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Twitter, as a platform, played a big role in the instantaneous spread of information following the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January. Today the microblogging site is officially supporting the exchange of real-time information and offering free SMS tweets for Digicel Haiti customers.

As of now, Digicel Haiti customers won’t incur charges for the SMS tweets they send and receive through Twitter’s 40404 short code. The bottom line is that Haitians can now experience an entirely free, mobile version of Twitter.

In Twitter’s blog post on the matter, Biz Stone writes:

“Kevin Thau and our mobile team have recently arranged free SMS tweets for Digicel Haiti customers. To activate the service, mobile phone users in Haiti can text follow @oxfam to 40404. Accounts are created on the fly and any account can be followed this way.”

Twitter’s move to make SMS tweets free of charge comes more than a month after the earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, but it’s yet another great example of how the web/tech industry is stepping up to help Haiti.

[img credit: Matt Hamm]

Tags: haiti earthquake, SMS, twitter

Hawaiian musician Jake Shimabukuro does things with a ukelele that Tiny Tim never could. He garnered a standing ovation for his performance here at TED this year, and we had a chance to sit down and ask him about how YouTube has played a role in his success, why he loves Twitter, why he’s a ukelele evangelist and more.

Check out the interview in two parts below, followed by the YouTube video Jake mentions in the interview, which is currently up to 4,659,736 views.

Jake on stage at TED 2010

Part 1

Part 2

Ukelele Weeps

[img credit: James Duncan Davidson for TED]

Tags: interviews, Jake Shimabukuro, music, TED, TED2010, ukelele

It’s still officially rumor at this point, but Spanish-language blog MuyComputer reports that it’s confirmed with NVIDIA that the company will be on hand at this months’ Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with Microsoft to announce the new Zune Phone.

The phone will reportedly run on the Tegra platform, NVIDIA’s powerful system-on-a-chip that was used in the Zune HD and will also be used by a number of upcoming tablets.

We’ve been following the relatively steady stream of Zune Phone rumors, often referred to as “Project Pink” or the “Microsoft Zune Phone Experience.” Rather than being primarily a Zune music player with a phone grafted on, the Zune Phone is highly expected to run Windows Mobile 7 and incorporate the Zune software — similar to the way Apple’s iPhone runs a flavor of what is essentially iPod software.

It could very well be Microsoft’s long-awaited answer to the iPhone, so we’ll be watching closely during MWC for all the relevant announcements. What do you hope to see included in the Zune Phone?

[note: img at top right is only a mockup]

[via Gizmodo]

Tags: iphone, microsoft, MWC, MWC2010, windows mobile, windows mobile 7, zune, zune hd, Zune Phone

Filed under: Gaming, Software

We posted a little while back about Telltale possibly bringing its games over to the Mac, and now there’s even more rumblings to be interested in. Rumor has it that since most of their games use the same platform, one port is the same as all of them, which means we may see the whole catalog released in one fell swoop on OS X, and sold right alongside their PC brethren. Additionally, Telltale hints that we may even see iPhone and/or iPad versions of their games, including Sam and Max, the Monkey Island franchise, and all the rest (with the exceptions of the Bone series and Texas Hold ‘Em).

They are saying that we’ll hear more at Macworld next month, and since TUAW plans to be there en masse, we’ll definitely keep our eyes open for anything they’re showing off. Good to hear that one of the more interesting and quality developers out there is planning to come over to the Mac in a big way.

[via IMG]

TUAWMore rumored Telltale plans for the Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Add this to the list of things that should have been illegal long ago: The U.S. has now made it unlawful for truck and bus drivers to text whilst operating their respective vehicles.

Although text messaging has been discussed more and more in conjunction with driving as of late — what with drunken drivers evading checkpoints via text and Twitter around News Years and the like — texting while driving is still not against the law everywhere in America. Currently, only 19 states ban getting textual behind the wheel. (Far fewer ban talking on handheld phones — only six states in all.)

Therefore, a country-wide ban on text message use for this portion of motorists marks a decisive mood — and one that seems timely, too. According to a recent report by the National Safety Council, at least 1.6 million crashes a year are caused by cell phone use — that’s 28% of all crashes. 200,000 of those accidents are caused by texting.

Now, bus drivers and truck drivers who are caught texting will face fines up to $2,750. It remains to be seen whether such measures will become standard for all U.S. drivers.

What do you think of the ban? Let us know in the comments.

[via Reuters]

[img credit: chefranden]

Tags: legal, Mobile 2.0, Political, texting, twitter

On Friday McDonald’s officially added free Wi-Fi to the menu at most U.S. locations. Now you can have your Big Mac, fries and free Wi-Fi at 11,500 McDonald’s across the country.

