Social Passport taps QR codes, NFC for real-world social interaction

neat….

Gigaom

QR codes haven’t lit the world on fire and NFC is still a sort of a largely untapped technology that conjures up mostly visions of fast mobile payments. But New York start-up Social Passport is leveraging the technologies to create a social loyalty tool that enables consumers to socially interact with merchants and retailers in the real world, helping them check-in, like, follow or tweet about their experiences, sometimes in exchange for a discount.

The company, which recently won the best start-up at the Web 2.0 Expo, offers users a way to contain their social networking credentials in one app that can then interact with NFC tags and QR codes in the real world. The idea is that a merchant or business can post an NFC tag and QR code in their store on a sign and users can then use the app to initiate an action. For example, after…

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This is how you should buy music online

Gigaom

With the recent launches of Google (s GOOG) Music, Amazon (s AMZN) Cloud Player and iCloud (s AAPL), there has never been an easier time to buy a song. Each service is different, though, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. Depending on your phone, listening habits and geekiness, you are better off going with one service over another. Here is a handy guide to help you choose which service is best for you.

Do you own an iPhone? Are you a geek?

Then you should use Amazon Cloud Player. iTunes still sells their music in AAC format. This is different from MP3. Even though many devices play AAC, you are still safer buying an MP3 file. Plus, Amazon always has deals, and you can pick up many albums for $5. After you purchase a song, you can listen to it on Amazon’s Cloud Player website, but you’ll likely want…

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 21, 2011

Bill Mullins' Weblog - Tech Thoughts

How to Make Your Windows PC Boot Faster – Looking to slash your Windows PC’s boot time to the bone? We’ll show you how we made one system boot 30 percent faster–without any hardware upgrades.

New Skype Beta offers even deeper Facebook integration – With the new Skype Beta app for Windows, you can place Facebook video calls right from the Skype interface. No browser required.

Configure and use shadow copy in Microsoft Windows – The shadow copy feature in Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 goes a long way toward making file restoration just a few mouse clicks away from reality. That is, if you have turned shadow copy on and have it configured properly.

Remote Desktop – Launched last month, the Chrome Remote Desktop extension can enable you connect to and control your Mac from your PC.

54 Open Source ECommerce Tools for SMBs– Some parts of…

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Why Facebook is (mostly) right about sharing

Hmmm……

Gigaom

Facebook’s implementation of what it calls “frictionless sharing” continues to cause controversy: critics complain that the new feature — which automatically shares songs from Spotify or news stories from social-reading apps — is ruining the site, cluttering up their stream and is generally just creepy. As newly-minted venture capitalist MG Siegler has noted, this kind of backlash is par for the course whenever Facebook makes sharing-related changes, so it’s likely this particular storm will also blow over. But what the fuss does highlight is how Facebook still needs better filters to help users cope with the onslaught of social-sharing information.

Molly Wood at CNET seems to have started the latest furore, saying the new changes at Facebook are “ruining sharing,” because they clutter up a user’s feed and try to badger them into signing up for apps like Spotify or the Washington Post app. Wood calls Spotify…

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U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases

Wow….

Gigaom

Tablets still tend to be early adopter devices, but they’re quickly becoming mainstream tools. By the end of 2014, one in every three Americans or 90 million users is expected to have a tablet, according to a new estimate by eMarketer.

The research firm said Monday that by the end of 2011, 33.7 million Americans will use a tablet device, up 158.6 percent over last year. Tablets sales are expected to grow 62.8 percent to 54.8 million next year, and will grow to 75.6 million units in 2013 and 89.5 million by 2014.

Over time, eMarketer said tablet sales will be driven by people buying their own tablets instead of sharing devices, which is what happens a lot now. Just like computers went from being more family-owned devices to ultimately very personal machines, tablets will become more like smartphones, tied to one user rather than passed between people. The iPad (s…

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Matcha.tv launches to become your DVR in the cloud

Interesting….

Gigaom

After a few months in private beta, social video recommendations site Matcha.tv has publicly launched with new features, including the ability to help users organize and keep track of the TV shows and movies they love. And it’s not just for online-only distributors like Netflix (s NFLX) or Hulu Plus: The company also recently partnered with Comcast (s CMCSA) to recommend online episodes available to its Xfinity TV customers as well.

Matcha.tv entered its private beta primarily as a site for recommending TV shows and movies. With the latest update, however, the startup has redesigned its site to give users the ability to create queues and help people follow TV shows. The goal, CEO Guy Piekarz told us in an interview last week, is to become a sort of “DVR in the cloud.” Rather than recording their favorite programs on a DVR set-top box, they’ll be able to catch up…

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