Who do you think has more influence, Kim Kardashian or Martha Stewart? If you picked the jail-bird, you'd be wrong: homemaking expertise has nothing on bold badonkadonk. At least on Twitter.

According to a new analysis by social media guru Dan Zarrella (who previously helped us learn Steve Jobs' presentation techniques), the Kardashian sisters are some of the most influential celebrities on Twitter. By studying click-through rates--the amount of clicks a tweeted link receives--Zarrella was able to graph celebs' influence on their followers (see chart below). Some of the names are not so surprising (Ashton Kutcher), but others, including British actor Stephen Fry and poet laureate "Weird Al" Yankovic, may come as more of a shock.

Influence comes in many forms. The Kardashian sisters may gain more clicks because of the many provocative photographs they tweet. On the other hand, someone like Lance Armstrong may reach more fans because of his powerful message. And then there are those who have a perhaps more "nerdy" following, such as "Weird Al," Stephen Fry, and Felicia Day. "Felicia is probably high because she's a web star so her followers are more web savvy and likely to follow her links," Zarrella says.

"Alyssa Milano is my favorite example," he continues. "She has less followers than most of the others on the list, but drives huge traffic."

Zarrella's findings certainly echo a recent study by HP Labs, which concluded that influence online had nothing to do with sheer numbers--especially on Twitter--but how much users could be swayed from the passive to the active.

Don't tell that to Biz Stone.

Looking for examples on how to best green your business? A central list of the companies that can get you started might help. Enter the World Wildlife Fund's Green Game Changers initiative, a so-called "crowd-sourcing exercise" that asks companies to submit examples of green policies, products and business models that cut down on environmental impact and biodiversity loss.

The U.K-based initiative doesn't officially launch until next week, but the WWF already has approximately 20 case studies on its website. Some of them are well-known--Better Place is listed as an innovator in the transportation sector--and others, like Magenn Power, are still under the radar.

Anyone can submit case studies to the site, but the WWF will be monitoring it to make sure that only credible companies are listed. If the site catches on, we imagine that it could be invaluable to companies looking for a sustainability starting point. If you want to increase your water efficiency, for example, just check out these case studies of intelligent buildings, low-water washing machines, and water recycling.

Have better examples from your own company? Submit them here and help build up the WWF's database.

Ariel Schwartz can be reached on Twitter or by email.

Fast Company's Adam L. Penenberg tweets the breaking news about a verdict against Ford in the death of rising Mets star Brian Cole. As reporters lagged behind on the story, Penenberg discovered a new media use for the 140-character format.

When a rural Mississippi jury awarded $131 million to the family of a star New York Mets prospect killed when his Ford Explorer rolled over in 2001, there were no reporters present, no bloggers, TV crews or radio stringers. In this age of instantaneous media, when being first is celebrated more than being right, and wire services like Bloomberg trumpet beating the competition by nanoseconds, there are still those rare moments when a major story breaks and no one is there to report it.

And this was a major story. It involved a top New York Mets prospect, Brian Cole, who former Mets General Manager Jim Duquette predicted would become a major league star, joining Jose Reyes and David Wright as the cornerstones of the team for years to come. Cole was traveling from spring training when the Ford Explorer he was driving rolled over, killing him. His cousin, also in the car, walked away from the accident relatively unscathed.

There are a number of reasons why this case is special: As any plaintiff's attorney will tell you, death cases are almost always worth far less than injury cases. It's simple math: Paying for 30 years of care for a quadriplegic--it can reach several hundred thousand dollars a year--costs far more than paying most people's estimated lifetime earnings. Cole's case was different. The Mets stipulated that it had projected that Cole would be a star and earn more than $100 million in salary over his career. Then you had the defendant: Ford, which normally settles these kinds of cases. The third wild card was the plaintiff's lead attorney, Tab Turner, a one-man litigation machine who has settled more than $1 billion in rollover cases with Ford over the past two decades. He is perhaps Ford's greatest nemesis.

So you have a $131 million verdict against a major corporation by a jury that found that one of its most popular (and profitable vehicles) was essentially defective, a future NY Mets star whose life was tragically cut short, a top litigator, and no media coverage?

Enter Twitter and an idea expounded upon recently by William Gibson in a New York Times op-ed piece. His subject is Google and its CEO Eric Schmidt's controversial statement that people want Google to tell them what to do next. He suggests that Google is not just a very big corporation but us, "individual retinal cells of the surveillant." Social media's like that. Usually journalists report. Twitter responds. And then journalists, particularly on the 24-hour cable news networks, trot out social media chatter as self-congratulation or faux populism. In this case, social media was the vehicle by which the most relevant reporting rose to the top--the rare instance when the most trusted name in news was Twitter.

