Twitter Launches HTML5 Version for iPad

Twitter has started gradually rolling out a new, HTML5-based version of Twitter.com for the iPad.
Besides being fully HTML5-based, the new version utilizes the iPad’s touch screen and sports a two-column look — a welcome change from the current site design, which is far from perfect for browsing on a device such as the iPad.
The new version of the site will become available to device owners over the “next week or so,” Twitter tweeted.
Image courtesy of Yfrog, FlannaganTV

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Facebook Vs. Shagbook: Social Network in Trademark Dispute with Adult Dating Site

In an eyebrow-raising trademark battle, Facebook filed suit against adult dating site Shagbook in May. Facebook’s contention: that the world’s largest social network would be “damaged by the issuance of a registration for the mark Shagbook.”

Shagbook has now filed its own opposition, along with counterclaims, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
As represented by SNRG Ventures, Shagbook, in the filing, “denies the allegation that Facebook is highly distinctive as it is a generic term.” It also challenges the validity of Facebook’s trademark, arguing that it should never have been granted.
Shagbook, in Facebook’s reasoning, is in violation of Facebook’s trademark because the site’s name is highly similar in “appearance, sound meaning, and commercial impression.” Its filing says the name was adopted with “the intent to call to mind and create a likelihood of confusion … and/or trade off the fame of Facebook.”
Not so, says Shagbook. When its American owner was living in the UK, he “referred to his little black book as his little ‘Shagbook’,” a representative for SNRG Ventures told Mashable. “He was amused with the word ‘shag,’ and picked up the name Shagbook.com, all perfectly innocently,”
Just how far will Shagbook go to fight Facebook’s trademark suit? “SNRG and Facebook’s attorneys have spoken but there have been no formal negotiations as of yet,” the representative tells us. “SNRG plans to vigorously defend the Shagbook mark.”
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first instance of Facebook attempting to protect its mark. The social network has made several prior trademark claims against web companies using “face” or “book” in their names.
The full text of Facebook’s original filing against Shagbook, and Shagbook’s counter are included below.

Facebook vs. Shagbook


Shagbook Notice of Opposition

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Twitter to serve up ads with 'Promoted Tweets'

Twitter said Thursday that it will begin placing advertisements known as "Promoted Tweets" in the timelines of users who follow a particular brand or company.

Twitter said it will begin testing the new advertising offering with a number of companies including Dell, Gatorade, Groupon, JetBlue, LivingSocial, Microsoft, Red Bull, Starbucks and Virgin America.

Promoted Tweets from non-profits such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the American Red Cross will also be shown, the San Francisco-based Twitter said in a blog post.

"When we decide to follow a favorite brand, business or charitable organization, we expect to be among the first to get a special announcement, access to exclusive content or a great offer," Twitter said.

"That's why starting today, we're introducing a way to ensure that the most important tweets from the organizations you follow reach you directly," it said.

Twitter has enjoyed explosive growth since it was founded in 2006 but it is unclear how successful it has been in translating its popularity into profit.

Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo, speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado, last week declined to reveal whether the privately held company is profitable.

But he said the number of advertisers on the platform is up 600 percent this year over last year, when it numbered in the hundreds.

Twitter said the new advertising scheme will involve placing "Promoted Tweets" from accounts that a user follows "at or near the top" of their timeline, or stream of messages, when a user logs in.

"These Promoted Tweets will scroll through the timeline like any other tweet, and like regular tweets, they will appear in your timeline just once," Twitter said.

"Promoted Tweets can also be easily dismissed from your timeline with a single click," Twitter added.

The advertiser-sponsored tweets will only be shown on the accounts of users of the Twitter.com website, not the scores of third-party applications used to access the service.

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