10 Impressive New Implementations of Facebook Connect

Thanks Sora for posting this great article from Mashable on some excellent uses of Facebook Connect.

Facebook Connect is an exceptionally useful technology for web developers. Not only can they offer Facebook () users one-click registration and sign-in, but by accessing profile and social graph information, Facebook Connect gives developers a way to create a richer experience for their visitors and gives publishers a brand new promotional channel.

In January, we brought you a list of 10 great Facebook Connect implementations, and developers across the web have been busy since then coming up with new and innovative ways to integrate with Facebook. So below is a list of 10 more great implementations of Facebook Connect that stand out for their creativity, their usefulness, or their seamless integration.

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1. Watchmen on Blu-Ray

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Back in May, Warner Bros. announced that the special Director’s Cut Blu-ray edition of the movie Watchmen would utilize Facebook Connect. The disc arrived in stores today, and it does indeed feature Facebook Connect features for those with BD-Live enabled Blu ()-ray players. That means that people with both Facebook accounts and BD-Live players can invite friends for live viewing parties, exchange comments, and update their Facebook status.

Yes, that’s a lot of prerequisites, but still, the possibilities here are pretty neat. As we noted in May, the new Watchmen integration is “a huge step forward in bringing our social graph to entities beyond the Web.”

Also arriving today is a special edition Blu-ray version of the film 300 that also includes integrated Facebook features (300 and Watchmen were both directed by Zach Snyder).

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2. Frenzied Waters

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One thing we’re starting to see more and more is the use of Facebook Connect for clever, and in the case of the Disovery Channel’s Frenzied Waters, exceptionally unsettling marketing campaigns. A couple of weeks ago, the Discovery Channel sent out packets to a handful of bloggers containing some gnawed swim trunks, a key with a floating keychain, a warning sign advising against swimming at the beach, and a copy of an obituary customized with personal details about the blogger the package was sent to.

One final item in the package was a shark tooth attached to a piece of brass with the web address “FrenziedWaters.com” stamped on it. It was clearly an invitation to visit the web site, where of course, the ghoulishness continued. Frenzied Waters is an interactive flash movie designed to make watchers feel like they’re in the water being attacked by a shark. If you click on the floating jar all the way to the right (on the splash screen), the application will ask you to connect with Facebook, where it will pull photos and information from your account to create a montage about your death by shark attack.

Our best guess is that Frenzied Waters is a promotional campaign for the Discovery Channel’s upcoming Shark Week (which runs on the network annually in August). If that’s the case, it is definitely brilliant — very, very creepy, but brilliant nonetheless.

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3. The Prototype Experience

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Like Frenzied Waters, the Prototype Experience uses Facebook Connect as a way to personalize a media campaign and insert you into a starring role. The site is a promotion for the “Prototype” video game from Activision and scores huge points for taking the normally static concept of a trailer and making it interactive.

Once you connect with Facebook, the Prototype Experience pulls in photos and other information from your profile in order to customize the trailer and insert you into the video game’s world. The site adds a viral element by asking you to “infect” your friends in order to enter for a chance to win an Xbox 360.

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4. Beware of the Doghouse

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Beware of the Doghouse is a brilliant marketing campaign for retailer JCPenney from ad firm Saatchi & Saatchi that utilizes Facebook Connect. The site allows anyone to punish their significant other for a wrongdoing by putting them in the doghouse using Facebook.

Once notified that someone has placed you in the doghouse, users can view a hilarious video about what life in the doghouse is like (above) or they can find out how to get out of the doghouse… by buying diamond jewelry from JCPenney, of course!

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5. Eventbee

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Facebook has an amazing platform for virally publicizing events, but right now, it doesn’t have any way to support ticket sales. Eventbee solves that problem using Facebook Connect in a very clever way. Not only can events be promoted on Facebook via your friends’ news feeds, but Eventbee offers a way to turn your Facebook friends into ticket sellers.

After your friends have connected to Eventbee via Facebook, they can become “Partners,” and begin promoting your event to their own networks on Facebook. You can allow your partners to offer their friends a special discount rate on tickets and can even give Partners a sales commission on the event tickets they sell.

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6. GirlsGuideTo

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GirlsGuideTo is a social network just for girls that uses Facebook Connect as its only login option. By using Facebook Connect, the site is able to make sure the network actually stays girls only.

Because the vast majority of people don’t lie on their Facebook profiles, GirlsGuideTo is able to fairly accurately determine the gender of people trying to access the site and keep the guys out. The creators of the site plan to open a sister (brother?) site for guys in the future, and invites any male user attempting to get into GirlsGuideTo to sign up for beta notifications.

