Video Pocket Cam War

I am actually in the market for a new pocket camera that is real easy to use, not too high-tech and for the right price.  Last year the Flip Video Camera killed the market making it popular to all consumers both tech savvy and non.

With the increase in Social Media Video Blogging especially cheesy Facebook birthday videos (LOL) Pocket Cams are all the lastest buzz.

This year it seems that the HD market is in play and the 3 names that kept coming up when doing comparisons were the..

• Flip Ultra-HD – The leading pocket camera maker that boosted its popularity last year with the cheap Flip Camera now with a ultra slick hd version.
• Sony Webbie-HD – Sony’s baby in trying to compete with the Flip market
• Vado-HD – Vado was Flips biggest competitor last year who was cheaper and better specs but because of the media and hype Flip got more attention.  This year though Vado is back with a vengenace.

So below are the Side-By-Side specs and features..lets see who the winner is just on specs alone and maybe ill do a follow-up blog

Flip Ultra-HD

The Flip Video Camera website http://www.theflip.com

• The Price: $199

• Recording Time: 2 hours

• Memory: 8gb

• Screen Size: 2.0″ (Diagonal)

• Weight: 6.0 oz

• Digital Zoom: 2x

• Video Resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels

• Battery Life: up to 2.5 Hours
  

• Battery Option: 2 AA Batteries Rechargeable

• Colors: 2 colors

Sony Webbie-HD

The Webbie Video Camera website http://www.SonyStyle.com/handycam

• The Price: $169

• Recording Time: When using 16GB Memory Stick PRO Duo^™ media (sold separately) up to 5 1/2 hours

• Memory: Requires Memory Sticks – up to 16 GB

• Screen Size: 1.8″ (Diagonal)

• Weight: 4 oz

• Digital Zoom: 4x

• Video Resolution: 1440x 1080 pixels

• Battery Life: up to 1 hour 25mins
  

• Battery Option: built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery

• Colors: 3 colors

Vado HD

The Vado Video Camera website http://www.Creative.com

• The Price: $229

• Recording Time: 2 hours

• Memory: 8gb

• Screen Size: 2.0″ (Diagonal)

• Weight: 3.5 oz

• Digital Zoom: 2x

• Video Resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels

• Battery Life: 2 hours
  

• Battery Option: rechargeable lithium ion battery

• Colors: 1 color

Winners

1.  Price – Vado HD $229

2.  Time – Webbie HD 5 hours

3.  Memory – Webbie HD 16GB

4.  Screen – TIE – Flip HD & Vado HD 2″ Diagonal

5.  Weight – Vado HD 3.5 oz

6.  Zoom – Webbie HD 4x

7. Resolution – Webbie HD 1440 x 1080

8.  Battery – Flip HD 2.5 hours

9.  Type Battery – Webbie HD built in rechargeable battery

10.  Color – Webbie HD 3 colors

Totals = Webbie the Winner with 6 out of 9 GOLD.

Specs alone show that the Sony Webbie is the best choice…but does that mean its still the best overall camera?

Hope you enjoyed the side by side!

Post from: Social Media Vision

Flip Ultra-HD vs Sony Webbie-HD vs Vado-HD for Video Pocket Cam War

Updated ShareThis (http://sharethis.com/)

People know that I love ShareThis widget because it’s so easy to add to your blog and the many links they provide lightning fast.

They have been growing increasingly popular with all the awards they have been recently receiving and growing a stronger base more and more everyday.

Today ShareThis announced the latest release of the ShareThis widget.  The biggest and most exciting change that I saw was that they are going Tab-Free which was the biggest complaint of most ShareThis users.  Simplicity is key and they simplified the tabs to one section making it more convenient for us bloggers.

The other updated changes focus more on the Social Media content of improving ways to share your links and importing contacts.  These are also great simplified changes that improve performance time and time consumption.

Below is the official press release of the update…

Here is what you can expect:

• No tabs!  We listened to your feedback and redesigned the widget to be tab-free.  We have merged the Social Web and Post tabs into one section, making the experience more intuitive and manageable for the user.

• Smarter Widget.  Whenever registered ShareThis users share content to their contacts, we will display the last three addresses used.  Reducing time searching for most used contacts encourages users to share more frequently.

