The Spark of Genius Series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Each post highlights a unique feature of a startup. If you'd like your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Signature

Quick Pitch: iPhone app connects customers with sales associates 24/7.

Genius Idea: Leveraging mobile to provide an unprecedented level of customer service.

Though online shopping has undergone multiple transformations over the past two decades, the same can not be said for brick-and-mortar retail. Shoppers are still brought in using approximately the same marketing tactics (think direct mail catalogs, window displays, seasonal sales). Product is still refreshed at…
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More About: bizspark, fashion, neiman marcus, retail, signature

Furby is back! The must-have toy of 1998 will return this holiday season, but this isn't your father's Furby. Hasbro is re-launching the furry character for the digital age, with apps, new sensors and more.

You may remember Furby from his first incarnation, the chatty five-inch-tall robot that found its way under countless Christmas trees in the late '90s. Furby was equipped with robotic eyes and ears, simple sensors and the ability to speak. A lot.

The new Furby takes the idea of a talking electronic sidekick to a new level: Covered in blue-green fur, its body is more active, with the ability to wiggle its ears and dance. In an interesting design choice, Hasbro opted to replace Fu…
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More About: apps, Furby, toys

The iPhone 5 as a Spider?

Designer Federico Ciccarese re-imagined the iPhone as a futuristic (and creepy) gadget that lives on the back of your hand. What do you think of the design concept?

Click here to view this gallery.

What will mobile communication of the future look like? Google thinks it could be a pair of glasses; IBM favors

More About: desgin concept, design, iphone

Internet service in Lebanon is slowly and partially returning on Friday after damage to an underwater cable knocked the entire nation offline several times this week.

The cable, which lies about 30 miles off the Egyptian coast, broke on Wednesday. The cable is part of the India-Middle East-Western Europe system, an 8,100-foot-long fibre-optic link between eight countries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

The system went live in 2009, but Lebanon didn't join the network until the summer of 2011.

During the breaks between outages, Lebanon's telecommunications minister Nicolas Sehnaoui was periodically updating Lebanese citizens on the government's progress in restoring the nation'…
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More About: internet, lebanon, middle east, Tech, technology, World

The essence of any coveted brand is the story it conveys. The elements of heritage, craftsmanship, and creative innovation combine with a vision of an aspirational lifestyle that inspires the desire to associate with that brand.

SEE ALSO: How Luxury Brands Can Prepare for Affluent Millennials

Historically, this vision was realized on a print canvas, but the rise of digital has created new opportunities. Through video and other forms of brand content, luxury brands have become media companies and content marketers selling a vision of an exclusive lifestyle attainable only by a select few. This new media has not, however, been effectively translated for the mobile audience.

The…
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More About: contributor, features, Marketing, Mobile, online marketing

Tiny Wings is a fun iOS game that eschews the anger of another avian franchise for the underdog appeal of a bird that can't fly. We especially like that it's easy to play with just one hand (great for subway commutes).

If that wasn't enough to get us looking forward to the next version of the game, this excellent trailer has done the trick. From the punch-card game track to the fairly game-accurate movements to the fun ending, it's got us putting alerts in our calendar for July 12 -- the date of the release.

What do you think of the Tiny Wings 2.0 trailer? Share your thoughts in the comments.

BONUS: 10 Games for iPhone You Can Play With One Hand

More About: games, iOS, iphone, Tiny Wings, videos, YouTube

For digital agencies, big data as a competitive advantage is still very nascent, somewhat terrifying, and not tangible at all. However, marketers are starting to hear that it's the new secret sauce, and they're scrambling to figure out how to use it. And for good reason. Given the current trajectory, there's a large chance that big data will change the face of digital agencies in as little as five years. If you're part of a digital agency, here's what to consider.

How do Agencies Make Money with Big Data?
Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) can now feasibly be added to the agency menu because cloud computing costs have made common infrastructure affordable. DaaS also opens up more than…
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More About: big data, contributor, features, Marketing, online marketing

Facebook is planning to roll out a new mobile advertising strategy that targets users based on which apps are installed on their phones, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Facebook engineers are said to have created software that can track what apps a user has downloaded. By using this information, Facebook can determine other apps that may appeal to them, serving up ads for those apps in the news feeds on their phones or tablets. Typically, Facebook users only see ads in the news feed from brands they've "Liked," but this system would serve app ads whether they've liked the brand or not.

