Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Google Maps Navigation Comes to India and Two Other Stories You Need to Know”

Thursday 6 September 2012 by IrwanKch
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Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Google Maps Navigation Comes to India and Two Other Stories You Need to Know”


Google Maps Navigation Comes to India and Two Other Stories You Need to Know

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 03:59 AM PDT


Welcome to this morning's edition of "First To Know," a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world. Today, we're looking at three particularly interesting stories.

Google Maps Adds Turn-by-Turn Navigation to India

Google has enabled Google Maps Navigation, with turn-by-turn voice driving directions, to thousands of towns across India, including Delhi and Bangalore. The company also brought biking directions and Map Maker to New Zealand.

Navigating campus just got a little easier for college students, as Google rolled out Street View imagery for more than 150 university campuses globally, including the University of California, Los Ang…
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More About: Google Maps, chrome, features, first to know series, mashable, navigation


Bill Clinton Tops Tweets on Day Two of DNC [VIDEO]

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 03:08 AM PDT


Bill Clinton's speech on day two of the Democratic National Convention topped Twitter, seeing the night's highest spike in tweets per minute.

At 22,087 TPM, the end of Clinton's 50-minute-long address Wednesday beat Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's peak last week in Tampa, but was lower than First Lady Michelle Obama's Tuesday night, according to Twitter's official blog.

Tweets per minute peak of the night came at the end of Pres. Clinton's speech: 22,087. #DNC2012— Twitter Government (@gov) September 6, 2012

Clinton's TPM peak tonight was higher than @mittromney's last week (14,289), but lower than @michelleobama's last night (28,003). #DNC2012— Twi…
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More About: 2012 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton, DNC, Democratic National Convention, trending


Samsung Galaxy S III Smartphone Sales Hit 20 Million

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 01:56 AM PDT


Samsung has delivered more than 20 million of its flagship Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S III, the company announced Thursday.

With 200,000 units sold daily, the device is selling six times faster than the Galaxy S and three times faster than the Galaxy S II, Samsung claims.

The company also unveiled regional sales data: 6 million Galaxy S III phones were sold in Europe, 4.5 million in Asia, 4 million in North America, and 2.5 million in Korea.

This is more good news for Samsung, whose smartphone sales recently surpassed those of Apple, according to a report from Strategy Analytics.

More About: Galaxy S III, samsung, trending


OpenTable Hits 15 Million Restaurant Reviews [INFOGRAPHIC]

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 01:02 AM PDT


OpenTable has generated more than 15 million restaurant reviews, the company announced Wednesday.

Launched in 2008, the OpenTable Reviews program publishes a list of restaurant reviews given by the site's members; it includes thousands of eateries across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Users can submit an online feedback form after dining at a restaurant they booked through OpenTable.

The company emphasizes that only diners who have honored an OpenTable reservation are invited to provide a review.

"Only reviews by verified diners are published," spokesman Matt Garcia told Mashable in an email.

To mark the occasion, OpenTable is sharing an infographic, below, tha…
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More About: opentable, restaurants, review, reviews, trending


LinkedIn Revamps Apps for Smartphones, iPads as Mobile Users Grow [PICS]

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 12:03 AM PDT


LinkedIn debuted new mobile features for its iPhone, Android and iPad apps on Wednesday.

The professional social network announced the additions in a blog post written by mobile product head Joff Redfern.

Android and iPhone users can now get notified in real-time when they accept invitations, and when someone views their profile or likes what they share, Redfern writes.

He adds that company pages have gone mobile, so members can see which of their connections work at the companies they follow, monitor recent news and updates from those companies, and learn about current job openings. LinkedIn users can also access job listings within their mobile update stream.

With more…
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More About: Mobile, ipads, linkedin, smartphones, trending


With Social ROI Tool, Adobe Takes on Salesforce

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 09:03 PM PDT


Adobe officially launched a new suite of marketing tools on Thursday called Adobe Social, which is intended to help users better measure and understand the return on investment they get from their social media campaigns.

With Adobe Social, marketers can monitor mentions for their brand on Facebook and Twitter, find out which customers are the key influencers on each of these networks and track how much revenue is being generated from specific social media campaigns and posts. The platform also makes it easier to target ads to certain audiences, personalize a website based on how the user interacts with it and even build apps for Facebook, effectively making it an all-in-one marketin…
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More About: adobe, social media marketing, trending


Twitter Tells You How to Follow the NFL This Season

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 08:13 PM PDT


The 2012 NFL season is finally underway, and Twitter wants to give you some pointers on how to follow along.