News of the free Wi-Fi deal was initially announced in mid-December, but now the service is live.

You may recall that the fast food chain was previously serving up Wi-Fi for $2.95 for two hours of internet access, but AT&T swooped in to the rescue. By eliminating the cost, McDonald’s is taking yet another step to position their brand as an alternative to higher priced coffee retail chains.

There are 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the US – the small number that didn’t have Wi-Fi previously don’t appear to be part of the rollout.

[via Engadget]

[img credit: Tony the Misfit, Flickr]

Tags: Food, free wifi, McDonalds

We knew this move was coming, but it doesn’t make it any less monumental for the rapidly rising location-based industry. Foursquare is no longer restricted to specific cities. Now, you can check in anywhere.

According to a report by CNET, the social location service now offers you the ability to check in anywhere from your mobile phone. This is in contrast to the previous system, where you chose your specific city if it wasn’t auto-detected. Smaller towns and cities in this system were left out, making it difficult for Foursquare to spread beyond urban sprawls.

The new upgrade hasn’t been rolled out to everyone yet — technically, it’s a soft launch. Soon though, everyone should be able to type in their city and state/country to check into their favorite Starbucks. The move should help it keep the upper hand against its upstart competitor Gowalla, which announced a partnership and contest with Incase earlier today.

Will you use Foursquare more now that you can check in anywhere? Let us know in the comments.

[img credit: Foursquare/CNET]

Tags: foursquare, gowalla, trending

Police have been known to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to track down thieves (the IRS, too), and careless Facebooking can quickly get you arrested. But if you’re on the run from the law, there’s another online territory you might want to consider avoiding: World of Warcraft.

Howard County, Indiana Sheriff Department Deputy Matt Roberson tracked down fugitive Alfred Hightower via the hugely popular massively multiplayer online game. Hightower was wanted on several counts of drug dealing but had fled the country to Canada.

After finding out Hightower was a WoW fan, Roberson sent a subpoena to the game’s maker, Blizzard Entertainment. With the information they sent back, Roberson was able to pinpoint the perp’s location.

Hightower will be extradited back to the U.S. to face charges. Lesson learned: virtual worlds don’t make as ideal places to hide from the law as one might think!

[via Massively]

[img credit: davidsonscott15]

Tags: law, legal, social media, trending, video games, world of warcraft, WoW

As you may recall, Nokia filed suit against Apple in October, claiming the iPhone maker was infringing on Nokia’s patents. Analysts even estimated that if found guilty, Apple could owe up to $1 billion in penalties. Not one to to turn down a fight, Apple noted in its 10-K SEC filing that it would defend the lawsuit “vigorously.”

Today, Apple has officially responded to the suit, countersuing Nokia and claiming that the Finnish mobile device maker is infringing on 13 of Apple’s patents. Engadget has uploaded the 79-page PDF document, which you can read at your leisure.

I haven’t had a chance to read over the entire document, but this excerpt from the second page pretty much sets the tone for the response:

“In dealing with Apple, Nokia has sought to gain an unjust competitive advantage over Apple by charging unwarranted fees to use patents that allegedly cover industry compatibility standards and by seeking to obtain access to Apple’s intellectual property. Nokia needs access to Apple’s intellectual property because Nokia has copied and is now using that patented technology.”

Who doesn’t love a good game of “my lawyer can beat up your lawyer?”

[img credit: Thomas Roche]

Tags: apple, engadget, iphone, lawsuit, Nokia

While privacy watchdogs, security firms and users digest the implications of Facebook’s new privacy settings, at least one high-profile individual is embracing them: Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

TrueSlant seems to have been first to notice that the usually very private Zuckerberg has opened up his profile so that anyone can see his wall, photos and events. While their report speculates that perhaps Zuckerberg doesn’t understand the new settings, it’s far more likely that he’s simply opened up to try and show everyone else that it’s okay to do so.

So what’s in Zuck’s profile? Not too much of interest that you wouldn’t expect from your typical twenty-something billionaire. The CEO’s wall reveals he actively uses the site’s commenting and “like” features. His photo album is far from scandalous, although Gawker has rounded up their “favorite” images. And he’s apparently a fan of Lady GaGa, The Oprah Winfrey Show and location-sharing service Gowalla.

Opening up is certainly a smart, if not highly calculated, move by Zuckerberg, who would look hypocritical in saying that the site is no longer simply about friend connections while simultaneously keeping his profile limited to his friends. That said, it’s unlikely that the move will do much to convince those skeptical of Facebook’s intentions that opening up is really in your best interest.

How have you adjusted your privacy settings since the new rollout? Let us know in the comments.

[img credit: Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Page]

Tags: facebook, gowalla, Lady Gaga, mark zuckerberg, Oprah winfrey, privacy