• ShareBox v2.0.  Users can now save content directly to their ShareBox through a link in the widget.  We had several requests for this feature so we are excited to announce it is now available!

• Contact Manager. ShareThis users will now be able to access and import their contacts from within the widget.  This allows your users to gain access to their address books without leaving your site.

Common questions:

Q. Do I need to make any changes to my existing code?
No, we will automatically push the new design to your site as well as maintain your current customization, such as link colors and the order/selection of the social web services.

Q. When is the new design going to go live on my site?
We plan on doing a full release across all publishers starting later this week.

Q. Will my reporting still work after the new design is released?
Yes, all data will be intact and viewable from your ShareThis Reporting Dashboard.

Q. Can I change the customization of the new widget?
Yes, in order to change the look and feel as well as reorder the services, you can do so by using the new ShareThis Widget Configurator (available when the new widget is on your site).  You will find some new customization options, such as the ability to allow the widget to open on click or on hover.

Q. Will my offset settings migrate over to the new widget?
Yes, your offset parameters will migrate, however, since the new widget is much smaller, please check your settings to make sure the widget appears in the right location on the page. 

 

Great update ShareThis team and keep those updates coming!

Post from: Social Media Vision

New Updates with Social Media Widget ShareThis

A new content discovery platform where bloggers can monetize on their talent (http://www.bloggersbase.com)

I just recently discovered this website early this month in which subsequently I just found out that the website just started in December 2008.

The website is called BloggersBase.com and is a new Blogging community where you can share your content, enter in weekly cash prizes, actively view/engage the best posts of your favorite niche and gain exposure for yourself as a blogger.

I really like this website because it’s still in Beta and I got a chance to explore the community and provide some of my posts on my website that may of not got much exposure with other avenues.   So I got a chance to test a new audience and a new source of results.

I also noticed one of our Favorite Social Media Marketers is Blonde 2.0 is an active contributor and advocate on the site.

The Blog Competition

The website has it’s standard categories to post your content to; Entertainment, Lifestyle, Technology, World Affairs, Special Events and Partnerships.  Each parent category has it’s own sub-categories.

I am a Tech & Social Media blogger so I found Technology->Internet to post to.  What’s unique about BloggersBase is that you can re-publish your content that you already written and does not have to be an exclusive article.  This is great especially if you are time constraint and wishing to just get more exposure with an article you have written before.

Nuggets

When you first start out you are assigned a newbie rank as a blogger and a reader.  You can promote in ranks for both “Blogger” and “Reader” rank with the more you participate in.  With the higher ranks you achieve, you will gain “Influence” or Authority.

For Example:  A lowbie “Reader” rank who comments and votes.  Your votes are counted very little.  When you gain more higher ranks, your votes will have more value.

A lowbie “Blogger” when posting new posts will not be displayed in the voting competition right away.  The newbie blogger will instead be put in a “Nuggets” category where you have to gain certain votes to get out of.  Once out of the “Nuggets” stage you can then post your posts to the voting competition.

Weekly Prizes

Since Bloggersbase is fairly new, you have less competition and more of a chance to win the weekly cash prizes every week.  Like I said, I just started and already won $50 in 2 weeks time.

$40 for first prize and $10 for second prize.

Payment is sent to Paypal which is great because its fast and secure.

The winners will receive also status points for the “Blogger” rank system, promotional prizes (one week was a BloggersBase Ipod), Cash prizes and the title of Author to keep posting posts to the main blog instead of writing new “Nuggets” for that week.

Conclusion

The last reason why you should join BloggersBase is because most posts have already hit the front page results for Google.  This is another great SEO technique similar to posting to EZine Articles and other posting platforms.

So join now, its Free and less competition right now.  I will see you around Bloggersbase.

Post from: Social Media Vision

New Blog Platform Competition Community To Gain Exposure & Money – BloggersBase

Power Twitter 1.0 Review

New Firefox Addon Power Twitter just released a new version 1.o that is making headlines all over the Twittersphere lately.

Narendra Rocherolle over at 83 Degrees created this Firefox Addon found here.  (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9591)

This new Addon allows Twitter users to use some strong features within Twitter to become more of a Power User for Twitter.  Most recent famous Twitter Stars that associated with Power Twitter were Techcrunch, Problogger and Twitter founder Biz seen below.