I found out about it when a representative of Tab Turner called me minutes after the jury came back with the verdict. In 2003 I had published a book, Tragic Indifference, which detailed the whole Ford and Firestone debacle of the late 1990s into 2001. Turner played a major role in the narrative, and Michael Douglas optioned the book with the intent to produce a movie and star as Tab Turner. (It's still in what Hollywood suits call "deep development.") When I searched online for articles on the verdict, there were none. The only mention of Ford on The New York Times home page was an advertisement for the Ford Fusion. Nothing on the wires, blogs, or Google News.

So I got on Twitter, dashing off a two-hour burst of tweets about the case and why it was big news. I told the horrific tales of rollover accident victims and shared some of my reporting on the Ford Explorer, which Ford's own internal documents showed was dangerously unstable. I offered context for the verdict, linked to previous articles on two earlier trials that had ended in hung juries, and berated journalists for not getting on the story. I was live tweeting my reporting and analysis simultaneously, using micro blogging as my publisher, which was, as the Muck Rack Daily would put it the next day, "a very interesting use of Twitter."

Partway through my Tweetapoolaza, the first news story--a tiny article--appeared on a local Mississippi newspaper site. Then came an Associated Press piece and a post on ESPN. The New York Daily News tweeted me back, promising me they were on the case. The next day, though, there was only a brief three-sentence mention of the case and muted coverage of it elsewhere. Most of it was of the "he said, she said" sort of journalism: a lede ($131 million verdict against Ford the fact the two sides settled before punitive damages could be accessed), a quote from Tab Turner speaking for the family, and a quote from Ford blaming the driver. Other stories focused on Cole as a baseball prospect. None of them explained what the real problem was: The Ford Explorer.

There is ample proof that more than 4 million Ford Explorers were dangerously unstable and prone to rolling over at far higher rates than other vehicles, including other popular SUVs. In fact, according to government accident statistics, one in every 2,700 Ford Explorers built between 1990 and 2001 (when Ford finally reengineered the vehicle) rolled over and killed at least one person in the car.

The figures for the Ford Bronco II, the precursor of the Ford Explorer, are even more frightening: one in 500 Bronco IIs ever produced was involved in a fatal rollover. But you won't find many publications willing to go there. Perhaps they are fearful of losing Ford advertising dollars.

Here's a portion of my tweetstream in reverse order to make it easier to read, telling the story 140 characters at a time (some typos have been cleaned up):

Miss. jury awards $131 million in damages to family of Brian Cole, killed in Ford Explorer rollover accident. No news media there.I know about Ford verdict because I wrote book about the Ford Explorer/Firestone debacle. http://tinyurl.com/3387rbrAmazing in this age of instant media that a jury returns w $131M verdict against a major corporation and no reporter/blogger there.The case involved Brian Cole, a top prospect for the NY Mets, killed in 2001 when his Ford Explorer rolled over: http://tinyurl.com/35m3th7The New York Mets believed that Cole would be a major league star: http://tinyurl.com/y9878vyResearching "Tragic Indifference" I learned 1 in 2,700 Ford Explorers built bet 1990 - 2001 rolled over, *killed* someone in the car.And Ford Bronco II, precursor to Explorer, was way worse: 1 in 500 Broncos ever produced rolled over, killed someone in the car.C'mon reporters. Am I only one who thinks $131 MILLION verdict against FORD in a product liability suit is news??Dear reporters: You won't get the story by sitting on your asses surfing Google News or PR Newswire. You have to make some phone calls.Checked NYTimes.com. Nothing on Ford Explorer rollover verdict. Last story: "Ford Replacing Classic Police Cruiser With an S.U.V." Gawd.Dear Editors: Story involves huge verdict v major corporation, NY Mets star in the wings, grieving family, all-star attorney.Former NY Mets GM Jim Duquette said, Cole "would've come on the scene right with Jose Reyes in 2003." http://tinyurl.com/y9878vyMookie Wilson testified in the previous trial that ended in mistrial earlier this year. The kid was heading home to Miss. to see his family.Huzzah for Local newspaper w 1st story: RT @felixsalmon: The first tiny story: http://tinyurl.com/37xc5wrWhy was Ford Explorer so dangerous? 1st, built on Ford Ranger pickup assembly lines so too narrow. Also, too high. Roof metal v weak.In fact, if you took a Ford Explorer from 1990 - 2001, flipped it upside down, lowered on roof, it would cave in from own weight.Ford forbid its own test drivers from test driving Explorers in eqarly 1990s because they rolled over, too dangerous.Ford management knew of the risks. They experienced it w Ford Bronco, which Consumer Reports said was unstable and dangerous to drive.Ford Bronco II was a pickup truck with a roof pasted on top. 1 in 500 rolled over and killed at least 1 person in the car.Imagine if 1 in 500 computers blew up if you plugged it in or even if 1 in 500 tennis racquets disintegrated after a month = RECALL.One lawyer, Tab Turner, won $25 million verdict v Ford in 1990s Bronco II rollover case. Settled w Ford more than $1 BILLION over 20 years.I read countless accident reports involving Explorer rollovers. They all followed same basic script.Either driver swerves to avoid other car or obstruction or tire detreads at highway speed. With most cars, pull over, put on spare.With a Ford Explorer, you end up swerving, correct thru steering, say, right. Car still out of control. Turn wheel again and you roll over.One woman, Jana Fuqua, was cut off on highway. She avoided car, swerved, tried to gain control, and was found partially ejected thru sunroof.Fuqua was still fastened in her seatbelt when she was found, rendered a vegetable.Mark Arndt, professional test driver, was testing a Ford Explorer on a test track. The car was outfitted with outriggers and reinforced cage.Arndt got the Explorer to 70 MPH, the tire tread peeled off as planned, and he lost control. The car shot off road within fraction of a sec.Arndt, a pro test driver, never had an outrigger break on a test. Until now. The Explorer rolled over so hard the outrigger jammed in ground.It shattered, and the Explorer rolled over. Arndt had read a lot of Explorer accident reports. He had presence of mind to stick hands up.His head brushed against the roof as the cabin around him caved in. He pushed up as hard as he culd, trying to keep butt pinned to seat.Arndt knew if his head rested against roof as car caved in, he could break his neck. This is what happened to a woman named Donna Bailey.Donna Bailey was a passenger in a Ford Explorer, on her way mountain climbing in spring 2000. Rear tire detreaded, driver lost control...Explorer rolled over. The seatbelt had a give of 8". This is critical, because Donna was 5'8" tall. Car landed on roof, which caved in.Bailey's head was pinned against roof, and the impact shattered her C2. The car rolled and rolled. Finally propped up against a fence.The driver, Tara Cox, managed to squeeze out of the car. So did a passenger, who escaped by sliding out window, climbing on upside down car.They peered in the front windshield, to see Bailey, upside down, turning blue, eyes beseeching them to help her."She's gonna die," Tara screamed. She and passenger tried to peel back windshield. Couldn't do it. Tara slithered in the way she got out.She got to Bailey and unhooked her from seatbelt. But Bailey's knees trapped in crumpled dashboard. Tara couldn't budge her.Tara smelled gas. The gas tank disengaged. Afraid car would blow up. But Tara worked Bailey's knees free. They pulled Bailey out.Tara was trained paramedic. She tried to clear Bailey's airway. For a moment Bailey stopped breathing, her eyes dull. Tara told me it was ... like when animals die. You see the color drain from their pupils. Miraculously Bailey came back to life. Ambulance came, a volunteer fireman ... They put her on oxygen tank. Then Bailey was flown to a hospital. Tara, covered in her friend's blood, follows behind.When Tara calls her husband, he was more concerned about the car--he had a couple years of payments to make--then he was about his wife.Then Tara has to call Bailey's boyfriend. He screamed at her, told her she was at fault. And this is the thing that really pisses me off.Everybody blamed Tara for the accident. Her husband, her friends, Bailey's family. They assumed it had to be driver error. Why?Because when you get a blowout, what do you do? Well, you pull over to side of the road, take out the jack, and put on a spare.So Ford, of course, alleges driver error. With Ford, it's always the driver's fault. Or the tire's fault. But then they almost always settle.And the lawyer who has done the most settlements w Ford is Tab Turner. These settlements involve hundreds of plaintiffs, worth $1 billion.With Bailey, Tab Turner got the family $25 million [from Ford and Firestone combined]. Ford never wants to go to trial with him. In the end, Ford always settles.No settlement this time. The case involved a New York Mets prospect, Brian Cole, killed on his way home from spring training.The Mets predicted the kid would be a star, and join Jose Reyes on the team in 2003. He never got home.Coles swerved to avoid a driver heading toward him in his lane, and the Explorer rolled over. Coles ejected from car, tho he wore seatbelt.So here we have a major corporation, a $131 million verdict against it, a star litigator, a future NY Mets star and... NO MEDIA COVERAGE.On home page of the NY Times, the only mention of Ford is an advertisement for the Ford Fusion. Way to go with the breaking news, folks!On Google News, nothing. Way to be relevant, Google computerized aggregator.Finally, an AP story on it. Thanks, @Tarbel: http://bit.ly/bqbvxCAfter the jury awards family $131 million in damages, Ford settles case. Wanna know why?First of all, Ford probably scared to death what the punitive damages would be. But also, the family would never get anywhere near $131M.Ford would appeal, of course. And even if during years of appeals + verdict stood, tort reform in Miss. means it'd be cut down by huge amt.We live in a world of instant communication, with news orgs battling to be first even by seconds against a competitor. When that happens...Editors and reporters high five and cheer because Bloomberg beat Reuters by 2 seconds, or AP was first and Dow Jones 3rd. Biz press = speed.Because a verdict of this magnitude could potentially affect Ford's stock price. Yet where the hell is the business press on this? #fail.I realize Mississippi ain't exactly on the beaten path, but this is major court case. Yet it takes more than an hour for first nat news story?Sorry, make that more than 2 hours ago...In the AP story, Ford blamed the driver. Yet when my book came out Ford made not a peep. It had voluminous endnotes, documents, depositions.But I knew Ford wouldn't sue, because I had 100s of Ford internal documents, and the documents don't lie.

