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We've seen numerous mobile apps designed to improve drivers' safety on the road, but Automatic takes what may well be the most comprehensive approach to date. With the help of a small device that plugs into the car, the Automatic app monitors that car's health, makes money-saving driving tips, remembers where the car is parked and more. Users begin by plugging the Automatic Link device into their car's data port; it supports every gasoline-engine car made since 1996, its San Francisco-based maker says. Once that's done, the car and smartphone will automatically connect wirelessly whenever the user takes a trip. Among the services Automatic provides along the way are driving suggestions for better fuel efficiency, trip timelines including miles per gallon, and automatic crash detection as well as sending alerts to 911 and loved ones. Also available are engine-health monitoring and parking reminders. Pricing is USD 69.95. The video below explains the premise in more detail:

Kopin Golden-i Wireless Headset, a head-mounted computer that enables firefighters to analyze a situation and make smarter decisions. Much like Google's forthcoming Project Glass, the Golden-i headsets house a camera, microdisplay, GPS locator, speech recognition and gesture control. This allows users to benefit from computer technology while keeping their hands and concentration free on the task at hand, making it especially suitable to servicemen. Using data such as maps, heat profiles, oxygen levels and heart rate - as well as audio and visual connectivity to colleagues and staff - firefighters can gain a better overall view of the situation, helping to save lives as well as protect themselves.

Free People, a contemporary women's fashion label owned by Urban Outfitters, has begun integrating consumers' Instagram photos onto its product pages. The company has assigned individual product hashtags to a selection of denim items. Customers are encouraged to upload pictures of themselves in one of those items to Twitter or Instagram with the product hashtag - for the Sorbet Tie Dye Jean above, the hashtag is #fpsorbettiedye - as well as the general #myfpdenim hashtag. Pending moderator approval, customers' photos will appear on individual product pages as well as Free People's denim showcase.

nvolves a giant bear (well, a man in a bear suit) who tackles a, well, bimbo, as she walks down the sidewalk talking on her phone. And that's it. Right in line with Orangina's usual silliness. And there's a whole series of these videos with the bear randomly tackling people.

"Overall, 32% of those younger than 40 say they followed the debate live online, including 22% who followed it both on television and online, and 10% who followed exclusively on a computer or mobile device. Those 40-to-64 are less likely to have followed live online (11%); just 1% followed only online, while 10% followed online as well as on television. Very few Americans 65 and older followed the debate live online (2%) and none followed live coverage exclusively on a computer or mobile device."

"First, you have transactional data, which includes all the information you have about previous purchases and interactions with individual customers. Second, you have digital behavior data. This data, as the name implies, covers what people are doing and have done online, from surfing patterns to all the various digital interactions they may engage in across your web and mobile sites. This data can tell you, for example, which pages or sets of products on your site people have spent the most time exploring (or, alternately, ignoring). Third, you have social data, which includes all data related to the social graph as well as any social information that customers may have chosen to share with you (or, perhaps, unwittingly shared with you by agreeing to sign-in to your site using Facebook or Twitter)."

Microsoft will roll out the new music streaming service to many customers on Tuesday as part of an update to the Xbox gaming console he service will let users stream more than 30 million tracks worldwide across Microsoft's ecosystem of Windows 8 mobile devices and PCs, as well as the Xbox. Think of it as Microsoft's in-house version of Spotify.

"Vimeo took a first step towards pay-per-view Tuesday with the roll-out of a limited slate of six paid-streaming titles. The movies, which include We Are Legion: The Story of Hacktivists as well as the LCD Soundsystem concert movie Shut Up and Play the Hits are meant to preview different features that will be available to all content producers once Vimeo rolls out pay-per-view in earnest early next year."

"One key advantage of using a vintage and nostalgic game is to indirectly remind consumers that Kibbles 'n Bits products, owned by Del Monte Foods, have been around for about 30 years. "It reinforces the perception that the products are familiar and well-established," said Zac Maricondia, Draftfcb copywriter. Arcade-style 8-bit games have proven to be surprisingly popular in this era of high-tech video graphics. (Originally 8-bit referred to the data capability of the processors used in video game consoles. Now it refers to the style of graphics and music produced by those early processors.)"

"OrderGroove, a startup that allows brands to create subscription and membership commerce, has raised $7 million from Fung Capital USA, with additional investment from Lerer Ventures, Legend and SWaN Ventures, Allegro Venture Partners, Bee Partners, as well as former Walmart.com CEO Raul Vazquez and NEW Corporation's Chairman Fred Schaufeld. Brands turn to OrderGroove to add subscription commerce models to their e-commerce sites. For example, L'Oreal uses OrderGroove's SaaS to offer a monthly box of skincare products."

"Mr. Denton got some solace for the lost ad revenue: State Farm opted to sponsor the Tumblr blogs with the tag line "Backup Site Covered By State Farm" as well as information on how to file a claim. Insurers such as State Farm, Geico, Allstate and others are some of the advertisers that buy into disasters and have emergency funds set up to do so."

"BMW last year invested in the mobile app MyCityWay, and soon it will find if that was money well spent as its eco-friendly Born Electric road show rolls into New York. The luxury automaker next week will run locally targeted display and video ads on the city- guide app, which developers said has 1.2 million users in Gotham."

The Follow tab will allow Spotify users to follow their friends and celebrities to help better discover what they're currently listening to as well as their feedback on certain tracks. Think of it as Spotify's own personal network that revolves squarely around music available on the service. - See more at: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/02/spotify-gradually-rolling-out-new-social-network-features/#sthash.RakJaSX0.dpuf

With today's relaunch on iOS, the app offers a few more features - it has added support for "predictive March Madness" via its sports tile button, for example, and it can also alert you to nearby events and important occasions, like birthdays, as well as those from your own calendar. There are more news sources and sports teams available in the app, too, and you can better personalize your notifications.

Today the company is announcing that more than 50 million people used Aviary in the past month, giving it an effective monthly active user (MAU) base of 50 million across its own app, as well as in the implementations of Aviary partners such as Flickr.

"These 240 Hz panel sets have a 1080p AQUOS LED display, and built-in Wi-Fi, as well as Sharp's SmartCentral connected TV hub. They support HTML5 and Flash, so it's kind of like surfing the web on your computer. Along that same line, a multi-screen experience will let you watch TV and browse the internet at the same time."

looks like Facebook Gifts feature isn't doing so well