Seeking: America‘s Most Social Small Business

Your small business is rocking its social media presence — tweeting and Instagramming, pinning, sharing and hashtagging like a pro. You've seen amazing online engagement rates, experienced steady growth of fans and followers and mastered the art of online conversation.

Developing a successful social strategy isn't easy; so here's your chance for a little recognition.

March Madness season is almost upon us in the sports world, but we're taking a more Mashableapproach to this year's brackets: We're on the search for America's Most Social Small Business, presented by Capital One Spark.

Over the course of the next week (through Feb. 17), we are accepting nominations and submissions from small businesses around the country for the title of America's Most Social Small Business.

The winner will receive a special profile on Mashable featuring their business — not to mention serious bragging rights.

In depth: Ultra HD and 4K TV: Everything you need to know

Television is evolving. 4K Ultra High Definition is rewriting the rulebook when it comes to image quality, and in the process is beginning to fundamentally change everything from programme production to distribution technology.
4K capable TV sets are now available from most of the major TV manufacturers, but they're merely the tip of a very cool technology iceberg. So what, we hear you ask, is 4K really all about?
Read on for greater clarity…

What is 4K?

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiOEgz2eG_cThe headline fact is simple and dramatic: 4K Ultra HD TVs (also known as UHD TVs) deliver four times the picture resolution of 1080p Full HD, that's eight million pixels compared to two million pixels.
What that means in terms of potential image clarity is more fine detail, greater texture and an almost photographic emulsion of smoothness.
But this is just for starters. Prior to a roll-out of TV services, broadcasters are working out what else they can upgrade under the 4K banner. In the UK, a working group chaired by the BBC and BSkyB are mulling over every possible tweak, from higher frame rates to greater contrast and a wider colour spectrum.
Talk to the engineers steering this 4K broadcast bandwagon and they'll tell you everything spec-wise is up for grabs. If this indicates to you that the 4K standard is anything but set in stone, you'd be correct.
Ultra HD is going to be a work in progress for years to come, but that doesn't mean you should wait for the dust to settle before improving your image.

Difference between Ultra HD and 4K

4K Ultra High Definition is actually a derivation of the 4K digital cinema standard. However while your local multiplex shows images in native 4096 x 2160 resolution, this new consumer format is 3840 X 2160.
This is one reason why some brands prefer not to use the 4K label at all, sticking with Ultra HD instead. However, the numerical shorthand looks likely to stick. As a broad brush label it's so much snappier!

Why should I care about 4K Ultra HD?

There are many reasons why 4K should make you rethink your next TV purchase (actually, there are eleven and you can read about them here), not all of them immediately obvious.
Photographers who routinely view their work on an HD TV are seeing but a fraction of the detail inherent in their pictures when they view them at 2160p. A 4K display reveals so much more nuance and detail – the difference can be astonishing. While 3D has proved to be a faddish diversion, 4K comes without caveats. Its higher resolution images are simply better.
The higher pixel density of a 4K panel also enable you get much closer without the grid-like structure of the image itself becoming visible –this means you can comfortably watch a much larger screen from the same seating position as your current Full HD panel. Currently all available 4K Ultra HD TVs are in excess of 50-inches.
Projectors
While 4K UHD TVs are on the fast track, the same can't be said for video projectors. Only Sony offers 4K models, the high-end quasi pro VPL-VW1100ES and the home cinema friendly VPL-VW500ES.
Currently there's no consumer 4K solution for LCD, D-ILA or DLP projectors, although that's likely to change in 2015, when Texas Instruments is expected to begin shipping its first 4K DLP chipset for home hardware.

How expensive is an Ultra HD TV?

The first wave of 4K TVs were large, really large. Both Sony and LG launched with 84-inch panels, the KD-84X9005 and 84LM960V respectively.
Consequently, they were saddled with price tags in excess of £20,000/$30,000. Not to be outdone, Samsung weighed in with the 85-inch S9 at £35,000/$55,000, clearly aimed at footballers and oligarchs!
However, prices have fallen dramatically as screen sizes have shrunk and brands have predictably embarked on a tit for tat price war.

So how small will 4K Ultra HD screens get?