----

Adam L. Penenberg is author of Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves. A journalism professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, Penenberg is a contributing writer to Fast Company. Follow him on Twitter: @penenberg

Only a few are deployed, but thousands are helped.

Global aid giant, Mercy Corps, has partnered with the high-tech manufacturing and engineering company, ITT Corporation, to distribute portable water treatment systems to Pakistan in the wake of the flood crisis. The system being deployed is innovative in that few are needed, yet thousands of people are helped. According to Randy Martin of Mercy Corps and Bjorn Euler of ITT, the systems have already provided clean water to 110,000 Pakistani flood victims and only five water treatment systems are in place.

"The portable, self-contained water-filtration devices take impure water from a variety of sources including rivers, lakes, and wells and remove bacteria and contaminates via sand, charcoal, etc. Water is then injected with chlorine and stored in 10,000 gallon pillow tanks. Each pillow tank is either unloaded in bulk via tanker truck or distributed via tap stands. Each pillow tank can connect to four to five tap stands," Martin and Euler tell Fast Company.

Mercy Corps has a solid track record of responding effectively under such crises, but their purpose of being in Pakistan and in partnering with ITT is also to systematically assess the country's short and long-term needs. ITT is providing the funding for the initial needs assessment.

The equipment was designed by ScanWater but purchased by ITT. They are "not specifically designed to respond to floods, but are serving NGOs well for this purpose on the ground in Pakistan. ITT initially deployed three systems to Mercy Corps and has also loaned two systems to other international relief organizations working in Pakistan. These systems are useful in any emergency where water-related disease is a threat. In January, ITT and Mercy Corps deployed these same systems to Haiti following the earthquake."

Twitter's traffic skyrocketed 33% over the summer, according to one survey. Meanwhile Digg's influence was fading even before its controversial makeover.

Late yesterday Twitter announced that it had 145 million registered users--impressive, at around a third of the number of Facebookers and comparable to the number of people Apple's just opened up its new music-based social network Ping to.

But a more meaningful measure of Twitter's growth is how many people are using it, and a new survey has revealed that Twitter's seen nothing less than staggering growth over recent months. In August, Twitter processed some 2.64 billion tweets--that's 85 million per day--up 33% over the figure for May. The August figure is more than double January's figure, of 1.23 billion tweets, in fact.

In other words, Twitter's growing at an incredible rate, and its users aren't just blindly signing up and not taking part--they're actively using the system, no doubt leveraging all the new uses it's being put to (like news reading, photo sharing, celebrity access, trend spotting and Web story discovery). That last aspect is the killer one, when you look at the fortunes of another famous (possibly paradigm-defining) Web story discovery network: Digg. As revealed by statistics generated by Gawker's marketing team, Digg has moved from being the dominant traffic driver among its peer services in October 2009 to coming in in fourth place after Facebook, Twitter, and Stumbleupon. The growth of Facebook in the stats is expected, Twitter's growth burst is evident, and Stumbleupon's increasing importance is something of a surprise (possibly biased by the particular sharing tech highlighted on Gawker's sites), but the clear loser is Digg.

And then the new Digg arrived, and a comparison with Reddit shows that things may have got even worse in the last week. Even when you discount the amusing/irritating hijacking of New Digg's frontpage by Reddit (thanks to angry Diggers) Reddit's grabbing big chunks of Digg's traffic.

So here's what we think is going on: Digg may have been early in the social net/web reffering game, but the entire social net phenomenon has since grown. Facebook has been steadily adding in new powers almost every week. Twitter has hit a nerve among Netizens, probably by keeping things extraordinarily simple, adopting new tech (like its new iPad app) and co-opting newly invented uses discovered by its users into official systems. Digg hasn't particularly innovated or listened to the requests of its users and has gone from being crowdsourced to what Mark Suster of VC firm GRP Partners recently called "mafia sourcing." Now that Digg is trying to open its system back up, the mafia isn't happy.

