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The latest news comes from Gas Station TV, which announced it has secured an investment valued at $50 million from Wayne, a GE Energy business, to deploy the new inOvationTVSM media platform to thousands of gas stations nationwide.

Sprint is taking its "Now Network" concept a step further in a new advertising campaign that encourages even more talking, texting, emailing, video posts, tweeting and Facebook updates. Granted, Sprint doesn't have as many customers using its services as its bigger rivals, and it's well-positioned when it comes to spectrum. So the carrier apparently isn't worried about overtaxed network usage.

Bing's new iPad app functions similarly to a newspaper. Would be good to check for ads, etc.

Nars launches a new website centered around social

Gamification - Google adding Google News Badges

Greystripe new ad units and Mixpo has dynamic tablet video ads

Hurt by the slow economy, marketers are trying a new pitch: Instead of offering more for less, they're selling less for less, shrinking package sizes and cutting prices in hopes of spurring purchases from penny-pinching consumers.

"Social TV start-up Miso has launched a new product, Quips, that allows users to select a scene from a TV show, caption it with their thoughts and share their commentary on a Quips feed, or to Facebook and Twitter."

"The new web app reportedly looks a lot like the desktop apps, with search, radio, playlists, and a "What's New" section all available. Almost certainly, the web app will provide some free usage as long as you listen to audio ads and see banner ads. The web app will roll out to all users over the next several months."

"Sam Glassenberg, CEO of Funtactix, which develops social games for major motion pictures like The Hunger Games, said the in-game ad market presents both huge opportunities and new risks for brands and agencies. He cited statistics from NPD and said that there are almost 200 million online gamers out there who play games for an average of 13 hours a week. Yet, the majority of ad spend still goes to TV or banner ads and only a fraction to games, he noted. "How are we going to close that gap?" he asked. The discussion was organized by SponsorPay, a Berlin-based engagement advertising company whose application rewards users that watch an ad with virtual currency and other goodies. SponsorPay is one of a handful of companies out there including SocialVibe, Flurry and WildTangent seeking to help games developers monetize their product and brand advertisers engage consumers with such ads. Games entrepreneur Wilson Kriegel, formerly with Zynga, addressed this potential by discussing his involvement with mega-hit Draw Something, an online drawing game developed at his former company OMGPop, which Zynga acquired in March. The game allows people to draw things and share them with their friends. Since its launch early in 2012, it has seen over 90 million installs, 10 billion drawings created and was a top trending topic on Twitter.  Companies including McDonald's, Disney and Sprint have incorporated their ads into the game. Kriegel said that ad features including in-game banners, game features and in-game call to actions seen a clickthrough rate of 1 percent to 10 percent-unheard of in an industry where average CTRs are 0.7 percent."

"Google's "Smartphone Launch Predictor" study found that 52 percent of purchase-related searches occur before a smartphone is launched. According to Google, the key to a successful smartphone launch is getting ahead of the release and marketing early. "One of the biggest factors is getting early buzz. Getting early buzz is key [for a successful smartphone launch]," Google Industry Director for Tech Kyle Keogh told ClickZ. The study found that the earlier a firm markets a smartphone the more likely they are to succeed in sales. According to Google, an extra 1,000 news stories put in place weeks before a launch can lead to a 9 percent spike in smartphone sales. Google's research discovered that users tend to do general product searches in the week during launch. After launch, it was discovered that consumers dig deep and search for key specifications on a device. Video is also becoming a key research tool for consumers shopping for a smartphone. According to the study, video views for smartphones increased 60 percent this year. Google says that if a smartphone gets over 1 million video views during launch week it will likely sell over 1.3 million units."

"The site has three themes: Timeless Tiffany includes the story of Tiffany, including its diamond heritage, major milestones, masterpieces, drawings from the Tiffany Archives and a virtual hall of fame that showcases vintage ads and images of jewelry from every fashion era from the Gilded Age to the present day; Tiffany Insider, a gallery of images and videos that Tiffany says "captures the excitement and creativity behind photo shoots, dressing stars in Tiffany diamonds and unveiling windows that invite the imagination to dream of elegant new worlds"; and Tiffany In Style, which covers events and introduces designs in jewelry and accessories, along with advertising images and videos."

"Walmart began recruiting top Silicon Valley talent and acquiring start-ups last year. For instance, Walmart acquired Kosmix, a company that specializes in making web design more seamless, for $300 million. That team has been working for over a year to fix Walmart's systems and improve its website.  Walmart is investing in the "social gifting" market. A year ago, Walmart launched "Shopycat," which makes gift recommendations based on friends' Facebook profiles. The site is now called "Walmart Gifts" and allows customers to log in and get personalized recommendations based on Facebook and Twitter profiles.  The retailer got a better search engine. A dozen top engineers took 10 months to build it, and while the company won't discuss sales figures, they said the new system is more user-friendly. "If you search for cotton socks now, you'll actually find them," Manjoo writes.  Walmart is trying to lead the charge in same-day shipping. Its at an advantage considering that 96 percent of Americans live within 20 miles of a Walmart.  Walmart is investing like crazy in its mobile app. "Walmart imagines that as you go through an average day, you'll remember things you need--milk, bread, a new tennis racquet, a toy truck for your nephew's birthday--and tell the voice-enabled Walmart app. The app will list each item's location inside your local Walmart and include product info; eventually, it will also learn your preferences and offer recommendations. And once you're actually in the store, you'll be able to summon an associate to help you," Manjoo says. "

"Here are five lessons in the art and science of storytelling I learned by studying the pros ... 1) Adopt a newsroom mentality Make content development a core part of the way you do business - just as it is in journalism. Embed it in every department. Hire journalists just as LinkedIn, Qualcomm and others have done. Curate voices like we do on edelman.com. 2) Hand-craft your content for each venue Some companies try desperately to create singular pieces of content that can be simply be dumped in different places. That no longer works. Instead, hand-craft your content for each venue. Jonah Peretti, Buzzfeed's co-founder, summed it up best when he said: "Twitter is for your head, while Facebook is for your heart." 3) Cultivate superstars who have a POV news and information, to some degree, is commodity content - it's everywhere. Deep, thoughtful analysis, however, is in high demand. Just as the New York Times has Nate Silver and ESPN has Bill SImmons, you too can grow and cultivate rock stars who create thoughtful content with unique analytical point of view. 4) Be relentlessly data driven Speaking of Mr. Silver, if there's one thing he taught us this year it's that data rules. Follow in his footsteps in not only how you use data to inform and deliver your storytelling but also in how you measure your results. Many newsrooms, for example, now have real-time dashboards that help shape their decisions. 5) Let constraints fuel creativity Finally, it's often hard to convince management to put resources behind content until there's proven ROI. However, constraints can breed creativity. The Wall Street Journal's daytime video network, for example, was challenged to cover the Olympics without footage. So instead it creatively turned to using puppetry - and with great success. Be creative to get around constraints."

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