If Facebook indeed ends up sing app-tracking software, it would likely be extrem…
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More About: apps, Facebook, Mobile, mobile advertising

In the age of Google Instant, where we expect search results to complete themselves before we're done typing, Twitter's search feature has long seemed a little slow and dumb. Can't it guess at what search term or person you're looking for? Can't it autocorrect your spelling? Can't it just search among the tweets of people you follow?

Well, now you can do all of that, in theory. The microblogging service took the wraps off a new smarter search product Friday, after teasing us late Thursday with a brief announcement that search and discovery on Twitter was about to change "forever."

The changes, which are rolling out to all users on mobile Twitter and Twitter.com, fall into three catego…
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More About: Google Instant, Search, Twitter

Hundreds of guests turned out for Mashable's third-annual Social Media Day celebration in New York City on Saturday. The sold-out event was hosted at the Canal Room and featured networking, dancing and, most importantly, commemorating the importance of social media in the world today.

Mashable staff and fans were amped up with beats from DJ Choco and went crazy for special musical guest GZA/The Genius, of Wu Tang. GZA's son, Young Justice, joined his dad on stage for the second half of the performance.

See Mashable's complete coverage of Social Media Day

Global sponsor Motorola Mobility hosted a photo booth (complete with funny social-signage) where attendees took pictures with…
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More About: Canal Room, GZA, NYC, smday, social media day

According to multiple reports, Yahoo was considering two people for its CEO position -- Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, and Ross Levinsohn, the interim CEO of Yahoo since May.

Now that Kilar has turned down the position, according to a statement released by Hulu on Friday, that means there's only one candidate left -- Levinsohn. According to Business Insider, Hulu's statement read: "As has been reported, Jason Kilar has been a focus of the Yahoo CEO search committee. He has graciously declined to be considered."

After four years of Yahoo CEOs stepping down, with Scott Thompson leaving the position in disgrace over a fake degree on his resume this past May, the company is looking to pin down…
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More About: Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo

1. Sushi

Etsy user Olga Bulgakova created her favorite type of sushi: salmon nigiri. Price: $5

Click here to view this gallery.

You've seen t-shirts that read "I ♥ bacon" and bumper stickers that celebrate cheese. But have you ever encountered a cellphone charm that glorifies the tomato?

We've found 14 charms that literally look scrumptious enough to eat. And when we say "literally," we mean it. You won't be able to tell the difference between these accessories and real food -- except when you consider their size. (A slice of pizza doesn't usually measure an inch, thank goodness.)

SEE ALSO: 10 Adorable Charms for Your Headphone Jack

Flip through the gallery above, but don't blame us when your mouth starts watering. What food would you most want to carry on a cellphone charm? Tell us in the comments.

More About: accessories, fashion, features, Food, lifestyle, Mobile, Tech

Top Banner Ad

Take a look at the next four slides. Which ad do you think will receive the most eyeballs?

Click here to view this gallery.

Advertisers, do you want your banner ads to be noticed? Then go above the fold, to the left -- and include some pictures of faces.

That's the advice of a recent eye-tracking study of banner ads. Using a technology called Real CPM, EyeTrackShop aims to increase the efficacy of such display ads, which are known for abysmal click-through rates.

"With Real CPM, agencies will finally have the opportunity to take all of the guesswork out of ad placements," says EyeTrackShop CEO Mathias Plank.

Real CPM provides you with data about where on a page your ads receive the most eyeballs. In general, banner ads receive the most, followed by left then right placements above the fold.

The idea…
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More About: Advertising, eye tracking, EyeTrackShop, trending

The latest learning and education innovations are blossoming, even if they have yet to gain meaningful adoption. Just take a look at the ideas, tools, and methods currently available. There's the flipped classroom like Khan Academy, Harvard and MIT's online education venture edX; adaptive and personalized learning from Knewton; gamification; educational content and experiences for mobile devices like Inkling or Apple's textbook publishing. The list goes on and on.

Yet, the way we learn in corporate environments hasn't changed in decades. We still attend weekend training sessions, read sales manuals, and watch taped lectures. Right now, organizational knowledge sharing forces peop…
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More About: business plans, contributor, features, Marketing

AT&T is set to launch a new service for reporting and blocking stolen devices next Tuesday. The service will allow customers who have had their phone or tablet stolen to block data, SMS, and voice to the device by calling AT&T customer service.