A new generation of fans will have to work hard to bring Digg back into the limelight. But they'll be tempted--as the numbers bear out--to pour their time into Twitter or Facebook, which continue to leave Digg in the dust.

To keep up with this news, follow me, Kit Eaton, on Twitter.

Tack on Burger King to the growing list of companies who are cutting ties with Sinar Mas, a major palm oil producer that has been accused by Greenpeace of destroying millions of acres of Indonesian rainforest and peatlands. Burger King joins Nestle, Kraft, and Unilever in ditching the company, which recently tried to varnish its reputation with a questionable self-commissioned environmental audit.

Sinar Mas's audit may have actually hurt the company--according to Greenpeace, it confirms that the company has been illegally clearing peat and operating without proper permits. And Sinar Mas's damning self-audit is partially behind Burger King's decision. The fast food giant explains in a recent announcement:

As part of our BK® Positive Steps corporate responsibility program, Burger King Corp. is committed to sourcing our products from sustainable suppliers. After completing a thorough review of the independent verification report conducted by Control Union Certification (CUC) and BSI Group, we believe the report has raised valid concerns about some of the sustainability practices of Sinar Mas' palm oil production and its impact on the rainforest. These practices are inconsistent with our corporate responsibility commitments.

All 176 Burger King restaurants that rely on Sinar Mas palm oil will transition to a new supplier. That's not a huge loss for a global company like Sinar Mas, but it probably won't take long for other fast food chains to follow suit. After all, no company wants to be the target of a Greenpeace campaign.

Ariel Schwartz can be reached on Twitter or by email.

MasterCard is eyeing the emerging middle classes of women in Asia and Cambodia is as good a test case as anywhere else -- and it offers a CSR branding point.

Cambodia has been attracting a fair amount of corporate and "social business" interest in local seamstresses. Socially motivated businesses like Eve Blossom's Lulan Artisans and Elizabeth Kiester's Wanderlust, both for-profit social enterprises that use the talents of marginalized seamstresses, have set up shop here. But now two larger and much more corporate players have entered the scene: MasterCard and the ultra chic Hotel de la Paix, which begs the question of why now and why the focus on women?

Answer: purchasing power.

Goldman Sachs published a report last year highlighting the growing global middle class and the increasingly leading role of women in making financial decisions. The findings are true especially in Asia, where such economies as Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines are expected to grow and increase its middle class populations considerably.

Cambodia is not too far behind and MasterCard is smart to jump in now. The credit card company has been doing research on the subject of female purchasing power in Asia and based on their findings have been rolling out female empowerment programs across the region.

Over the next few months, according to the press release, "MasterCard will donate USD50 towards the reconstruction of Hôtel de la Paix’s Sewing School, for every room bill paid with a MasterCard card." The partnership is also a branding point for the hotel, as guests are taken to see community sites to get a glimpse of local Cambodian life. Essentially, MasterCard is making its name known to the very women who will shortly join the growing middle class with their own businesses and thus have more money to spend.

"I know that de la Paix has been actively involved in helping train women in sewing for quite some time, as well as being involved in social programs throughout Cambodia," Elizabeth Kiester, who relocated to Cambodia in 2008 after a successful career as Creative Director at LeSportsac and a Senior Editor at Jane magazine tells Fast Company. She set up her socially conscious, summery, clothing line in Siam Reap after moving there. She partners with marginalized female seamstresses and just launched a collection for J. Crew. "I think what they're doing is amazing, and I welcome the efforts--I would love to utilize some of their seamstresses some day!"

Little work opportunities exist for women in Cambodia, one of the world's least developed countries, and they're often found working on construction sites. "Sewing and crafting is indigenous to Cambodia, but also sewing offers women, in a country where perhaps they are not yet 'equal,' a chance to own and run their own businesses, which otherwise they may not have the opportunity," Kiester says.

The partnership between MasterCard and Hotel de la Paix may sound like straight-up corporate social responsibility, the same stuff you've heard before, but actually, it's rare to find a set of players and causes that fit so well together. The financial incentive is gravy.

While MasterCard is looking for a way into the female market and continue its CSR efforts in an emerging economy, Hotel de la Paix gets to add an angle to the hotel that doesn't make it look so out of place as a high-end hotel in a desperately poor nation (in fact, this may just fight off some heavy criticism and also encourage local stakeholder buy-in). It's not that similar types of partnerships haven't been done before, but in this case it's been done well, which takes a fair amount of pizazz and a sprinkle of innovation.

Google looked to have stolen a march on the smart Net-connected TV market when it revealed its integrated Google TV a few months back. Now we're seeing prototypes at the IFA electronics show ... and suddenly Google's offering is looking lost among the competition.