In the short term, screen sizes are likely to stabilise at 55-inches and upwards. That's because as the screen size shrinks the advantage of having such a pixel dense display starts to diminish. There's also an irrefutable relationship between screen resolution and viewing distances.
While seating will vary from home to home, generally speaking a large 4K TV will provide an upgrade for a smaller 1080p screen. However, the 4K resolution will ultimately be about more than just definition.
High frame rate UHD broadcasting could have an even greater impact than resolution when services begin – and the benefits of HFR are not restricted to larger screen sizes. When this second generation 4K UHD breaks cover, expect high-frame rate 4K TVs to drop further down the size scale.

How far should I sit from a 4K TV for the best picture?

4K Ultra HD is a much more intimate viewing experience than Full HD. In many respects, the best way to view 4K is analogous to the way we view films in a cinema. Old style cinemas were shoe-box shaped and most patrons sat typically 3-5 screen heights away, because that was the most comfortable viewing distance.
Contemporary cinemas are wider, and now the optimum viewing distance is 1.5 screen heights back. From this vantage point you can take in all the visual information that's available and comfortably fill your field of vision. Translated to the home, that makes the most comfortable distance to view a 65-inch 4K screen approx. 1.5m. Of course, in many homes that simply isn't practicl. Consequently, a large 4K screen is probably best viewed at a distance of between 2-3m; time to rearrange your furniture?

What 4K content is available for me to watch?

Of course the thorny subject confronting any 4K TV buyer today is: "Where's the native content?" The answer, at least in the short term, is that there isn't much of anything.
YouTube offers a nascent 4K channel, but you'll require a powerful PC with a 4K capable graphics card, of which there are few that make economic sense.
But the lack of native 4K isn't quite the big deal you might at first imagine. The truth is today's Ultra HD screens do such a remarkable job with 1080p content that you almost certainly won't feel shortchanged. Rather than just linearly scale, big brand sets utilize all manner of database interpolation to upscale images, and the results are spectacular.
To take advantage of this, Sony has released a selection of Mastered in 4K branded Blu-rays. These are in fact standard 1080p Blu-ray discs, albeit ones based on the best available transfers which take full advantage of available disc capacity. They have also been mastered with a wider colour range than standard Blu-ray platters.
A 2160p upgrade on the Blu-ray standard is inevitable, of course, which will allow for true Ultra High Definition movies to be sold on disc. In addition, Netflix appears to be making good progress with its 4K streaming plans, expected to reach some sort of fruition in 2014.
Sony meanwhile has rolled out a download service in the USA for owners of Sony 4K TVs – however there's no sign of that arriving in Europe just yet.
That said, native 4K broadcasting remains the ultimate goal. BSkyB is just one of many global service providers who have been successfully trialing acquisition and broadcast, as it mulls over the financial potential of a dedicated 4K sports and movie channel offering.
Before that can happen, transmission standards need to be agreed and chipsets made available for a new generation of Sky+ UHD boxes.
When it comes to 4K compression codecs, HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) is the most widely talked about, however there are other options. Both Sony and Netflix have partnered with Californian outfit Eye IO for their online 4K services.

How important is HDMI 2.0 to 4K Ultra HD?

HDMI 2.0 is the latest iteration of the HDMI specification. While the existing HDMI 1.4 standard can deliver 4K video, it's limited to 30 frames per second (or 30Hz). While this is fine for most movies, broadcasters are looking for higher frame rates for TV.
HDMI 2.0 increases bandwidth up to 18Gbps and supports 4K Ultra HD at 50/60 fps, with 12-bit 4:2:2 colour (you don't need any special cables for HDMI 2.0 interconnectivity, any current high-speed cable will work). However, only Panasonic currently offers an HDMI 2.0 compatible 4K TV, in the shape of the TX-L65WT600.
So where does that leave the remaining first generation 4K sets? Well both Philips and Samsung, whose 4K panels are coupled to separate connection boxes, say they'll simply introduce new tuners which owners can upgrade to.
Sony and others are looking to implement a firmware fix; by shedding colour sub pixels they reckon they'll be able to fit high frame-rate 4K down a HDMI 1.4 pipe, most likely with 8 bit 4:2:0 colour. How visible this kludge will be remains to be seen. For what it's worth, we've seen JVC's 4K e-Shift3 projectors running 4K at the same colour resolution, and they look spectacular so the omens are good.

Hang on, what about 8K?

