One in five divorces are blamed on Facebook. And 69% of parents are friends with their children on social media. Those are just two of the facts included in the latest installment of “Social Media Revolution.”

The video is produced by Socialnomics author Erik Qualman, who has created several similar videos and has updated them as new data surfaces.

The latest video in the series is updated with data up to June 2011 and contains several interesting highlights:

• Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Britney Spears have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Sweden, Israel, Greece, Chile, North Korea and Australia.
• Groupon will reach $1 billion in sales faster than any company in history.
• Social gamers will buy $6 billion in virtual goods by 2013.

Check out the video below and tell us in the comments what you think.

Enjoy this video along with us, as we really try to believe a seagull would actually pick up a tiny GoPro video camera and fly with it for a few blocks, depositing it on a rooftop. We’d also like to believe that its owner would be able to find the camera afterward.

After you’ve virtually soared along with the sea bird on its majestic flight — where you can hear it breathing and see its perspective from aloft — and after you’ve laughed out loud at the goofy sounds the “seagull” makes toward the end of the video, come back to earth for a moment.

Realize that the company that makes the GoPro camera is quite adept at viral videos. Another hint: According to the video’s YouTube description, the seagull allegedly “stoled” that camera in Cannes, France, the location of a well-known film festival.

Probable conclusion: After scores of action videos featuring snowboarders and daredevils, apparently GoPro has branched out into skillfully produced simulated Seagull Cams. Brilliant.

Here’s another example of GoPro’s viral video prowess in a more straightforward clip that garnered 3.1 million views:

At the BlackbBerry DevCon in San Francisco today, RIM introduced its brand new tablet device: the BlackBerry PlayBook, which is scheduled for release in early 2011 in North America with rollouts in Q2 in the rest of the world.

The PlayBook will run on the brand new BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK, which will be released to developers in the coming weeks.

So what does the PlayBook have to offer? It turns out, quite a lot. Featuring a 7″ screen (much like the newSamsung Galaxy Tab), the PlayBook sports a 1Ghz dual-core processor, has 1GB of RAM and touts the ability to multi-task and run Flash 10.1.

To a large extent, the PlayBook looks like it’s a showcase of RIM’s acquisition of QNX and QNX Neutrino is the base of the new OS.

RIM is selling this as the first “enterprise-ready” professional tablet.

Check out the specs:

• 7″ LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• 1 GB RAM
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe
• Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
• Ultra thin and portable:
• Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
• Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
• Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
• RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

Think Finance is a Sequoia-backed startup that provides banking services to the underbanked and unbaked. The company has been around since 2001 and has been profitable since 2003, but they’ve operated very much under the radar by design until now.

Today, Think Finance is announcing that they’ve secured a $90 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital Advisors. This massive line of credit will be used to develop, expand and underwrite, Elastic, Think Finance’s web-based bank account replacement product.

Elastic is currently operational as a pilot program, providing its online bankers with an Elastic debit card, line of credit, and access to bank account statements and account history. Think Finance will enhance Elastic’s services with a savings feature, financial literacy tools and budgeting tools. The company plans to release these features and aggressively push Elastic in the first quarter of 2011.

Elastic’s savings account feature will be tailored to train its customers to better manage finances and reward them for doing so through an Elastic scoring program. Each customer will start out with a score of 600 — the score is designed to mimic credit scores — and that score will go up when the customer makes a payment, sets up direct deposit, completes a financial literacy course or accomplishes other positive banking activities. The higher the score, the better, as Think Finance will issue customers with high scores rebates on finance charges, essentially depositing extra funds into a customer’s account for good behavior.

Elastic’s services will somewhat overlap with BankSimple’s radical approach to online banking. But, CEO Ken Rees doesn’t see the early stage startup as competition.

“We celebrate all of the innovators in the space that use technology for banking purposes. They [BankSimple] are more focused on the needs of prime consumers. We’re focused on the underbanked and unbanked — the estimated 60 million people who are not well served by traditional banks,” says Rees.