Sony's Google TV device is the one that's garnered the most press attention, and it's a great example that we can almost use to preview how Google TV will look and feel to most consumers. The TV unit itself is nothing particularly remarkable in a crowded market that's evolved so quickly its left Joe Public's head spinning: It's a full-HD (1,920 by 1,080 pixels) display, 40-inches on the diagonal, and with a pretty neutrally-designed slim black plastic chassis. But this TV isn't all about the TV itself--it's about how it works. Inside is the necessary processor, memory, and connectivity hardware to drive Google's Android-powered TV service. Also included is Chrome for browsing the Web, niceties like Google Maps, and it's even Flash compatible, in a nose-thumbing exercise aimed at Apple. The UI has been polished to make it compatible with normal TV-viewing options, so you can make a browser window transparent to let a TV show shine through your Web searches, and there's a "Quick Search Box" system which integrates searches on the Web and among your TV resources.

Sony was reportedly reluctant to let people see the units in full-on Googling action, instead demoing features like Picasa photo integration and services like YouTube.

But Google's competitor LG, which is promising a news conference tomorrow--September 4th--to announce its own Google TV efforts, also demonstrated its own rival system at IFA: Netcast. The firm has been demonstrating TVs carrying the system, which has had a serious overhaul and now rests on four design watchwords: "easy," "fun," "more," "better." As well as similar Net-connected benefits to Google's system, it comes with a smart remote control that works a little like a Wiimote, and provides a more "natural" way to interact with the TV along with added extras like a coloring book for kids. LG's TV can even stream content from the unit to other gadgets.

And since Google's TV hit the headlines, Apple's arrived on the scene, as rumored, with its own new set-top box. Though it's services are in many ways simpler than the sophisticated things offered by Google TV or NetCast, concentrating on core streaming TV and movie content and a few extra frills, the hardware is cheap, comes with that fabulous Apple cachet, and is simple enough to appeal to Grandmas everywhere. It's also running on an Apple A4-powered board, which makes us ponder if its simple UI isn't actually built on a modified iOS operating system (found inside the iPhone and iPad). And this makes us wonder if Apple won't be bringing a full-on App Store experience to the Apple TV at some point--bouncing Google TVs and LG's efforts right to the bottom of the market. The same thinking has even resulted in some industry analysts suggesting Apple's TV box is a primer technology, so Apple can test the market before building its very own hardware-integrated TV units in the coming year or two.

And now there's even news that Yahoo's partnered with a Turkish firm Vestel to bring Yahoo Connected TV to 40 more countries from early 2011. So while TVs at IFA may seem to be all about Google's technology, in the coming months it looks like Google will have to significantly up its game to stay relevant in a wholly new market for the company.

To keep up with this news, follow me, Kit Eaton, on Twitter.

The New Meadowlands Stadium, home of the New York Giants and Jets, is one of the most expensive stadiums ever built. At a cost of $1.6 billion in private funds, it's state of the art--and that means more than comfy seats and realistic looking pretzel cheese. Gearing up for its inaugural NFL season later this month, the stadium will feature a first-of-its-kind "Command Center," which will help executives and merchandisers track customers in real-time. It's also a stats junkie's dream.

Built by digital design firm Roundarch, the new system enables managers to keep by-the-second tabs on operations through a touchscreen dashboard. In what looks more like video game RollerCoaster Tycoon than an analytics tool, the Command Center monitors ticket sales, concession and merchandising information, and parking, all in real-time.

What exactly is the system capable of? Let's start with concessions and merchandise. While a game is underway, NY Jets' owner Woody Johnson will see a four-panel layout that shows a variety of metrics, from gross spending to total transactions to average amount spent per transaction. The stadium is virtually divided up by each level, and Johnson can zoom in on individual stores and concession stands to see which jerseys are selling, or which beer isn't.

The stadium is heat-mapped too, so if lines are getting to long, mobile vendors can be directed to help ease the burden.

"You might realize, hey, this part of the stadium has more sun in the fans' eyes, and is selling more hats," says Geoff Cubitt, chief technology officer of Roundarch. "We're running out of inventory there, but the other side has plenty. In real-time, you can be smarter about how to allocate."

The Command Center won't just help managers and executives, but will soon aim to improve the fan experience as well. Cisco has invested $100 million into the stadium, and one rep estimates the company's technology could provide fans with estimated wait times in the near future. The dashboard will also warn of choke points at stadium gates and concession stands, so fans can be informed of how to avoid the longest line for a burger, or the best way to exit after the game.

And even outside the stadium, metrics continue with parking. The dashboard can zoom in on individual lots to analyze flow through parking plazas. "We can see the time it takes people to go from the parking gate to the stadium," explains Cubitt. "We can see where they enter."