Sorry guys, we are still in our beta but the Guys Corner will be open soon. The “GC”, as we call it, is where you can post content, give advice, lend your perspective and provide real time advice. Please fill out this form and we will send you a notice as soon as the Guys Corner is open. Thanks

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7. Tweetpo.st

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For those of you who find yourselves spending more time on Twitter () these days, but still don’t want to give up on Facebook, there’s Tweetpo.st. Tweetpo.st is an application that uses Facebook Connect as a way to automatically update your Facebook status based on your tweeting activity. The site will post any tweet (except @replies and those containing !fb) to Facebook as a status update, but has some nifty features to make your tweets read better on Facebook.

For example, tweets that include a URL can be posted on your Wall as a shared link instead of as status updates, and tweets containing an @username can automatically swap out the username for that person’s Twitter “real name.” Further, tweets containing links can automatically be encoded with Awe.sm, for users of that service.

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8. Drop.io

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Drop.io’s Facebook Connect integration essentially allows you to share files and other media through your Facebook news feed and status updates. Once you’ve connected your drop to Facebook, any time you add new media to the drop, your friends will be notified via a status update included in their news feeds. They can then click-through to the drop and interact with the media or download the file you’ve shared.

For users that don’t want to publicly share their files, Drop.io offers a “Friendlock” feature, which allows users to specify which friends get invited to a certain drop and get notifications of new media added to the drop.

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9. Brightkite

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Location-based social network Brightkite () is one of those obvious candidates for Facebook Connect integration, and they’ve done a wonderful job with it. Once you create an account and sign in (which can be done via Facebook Connect), visit your settings page to grant Brightkite deeper access to your Facebook account.

You can specify settings for your checkins, notes, and posted photos, and whether you want those automatically added to your Facebook status, news feed, or photo albums. (Brightkite can also sync each of those types of updates with Twitter.)

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10. The Washington Post

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In June, the Washington Post pushed out Facebook Connect integration. On the surface, this just adds a way for Facebook users to get by the annoying registration wall the paper puts on its content, and a way to easily share stories from the Post site with your Facebook friends.

But on a deeper level, Facebook Connect could theoretically be very valuable for the newspaper. They could get better ad targeting information from user profiles, for example, or they could increase traffic by syndicating user actions (like commenting) back to Facebook, or they could personalize news based on your age, location, interests, or work — the possibilities are really endless, and show how Facebook Connect could be important for the future of the newspaper business.

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BONUS: Xbox Live

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Starting this fall, Xbox Live will get an update that will allow you to connect to Facebook directly from your console. That unlocks all sorts of possibilities — sharing scores with Facebook friends, challenging buddies to online games, making photo albums of in-game screenshots, etc.

The actual details are a bit hazy now, so we’ll have to wait until the update is rolled out this autumn to know for sure how cool (or lame) Facebook Connect on the Xbox really is.

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More Facebook resources from Mashable

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- 5 Great Examples of Facebook Connect on the iPhone
- FACEBOOK FAIL: How to Use Facebook Privacy Settings and Avoid Disaster
- HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Facebook
- 9 Fantastic Facebook Pages for Fashion

Coca-Cola's 100-Flavor Interactive Freestyle Soda Fountain in Action [video]

Thanks Fast Company for this post on where drink vending machines may be going.

Looking at this device and it’s RFID/web connection alongside the 'interactive vending machine' Coke unveiled at Cannes (video at bottom of post), i can’t help but wonder how long before they combine both systems into a 'vending event' unit. A system that entertains people while giving them the opportunity to personalise their product, but then adds layers of engagement by petting people do things like share their own blend with the next person using the machine, or the world online; vote / ranking other people blends, display most popular from places around the world etc… Either way it’s a great first step towards adding something more to the FMCG experience


BY Zachary WilsonTue Jul 21, 2009 at 10:19 AM

Ever had one of those moments where all you wanted was a Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, but all the fountain could offer you was regular old diet? Coca-Cola is doing away with that problem by introducing a new beverage dispenser. Heralded as the "fountain of the future" by Coke PR flaks, the "Freestyle"--which was first unveiled under the code name "Jet" back in April--offers more than 100 flavor options. There are traditional sodas, flavored waters, carbonated or noncarbonated beverages, energy drinks and so on. Even flavors not currently available in the United States.

This video is the first look at the Freestyle's touch screen interface, which is designed by Bsquare Corporation. Select a Coca-Cola product, such as Fanta, and the screen offers several flavor options. Choose the one you want (Grape, please!) and the machine mixes the drink right then--it can even mix flavors in ways that are not traditionally offered.

The machine is more technologically complex than you'd imagine. The "PurePour" technology was originally developed to measure extremely precise amounts of dialysis and cancer drugs. Beyond that, RFID scanners are used to match cartridges to dispensers, and the onboard computer confirms everything is in place. Existing soda fountains use five-gallon concentrate bags and lots of backroom labor. Now all that is required is a highly concentrated 46-ounce cartridge inside a self-contained machine.

