In a world full of excellent iPhone 4 cases, Twelve South’s new BookBook for iPhone might just one of the most versatile.
Like the BookBook for the MacBook Pro and iPad, the BookBook for iPhone is designed to mimic a real vintage, leather-bound book. In addition to looking stylish, however, the BookBook for iPhone also acts as a fully functional wallet.
Even better, unlike some other iPhone wallet cases, the phone can actually be used comfortably while inside the case. For comparison’s sake, I’ve balked at purchasing this Michael Kors iPhone wallet clutch because it was too rigid to use with a camera or while talking on the phone.
The BookBook for iPhone is $59.99.
More About: accessories, bookbook, cases, iphone cases, twelve south
For more Mobile coverage:Follow Mashable Mobile on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Mobile channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
In April of 2008, EMI hired Doug Merrill away from his Google CIO position to lead the company’s digital efforts. As we noted at the time, this actually seemed like an opportunity for EMI to really embrace what the technology allowed, though we feared whether he’d have any real power at EMI. Indeed, it wasn’t too surprising to see him leave less than a year later, without a clear explanation at all. We’d heard some rumors of a bit of a “culture clash,” and it appears that Merrill is finally confirming that in a recent speech he gave. What was the culture clash? Well, Merrill, like a typical Googler, decided to actually look at the data and found that it said file sharing could be good for artists and that users of Limewire were their best customers:
Merrill profiled the file sharing behaviour of people who used Limewire against the top iTunes sales and the biggest iTunes buyers were the same as the highest sharing “thieves” on Limewire.
“That's not theft, that's try-before-you-buy marketing and we weren’t even paying for it… so it makes sense to sue them,” he said wryly.
Not surprisingly, as we’ve noted over and over again, this sort of data and evidence (of which there are now at least half a dozen studies all saying the same thing) is simply not something that the major record labels are willing to hear. They just continue to deny the evidence. And then they wonder why they’re flailing… Merrill apparently didn’t talk about his departure from EMI, but it’s not difficult to read between the lines.
The Saudi Arabian government has reportedly blocked access to Amnesty International’s website, days after the human rights organization locked horns with the government over a draft anti-terrorism law.
The law, posted online last Friday by Amnesty, would allow Saudi authorities to prosecute non-violent dissent as an act of terrorism. Amnesty claims that the law “allows for a minimum 10-year prison sentence for ‘questioning the integrity’ of the royal family” and claims the law is designed to suppress dissent rather than fight terrorism.
The Saudi government responded on Saturday by saying the claims were “completely without foundation,” according to the AP. The government also criticized Amnesty for not contacting the government for comment or clarification.
On Monday, Amnesty and several news publications reported that Amnesty International’s website was not accessible on Saudi-based Internet networks.
“Instead of attacking those raising concerns and attempting to block debate, the Saudi Arabian government should amend the draft law to ensure that it does not muzzle dissent and deny basic rights,” Malcolm Smart, Amnesty’s director for Middle East operations, said in a statement.
While Amnesty’s site remains blocked in Saudi Arabia, some of its affiliate sites remain accessible. Amnesty has posted the full text of the Saudi law on its Protect the Human blog. Saudi Arabia has mostly avoided the unrest that swept Tunsinia and Egypt, but has recently been in the news for arresting five Saudi women for driving.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Khaled AlQubeli
More About: Amnesty International, human rights, internet, Saudi Arabia
For more Media coverage:Follow Mashable Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
We’ve all been there; You’re at an outing or a dinner table with friends but itching to check your email or Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or Google+ or Yammer or what ever digital hit of serotonin you prefer. Have you ever “gone to the bathroom” in order to check email or come up with a socially appropriate excuse to pull out your smartphone just so you can check your @ replies on Twitter?
Remember when the critical mass of smokers used to leave the table or meeting in groups to go indulge their habit? I straight up open my laptop at bars and parties, and then feel more guilty about that than drinking.