If 4K offers four times the resolution of Full HD, then 8K will deliver 16 times the definition. 8K screens comprise a staggering 33 million pixels.
This is an order of magnitude beyond any display technology currently available, and only one broadcaster, Japanese state owned NHK, has publically said it intends to commercialise the technology.
Also known as Super Hi-Vision, a number of 8K trials have been conducted, including acquisition at the London 2012 Olympics. NHK has since pledged to shoot and transmit the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the format.
Of course, bringing 8K to market is a formidable technical challenge. As with 4K, HEVC, is currently favoured as the best compression technology for the job.
However, because the benefits of 8K image definition only really become apparent on screens 84-inches and larger, the format is not seen as a commercially viable platform by most broadcasters and TV manufacturers. If you're waiting to jump from Full HD to 8K, you could be kicking your heels for quite some time.

Choose a 4K TV

10 best Ultra HD TVs in the world today

How to Stop Candy Crush Facebook Notifications

How to Stop Candy Crush Facebook Notifications is a post by Josh Smith from Gotta Be Mobile.
If you are sick of getting Candy Crush Facebook notifications from friends there is an easy way to stop the constant begging for lives and moves that ping your iPhone or Android at all hours of the day and night.
Candy Crush Saga is one of the top Facebook, Android and iPhone games available and users are known for asking Facebook friends for help when they run out of lives or moves.
The app allows users to buy moves as in app purchases or to pester Facebook friends for more moves or lives instead of spending money.

Turn off Candy Crush Facebook notifications to avoid frustrations.

If you get Candy Crush Facebook notifications on your iPhone, Android or other devices you will need to go online to the main Facebook page to turn them off. This will work even if you don’t play Candy Crush, but you may need to add the app if it is not showing up in the Facebook App section.
This will also allow you to turn off Candy Crush’s ability to post publicly to your Facebook timeline. It takes about 5 minutes at a computer to turn off Candy Crush Facebook notifications.

Go to account settings.

Go to Facebook.com and login on a computer. In the upper right-click on the Settings icon that looks like a small gear. and then on Settings.

Locate the Candy Crush Facebook app.

On the next page click on Apps on the left side of the screen. If you don’t see Candy Crush listed in the first group of apps click on the Show All Apps link. Find Candy Crush Saga by scrolling or use “Control + F” or “Command + F” to search the page. If you don’t see the app you may need to go to the page and play it on Facebook for 30 seconds to get it to show up.

Turn off Candy Crush notifications here.

Once you locate Candy Crush Saga click on Edit. Under When to notify you, click the box and choose never. That’s all there is to stopping the Candy Crush Facebook notifications.
Users that play the game can also take this time to remove the ability for Candy Crush to post on their behalf by clicking the X to the right of that setting. This should stop the app from appearing on your timeline for others to see.

Control what Candy Crush posts on Facebook.

Candy Crush is an addicting game on Facebook, Android and iPhone that tasks users with swapping candies to remove other candies from the game board.

New Samsung Galaxy S5 Details Emerge in Big Leak

New Samsung Galaxy S5 Details Emerge in Big Leak is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.
Thanks to new alleged Samsung Galaxy S5 benchmarks, we have some new Samsung Galaxy S5 details to share ahead of the device’s upcoming launch which is reportedly going to arrive on February 24th, the same day that Samsung has scheduled its Unpacked 5 Episode 1 event at Mobile World Congress 2014.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 continues to leak and those leaks continue to reveal, and confuse, ahead of the expected Galaxy S5 launch date later on this month. Much of that confusion is thanks to purported Galaxy S5 benchmarks that have emerged in recent days, showing off a conflicting set of specifications that could be on board the real Galaxy S5 when it arrives.

Last week, a leak made a mess of Samsung Galaxy S5 rumors and today’s leak doesn’t clean anything up. Instead, the AnTuTu benchmarks for alleged Galaxy S5 variants, discovered by SamMobile, only add to the intrigue surrounding the Galaxy S5 and fuel rumors that point to two Galaxy S5 models.
Rumors and predictions from well respected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo have suggested that Samsung will be introducing two Galaxy S5 variants, one premium and one budget. It’s still not clear what the major differences will be though a new benchmark seems to shed some light on what we could possibly see from two Samsung Galaxy S5 models.

These new AnTuTu benchmarks are for a SM-G900H and an SM-G900R4. The model number SM-G900 is recognized as a likely model number for the Samsung Galaxy S5 which means that these variants could be associated with the Galaxy S5. Better yet, they come sporting features that rumors have placed on board the Galaxy S5.