Another perk is the business data the dispenser sends back to Coke's headquarters in Atlanta. The machines upload data about beverage consumption, peak times, and popular locations. Coke can also talk back to the machine, letting it know if a particular flavor needs to be discontinued or recalled and causing it to stop serving the drink immediately.

Freestyle machines are currently being tested in Georgia, California, and Utah. Coca-Cola has said it plans to place 60 test dispensers around the country by the end of the summer.

Coke's 'other' future vending machine:

Microsoft's Kodu Turns Programming Into a Kid-Friendly Creative Medium

Thanks Next Great Thing for this on microsofts' KODU. This kind of thinking would do well applied to adults!

Do you think HTML is short for Hotmail? Is Java something you drink in the morning? A computer-savvy kid would instantly recognize these as programming languages. So while we have long joked that kids and adults speak different languages, thanks to computers this is becoming quite literally true. Now, a new programming language from Microsoft will make these even more of a reality, deepening the “digital divide” and preparing our kids for the Information Age.

The new language, called Kodu, is made specifically for creating games and is designed for kids. The language is simple and entirely icon-based. Kids program using the Xbox and use the game controller for input. The Kodu language is designed specifically for game development, and programs are expressed in physical terms, using concepts like vision, hearing, and time to control character behavior. While not as general-purpose as classical programming languages, Kodu can express advanced game design concepts in a simple, direct, and intuitive manner.

So the idea is simple; kids can create their own game, play it, and even distribute it to the Xbox live community. In this way, Microsoft is looking to further “programming as a creative medium.” So just as the “creative class” could create their own blog or avatar, now they can program a game and share it with the community.

You can compare this Microsoft move to what Apple did with the desktop and then the iPhone. They basically turned widgets into giant icons, simplifying the idea that the web could fuel lots of individualized utilities. Thanks to computers and phones—and the quickening pace of our lives—we are becoming an increasingly visual culture. The graphically-driven interface of Kodu just reinforces this.

The implications of this and similar efforts will be quite remarkable. Kids today are growing up in a world where they have complete control over their media and experiences with it. As previous generations witnessed the release of the CD, the boom of the Internet, or the emergence of mobile phones, this generation is actually taking part in it; they are protagonists, the programmers of progress. They are learning the tools they will need to further shape the future, to craft and direct our increasingly digitized world.

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The microsoft research post on Kodu: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu/

Kodu

Kodu is a new visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone. The programming environment runs on the Xbox, allowing rapid design iteration using only a game controller for input.

Programming as a Creative Medium

The core of the Kodu project is the programming user interface. The language is simple and entirely icon-based. Programs are composed of pages, which are broken down into rules, which are further divided into conditions and actions. Conditions are evaluated simultaneously.

The Kodu language is designed specifically for game development and provides specialized primitives derived from gaming scenarios. Programs are expressed in physical terms, using concepts like vision, hearing, and time to control character behavior. While not as general-purpose as classical programming languages, Kodu can express advanced game design concepts in a simple, direct, and intuitive manner.

Screen Shots

(Click to open a larger image a new window.)

Game load / community screen.

"Physical" sensors are used as rule input.

Yes, we have a turtle.

Stick can't walk but he packs a wallop.

Key Features

Kodu provides an end-to-end creative environment for designing, building, and playing your own new games.

• High-level language incorporates real-world primitives: collision, color, vision
• Uses Xbox 360 Game Controller for input — no keyboard required
• Runs on XBox 360 and PC
• Interactive terrain editor
• Bridge and path builder
• Terrain editor - create worlds of arbitrary shape and size
• 20 different characters with different abilities

The Most Engaged Brands On The Web

Thanks Techcruch for this post on the work from Charlene Li

The Most Engaged Brands On The Web

57 Comments

by Erick Schonfeld on July 20, 2009

What big brands do the best job with social media? A new study by analyst Charlene Li of the Altimeter Group and Wetpaint ranks the top 100 brands by social media engagement. You can find the report embedded below or on ENGAGEMENTdb, which was presumably created with Wetpaint’s site-creation software.

The study scores the engagement level of each of the top 100 brands across more than ten social media channels, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, wikis, and discussion forums. Starbucks scored the highest, with 127 points. The top ten brands are:

1. Starbucks (127)
2. Dell (123)
3. eBay (115)
4. Google (105)
5. Microsoft (103)
6. Thomson Reuters (101)
7. Nike (100)
8. Amazon (88)
9. SAP (86)
10. Tie – Yahoo!/Intel (85)

The report categorizes brands into one of four types, depending on how many social media channels they participate in. The most engaged are “mavens,” while the least engaged are “wallflowers” (McDonalds and BP are examples). The study claims a correlation between social media engagement and revenue growth. The “mavens” saw revenues grow an average of 18 percent over the past 12 months, while the Wallflowers saw revenues drop 6 percent. I really doubt that their level of social media engagement had anything to do with their revenue growth, it is just that the strongest brands are the most engaged.