Image courtesy of barsen, Flickr
via: Mashable

Visa has just rolled out a new pilot program that allows New Yorkers to pay subway, bus and train fares with a wave of their iPhones.

New York City Transit, NJ TRANSIT and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are participating in the pilot program. As part of the program, Visa is testing both payment cards and Visa payWave-enabled smartphones.

Rather than having to buy or refill a Metro card, travelers can just wave their phones in front of a contactless reader.

As we reported last month, Visa is also working with Bank of America to bring smartphone payments to retailers in New York City.

Smartphones that are equipped with a special sensor can transmit payment information to contactless card readers at fare gates. Not only does this help people get through transit stations more quickly; it also eliminates the need to buy a transit card or dig around in your purse for your existing pass.

Check out this video that Visa produced to show the smartWave wireless payment option in action:

Beyond New York, Visa is also working with LA Metro to bring TAP ReadyCARD dual-use prepaid Visa cards that act as both transit tickets and Visa debit cards.

Internationally, Visa has been deploying its payWave technology in Kuala Lampur, Singapor, Paris, Istanbul and London.

The New York subway program is only deployed across 28 stops along the Lexington subway line; but if it is successful, we might see this feature rolled out across the wider system.

Frankly, as someone who frequently loses or misplaces transit cards, having the option to just wave my smartphone to pay my fare sounds incredible. Even better than getting to use this feature for a train, using the system on the bus would make getting around much faster. Would you like to be able to pay for transit tickets by waving your phone? Let us know.

Image courtesy of Ed Yourdon
via: Mashable

Looxcie’s over-the-ear bluetooth camcorder can capture up to 5 hours of footage and is designed to capture video from your eye perspective.  It’s only $199.

Never miss a moment again with the revolutionary Looxcie. This innovative hands-free camcorder lets you continuously capture real-time video without needing to press a record button. Looxcie connects with your smartphone via Bluetooth, so you can monitor your video and share it instantly with friends via Facebook, YouTube, email, and more. With its lightweight, over-ear design, Looxcie gives you the freedom to be both director and participant. Looxcie captures everything you see, so you can join the action.

Product Description

Looxcie is the first small, light, easy-to-wear camcorder system that videos everything the user sees. Optimized for mobile use, the device fits comfortably over the ear and points where you look. Looxcie is always on, always videoing-there’s no record button. When users want to capture a moment, they can simply press the instant clip button to save a clip of the last thirty seconds. With the smartphone application and Bluetooth connection, users can view, edit, and share Looxcie moments via email, text, or online by posting to Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and more. Getting started is simple and only takes a few minutes:. Connect Looxcie to your smartphone as you would a Bluetooth headset. Load the smartphone application in order to use your phone to view and share Looxcie moments. Turn on the camera and start capturing Looxcie moments instantly. Share your Looxcie moments, edit and take phone calls, too Looxcie utilizes a dual processor system for video and Bluetooth communication. The device incorporates Bluetooth technology which allows for the fluid connection between the handset and Looxcie. Looxcie seamlessly transfers video clips directly to leading smartphone operating systems. Additional Product Features & Specs:. Adjustable boom for comfort and view refinement. Lightweight: less than 28g (1 oz.). Always on battery life allows up to 4 hrs of continuous use. Clips are time stamped and stored in your clip register as MP4 files. On board storage of up to 4 hrs of video and hundreds of instant clips (3 hrs of clips). Looxcie video processor includes automatic high color and light resolution adaptation. ½ VGA full resolution camera.

You can buy it here.

Google will be rolling out starting today search results that update while you type, “Google Instant”, a feature which they had tested in the wild. The results stream to you, taking what you’ve typed so far as a cue.

According to Google, the feature consists of three gears:

*Instant Results — Google Results now dynamically change as you type, typing in a “w” will get you a 5-day forecast in San Francisco, instantly.

