Hasta La Gadget!

This week the folks at Nielsen have reported that their most recent findings in studying the web’s usage of social networks has yielded one thing clearer than all else: Facebook takes the cake. They’ve made it clear that in addition to Facebook continuing to bash up the charts by a significant margin, we’ve spent 37% more time this year in the month of July on social networks than we did last year at the same time. In just one year, we’ve tacked on nearly 40% more minutes in a month with Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, and the like.

This study in 2012 shows the top 10 social networks to be Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, WordPress, and Linedin to start, with Facebook equalling nearly three times the amount of unique PC visits over its first competitor, Blogger. The list of 10 continues with Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, MySpace, and Wikia, with each site from Linedin to Tumblr only having right around 1,000,000 unique visitors different between the two – but again, this is all via the PC market, people working from their desktop.

As for visitors from these social networks via their mobile browser presence, there’s a bit different story. Facebook remains in the lead, while Twitter takes over Blogger and Pinterest jumps 2 places to sit in a clear fourth. WordPress is the last of the top 5 with Linedin being the first with numbers under 10 million, it and Tumblr coming up short by less than 2 million each. The bottom three then are Wikia, Reddit, and MySpace – Reddit’s growth is notable at 153% over what it was a year before, the same for Tumblr at 162% over last year. Pinterest deserves the biggest applause in this category with a massive 4,225% growth rate year over year in the mobile app segment.

As for mobile users using apps, we’ve got a top 5 starting with Facebook and moving on the Twitter, then foursquare, Google+, and Pinterest. This chart shows that not only is Pinterest taking off like a rocket – winning the most improved in each category far and away, the whole mobile social network family is growing at a surprisingly fast rate. Have another peek at this study from a different perspective from earlier today.

[via Nielsen]

Facebook crushes social network top 10 in 2012 Nielsen report is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Pinterest, the online board where users can pin images for other users to see and share, has finally added private boards. Secret Boards, as the new feature is called, allows users to set up private, user-restricted boards where images can rest safely knowing they’re not open to public scrutiny. The feature is being “gradually rolled out.”

A Secret Board can be a private board that no one else has access to, allowing you to gather together images for your own use that no one else can see. Alternatively, the feature can also be set up so that certain users are authorized to view and interact with it. According to the announcement, the feature was launched today and is gradually be rolled out, with no details on what exactly that means.

Pinterest’s software engineer Evrhet Milam stated this in the announcement. “We hope that secret boards will make Pinterest even more useful. You can use secret boards to keep track of holiday gifts, plan a special event, or work on a project you aren’t yet ready to share with the rest of the world. You can keep your secret boards to yourself or invite family and friends to pin with you.”

Creating a private board seems pretty straight forward. Log into your Pinterest account, then click on your profile and scroll to the bottom of the page. Select “Create a Secret Board,” then click “Add+.” In the board creation screen, click “Create Board,” then be sure to switch the Secret button to the “On” position.

[via Pinterest]

Pinterest launches Secret Boards for private pinning is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Facebook is getting into online commerce in a big way: last week they unveiled an easy way to send physical goods to friends, and today they’ve announced Collections. Collections, according to Facebook, is a way for companies to format image posts of products to facilitate easy sales through Facebook. Sounds a lot like another image-based social network, right? (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Yes, college admissions officers are looking through your Facebook, Facebook: Over one billion served,

We don’t hear much from Myspace these days, what with Facebook and Twitter being the go-to social platforms for most of the world. The folks behind Myspace are looking to change that with an upcoming redesign. Of course, Myspace has gone through multiple redesigns in the past, but this new one is particularly eye-catching, and you can get your first look at it in a preview video posted after the jump.

Right off the bat, it’s obvious that the new Myspace is going to be quite the departure from the Myspace we’re used to. The focus on music and entertainment remains in tact, but user profiles are getting completely overhauled. What surprises us the most is how beautiful everything looks, especially when Myspace is coming from a layout that can’t exactly be described as “gorgeous.”

Looking at the video below, it seems that Myspace designers have drawn inspiration from the likes of Pinterest and Microsoft‘s Metro UI. Everything comes together to form a really sleek look, and call us crazy, but this redesign may just do something to bring users back to the service, which has been suffering at the hands of Facebook for years now. Speaking of Facebook, it seems that the new Myspace will sport Facebook and Twitter integration to some degree. It also adds things like a dedicated music player and a persistent navigation bar, so yeah, this is going to be a pretty massive redesign.

No word yet on when this new redesign will land, but those who are interested in this redesign can leave their email address to “request an invite.” It’s unclear whether that invite will be for a beta or the full blown launch of the new Myspace, but we’re tempted to think it’s the latter. What do you think of this new Myspace design? Is it enough to get you to return to the social network?

[via The Next Web]

Myspace shows off incoming redesign in new video is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The week is halfway over folks – just two more work days to go and the weekend is here again. Today brought a wealth of Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 stories, with the company officially unveiling it for the US today. We were right there with a review of it, and we also compared Samsung’s new flagship tablet to the 3rd generation iPad, just in case you were curious as to how the Galaxy Note 10.1 stands up. A little bit later in the day, Samsung announced the price of Galaxy Note 10.1 and also revealed some accessories, so if you’re planning to pick one up, be sure to check that out.

Speaking of Samsung devices, we may have received our first glimpse at the front panel of the Samsung Galaxy Note II today, and a video of the Jelly Bean update for the Samsung Galaxy S III surfaced today as well. Looking at Samsung’s current court battle with Apple for a moment, Samsung delivered the argument many on its side were waiting for, saying that the iPhone’s design is “obvious.” HTC rallied employees today by saying that it’s coming back, Amazon might have a new Kindle Fire in the works, and we were treated to a mock up of what the rumored iPad Mini might look like if it, you know… existed.

Verizon will begin offering an LTE-enabled version of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 later this week, and a new SwiftKey update brings Google Voice recognition with it. Facebook is in trouble with data protection officials in Germany again, a reported iPad Mini dock connector surfaced today, and we happened upon some specs for the Motorola RAZR HD. Anonymous claimed today that it had hacked the PlayStation Network, but Sony was right there to say that it was all a hoax. Microsoft detailed the problems it’s currently having with the Windows Phone marketplace, and Pinterest revealed new apps for both Android and iOS, and if you’re planning to pick up, be sure to have a look at our review first.

LG announced that it has sold 5 million smartphones worldwide, and Netflix is about to roll out to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Nokia has reiterated its commitment to Windows Phone, and the Windows 8 RTM software build is now available. Finally tonight, the Waverider hypersonic aircraft has crashed during an Air Force test flight, and the Humble Indie Bundle for Android 3 is now available, so if you’re in need of some games, be sure to check that out!

That does it for the evening wrap-up everyone, so go and enjoy what’s left of Wednesday!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: August 15, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.