- QR barcodes are growing in popularity and some companies are even beginning to use them in their print advertising and online banners. QR codes are a new type of barcode that can contain information such as text, links, phone numbers and more. QR barcodes can be read with QR scanners, and many iPhone and Android phone users have downloaded a QR scanner from their respective app stores. If you have an iPhone or Android phone, try it out for yourself if you haven’t already. Download ZXing or another barcode scanner from your app store & with the application open, point your phone at the barcode at the beginning of this article.
- Facebook Places was just launched and there’s a few things you need to know. Facebook Places is similar to other “Check-in” location based social media websites in that you announce your current location to your network via your cell phone, or other portable device or laptop. It is important to note that if you have Facebook friends using this new service, they can tag you when they are with you in person, even if you don’t want to announce your location to the world. When logged in to Facebook, go to “Account” at the very top right of the menu, click on “Privacy Settings”. On the privacy settings page, click on “Customize settings”. Decide what level of privacy you want for “Places I check in to”, “Include me in “People Here Now” after I check in”, and “Friends can check me in to Places”.
- New Twitter buttons have been officially released by Twitter themselves. Up until now, we had to either custom program a tweet button to allow our visitors to share our content, or we could use a third-party service like Tweetmeme. Twitter has now released their own buttons and they can be integrated nicely with any website. You can find these buttons here
- Google is testing a new feature that displays live and updated search results as you type your search query. We’ve seen this sort of feature used in MediaTemple’s online support center and it has a lot of potential to make searching for content that much easier. Here’s a video to see it in action
- Groupon smashes sales records with nationwide Gap deal – Groupon launched its first national deal on Friday, partnering with Gap to offer $50 worth of apparel and accessories at the low price of $25. By day’s end, 441,000 Groupons were sold, bringing in a little more than $11 million. Groupon usually splits the revenue with partners, but declined to disclose its share. Groupon has quickly become an excellent resource for local shopping deals, check it out here