*Predictions — The search attempts to predict exactly what you want, showing the results that it thinks you want in grey text, allowing you to chose.

*Scroll To Search — Using the down arrow key will let you scroll through each of the suggestions, and the results page will update as you go along.

The search button, which users now will be pressing less often, will now take over the function of showing results for the EXACT query.

You can see “Google Instant” in action above.

Stay tuned for updates.

via:TechCrunch

Google has added a "Call phone" function to Gmail that will put Google in closer competition with Internet phone service Skype.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Google announced Wednesday that it will allow users to make phone calls over the Internet through its Gmail service, encroaching on territory that has thus far been dominated by Skype.

The service will appear in Gmail users’ chat windows with a “Call phone” button. When clicked, a telephone dialer will pop up on the screen, and users can place calls using an internal microphone or connected headset.

Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) said calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of 2010. The company said it will roll out the service to its U.S. users over the next several days.

Calls to other countries from the U.S. will be billed at Skype-like rates: Calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan, for instance, will be offered for 2 cents per minute.

Google also said it plans on making the service available for international users to initiate calls, but it didn’t offer a timeline for when the service would be introduced abroad.

The company said the feature will be useful to make quick calls when a user is on a computer, or for placing calls in areas with poor reception.

“Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?’” Robin Schriebman, Google software engineer wrote in a company blog post.

Customers who use Google Voice, Google’s free telephone service, will be able to make calls in Gmail using their Google Voice numbers. They will also be able to receive calls made to their Google voice numbers inside Gmail if they choose.

The move positions the company in a battle with Skype. It won’t be easy to overtake Skype, however: In its recent government filing for an initial public offering, Skype said it has 560 million registered users. That compares to nearly 200 million Gmail users, according to Google.

Still, Gmail is becoming a communications hub for its users. Prior to the phone service, Gmail already allowed users to e-mail, instant message and video chat on PCs. Users can also use Gmail to post to social networks through the service’s Google Buzz feature.

Some analysts say the convenience factor could drive some would-be Skype users to Gmail’s new phone service.

“Google Voice in Gmail will gain some traction, simply because it’s there — some people live in Gmail,” said Vanessa Alvarez, analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “It will steal some share from Skype, but Skype has been in this space for a while, so it will be a long time before Google’s share becomes significant.”

As always, the question with any new Google product is how the company will make money on it. Like Skype, Google has an opportunity to sell its service to corporations. Google said a paid version for business customers will be coming out soon.

But Google hasn’t had much success with business customers so far. Its Apps services are slow to be adopted by corporate customers, and the company recently killed its Wave collaborative tool for businesses.

With Voice in Gmail, some experts believe business adoption and revenue from the service will be equally poor.

“Google is taking the easy road of arming their army of fans and users with something just good enough to use — but not necessarily good enough to meet enterprise requirements — and standing back and watching to see how they can shape the market,” said Tom Austin, Google applications analyst at Gartner.

As a result, Austin said he believes Google’s paid revenue stream for the service will be quite small: just $20.3 million per quarter, or 0.3% of Google’s second quarter revenue.

“How important can it be if it’s so insignificant?” Austin asked.

Yes, OKCupid’s data confirms our suspicions, iPhone users do “do it” more, at a rate of about 2x that of Android users. Perhaps this is because the Android has an easily accessible porn app store?

Presumably iPhone users are better at getting their kicks in real life. But the chart still leaves the greatest question of our time unanswered, “Do attractive people buy more iPhones, or does the iPhone somehow make you more attractive?” In any case, maybe it’s time some of us reconsidered our gadget predilections.

Get more “facts” about the iPhone as aphrodisiac here.

Charts: OKCupid

These new smart parking meters about to be tested in San Francisco automatically adjust the price you’re going to pay for your space depending on how many spots are already filled. Thanks to supply and demand you will pay anywhere from .25 cents to $6 an hour to park – expect to multiply that by 2 if these come to New York.