A new British study released today backs up what we otherwise know intuitively, that Internet usage is increasingly becoming an addiction. Out of 1000 people surveyed after being cut off from the Internet for 24 hours, 53% reported feeling “upset” about being deprived of online access and 40% said that they felt lonely after not being able to connect to the Internet. Participants described the digital detox akin to quitting drinking or smoking and one even said it was like having his hand chopped off (!).
This British survey comes after a University of Maryland study in April that came to pretty much the same conclusion — With one student saying that she was “itching like a crackhead” after abstaining from any form of media for 24 hours. Geez.
Add this insight to the yet un-proven concerns that smartphone usage leads to Cancer and the smoking analogy becomes more and more apt (see image left). But for the moment Googling the name of a movie you can’t remember is hands down a lot healthier than smoking an actual cigarette, at least physically. For the moment.
Christina Perasso found herself locked in a dark room on Monday, unclear about where she was or how she got there. Her only link to the outside world has been a laptop, which she has been using to post requests for help on Twitter and upload photos and videos to Facebook and YouTube. Here’s one of her recent Facebook updates:
I can’t climb up to the windows I’ve tried a couple of times… a bunch of sites are blocked, like Skype, Google Earth etc. but I’m going to keep trying, a lot of other sites seem to work… whoever is doing this seems to be one step ahead of everything I try..
Relax, there’s no reason to call the cops. Perasso is a fictional character, part of a new interactive movie called The Inside Experience that was launched by Intel and Toshiba to promote the laptop used in the film. The 20-something is played by Emmy Rossum, who previously appeared in movies like Phantom of the Opera and The Day After Tomorrow, and the show is directed by D.J. Caruso of Disturbia fame.
Both companies started brainstorming about ways to combine a branded movie with social networks back in Janaury, I was told during a phone conversation with Intel’s OEM partner marketing director Ryan Baker today. The idea really started to take on a life of its own once Caruso got involved, who Baker credited for bringing a lot of Hollywood folks on board. Filming started in early June, and now it’s up to the online community to take the film to its final conclusion.
Perasso has already started to post a bunch of clues on her Facebook page, including various receipts from take-out restaurants and furniture stores. Users have eagerly begun to go over those clues to locate Perasso and help her to find a way out of her captivity. The pace and order in which these pieces of the puzzle are solved directly influence what kind of videos get posted next. “The clues have an impact on how the film plays out,” said Baker.
This also means that we won’t know for some time how long this movie actually is, and when it will end. Baker said that the team estimates viewers to solve the entire puzzle by mid August, but admitted: “We are not exactly sure.”
The Inside Experience is in many ways similar to alternate reality games, which have been used to promote shows like Lost by blurring the line between reality and fiction. However, the movie doesn’t even pretend to be the real deal. Part of this obviously has to do with liability: You don’t even want to pretend for a second that an abduction could be real. However, Baker also said that this was more about exploring new ways of storytelling: “We had always conceived of this as a fictional story line.”
There are a few things that I find interesting about The Inside Experience: First of all, it obviously seems to capture the imagination of its audience. The trailer to the movie was seen 1.75 million times before it even launched, and the publishing of Perasso’s first video even briefly took the movie’s website offline. Also intriguing is that Intel is willing to go rather dark with its old “Intel Inside” tagline. Sure, the laptop is Perasso’s most powerful tool, but she’s also held inside, against her will. Exploring this double meaning is pretty ingenious.
And finally, there’s the promise that we will eventually be able to see The Inside Experience as a complete movie, with edits and story line depending on all the social inputs that are gathered while the mystery unfolds. The movie’s audience also takes part in its completion, or in other words: We’re all inside, even if we don’t know it yet.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
Flash analysis: prospects for Google+What Enterprise Software Vendors Could Learn from the Consumer SpaceHere Come the Social TV Apps
Christina Perasso found herself locked in a dark room on Monday, unclear about where she was or how she got there. Her only link to the outside world has been a laptop, which she has been using to post requests for help on Twitter and upload photos and videos to Facebook and YouTube. Here’s one of her recent Facebook updates: