Justin Timberlake Uses Instagram to Announce '20/20 Experience' Part 2

By Brian Anthony Hernandez2013-05-05 21:53:50 UTC

Singer Justin Timberlake, who until this year hadn't released new music since 2006, will release part two of his successful 20/20 Experience album on Sept. 30 — just six months after part one debuted.

Timberlake made the unexpected announcement Sunday through photos posted on Instagram on Facebook. The picture on Instagram, which he joined on Grammy Sunday in February, quickly racked up nearly 50,000 views within the first hour it was uploaded.

The visual announcement continues Timberlake's use of social sites to tease or release items related to his music career. It all began in January, when Timberlake posted a cryptic tweet on Twitter. The message teased his musical comeback. He also unleashed interactive art for The 20/20 Experience album on image-tagging startup Stipple's website. And he used Myspace to promote the album's lead single, "Suit & Tie." (Note: Timberlake is an investor in Stipple and has ownership stake in Myspace.)

The blitz helped spark Timberlake's comeback into a commercially success. "Suit & Tie" featuring Jay-Z broke airplay records and globally charted atop iTunes' top-selling singles rankings in its debut week. Meanwhile, The 20/20 Experience ranked number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart in its first week. The album's second single, "Mirrors," (watch below) has performed well. It peaked at number one on the Billboard's UK singles chart and number five on the U.S. chart.

Before part two of The 20/20 Experience arrives, Timberlake will embark on the "Legends of the Summer" tour with Jay-Z in July and August.

Homepage and main images via Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS and DirecTV

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Even Sports Stars Get Salty About Being Unfollowed on Twitter

By Sam Laird2013-05-06 20:08:34 UTC

It's one of the most severe passive-aggressive disses of the social media age. It's a belittling gesture of another human being's insignificance. It can lead to introspection, self-doubt and vindictive muttering.

We're speaking, of course, about the Twitter unfollow.

And, it turns out, even sports stars are susceptible to the antisocial action's power to peeve.

ESPN The Magazine's latest issue features a profile of 20-year-old tennis phenom Sloane Stephens, who surged to prominence in January after beating Serena Williams to win the Australian Open. The piece, which hit the web Monday, goes into some detail about a falling-out between Stephens and Williams since the upset victory, and here's part of what Stephens has to say:

"She's not said one word to me, not spoken to me, not said hi, not looked my way, not been in the same room with me since I played her in Australia," Stephens says emphatically. "And that should tell everyone something, how she went from saying all these nice things about me to unfollowing me on Twitter."

Her mom tries to slow her down, but Sloane is insistent. "Like, seriously! People should know. They think she's so friendly and she's so this and she's so that — no, that's not reality! You don't unfollow someone on Twitter, delete them off of BlackBerry Messenger. I mean, what for? Why?"

But that's not all the Twitter drama. Stephens also responded to this alleged subtweet Williams posted two days after the open:

I made you.

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) January 26, 2013

"I was like, 'You really don't think I know that that's about me?'" Stephens tells the magazine.

Interestingly enough, back when she won the Open, Stephens was already thinking social media.

"I hope to have a lot more Twitter followers," she said in a televised interview immediately following the match.

She ended up getting that wish, and then some. Stephens' followers more than doubled in the hours following her win and she received congratulatory tweets from Shaquille O'Neal, Dirk Nowitzki, John Legend and other celebrities.

Between the high hopes and unspoken snubs, it seems, Stephens is truly a sports star for the digital era.

Photo by Julian Finney-Pool/Getty Images

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10 Pics From My Dog's Google Glass

By Christine Erickson2013-05-05 17:19:34 UTC

Humans are foaming at the mouth over Google Glass. The tiny projection screen, voice commands and user-friendly experience could very well be the technology of the future.

But what about dogs? Could our four-legged friends benefit from Google Glass? Would anyone actually buy this technology for a dog? Considering that people buy $3.2 million collars for their dogs, why wouldn't they?