What’s interesting though is that these two devices are completely different in that they sport differing specification, something that has been rumored to be the case for Samsung’s two Galaxy S5 variants. Here is how these two devices breakdown in these two, newly discovered leaked AnTuTu benchmarks.
Samsung’s SM-G900R4 is the premium model as it sports higher-end specifications:

• QHD (2560×1400) Resolution Display
• 16MP Rear Camera
• 2.1 Front-Facing Camera
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor
• 3GB of RAM
• Android 4.4.2 KitKat
• 32GB Internal Storage

The SM-G900H model in question has a different set of specifications, specifications that seem to suggest that this could be a budget, or perhaps just another version of the device:

• Full HD (1920×1080) resolution display
• 16MP Rear Camera
• 2.1MP Front-Facing Camera
• Octa-core Samsung Exynos 5422 SoC
• 2GB of RAM
• Android 4.4.2 KitKat
• 16GB of Storage

Keep in mind, benchmarks can be manipulated and faked and that they can be for early versions of a device, something that makes them less reliable than other leaks. That said, these features match up with many of the rumors that we’ve heard about the Samsung Galaxy S5, something that makes them a little more believable than other benchmarks.
A report last week from The New York Times explicitly said that Samsung would not include a QHD display on the Galaxy S5, something that went against just about every Galaxy S5 rumor and prediction. And while this benchmark seems to lessen than report’s credibility, nothing in the world of the Galaxy S5 is confirmed.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 remains a bit of a mystery in the build up to its inevitable launch date. Conflicting rumors have managed to keep watchful eyes enthralled and glued to a device that is already one of the most talked about smartphones of the year.
Samsung typically keeps its flagship designs out of sight, something that it has thus far accomplished with the Galaxy S5 design, but very rarely do we see this amount of conflict with the feature of a Galaxy S device ahead of launch. Historically, the feature set has firmed up well ahead of the launch date.
With just a few weeks to go, it’s not clear if this will happen with the Galaxy S5. Rumors point to a launch on February 24th alongside a Galaxy Gear 2 though Samsung still hasn’t said what it will be announcing at its Unpacked 5 launch event.

Consulting companies dominate on day 1 of IIM-A hiring

 

Consulting firms once again dominated the first cluster of placements at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, on Saturday and Sunday. Accenture made the highest number of offers to students at 18, including preplacement offers (PPOs).

The Boston Consulting Group, last year's top recruiter, followed closely with 15 offers. It made offers to two IIM-A graduates on Sunday, which, coupled with the 13 PPOs it had made earlier, took its tally to 15, the same as last year.

 

 Last year, five of the top 10 recruiters at IIM-A were from the global strategy and niche consulting space.

Sentiment not too upbeat

The five top hirers at IIM-A last year included BCG (15), Accenture (13), McKinsey & Co (10), Capgemini (10) and Bain & Co (nine). Overall, the average fixed yearly component offered by consulting firms at IIM-A in 2013 was Rs 15.65 lakh, according to data from the institute.

This year, however, overall sentiment isn't too upbeat. Average salary increases have been 5-10%, said IIM-A campus sources. BCG, on its part, said the salary package it offered this time has seen no increase from 2013. "We made offers for Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi for senior associate roles across sectors," Sachin Nandgaonkar, senior partner and director at BCG India, told ET. He said salaries would be in the region of Rs 20-25 lakh.

The placement process for the 2012-14 batch of the flagship post-graduate programme in management at IIM-A is being held on weekends.

The firms that visited the campus as part of cluster 1 comprised three cohorts: global strategy consulting, investment banks and global financial services firms. The second cluster next weekend will see FMCG companies pick up students for sales and marketing. Meanwhile, IIMCalcutta, where placements began on February 7, is looking to wrap up the process by February 16.

According to IIM-C placement sources, consulting firms such as Bain & Co and BCG were the top recruiters on the first day of placements at the Joka campus.

Banking expansion may create up to 20 lakh new jobs: Experts

 

The banking sector may create up to 20 lakh new jobs in the next 5-10 years, helped by issuance of new licenses and efforts being made by RBI and government to expand financial services to rural areas, experts say.

The hiring trends may get a further boost from the public sector banks, as many of them would need to hire fresh talent in the wake of nearly half of their workforce scheduled to retire in the next few years.

 

 According to HR services major Randstad India, banking sector will generate 7-10 lakh jobs in the coming decade and the sector would be among top job creators in 2014.

Estimates are, however, much higher for Manipal Academy of Banking, which expects expansion in banking sector, including by the existing and new banks, to help create 18-20 lakh new employees over the next five years itself.