What's more, the Command Center can create comparisons not just between other games, but specific times. With the simple drag of the mouse on the timeline, execs can see how the first half or just the third quarter or only a few specific minutes compares to other weeks. "Think about weather conditions: How are the poncho sales going on this rainy day compared to the last?" the Roundarch CTO says. "Or if a banner is put up for something, what kind of impact does that have?"

Funded by the Jets, the system will eventually migrate to mobile devices such as the iPad and Android, where it'll help operational staff on-the-go.

But for now, owner Woody Johnson will oversee the entire stadium from his personal touchscreen.

The new test could let patients know immediately if they're infected so they don't continue to spread tuberculosis while they wait for test results.

Tuberculosis, or TB, has a new enemy in the form of a brand new diagnostic tool that reveals, within minutes, if someone is affected by the disease. Affecting large percentages of the developing world--including up to 50% of the population in some countries, such as Nepal--some say the new test will revolutionize health care.

TB test results used to involve days of testing under a microscope, but this test "requires only 15 minutes of manual labor, for taking the mucus sample, mixing it with chemicals and putting it in an inkjet-like cartridge that goes into a machine. The machine amplifies the DNA in the sample and checks for bits of bacterial genes," according to a press release.

"What is revolutionary about this test is that it can diagnose TB the first time a patient goes to the clinic. Most people who go to the doctor in developing countries leave not knowing whether or not they have TB. There’s no excuse for that anymore," Dr. Peter Small of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which helped fund the development of the new test, tells Fast Company.

Over one thousand patients participated in the trials in Peru, Azerbaijan, South Africa, and India and test results came back with 98% accuracy.

"The most commonly used TB test misses half of all cases, sending patients back into their communities where they can spread the infection. This test catches almost all of them, with the added benefit of knowing whether they have certain strains that are drug resistant. It’s portable, automated and easy-to-use with little to no training," Dr. Small says.

The United States government commissioned the study with several partners and is now seeking U.S. FDA approval, though the test is already approved and on sale in Europe.

"Now that we know the test works, it needs to be approved by the World Health Organization’s technical advisory group. The WHO has committed to making this a top priority, so I’m feeling optimistic that it will be approved within a few months," Dr. Small says.

But health care is also subject to the weaknesses of bureaucracies, and when large, often corrupt governments around the world are involved, vital life-improving tools often face extensive delays before being put to use. Let's hope that a few months is the shortest time span required before the test--offering massive life-saving potential--is delivered to doctors and hospitals in the most desperate regions of the world.

"Until we have a good TB vaccine, rapid diagnosis equals prevention," Dr. Small says. "So an effective tool like this one could help change the trajectory of the epidemic."

Samsung's new Galaxy Tablet is the answer to Apple's iPad, but it's barely competent--which is precisely how Samsung rolls. A history of merely satisfactory products proves the point.

Samsung is one of our Most Innovative Companies for good reason--their microchip and memory business is one of the best in the world, and the company is definitely on the shortlist of most dominant consumer tech companies. They sell the most TVs, are second only to Nokia in worldwide cellphone sales, and fall in the top five in just about every other corner of the industry. Yet Samsung's consumer products consistently underwhelm.

Samsung is safe. They wait to see what works and release their own pretty good, decently performing version at a fair price. But that's not the stuff of greatness. Here's what we mean.

September 2010: Samsung Galaxy Tab

Answer to: Apple iPad

The Apple iPad was a was a new breed of tablet with a new philosophy: No longer would a tablet be a convertible laptop with a touchscreen. The iPad uses a mobile processor, mobile operating system, mobile wireless card, and forgoes a physical keyboard. Samsung's takeoff is a smaller device (7-inch screen, compared to 9.7-inch), but also packs a mobile processor, mobile OS, mobile wireless card, and a thick-bordered capacitive touchscreen.

Both devices offer stiff competition to ebook readers as well, with Apple launching iBooks and Samsung embracing Borders's Kobo software.

Is the Galaxy Tab an iPad competitor? Sure. It looks pretty good, and might even be better for reading than the iPad (mostly due to size and weight reductions). But nothing in particular sets it apart--it's not breaking new ground, it's merely what you thought it'd be. It's quintessentially Samsung: a B+.

August 2010: Samsung Epic 4G

Answer to: HTC Evo 4G

Samsung's Epic 4G, one of its "Galaxy S" Android smartphones (a different Galaxy S phone is headed to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint--the Epic 4G is Sprint's), is probably the best smartphone available for Sprint right now. But it's still an example of Samsung's "good enough" mentality.