In a Wednesday evening post on Twitter's official blog, sports and entertainment head Omid Ashtari introduced tweeters and football fans alike to the microblogging network's official "Get started" page for keeping up with the NFL. Ashtari's blog post recaps some notable tweets by NFL players this offseason, and offers a few tips for users.

The "Get started" page itself (screenshot above and link here) may strike seasoned tweeters as extremely basic, but it's a perfect primer for new Twitter users who also happen to be NFL fans. It explains how to search for topics of inter…
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More About: Sports, Twitter, nfl, trending


Are You Addicted to Your Smartphone? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 07:43 PM PDT


Smartphones are awesome. They keep us connected to friends, help with directions and give us access to the Internet's infinite wonders. But how awesome is too awesome? And when does appreciation become addiction?

Consider this: 15% of respondents to a recent Gazelle.com survey said they'd go rather go without sex for a weekend than give up their iPhone for a few days. Four percent said they've actually used their iPhone during sex, and 65% said they couldn't live without their trusty device. Forty percent of respondents said they'd rather go without bathing than without their iPhone.

The Internet education portal OnlineColleges recently gathered data from a number of sources includin…
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More About: infographics, smartphones, trending


Fashion’s Night Out: Your Digital Guide

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 07:13 PM PDT


1. BCBGMAXAZRIA (Nationwide)




Post your most "styled-out look" to Instagram with the tag #BCBGFNO for a chance at a $1,000 shopping spree. Not sure where to start? The retailer is offering complimentary styling sessions at stores nationwide during FNO.

Click here to view this gallery.


Fashion's Night Out is returning to cities and stores across the globe for its fourth year on Thursday.

The event was established in 2009 by Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour and CFDA president and designer Diane von Furstenberg as a way to bring shoppers into stores without resorting to traditional discount tactics. To achieve that end, many retailers organize parties, celebrity appearances and sweepstakes, and offer limited-edition merchandise at their flagship stores. Many also encourage customers to join in the festivities via their desktops and mobile phones for greater engagement and marketing reach.

SEE ALSO: How to Follow New York Fashion Week Online

We've highlighted many…
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More About: FNO, fashion, fashion's night out, features, lifestyle, retail


New Twitter API Drops Support for RSS, Puts Limits on Third-Party Clients

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 06:41 PM PDT


Twitter officially unveiled version 1.1 of its API Wednesday, deprecating support longstanding features such as RSS in the process.

Twitter announced its new API back in August, which it described as helping create "a consistent Twitter experience" across platforms and devices.

Although most of the API changes were previously announced, the overview of the final API highlighted some that were previously unknown. The one sure to cause the most immediate frustration: Twitter is ending support for RSS, XML and Atom.

While it was easy to see the loss of XML coming -- Twitter has slowly dropped support for XML in favor of JSON over the last year and a half -- dropping support for RSS an…
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More About: APIs, Twitter, Twitter API, rss, trending, twitter apps


Sorry, Usain — This Robot Can Now Run Faster Than You

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 05:54 PM PDT


Remember way back in March 2012, when a robot cheetah designed by the Pentagon's finest minds failed to outrun Olympian sprinter Usain Bolt? Remember how the metal creature's mere 18 miles an hour -- when compared to Bolt's all-time high of 27.79 mph -- provided humanity with some shred of dignity and self-assurance?

Okay, maybe you don't remember all of that. But if you do, forget it. Because the cybernetic cat is back -- and it just beat Bolt's best time.

The Cheetah, as it is officially known, was created by a company called Boston Dynamics and funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, the same group of military minds that brought us the Internet.

In…
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More About: robots, trending, usain bolt


99Dresses Is an Infinite Closet of Free Fashion

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 05:24 PM PDT


"It's like crack for women" is the phrase often used to describe Nikki Durkin's 99Dresses, an online platform where women can trade their clothes.

Durkin, 21, created a virtual currency -- called buttons -- that is used to buy and sell items on 99Dresses. Users earn buttons for giving away their stuff, and they can trade those buttons for other clothing.

It's a win-win situation: You're getting rid of your once-loved duds and getting new clothes. In essence, you can create an infinite closet of your own.