Besides direct hiring, expansion in banking sector also helps in huge job creation in various support areas, experts say.

According to Randstad, public sector banks could account for a bulk of hiring and could see 5-7 lakh new jobs being created in the coming years, as close to 50 per cent of their workforce in the lower and middle-level functions will retire in this period.

"With the new banking licences, which are likely to be issued in the first half of 2014, the banking sector is poised to create big career opportunities in the near future," Randstad India & Sri Lanka CEO Moorthy K Uppaluri said.

Enthused further by the government's financial inclusion plans to expand banking to rural areas, Uppaluri said: "With only less than 30 per cent of the Indian population having access to bank accounts, top banking firms are looking to expand and venture into the untapped rural markets that have so much potential to boost growth and profitability".

Reflecting similar views, talent assessment company MeritTrac Services' CEO Vasu K Saksena said that "hiring in banks is likely to increase in the next couple of years" owing to expansion of banks into new cities and rural locations.

"Along with new banking licenses, the reason can also be attributed to the large numbers of retirements that banks will witness during this year and the next," Saksena added.

According to Manipal Academy for Banking, about 4 lakh people applied for jobs in public and private sector banks last year.

Of these while public sector banks hired 60,000-70,000 candidates, private sector hired another 40,000 job aspirants.

India's e-commerce industry may reach $70 billion by 2020

There is a common saying about the Indian retail consumers' "can't touch, won't buy" mentality. However, this is gradually changingwith the rising trend of online shopping.

India's e-commerce business jumped by more than 80 percent in 2013 and the momentum is likely to continue for at least the next five-six years, the founders of the country's largest e-commerce firm, Flipkart, say.

Flipkart co-founder and chief executive officer Sachin Bansal said the e-commerce business in India is expected to reach around $50-70 billion by 2020 on the back of a fast growing internet-connected population and improvement in related infrastructure like payment and delivery systems.

The size of India's e-commerce market in 2013 was around $13 billion, according to a joint report of KPMG and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The online travel segment contributed over 70 percent of the total consumer e-commerce transactions last year.

Bansal said online retail, also known as "e-tail", will lead the industry's growth in the coming years.

"Consumer mentality and shopping patterns are changing very fast. Online shopping is going to become mainstream in the coming five-six years," Bansal told IANS in an interview.

He said smartphones would be the biggest online shopping driver in the coming years.

"Over half a billion Indians will switch to smartphones in the next five-six years. That's going to be a big driver of e-commerce in India," Bansal added.

According to Bansal, online shopping is becoming increasingly popular in smaller cities.

"Tier-II and Tier-III cities are opening up very rapidly. By 2020, you will have e-commerce penetrated everywhere, whether it is smaller cities or rural areas," said Bansal.

Alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, Sachin and Binny Bansal co-founded Flipkart in 2007. They claim the company now controls nearly one-third of India's online retail business and has over 1 crore (10 million) registered users.

"By 2020, our target is to be a $20 billion company. We are thinking really big. We are investing a lot on technologies, especially on mobiles and the supply chain," said Binny Bansal.

"We have raised a good amount of funding this year. We are well funded for the foreseeable future. However, we will continue to raise funds as and when required," he said when asked about funding for the company's expansions.

Flipkart has raised nearly $550 million since 2009 from venture capitals like Tiger Global, Accel Partners, Iconiq Capital and Naspers Group.

Sachin Bansal emphasised on the need for implementing a uniform goods and services tax (GST) as this would help boost the e-commerce business.

"Right now it's a bit complicated for sellers to ship products across India because taxes vary from state to state and it is also calculated differently. GST will really be a help for the industry," he said.

He pointed out that despite high growth in recent years, India's e-commerce industry is still in a nascent stage. Online shopping accounts for less than one percent of the total shopping in the country. Total global online sales reached $1.22 trillion in 2013. In China alone it was around $200 billion.

Just around 12 percent of Indian population is into online transactions against more than half of their Chinese counterparts. This proportion is much higher in the developed countries like the US, where the figure is 64 percent.

Internet connectivity and other logistics infrastructure are still a big drag. This makes servicing in smaller towns a bit challenging, said Bansal.

According to the KPMG and IAMAI report, only around 10,000 out of the more than 150,000 pin codes in the country are covered by courier companies. The penetration of courier services is critically important to boost online shopping as deliveries are mostly done through them.