According to The Verge, AT&T sent out an internal memo to employees Wednesday regarding the new security measure.

The memo suggests that AT&T will be creating a blocklist of stolen phones and tablets. Once added to the list, a phone will be unable to be used on AT&T's network until the person who initiated the block contacts AT&T to remove it.

Any stolen phone or tablet can be added to the list, and a…
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More About: att, fcc, mobile phones, Tablet

They say you should never work with children and animals. But what if the animals really want to work with you? Local news reporter Nicole DiDonato had to deal with that situation Thursday, when her live report about a local microbrewery was cat bombed.

Fox-17, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, shared the video on their website, but not before DiDonato tweeted out the incident to the world.

@Amanda_WOODTV A kitten jumped on my shoulder in the live tease... and hung on for dear life in my tag! Think he drew blood!!— Nicole DiDonato (@NicoleDFOX17) July 5, 2012

@Tomhillen @amanda_woodtv @sarahbrodhead Learned my lesson: Never making eye contact with a cat before a live teas…
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More About: funny, Video

UPDATE: Yahoo and Facebook have put aside their escalating series of patent lawsuits and agreed to work together on future advertising deals.

The deal was sealed on a Friday morning call, AllThingsD reports, as part of the settlement to the companies' patent dispute.

Yahoo posted the announcement on its website saying, "Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) today announced that they have entered into definitive agreements that launch a new advertising partnership, extend and expand distribution arrangements, and settle all pending patent claims between the companies."

The announcement goes on to say the companies will work together to secure ads that will run on both sit…
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More About: Facebook, patent, Yahoo

Amazon is developing an Android-based smartphone to compliment its Kindle Fire tablet and Kindle e-readers, according to a new report.

Two unnamed sources told Bloomberg that Amazon is working with China-based factory Foxconn to build the device. The retail giant is also acquiring patents related to wireless technology that would protect it from lawsuits.

An Amazon phone has evidently been on CEO Jeff Bezos's mind for some time. In August, he and VP Greg Hart applied for a patent for an airbag designed to protect smartphones from breakage. More recently, unconfirmed reports emerged that Amazon is developing its own mapping service.

Given that none of Amazon's current devices are GP…
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More About: amazon, amazon smartphone, android, apple, kindle fire, smartphone, trending

Shopping online is quick and easy - surfing through Amazon in your underwear means no long lines to deal with or wandering through aisles of stuff to find the one thing you want. When shoppers do find themselves in a physical location, more often than not they check out a product in person and then use bar code scanning apps to find the best deal for their item online without having to make an in-store purchase. What's a big box retailer to do?

The New York Times's Stephanie Clifford reports that big retailers like Walmart, Macy's and Best Buy are adapting by turning their stores into extensions of their online businesses. In April, Walmart began l…
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More About: online shopping, retail

A nasty piece of malware called DNSChanger will kick thousands of Mac and PC users off the Internet on Monday, and there's a chance you could be one of them.

The FBI is shutting down domains that have been affected by the DNSChanger malware, which has been circulating the web since as far back as 2007. The malware redirected Internet traffic to sites with paid advertisements where cybercriminals reaped profit from unsuspecting visitors.

The trojan's creators -- six Estonian nationals -- shut down their services when they were caught and arrested about eight months ago.

Although the FBI has been urging consumers for months to check if their systems have been affected by DNSChang…
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More About: DNS, hackers, malware, security, trending, trojan

Some video games can change your whole perspective on life. Some aren't worth the polycarbonate they're encoded on.

Today, we pay tribute to those shiny new titles that just fall flat.

This week's MashTag is: #LameVideoGames.

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Breaker #LameVideoGames— Christine Erickson (@christerickson) July 6, 2012

Ninja Garden #LameVideoGames— Todd Olmstead (@toddjolmstead) July 6, 2012

Mandolin Hero #LameVideoGames— Matt Silverman (@Matt_Silverman) July 6, 2012

Use the hashtag on Twitter, not in the comments. We'll be showcasing the funniest hashtagged tweets in the gallery above. The top three will be retweeted from @masha…
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More About: features, mashable, MashTags, watercooler

Facebook has begun rolling out its apps marketplace internationally, launching a version for UK users Friday morning.