Durkin got the idea for 99Dresses after sharing clothes with her friends when she was at boarding school. The platform is essentially t…
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More About: clothing, fashion, startup, valleygirltv


How BYU Is Scoring a Digital Touchdown in College Sports

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 04:53 PM PDT


With a passionate fan base, brand-building religious affiliation and nationally renowned football program that operates as an independent free of responsibilities to a particular conference, Brigham Young University has a lot to build on from a sports marketing perspective.

But just in time for football season, the school turned a new corner in leveraging its existing advantages with the launch of a new website that combines digital video with social media engagement and gamification activations.

BYU owns the digital video rights to its school sports (and actually has its own TV network), which has given it the ability since last summer to stream a range of live events for fans online…
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More About: Sports, trending


Lady Gaga’s Next Album Will Be a Multimedia Experience

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 04:22 PM PDT


Pop megastar Lady Gaga just revealed on her Little Monsters social network that her forthcoming album, Artpop, will be an app-based multimedia experience for iPhone, iPad, mobile and the desktop.

The experience will be "completely interactive with chats, films for every song, extra music, content, gaga inspired games, fashion updates, magazines, and more still in the works," she says.

Gaga announced the name of the album on Twitter in August, at which time she shared these Instagrams:

"You inspired me to create something that communicated with images, because YOU do, YOU communicate with me and each other with .gifs and pictures, and artwork, graphics ALL DAY 24/7/ YOU'RE…
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More About: Entertainment, Lady Gaga, Music, apps, celebrities, mobile apps, trending


Hands On With the Motorola Razr HD and Razr HD Maxx [VIDEO]

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 04:05 PM PDT


With the last year's revamped Razr, Motorola aimed to bring sexy back to cellphones. It's not like there weren't slim, good-looking phones out there, but few if any boasted LTE radios for connecting to the fastest 4G networks. The Razr emphasized both sleek design and performance.

The next step was battery life, which came in the form of the Razr Maxx, which was basically a bulkier Razr with extra juice. Today, we saw Version 2.0 of both products in the Razr HD and Razr HD Maxx. We got a chance to spend some hands-on time with each at Motorola's "On Display" event today, and record our impressions.

The Razr HD is crazy light. The 5.2-ounce weight…
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More About: Motorola, RAZR, Razr HD Maxx, razr hd, trending


What Skills Do Tech Companies Look for In New Hires?

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 03:59 PM PDT


1. Google




"On the technical side, we look for candidates who are not only excellent at coding, but also good at collaborating, comfortable with ambiguity and passionate about their work. We're not looking for an isolated skill set, but need people with a variety of strengths and passions. To find these people, we look more closely at how you think than how your transcript reads. We want people who won't get stuck trying to find the right answer, but instead, will puzzle out multiple possible answers and then synthesize one, elegant solution.

"On the non-technical side, we are looking for bright, intelligent people who want to make a difference. We want to see that you've had impact in previous experiences. Whether you built a team at your previous job or started a club at school — we want to know about it. We're looking for our future leaders and want to see how you've mobilized teams, mentored co-workers and taken the lead when needed."

—Mary Hamershock, director of technical recruiting

Click here to view this gallery.


Are you on the job hunt, but unsure exactly which skills companies are seeking? These tips can help prepare your resume and hone your experiences before the interview.

We asked the hiring managers at seven hot tech companies what they currently look for in new hires. Google, Foursquare and Birchbox, among others, let us in on the types of people they want to join their teams.

SEE ALSO: 4 Mobile Apps to Simplify Your Job Search

We know you have the goods -- now you know what skills to highlight.

Do you work for a tech company looking to hire staff? In the comments below, share your advice for job seekers.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mediaphotos

More About: Birchbox, Business, Google, Jobs, employment, features, foursquare, rent the runway, trending


Arianna Huffington: Politicians Not Doing Enough for Entrepreneurs

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 03:30 PM PDT


Arianna Huffington, one of the original founders of The Huffington Post and current president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, told Mashable on Wednesday that politicians aren't doing enough to help entrepreneurs.

As more people of all ages decide to strike off on their own and start a company, lawmakers have taken some steps to support them.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, for example, was signed into law by President Obama in April with the backing of such high-profile entrepreneurs as AOL founder Steve Case. Silicon Valley has become a hotspot for

More About: Arianna Huffington, Democratic National Convention, Huffington Post, Politics, US, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, trending


Romney’s Taxes Hacked? Secret Service Is On It

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 03:11 PM PDT


The hackers who claim to have stolen Mitt Romney's tax returns -- and are holding them to ransom for $1 million in bitcoins -- just became the targets of a Federal investigation.