SEE ALSO: SNL Mocks How Google Glass Can Be Used "Discreetly"

We went undercover to learn what it would be like to be a dog wearing Google Glass, playing with a canine friend.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Moosicorn

Image via iStockphoto, chris-mueller

Image via iStockphoto, dageldog

Image via iStockphoto, Suzanne-Carlsson

Image via iStockphoto, cynoclub

Image via iStockphoto, dageldog

Image via iStockphoto, yellowsarah

Image via iStockphoto, jonathandowney

Image via iStockphoto, lisas212

Image via iStockphoto, Haje

Image by Mashable

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Get Psyched for 'Iron Man 3' With This Superhero Remix

By Neha Prakash2013-05-05 16:45:32 UTC

Tony Stark makes his epic return to the big screen this weekend with the release of Iron Man 3, but it's been a while since we've been privy to the superhero's — shall we say — swagger?

Ease yourself back into Stark's world of wealth and fighting evil with the "Iron Man Trilogy Remix" by YouTuber relmvision. Prepare to remember all those lovely explosions, fire blasts and special effects that made you fall in love with this protector of Pepper Potts and gang.

For some added Stark power, there are even a few soundbites from The Avengers.

Image courtesy of YouTube, relmvision

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Knicks Star Checks the Haters in Audacious Instagram

By Sam Laird2013-05-06 18:26:15 UTC

New York Knicks super sub J.R. Smith had a really bad game in his team's playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night. How bad? Try 4-for-15 from the field bad.

The subpar performance in a critical game had some wondering what Smith had been up to the night before. Well, a Saturday night tweet from New York's Jay-Z-owned 40/40 club seemed to indicate that he hadn't exactly been at home quietly preparing for the Knicks' second-round series:

Cam Newton, JR Smith, CC Sabathia, CJ Watson, Andre Blatche and Joe Johnson in the building!The lineup is serious tonight NY!

— The 40/40 Club (@The4040) May 5, 2013

Predictably, Smith's poor outing coupled with his rumored pre-game partying drew plenty of criticism from fans and media alike. Sunday night, however, Smith took to Twitter to let the haters know:

First an for most I wasn't clubbing before the game so y'all can kill that. Don't try an find reasons when I miss shots! #HopOff

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) May 5, 2013

That, however, was just the beginning. Smith followed the tweet up by posting a Twitter link to this Instagram of a quote-unquote Official NBA Bandwagon Transferral Form:

While LeBron James was recently named the NBA's Most Valuable Player, it says here Smith is the league's Most Valuable Tweeter. His defiant Sunday night posts were the latest in a long line of truly outstanding social media shares.

There was the time he roasted Knicks coach Mike Woodson for a polka-dotted fashion fail. There was the time he sent a Kanye-laced zinger to Kardashian ex Kris Humphries. Then, of course, there was also the time he accidentally gave us all an intimate window into how NBA stars proposition their Twitter followers with the immortal pickup line, "You trying to get the pipe?"

Image courtesy Flickr, Bryan Thatcher

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Watch Hugh Jackman Answer Twitter Users' 'Wolverine' Questions

By Brian Anthony Hernandez2013-05-05 16:14:41 UTC

Golden Globe winner Hugh Jackman unleashed a series of YouTube videos this week in which he answered 11 Twitter users' questions about The Wolverine movie.

Fans submitted questions via Twitter using hashtags #AskHugh and #TheWolverine.

Jackman, who is playing the disgruntled hero with regenerative abilities for the sixth time in the X-Men film franchise, tweeted his answers and links to the videos on his @RealHughJackman account. You can watch all of them in this video gallery:

The film hits theaters July 26, and tackles Wolverine's immortality. "Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before," according to 20th Century Fox.

The Wolverine also features Silver Samurai and Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova). Its trailer shows a glimpse of Famke Janssen's departed Jean Grey character, who may reappear more than once in flashbacks.

Jackman's Twitter chat was just one part of 20th Century Fox's digital promotional blitz for The Wolverine. Aside from the traditional marketing tactics and video trailer, people involved with the film have leveraged Twitter, Vine, Facebook and YouTube to build anticipation for the summer release.

Director James Mangold, for example, shared a six-second Vine "tweaser," which teased a 20-second teaser for the movie's trailer.

Mangold is also tweeting exclusive images from the flick.