Get the report here:
ENGAGEMENTdb: Most Engaged Brands On Social Media -

Fluid Voice: CB Radio for the Web 3.0 Era

Thanks Read Write Web for this post on the Fluid Voice project. Could brands provide this form of utility to select groups of people in exchange for the right to be included in the loop?

Written by Richard MacManus / July 17, 2009 3:11 AM / 1 Comments

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During my recent trip to MIT I met with Andrew Lippman, an Associate Director at the MIT Media Lab and a Senior Research Scientist. Lippman heads up the Lab's Viral Communications program, which "examines scalable, real-time networks whose capacity increases with the number of members." Among other things, we discussed an interesting new product his students are working on called Fluid Voice. In a way it works similar to how CB radio did for truck drivers in the 1970s - providing a mobile group communication system.

Re-Thinking Communications

First a little background. Lippman explained that his Viral Communications group aims to "symmetricize media" - in other words, balance it. He used an analogy of the radio system. The power to broadcast over the radio is still tightly controlled, spectrum is limited. So in that sense it is asymmetrical, unbalanced. The MIT Viral Communications group aims to re-think the way media works. Lippman and his group is asking: does radio have to be like this?

Lippman explained this in an executive summary a while back:

"The communication industry is in an upheaval equivalent to that caused by the advent of personal computers in the early 1980's. In that earlier revolution, traditional giants who held to mainframe technologies and centralized services were outpaced by newcomers with new ideas about individual ownership, incremental adoption and instant turnover. This will now happen with communications."

Examples of new forms of communications are sensors and open 802.11 networks, which are "renegades: unlicensed, personalized, digital, and embedded." [the guy in the glowing 802.11 detector shirt to your right is not Andrew Lippman btw]

This all brings about new types of social interactions with media, which Lippman seems particularly keen on right now. He mentioned the intersection with mobility: "It's not about you anymore, it's about you plus your context."

Fluid Voice: A Mobile Group Communication System

The theory of viral communications is a bit hard for the layman (this writer included) to grok, so I asked Lippman for some examples. One of his group's projects is Fluid Voice, a research project that has been prototyped on the Nokia N810. It runs, initially at least, using the 802.11s wireless mesh.

Fluid Voice is described in a white paper as "a proximity based mobile group communication system for opportunistic social exchanges." This makes one think of a mobile app for picking up members of the opposite sex. But being an academic project, I'm sure that's not the point of it. So what is it? Lippman described Fluid Voice to me as a new type of messaging system that engages a group. He said that it's like a telephone system that defaults to a conference call all of the time, which he termed "push to listen." It has similarities to party-line telephone systems, instant messaging chat rooms and conferencing bridges for business people. It's also like the Citizen's Band (CB) radios used by truck drivers in the 1970s.

Fluid Voice can be both a live and asynchronous experience - i.e. you don't need to be participating live to receive and leave messages. It isn't just audio and text messaging either: audio polls and wish lists are a part of the product. Here is a UI screenshot:

Fluid Voice Use Cases

The goal of Fluid Voice is to coordinate people in outdoor settings, using their mobile phones. According to a white paper, use cases include "spreading news during emergency responses and supporting impromptu social exchanges."

The name of the product, Fluid Voice, derives from the fact that "users can transition from live to asynchronous audio communication in a fluid manner depending on the wireless environment." To appreciate what this kind of system might be used to enable, here's a description from the paper of how CB radio was used in the 70's:

"CB radios enabled a cooperative social culture on the highways for friendly conversations in addition to providing road assistance and accident prevention among the drivers. As cell phones and multi-band WiFi enabled cell phones are becoming ubiquitous in the 21st century, an exciting opportunity arises for supporting opportunistic social collaboration within a local area."

One imagines that software like this may become a common feature in next generation mobile phones. I used the example of a sensor-enabled bookstore in this week's post about Cross Reality applications - the store pinging your mobile phone about a book on your wish list that it happens to have in stock. We can similarly forsee that Fluid Voice, on your mobile phone, could be used to meet like-minded people at the bookstore. You could even continue to chat with that group after you left the bookstore.

Social networking 3.0 anyone? Breaker 1-9!

Image credits: get directly down; slworking2

Viral mashing?

OK, not trying to coin a new term here but there does seem to be something interesting happening, and worth exploring further, in building on great content.

A few examples:

Snoops dog's Heineken fridge:


Will it blend does an Olympus camera blend


Numa Numa guy's piece for GEICO

Want to show how agile your car is? Get it to design a font!

Read the post from PSFK here

iQ font - When driving becomes writing / Full making of from wireless on Vimeo.