As we mentioned earlier, the unidentified team of hackers described the theft on Pastebin. That's the same data-dump website where a treasure trove of one million Apple device IDs, allegedly taken from an FBI laptop, was found. The FBI later denied they'd been hacked.

The Romney hackers, by contrast, offered no proof -- just a description of an elaborate burglary inside PriceWaterhouseCooper's Tennessee office on August 25th, where they supposedly retrieved the tax returns that the GOP candidate has declin…
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More About: Bitcoins, Mitt Romney, hackers, trending


This ‘Game of Thrones’ Cover Is a Vocal and Violin Masterpiece [VIDEO]

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 03:01 PM PDT


After their cover of Skyrim's theme song went viral to the tune of 10 million YouTube views, a cappella singer Peter Hollens and violinist Lindsey Stirling decided to rejoin forces, tackling the Game of Thrones title song.

The song [iTunes link] was created using 140 tracks of voice and violin (with some background stomping).

"We filmed it around Eugene, Oregon. My home," Hollens, whose cover songs have previously been featured on Mashable, told us. "Lindsey flew in for a few days and stayed at my house."

FifGen Films captured footage of the costumed duo on the beach, at the biggest accessible waterfall in the state and a nearby forest that burned down a few year ago. Stirling
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More About: Entertainment, Music, TV, Video, YouTube, game of thrones, music videos, viral videos


Artist Creates Celeb Portraits From Keyboard Keys

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 02:44 PM PDT


Artist WBK misses when gadgets with keys were mainstream. So, he creates images of mainstream people out of digital keyboard keys.

"My youth was spent without computers or mobile phones," WBK told Mashable. "Yet, the transition to them being such a vital part of my life seemed effortless and mandatory. Only now, as our world becomes touchscreen dependent, do I reminisce upon the buttons I used to push."

The keyboard keys are stitched together digitally to re-create iconic images of celebrities. Though often taken for three dimensional sculpture, WBK says most of his work has never been printed and exists only electronically.

More About: Watercooler, art, geek, keyboard, nerd


How to Develop Your Digital Strategy

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 02:12 PM PDT


Constructing digital strategies on behalf of clients makes one thing clear: Clients are often confused about what digital strategy is and how to actually develop one.

When defining and developing strategy, marketers and agencies must ensure that their clients understand that strategy follows structure, it follows people, and it follows an idea. Second, they must make sure that clients get that profit and ROI are outcomes, not the strategy itself. If you're wondering what developing such a strategy looks like, here are the key steps.

Plan and Assess
First you have to define what you're hoping to achieve for your brand, product, or service. To get started, you must take stock o…
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More About: contributor, digital media, features, online marketing, trending


Zynga Takes Facebook Farming To The Next Level With FarmVille 2

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 01:41 PM PDT


Zynga announced the global launch of FarmVille 2 Wednesday, the next generation of the company's popular Facebook-farming game.

"FarmVille 2 offers players a new way to farm by delivering an immersive experience, rich characters, and new social features that make game boards come to life with their friends," said Tim LeTourneau, vice president of games at Zynga.

Zynga's first game to be built entirely in 3D, the game lets players not only grow and harvest crops but also use those crops to do things like feed chickens on their farm or bake treats they can then take to market and sell.

SEE ALSO: Zynga's ChefVille Will help You Make Dinner

With FarmVille 2 Zynga…
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More About: Facebook, FarmVille 2, Zynga, farmville, trending


‘Monsters, Inc.’ Is Back, This Time in 3D [VIDEO]

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 01:28 PM PDT


Sulley, Mike and Boo are back -- this time with an added dimension starting on Dec. 19 in Monsters, Inc. 3D.

As the new trailer above notes, "They're not going down without a fright," and it doesn't look like fans will leave theaters without the animation-induced humor they've grown to love.

Monsters, Inc., which has so far grossed $526 million at the box office in just two dimension, first hit the big screens in 2001, then VHS and DVD in 2002, followed by the Blu-ray release in 2009. This 3D conversion drops in December just in time for the holidays.

Disney-Pixar's Twitter account shared the 3D flick's movie poster on Wednesday:

This December 19, you won't believe your eye…
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More About: 3D, Entertainment, Film, Movies, animation, humor, trailers


Parenting Hasn’t Changed in 5,000 Years [COMIC]

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 01:17 PM PDT


And without the 3G connection upgrade, it's essentially a very expensive brick.