For its part, 20th Century Fox unleashed two beautiful "motion posters" on YouTube:

And on Facebook, people can create a Wolverine cover photo with their name on it:

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox

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Adobe CEO: The Truth About Creative Cloud

By Lance Ulanoff2013-05-06 21:55:30 UTC

Adobe's decision to discontinue the boxed version of Creative Suite and move to a subscription software-based model (also known as the Creative Cloud) stunned many customers, but considering recent moves, like the acquisition and integration of Behance, the introduction of a cloud subscription option and Adobe’s desire to support transmedia activities, none of this should come as a surprise. Even so, customer shock, anger and confusion are well in evidence in the hundreds of comments piling up under Mashable's post on the announcement.

With that in mind, Mashable got on the phone with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to dispel at least some of the myth and rumor surrounding Adobe Creative Cloud.

Narayen said that there are more than a few financial changes that come as a result of the switch. Without boxed software, the relationship with channel partners changes (though Narayen didn't say exactly how). In fact the whole financial model changes. Among the new performance metrics Wall Street will look for in Adobe is "number of subscribers" and "annualized recurring revenue."

Narayen also admits that they won't be paying for product packaging any more.

On the other hand, some costs are rising for Adobe: Narayen said cloud services require storage space. There is also the expectation, with cloud-connected services, that updates and innovation will arrive more quickly, "For engineers and the product team, it's a canvas for delivering products and innovation at a more rapid pace."

While this isn't a move solely devoted to defeating software pirates, Narayen says the shift will improve the situation. "It allows us to provide different offerings in different emerging markets without worrying about gray markets."

There's an ongoing debate in Mashable's comments about whether or not Adobe's subscription model will cost Adobe customers more than buying Creative Suite 6 outright (with a perpetual license). Narayen insists that the cost for Adobe CC is now lower for "any customer." Those costs are now more predictable, he added.

There's also, Narayen contends, the chance that customers will save money because they don’t have to pay for additional services that now come with Adobe CC. These include cloud-based storage and even Behance, which allows Adobe CC users to "share portfolios and monetize skill sets," said Narayen.

As for those who just purchased Creative Suite 6, Adobe is offering aggressive discounts.

Whether customers are looking to start out on Creative Suite or are current customers, Narayen sees great benefit in this new path. "To a lot of people, they've actually stated that the lower price of entry is in all honesty a better way for them to become a member of the creative cloud generation," he said.

Adobe's Creative Cloud is not exactly a cloud-based app. Narayen accurately describes it as a hybrid solution. You will still install local software. The subscription model ($29 a month for an app or $49 a month for the full Creative Suite) means you gain access to the latest software updates as soon as they become available in the cloud, as well as all the cloud-based services and integration available to CC members.

No Internet? No problem. Narayen told Mashable the apps will still work. "It's the best of both worlds," he added.

Adobe no longer sells boxed software, though you can by perpetual license versions of Adobes' hobbyist Elements software products. Narayen said Adobe has no immediate subscription-based plans for those products, but the migration to digital copies is the wave of the future. Narayen's advice to the rest of the software industry, "Companies that wish to thrive in this next tech era need to embrace or perish. We’re not only embracing, we’re leading."

Even so, not everyone has broadband access and for those who find downloading Creative Suite-sized apps prohibitive, Narayen promises, "We'll get them the software they need."

In a word, yes. During the Adobe MAX Convention in Los Angeles, the software giant showed off two intriguing prototypes: One a digital ruler and the other a cloud-connected stylus or pen. The pen makes it possible to, Narayen explained, have “all your assets with you on any device.” Narayen cautioned, however, that neither one of these products is shipping.

Narayen, who has been with Adobe since 1998, is the first to admit that he could not have envisioned today's digital landscape 15 years ago. "It's amazing what has happened with technology and what Adobe has done ... We are not just transforming how people make this content, we're transforming how they manage it, how they measure it and how they monetize it."

Perhaps Narayen is so sanguine about the changes because he's been through this before. When Adobe announced in 2003 it was introducing product "collections and suites," customers and industry watchers wondered about Adobe's motivations. Was it all about money? Ultimately Adobe's Creative Suite of products became the standard.

Narayen anticipates a similar kind of embrace for Adobe CC. "A few years from now, people will say, 'How could I even imagine a Photoshop that was not connected to the cloud?'"

What do you think of Narayen’s explanations? Are you ready for subscription-based creativity software? Let us know in the comments.

Image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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