Facebook's App Center (or Centre, in British spelling) launched in the U.S. early last month. It's similar to Apple's, Google's and Amazon's app stores, allowing users to browse apps by category, such as Games or Sports, and filter to show apps that are available via the web, mobile or both. Apps are recommended based on collective ratings, personal recommendations, what's trending and popularity among your friends.

The App Center isn't exclusively made for Facebook's apps: It also indexes apps available only on third-party sites, or through other mobile app sto…
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More About: Facebook, facebook app center, facebook apps, uk

British Airways wants to give its customers a more personalized travel experience by creating dossiers on them, and many have raised questions about the privacy implications in doing this.

The information will include not only data the airline already possesses -- like previous complaints or delays -- but also information from Google Image searches. Theoretically, the flight crew can apologize for mistakes and be able to identify passengers in order to do so.

"We're essentially trying to recreate the feeling of recognition you get in a favourite restaurant when you're welcomed there, but in our case it will be delivered by thousands of sta…
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More About: British Airways, Google, privacy, travel, trending

There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, many of whom direct daily prayers toward the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. One designer from the U.K., Soner Ozenc, would like to bring some tech innovation into the prayer space, by creating a prayer mat that lights up when it faces Mecca.

The prayer mat is called EL Sajjadah -- "EL" stands for Electro Luminescent and "Sajjadah" means prayer mat. EL Sajjadah is lightweight, flexible and has a built in digital compass, which lights up when facing Mecca.

"I was looking at designing flying carpets, but I came to a point where I needed to add a function to the project," Ozenc told Mashable. "Then I came up with the prayer mat idea. Y…
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More About: art, kickstarter, religion, trending

Is Internet access and online freedom of expression a basic human right? The United Nations' Human Rights Council unanimously backed that notion in a resolution passed Thursday.

The resolution says that all people should be allowed to connect to and express themselves freely on the Internet. All 47 members of the Human Rights Council, including notoriously censorship-prone countries such as China and Cuba, signed the resolution.

China's support for the resolution came with the stipulation that the "free flow of information on the Internet and the safe flow of information on the Internet are mutually dependent," as Chinese delegate Xia Jingge told the Council in a sign that the country…
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More About: Arab Spring, censorship, human rights, internet, trending, United Nations, World

Social media is changing the sales game. An explosion in social activity has shifted the power to customers who are better informed and engaged, while working in more transparent organizations that require well-researched decision making. As a result, sales representatives need more than a good pitch -- they need to understand a customer's business model, channel their needs and uphold their values.

Sales can't depend on marketing either, as they no longer have complete control of the brand. Customers have become engaged buyers, going beyond the company website to read blogs, follow Twitter handles, and spin up LinkedIn conversations to gain outside perspectives for purchase decis…
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More About: corporate social media, features, mashable, open forum, sales

Twitter has a big search and discovery announcement today, according to a tweet by the company's Personalization and Recommender Systems Chief Pankaj Gupta.

"Search & discovery in @twitter set to change forever after tmrw," tweeted Gupta Thursday, without giving away any other details.

It's a long shot, but today's possible announcement could be somehow tied to Twitter's recent criticism of Google, after the company tightly integrated Google+ into its search results.

SEE ALSO: Are Tailored Trends Ruining Twitter?

"As we've seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter. We're concerned that as a result of Google's changes, finding this information will be much…
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More About: Search, Social Media, trending, Twitter

Libertarian icon Rand Paul, a U.S. Senator from Kentucky, has released through the Campaign for Liberty a four-page manifesto outlining his goals and ideas for regulating the Internet.

Paul wants to make preserving the Internet along conservative principles the rallying call of the next generation of conservative voters. Whereas the elder Ron Paul has become a leading voice calling for a financial audit of the Federal Reserve System, the younger Rand wants protecting the Internet from government intrusion to be his own claim to political fame.

Sources close to the Paul family told Buzzfeed that Internet regulation (or rather lack thereof) will become the younger statesman's prime p…
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More About: censorship, congress, internet, open internet, open web, Politics, rand paul, ron paul, SOPA, US

Games built for iOS appeal to a wide range of people, and that includes kids! Whether it's younger kids just getting their first taste of technology or those who are looking for experiences that will encourage more than just hand-eye-coordination, there are plenty of great examples. Here are some of the most entertaining ones out there.

More About: contributor, features, games, ipad, mobile apps, mobile games, trending