More About: comics, humor, ipad, tablets


Cravendale Teases the Sequel to its Viral ‘Cats With Thumbs’ Commercial

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 01:07 PM PDT


Cravendale, a British milk company, scored a huge viral hit last year with its freakish yet funny Cats With Thumbs commercial, showing felines filing their nails, flipping through books and scheming to get their paws on a container of milk. The original commercial was released in February, 2011 and has since been viewed more than six million times on YouTube.

Cravendale will finally release a follow-up to the popular ad this Sunday. To get people excited for the new commercial, the company has put out a teaser for it on YouTube (see the video above), which shows the cats are as maniacal as ever, and are now going after the milkmen.

The company is also promoting the upcoming commercial…
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More About: Advertising, cats, commercials


How to Follow New York Fashion Week Online

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 01:02 PM PDT


Fashion Week returns to New York City Sept. 6, and once again designers and the press are heading to the web to engage massive consumer audiences.

Building off success from past seasons, many brands -- roughly one-third showing at Lincoln Center -- will live-stream the unveiling of their Spring 2013 collections on their websites and Facebook pages, as well as via video platforms such as YouTube and Livestream. Still more will upload backstage footage via their Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest accounts.

Meanwhile, members of the fashion press will churn out 140-character reviews and mobile snapshots live from the shows, while posting longer, slideshow-accompanied revi…
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More About: Business, How-To, Social Media, fashion, fashion week, features, lifestyle, new york fashion week, nyfw


Overly Attached Girlfriend Evolves Into Misunderstood Girlfriend

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 12:47 PM PDT


The fixed stare of Overly Attached Girlfriend had the web looking over their shoulders earlier this summer, but did we all just get the wrong idea about the wild-eyed brunette?

Reddit thinks so -- and they've skipped over to Quickmeme to help clear the reputation of Overly Attached Girlfriend with the creation of a Misunderstood Girlfriend meme. Same girlfriend, friendlier face.

Images courtesy of Know Your Meme and Quickmeme

More About: Meme, Watercooler, reddit


Muse’s ‘Madness’ Shows Slow-Motion Kiss Amid Riot

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 12:33 PM PDT


"Madness," Muse's first music video for its forthcoming The 2nd Law album, hit YouTube on Wednesday.

The subdued video follows a woman as she wanders through a calm, then raucous, atmosphere -- at one point stopping amid a slow-motion riot to kiss what appears to be stalkerrific stranger.

The intense embrace amid the rioters and police reminds us of this photo from the Vancouver Riots of 2011:

Muse's "Madness" comes on the heels of the English rock band's high-profile inclusion in the International Olympic Committee's music video for the London Olympics this summer. That video used Muse's "Survival." The band also performed during the Olympic Closing Ceremony.

Photo by
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More About: Entertainment, Music, celebrities, muse, music video, music videos


Announcing a Live Chat With Rent the Runway Founder Jennifer Fleiss


Posted: 05 Sep 2012 12:24 PM PDT


Streaming live on Mashable, Rent the Runway founder Jennifer Fleiss will answer questions from readers at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) Thursday, September 6. As part of the Young Entrepreneur Council's program #StartupLab, Fleiss will appear live via video chat broadcast on this site.



Jennifer (Jenny) Fleiss is an entrepreneur at heart. She started her career at Morgan Stanley in the strategic planning group, where she crafted long-term company strategy. She then moved on to Lehman Brothers' asset management group, where she was responsible for analyzing business growth opportunities through acquisitions, international expansion and new product strategies. A natural leader, Fleiss…
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More About: Business, Live Chat, Startups, entrepreneur, fashion, yec


Tablets Are Just 5.8% of Android Activations [STATS]

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 12:14 PM PDT


Google Chairman Eric Schmidt made an appearance at Wednesday's Motorola and Verizon's Droid event, and he shared some updated stats on Android's marketshare.

Citing comScore's latest report, Schmidt shared that Android now accounts for more than 52% of smartphones in the United States. Conversely, Apple's iOS has 33% of the U.S. market.

Globally, Android is king. Schmidt said that more than 1.3 million Android devices are now activated each day. That's an impressive number for sure -- but it's almost entirely phones.

Schmidt said that tablet account for 70,000 of those 1.3 million daily activations -- in other words, a mere 5.38% of the total. Acknowledging the difference, Schmi…
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More About: Google, Motorola, android, stats


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