Hasta La Gadget!

Topics that are trending on Twitter generate huge amounts of traffic and have the potential to generate serious profits for companies able to take advantage of trending terms. A researcher from MIT claims to have developed a new algorithm that is able to accurately predict topics that will trend on Twitter. The researcher claims that his algorithm can identify trending topics even before Twitter can.

The researcher believes that his algorithm can also be put to use in other business markets as well including predicting stock prices, ticket sales, and other dynamically changing items. The researcher who developed the algorithm is MIT associate professor Devavrat Shah. Shah says that his algorithm has been 95% accurate during testing and has been able to predict trends hours before they appear on Twitter’s trend list.

The new algorithm uses a unique approach to machine learning allowing the use of real-time data with historical data to predict outcomes based on past events. The algorithm is also able to predict these outcomes based on past events that most closely align with the current situation being analyzed. That means the algorithm can assign an increase weight to topics that have a trending path similar to trends of the past.

Shah’s algorithm may have the potential to be used in all sorts of businesses, but it seems Twitter is certainly interested in the algorithm for its own needs. In fact, one of the research assistants helping Shah is a Twitter employee. So far, the algorithm has been trained using a set of 400 topics. Half the topics it has been trained on have trended and half of them have not. Shah says that the algorithm is designed to process data in parallel across systems like those that are used by large web companies and to avoid traditional issues with large data sets.

[via Gigaom]

MIT researcher develops algorithm to identify Twitter trends before Twitter can is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While Steve Ballmer from Microsoft was up on stage sharing new details and talking about Windows 8 here in Seattle for their Build developers event, the folks from Twitter posted a quickie update on the status of an official Twitter app for Windows 8. With the new and beautiful OS available now, rest assured knowing that you’ll be Tweeting away with ease very soon.

Obviously a dedicated Twitter “App” for Windows 8 isn’t completely needed, but they offer dedicated apps for almost every other platform — so it only makes sense. Add in the fact that in just a few short days over 4 million people have already upgraded to Windows 8, now is the perfect time to develop a beautifully crafted new app that nicely sits on the side of Windows 8.

Aside from owning TweetDeck, the social network has never offered a dedicated Windows PC application, but that will finally be changing with Windows 8. Unfortunately we don’t know much at this point, with the social site bird lovers only stating that their new application for Windows 8 was being built and that we can expect them to share it with us in the “months ahead.”

It looks like we’ll still be waiting awhile. With Windows 8 being readily available today and updated to as we speak, I’m already wondering why they didn’t jump on a dedicated app sooner and have it ready at launch like many others. It’s worth noting that this official app is being built from the ground up, so you’ll be able to enjoy it on Windows 8 PC’s, as well as RT tablets and more. Stay tuned for more details from the Twittersphere!

Twitter outs official Windows 8 app coming in the “months ahead” is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Should you happen to use both Twitter and Skydrive in a prolific manner, then you would obviously realize that it was possible to only post links to your stream – until today, that is. From now on, Skydrive images will also be able to be posted natively on your Twitter feed, which is a nice albeit small gesture to include. Obviously, this is not some sort of ground-breaking feature, but it sure as heck is more than a welcome addition to the micro-blogging tool.

Skydrive is seen by some to be an integral part of Microsoft’s future plans since this is the Washington company’s plan to tie in the rest of their platforms together. Such a feature would ensure that adoption rates of the platform increase if the masses bite, and the timing of it all could not be better planned as Microsoft introduces both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 to the rest of the world. Will you be jumping aboard the Windows Phone 8 bandwagon?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Tweetphony is symphony of tweets, Twitter tests out new “Like” or “Star” buttons,

Need to talk about books, but hate going over to other people’s homes? Move over Oprah, because Sony’s helping virtualize the whole experience with Readers Book Club, a virtual book club that lets reader chat with authors via Twitter and Facebook. Also on the slate are discounts and downloadable extra. The club kicks off next month, but you’ll have to wait until March for some one-on-one time with Molly Ringwald.

Continue reading Sony intros Virtual Book Club, enlists ‘Breakfast Club’ alum

Sony intros Virtual Book Club, enlists ‘Breakfast Club’ alum originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a good reason Foursquare has an Overshare badge. Still, that hasn’t stopped the location service from rolling out an update to Android users that simplifies broadcasting your position to the world. The Android check-in screen now matches that of the iOS app with a more streamlined appearance that more quickly shares updates with Facebook and Twitter; mentioning friends is easier as well. As long as your social circle doesn’t mind knowing that you checked into three different dance clubs in one night, Foursquare’s update awaits at the source.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Foursquare for Android updated for more social check-ins, shares club-hopping with the world originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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