set.

NBC Universal created the position of president of digital for its entertainment and digital networks and integrated media division and filled it with Nicholas Lehman, who had been CEO of Plum TV.

Lehman will lead NBCU’s pure-play digital businesses, including iVillage, Daily Candy, Swirl, and Fandango, focusing on content, product development, marketing, sales, research, and promotion across mobile, Web, and new digital platforms.

He will also work closely with the heads of online platforms for the company’s TV brands, including Telemundo, Bravo Media, Oxygen Media, Style, and mun2. And Lehman will finalize a plan for digital research and innovation throughout the division.

Prior to Plum TV, Lehman served stints with IAC and MTV Networks.

Read more

iVillage announced that it will launch the iVillage App Network, and the collection of women’s-targeted apps will be overseen by Douglas Gottlieb, who joined the NBC Universal-owned women’s Web destination as vice president, user experience, from BN.com, where he served as VP of digital products.

iVillage recently launched its Red Carpet Fever app, and it will roll out two more apps each quarter, in addition to a signature iVillage app, set to launch later this month, which will feature stories, screen galleries, and other women-centric original iVillage content.

Prior to BN.com, Gottlieb worked with Sony/BMG Music, Wenner Media, and Fairchild Publications.

Read more

In the mood for Chipotle? Watch a 90-second promo video for NBC’s upcoming America’s Next Great Restaurant on Facebook, and your meal is on the network, Mashable reported.

Facebook users who view the promo will receive buy-one, get-one-free coupons for Chipotle meals including burritos, tacos, or bowls, according to Mashable, and the restaurant chain is also running an in-store texting promotion with a catered burrito party as the prize.

America’s Next Great Restaurant debuts on NBC March 6. According to Mashable, Chipotle founder and CEO Steve Ells is one of four investors in the series.

Dateline NBC is running an online sweepstakes for its Facebook fans through Feb. 20.

Five winners, who will be notified Feb. 22, will travel to NBC News headquarters in New York to watch the March 6 debut of My Kid Would Never, a new hidden-camera show from Dateline based on a special report by Kate Snow on teenage bullying.

Each winner is allowed one guest, and they will leave for New York March 5 and return home March 7.

NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel Tweeted the photo below of an Egyptian protester holding a sign that said, “Thank you, Facebook.” There was no word on whether Engel or any of the other journalists covering the political turmoil in Egypt have discovered anyone expressing their gratitude to Friendster.

NBC News’ MSNBC Digital Network and TODAYshow.com reported strong showings in January in terms of video streaming.

The MSNBC Digital Network tallied 161.7 million total online video streams for the month, fueled by the shootings in Arizona, flooding in Australia, mudslides in Brazil, President Barack Obama‘s State of the Union address, and the political turmoil in Egypt. The January figure topped the previous record from June 2009, which featured coverage of the death of Michael Jackson, by 6 percent.

And the Web site for NBC’s morning stalwart, Today, set a new site record with 63.1 million streams in January, surpassing the old mark of 58 million, which was set in August 2010. Former homeless radio announcer Ted Williams, a woman who had been kidnapped more than 23 years ago, the upcoming royal wedding, the winter weather, and the Arizona shootings were strong factors.

TheGrio kicked off Black History Month by revealing the 2011 class of TheGrio’s 100: History Makers in the Making, which profiles African-American history makers and industry leaders selected by the editorial team from the NBC News-owned site, along with experts and NBC News affiliates.

The United States Marine Corps and AT&T sponsored this year’s class, and members will be profiled across NBC News platforms including NBC Nightly News, Today, MSNBC, CNBC, msnbc.com, theGrio.com, and local NBC affiliates including those in Atlanta; Cleveland; San Diego; Washington, D.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; St. Louis; Philadelphia; and Charlotte, N.C.

TheGrio also teamed up with foursquare to create a Black History badge, which users can unlock by following TheGrio on foursquare and checking in at more than 100 locations across the country that are historically relevant to Black History Month.

And more information on TheGrio’s 100 is available on its Facebook page and via Twitter under the #thegrios100 hashtag.

Read more

NBC News vice president of specials and digital Mark Lukasiewicz spoke with Beet.TV about the explosion in video-news viewing and what his network is doing to solicit and vet user-generated content and create new forms of story telling, specifically mentioning coverage of the turmoil in Egypt.