iPad:

On Wednesday, Apple had their much anticipated press conference, where Steve Jobs introduced apple’s latest product, the iPad. Here’s the facts:

• 9.7 inch display
• Runs iPhone apps
• Can be used as an eReader
• Holds music, photos, and movies
• Has Wi-Fi capabilities
• Comes in 3 different memory sizes
• Starts at $499

The verdict? Well, according to Twitter, it’s split down the middle. A study from Trendrr revealed that 48% of tweeters reacted positively to the iPad unveiling & 52% did not.

Twitter’s Local Trends:

After a test roll out last week, Twitter has finally made local trends available to all. As of now, everyone can view trending topics for 15 different cities and 6 different countries. So, if you want to see real time results of what’s trending in D.C., or even Brazil, now you can. Worldwide trending is still available, and Twitter is working to get more locations added to the list.  Learn more from Twitter’s Blog spot here.

The Facebook Friend Study:

An interesting study documented this week says our brains can’t keep up with the amount of friends we have on Facebook. It’s similar to a study done in the 1990’s known as Dunbar’s number, which concluded that the human brain is only capable of managing friendships with 150 people. The study is now in the process of being done again, and this time it’s taking online relationships into account, such a Facebook friends. The preliminary findings are out, and the interesting thing is that it appears nothing has changed…our brains are still only capable of maintaining 150 relationships- be it online or offline.

Data Privacy Day:

Yesterday, January 28, 2010, was International Data Privacy Day. Data Privacy Day is a day used to raise awareness and promote online privacy education. Many social media publications “celebrated” by providing a bit of privacy education. AllFacebook has an article on the 5 Facebook Privacy Tips You Need To Know Now, Wired has an article discussing the necessity of safe passwords, and a ReadWriteWeb wrote an article on some of the issues with privacy online.

LinkedIn’s Connection Browsing Updates:

It was announced this week that LinkedIn will soon be rolling out new ways to browse connections. LinkedIn is adding a panel that makes it easier to browse contacts by location, company, or industry. The social networking site  is also tagging connections with keywords, such as “colleague”, “classmate”, and “friend,” and has added an option to browse by recent activity.

-Anna (@alucas9)

Nexus One:

Information about Google’s new smart phone has been spreading around the web this week. We now know that the name of the phone is “Nexus One,” have photos of what it looks like, and reviews from people who got to test it out. The overall consensus is positive, although the Nexus One does not have multi-touch capabilities.

Cable Online:

Comcast has been working to give their customers television shows on the web since late June. On Tuesday, Comcast successfully launched “TV Everywhere,” an initiative allowing subscribers to watch 27 channels (including HBO, Cinemax, and TNT) online. The best part: there is no additional charge for this additional feature.

Twitter Hacked:

On Thursday, something unusual happened on Twitter. The Screen turned back, and the twitter bird was red.  Twitter…was hacked. One of the world’s most popular websites… was hacked.  Images were changed, and then Twitter and the status blog were taken down. Who did this? A group calling themselves the “Iranian Cyber Army.” Read more about the records that were temporarily compromised here.

Foursquare for Facebook:

Foursquare is now on Facebook. On Tuesday, Foursquare released an app that allows people to check in to locations via Facebook’s mobile app. Having Foursquare on Facebook allows you to automatically share check-ins and gain mayorships and badges on Facebook. As of now, it is only available for Android and Blackberry’s. Expect it on the iPhone soon too, the app request has been submitted, and once Apple signs off on it, iPhone users will be able to use Foursquare on Facebook too.

Keeping Facebook Private:

A lot is changing on Facebook these days. From Facebook wanting users to be more public, to allowing easier updates to Twitter, to testing out Facebook replies via email. With all these changes, and this push towards being more public, I saw it fit to share a few resources on how to stay private. Fast Company has a guide for Three Ways to Keep Yourself Private on the New Facebook, and AllFacebook has a list of 10 New Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know.

-Anna (@alucas9)