The Hype

The Features

1.  Twitter Search Improved

Power Twitter enables a better call-to-action with the new location of the Twitter’s Search feature.  Not only is the main search feature moved to the sidebar but also you can search within a Twitter user’s specific timeline if you click on their profile.  This is a great feature that makes searching for content more accessible.

2.  Tweet History 

With Power Twitter installed you can now mouse-over a user’s profile picture in your Twitter stream to showcase a Tweet History of that user.  This is really effective feature because you can now keep track better of previous Tweets from your favorite Twitter friends.  I find this extremely necessary when you have more than 300 friends to follow.  This option may not be as organized as Tweetdeck’s group feature but still does the trick in keeping up with your priority friends on Twitter so you won’t feel guilty in missing a Tweet.

3.  Facebook Status Updates

This is a cool new feature where you can see your friends on Facebook status updates.  You can’t really respond or update your own Facebook status with this new tab in your sidebar but does keep you in the loop with your Facebook updates which might be handy.

4.  Embedded Pictures and Videos

Now this feature is really handy because now your Twitter stream will show you the Videos and Pictures that are linked on Twitter now instead of seeing the shorten URLS.  You maybe familiar with this type of set-up with Facebook wall posts that show you the automatic pictures and videos embedded in the profile.

5.  URL Improvement

URL’s are now showing the URL titles instead of the shrink URL links.  This removes the masking of the shorten urls so you might get  better picture in what you are clicking to.

6. Reply Feature Improved

If you ever used Tweetdeck, you may of noticed you pick up better detailed Reply messages in the client than the web browser.  The reason behind this is due to that Tweetdeck scans for all @(your username) regardless at the beginning, middle or end.  The web browser only shows the @ replies that only begin with your username, not showcasing Retweets or other conversation elements.

7. Web Browser Tool

Finally another feature of the Power Twitter is that this is just an add-on to your current Firefox web browser.  This is not a software client you need to download and install.  Some people may not like software clients and thus is why you may want to choose Power Twitter.  Another reason why web based is a good option is because many corporate computers will not let you download any software but will let you install addons to current software like Firefox.

The Complaints

With any new up and coming Twitter Power Apps there will be complaints and cons.  Below are a couple I have found.

*Multi-Platforms

Power Twitter is only made for Firefox toolbar and is missing support for Mobile, Mac & other web browser users.  They are missing a huge opportunity here.

*Options Menu missing

Power Twitter needs to have an options menu to configure because I sometimes want certain features like the URL expansion disabled or the Video/Picture removed.  People like Twitter because its very clean and having the Videos and Pictures keep auto-populating in the Twitterstream can clutter and slow down immensely.  Also with with the URL expansions, I would like to sometimes ReTweet with the shorten url attached but when you copy in Power Twitter mode you get the title formation instead.  Very, very aggrovating.

*Software Client Option 

This is simple.  Have an option of transferring these features to a software application like Tweetdeck.  Some users hate using the browser to Tweet.

*Extremely Laggy

Last but not least, Power Twitter has very delayed load times when loading the Power Twitter features on every refresh and new page on Twitter within the browser.  This may improve in the future or may not.   As of right now this is considered a slight hassle because the load time is not huge but is noticeable.

So there you have it, the Pros & Cons of the Power Twitter Tool.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Becoming A Power Twitter User With New Firefox Addon Power Twitter

Photo Credit

This will be my first post in series of interest articles and blogs I have read for the week and will play it by ear here on out.

Social Media News

Social Media Presence of the Top US Newspapers – One of my favorite up and coming bloggers Glen from PluginID has shown some great stats with this post on newspapers on social media.

Social Media Predictions 2009 – A collaboration of great minds with Peter Kim

What’s in a Retweet? Data Behind Viral Messaging on Twitter – The main idea behind a Retweet, pretty good stuff

I want to work for Mashable – Michael Wong a beloved community user and ex power digg user went viral with this blog post that got heard around the twitter world and sparked some a lot of diggs!

Social Media in Plain English – Layman terms of Social Media.  Great read.

Wayne Sutton – Interview (Social Media Rockstar) – Interview with Wayne Sutton a rising Social Media Professional to keep an eye out for.

