Google Glass Gets Social With Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and Other Apps (SocialTimes)
Soon you’ll be able to look your friends in the eye (sort of) when you log into your favorite social network with Google Glass. Google has announced at the I/O conference in San Francisco that the futuristic eyewear, dubbed Glassware, will come with applications for Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Evernote, as well as publications like CNN and Elle.
Find out how to use Google Tools to manage social media content and campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp, an interactive online event starting June 6. Monica Morse (left), head of social & SMB solutions at Google, will familiarize you with a wide range of Google tools such as trends, Google+ and Hangouts. Learn more about our our twelve event speakers and register here. 
Amazon to Acquire Book Lovers’ Network Goodreads (SocialTimes)
Amazon has reached an agreement to acquire Goodreads, a community for book lovers. Founded in 2007, the San Francisco-based company has a member base of 16 million avid readers who have collectively formed more than 30,000 book clubs.
Facebook Officially Launches Lookalike Audiences (AllFacebook)
Lookalike Audiences, which Facebook began beta-testing last month, will launch this week as a targeting option on the social network’s power editor, allowing advertisers to reach out to potential customers with similar characteristics to their current customers. Facebook launched custom audiences last fall, which allowed brands to show ads to their current customers who were on the social network.
Medium, the yet-to-launch publishing project of Twitter founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone, has hired “wunderkind” literary agent Kate Lee to serve as director of content.
Election night drove Twitter usage to new highs. The service reported 327,452 tweets per minute as the networks began to predict an Obama victory. Notably, the president also tweeted a victory message (“Four more years”) before he took the stage to make his acceptance speech.
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Nook Goes HD to Face Off With Kindle (CNET)
Barnes & Noble added two Nooks to the tablet family that have better screens and faster processors. There’s the 7-inch Nook HD (starting at $200 with 8 GB) and 9-inch Nook HD+ (starting at $270 with 16 GB). San Francisco Chronicle The largest U.S. bookstore chain’s new devices will take on Amazon.com’s updated Kindle Fire announced Sept. 6. The online retailer, which also pitched its new devices as a cheaper competitor to the iPad, starts its 7-inch tablet at $199 and an 8.9-inch at $299. Bloomberg Businessweek In the United States, the tablets can be pre-ordered, starting Wednesday, and will ship in late October. They will become available in the United Kingdom in late November. Boston Herald Consumers will soon have another mobile video streaming service to consider, with Barnes & Noble announcing a new product that analysts say could create problems for Netflix. Though the company declined to offer pricing details for Nook Video, which won’t be a subscription service like Netflix, Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating indicated they will rival other offerings. Reuters In many ways, Barnes & Noble, which operates nearly 700 stores, has defied expectations. It beat Amazon to the marketplace with touchscreen devices and a color reader in recent years, and won plaudits from reviewers this year for its glow-in-the-dark Nook that allows someone to read with the lights off so as not to disturb others. Read more
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Justin Timberlake Teases Sexy New Myspace (Mashable)
Fifteen months after its acquisition by Specific Media, we’re finally getting a sneak peek at the new Myspace. Justin Timberlake — who took an ownership stake in the new MySpace — tweeted a link to a video previewing the new service. AllThingsD The promotional video previewed a drastically different, horizontally oriented user interface and a continued emphasis on music, one of the site’s strong points in its nearly 10-year existence. In 2010, there was another attempt to revive the site with then-CEO Mike Jones at the helm; back then, the aim was to create a “social entertainment site” aimed at Gen-Y, Web-savvy users. The Verge Myspace looks like it will integrate well with the dominant Facebook and Twitter platforms — there’s a short clip that shows off finding friends through Facebook as well as posting tweets directly through Myspace. The new service will also encourage users to “bring their stuff,” specifically photo albums, videos, and playlists. AllFacebook It appears that users will be able to bring more information and details from their Facebook profile. Currently, those who sign into Myspace through Facebook automatically import their profile photos, as well as basic information such as birth date, current city and relationship status. WebProNews “We’re hard at work building the new Myspace, entirely from scratch. But we’re staying true to our roots in one important way—empowering people to express themselves however they want. So whether you’re a musician, photographer, filmmaker, designer or just a dedicated fan, we’d love for you to be a part of our brand new community.” That’s all it says at new.myspace.com. There’s an email signup box, and Myspace said it will send an invite your way “very soon.” Read more
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Mark Zuckerberg: I Won’t Sell Facebook Shares for a Year (Mashable)
Some investors and Facebook insiders may be rushing to sell off their stock in the company, but at least one person plans to hold onto his shares for a while: Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday that Zuckerberg has “no intention” to sell any of his Facebook shares for at least the next year. VentureBeat According to the document, Zuckerberg holds roughly 444 million shares of Class B common stock and an additional 60 million Class B shares issuable upon the exercise of an option. All of those shares are staying put for the foreseeable future. Bloomberg Facebook shortened the lockup period for certain employees, so 234 million shares will now be available for sale on Oct. 29, instead of Nov. 14. After Tuesday’s amendment, and accounting for the shares that Zuckerberg won’t sell, the total number freed up for sale by insiders through November will shrink to 1.01 billion from 1.44 billion previously, according to the filing. AllFacebook The bad news related to Facebook stock continues to roll in, with analysts for two of the social network’s largest underwriters, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan, lowering their price targets, according to reports. The Wall Street Journal reported that Morgan Stanley Analyst Scott Devitt dropped his price target for Facebook for the next 12 months from $38 per share to $32, warning that it could drop to as low as $17 per share. CNNMoney Zuckerberg will take the stage at this month’s TechCrunch Disrupt conference to make his first public appearance since the company’s tumultuous debut in May. Zuckerberg’s interview will take place on Sept. 11 in San Francisco. Read more
From the minds of Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone comes yet another platform for curating and displaying content. Medium is still under wraps, but previews of the publishing platform show single-subject blogs that invite feedback and, eventually, contributions from readers.
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Twitter Founders Want to Reinvent Digital Publishing – Again (Mashable)
Twitter founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone want to shake up the digital publishing world with their latest venture, Medium. The pair, who also worked together on Blogger, announced the new platform Tuesday. GigaOM The new collaborative publishing tool lets people contribute as much or as little as they want to themed “collections” of content. The idea, the founders said in a blog post, is that people should be able to publish without “the burden of becoming a blogger” and worrying about developing an audience. The Next Web The platform has a grid-based layout and appears to fall somewhere between Twitter and Blogger as an option for content creators. The interface for photographs is especially gorgeous, taking up the full window with the image and relegating chrome to the corners of the screen. TechCrunch Anyone can read and give feedback on Medium entries now, with publishing access to roll out from friends and family to more people soon. To start, there are four collections. VentureBeat
The big question is, does the Internet have room for one more publishing platform? And if it does, is Medium the lucky one out of a sea of competing products? Read more