Understanding Izea’s Sponsored Blogging Service by Jeremiah Owyang – The whole fiasco behind the blogging sponsorship with the Social Media Superstars, a very good read to catch up on.

2008 in Review: Mashable’s 20 Most Popular Stories  by Mashable – A great round up of popular stories on Mashable.

Cool Posts

17,000 Push-Pin Super Mario 3 Mosiac   – A very cool art design with over 17k push pins on our favorite Nintendo star

Photoshop Age-Maps - A freaky photoshop concept art

The art of stone balancing  - A very cool display of stones balancing on each other, way cool

All-Star Post

The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook – Tamar’s Mac Daddy of a guide book on what to do and what not to do on Social Media Etiquette, SMV’s All-Star Post of the week!

Post from: Social Media Vision

Social Media Vision Weekly Roundup Dec 22nd – Social Media Predictions 2009

What is Miissenger

Calling out all Wii Heads, now there is a place where Wii gamers can have a Social Networking platform for their Mii Avatars.

A Wii Mii Avatar is the 3d image of your online game user profile.  There are millions of customization for your Mii Avatar.

Missenger’s Statement is 

“Miissenger is social networking website offering Wii admirers an user-friendly place to exchange Wii codes. By adding your friends’ Wii codes to your Wii address book you will enable your Mii’s ability to ‘mingle’. You and your friends’ Miis will be able to visit each other’s Mii Plazas and form Mii Parades.”

SMV Review

Missenger is a great hot new idea where fellow Mii users can interact and have an online community to share and network.  Tons of new Mii are added on a daily basis.

Expect this simple concept to take off with the ever so-popular Wii console.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Mii’s New Social Networking Site For Wii Gamers

The NoFollow Comment Rule

Back in 2005, Google implemented the code of [rel="nofollow"] attribute on links found in the comments section of websites and blogs.  The idea behind this is to prevent comment spammers trying to  increase his page rank and exposure to his website.  The  nofollow code has been widely accepted since then and almost all  platforms use this code on almost all comment sections.

Another reason to use the nofollow code is to prevent being penalized on “Paid Links”.  Paid links are against Google’s guidelines and will penalize you if you do not add the nofollow code to tell the search engines that is is a paid advertisement.  The guidelines state that you can not buy and sell links only for advertising purposes and the only way to tell the difference is with the no follow code.

Currently there are highly advanced security measures like Askimet plugins that prevent the comment spammers from ever appearing on your blog in the first place.  Captcha word verifications are also very popular and effective in preventing spam.  This should of opened the flood gates with the dofollow rules again but unfortunately the nofollow rule is still very much a major factor still till this day.

Spreading Link Love

Your blog and website is a hub for your online readers to interact and engage with you and other readers.  The best way to show your appreciation back to your readers is have a follow back based on your readers comments, showing common web 2.0 courtesy and respect.

Below are 2 ways that I have implemented on my website to show my
support in the Spread the Link Love movement.

• Do-Follow Plug-ins - An easy way to remove and disable the nofollow code on your blog or website is by installing a Do-Follow plug-in.  This is a simple and easy way to solve this problem
  right away.  A good WordPress plug-in I am currently using is Semiologic’s Plugin

• CommentLuv - Is another plug-in that enables you to reward your readers by auto-populating the reader’s last blog post they have written in your comments section. The idea is basically the same as implementing a do-follow site, but CommentLuv move a step further by rewarding the commentators a link back to their latest post as well. 

CommentLuv currently runs as a WordPress or Drupal plugin, but they promised they will expand it to other blog host such as Blogger. You may click on the following link to visit CommentLuv’s website: http://www.commentluv.com/

The “I Follow” Movement

Yes, today I joined the “I follow” movement in helping spread the word in getting back the dofollow code back in the mainstream of thing.  I have installed both plug-ins on my website and have included the badges on my sidebar.  If you want a great badge too, follow the poster-child of the movement, Randy Clay at his website here to grab a great looking badge.

Please feel free in testing out the CommentLuv and the Open Do-Follow comment section below.  Please keep in mind I sill monitor my comments and will delete any spam if deemed necessary.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Showing Link Love with CommentLuv and Do-Follow Plug-ins