HTC's Evo 4G garnered tons of buzz and huge sales, despite the major handicap of subpar battery life that was mentioned ad nauseum in every review. The Evo 4G was the start of a new breed of phone: With a huge 4.3-inch touchscreen, advanced media capabilities, a great custom version of Android, and top-of-the-line guts (including Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor), the Evo 4G was bound to be a big seller. But it was also the very first 4G phone in America, taking advantage of speeds closer to broadband speeds at home than to the usual 3G.

Samsung's Epic 4G, which followed a few months later, was the second 4G phone in America. It too had top-of-the-line internals and a custom Android OS, and has also sold quite well. Its superior battery life and hardware keyboard make it arguably a better phone than the Evo 4G. But it's not a Big Deal. The Evo 4G was a Big Deal.

The Epic 4G doesn't go out on a limb, and doesn't inspire excitement. When we talk about the phones that have made Android the success it is today, we talk about the T-Mobile G1, the Motorola Droid, the HTC Droid Incredible, and the HTC Evo 4G--the phones that took Android a step further into the future. The Epic 4G will never be in that pantheon. It's a very well-made phone, but that's all it is.

June 2010: Samsung TL500

Answer to: Canon S90

The Canon S90 is a marvel of engineering, an endlessly surprising little wonder. It's Canon's line in the sand: This, says Canon, is the best point-and-shoot camera in the world, and we don't have to prove it with meaningless stats.

The S90 cost a whopping $430 upon release, offering only 10MP--a ballsy move, considering cameras like Kodak's C180 offer 10.2MP for only $80. But the S90 also packed the same high-end sensor as the larger, more expensive G11. It has been a big success. Canon took a risk and pulled it off. It abandoned the fruitless megapixel war--photogs and Canon know a 14MP camera is absolutely not guaranteed to take better photos than an 8MP camera. But the general public doesn't. Enter Samsung.

A few months after the S90, Samsung announcing the TL500. It too is an expensive ($450) point-and-shoot offering just 10MP. It's an extremely well-performing, thoughtfully-styled camera that will blow a 14MP Sony out of the water, with a few extras (like a swiveling AMOLED screen) thrown in for good measure. It's a very nice product, and it should sell quite well. But it will not be, nor was it ever intended to be, a smash hit, spoken about with awe amongst the tech nerds. The S90 already broke this ground--the TL500 simply follows along.

Fall 2009: Samsung Hummingbird Processor

Answer to: Qualcomm Snapdragon

Qualcomm's Snapdragon, a very low-energy 1GHz processor, is the muscle of choice for modern Android phones like the HTC Droid Incredible, Google Nexus One, Dell Streak, and Sony Xperia X10. It's also the mandatory minimum power behind Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 7 line.

The Snapdragon isn't the only game in town, of course--Texas Instruments has a competing 1GHz chip found in the Motorola Droid X and Droid 2, and Nvidia's Tegra, while underused, is often linked to upcoming tablets. But the Snapdragon powered the first 1GHz Android phone, the Google Nexus One, and is the undisputed champion of the Android world.

Samsung, being a chipmaker as well as a consumer gadget maker, has their own version--a 1GHz chip based, like the Snapdragon, on the ARM A8 core. Samsung's chip is called the Hummingbird, and was announced about six month after the first Snapdragon phone (though the first Hummingbird-powered device wouldn't come out for a few months after that). The Hummingbird is what powers the Galaxy S phones, as well as the Galaxy Tab tablet. What are people saying about it? That it's "just about as good as a Snapdragon."

April 2009: Samsung P3

Answer to: Apple iPod Touch

Apple's iPhone is like the friendliest virus you could imagine, wreaking delightful havoc through Apple's catalog. Apple's first tablet? A big iPhone. The newest iPod Nano? A teeny iPhone (sort of). The iPod Touch? A phone-less iPhone.

Giving customers the ability to get the groundbreaking iOS interface, along with all those great apps, without the expense or hassle of a monthly phone bill made the iPod Touch a huge success. And with one great success comes a Samsung product in its wake.

Samsung's portable media players were always pretty good--nice design, fairly priced, excellent sound quality--but never particularly innovative. Ditto the P3, Samsung's pretty-good PMP released in April 2009. With a super-thin brushed metal design, great sound quality, extensive format support, and big touchscreen, it looked like an iPod Touch killer.

Except it wasn't. With no Wi-Fi, the P3 couldn't download apps (thus restricted to a bunch of mostly-useless widgets that came pre-packaged) and its interface wasn't as smooth or stylish as Apple's. The P3 was a totally competent portable media player--certainly more capable than the iPod Nano, say--but its lack of ambition and willingness to be merely good doomed it to the "not an iPod" bin.

These are just a few examples, meant to show an overarching theme to Samsung's products. There are a few Samsung releases that don't follow the mold: Samsung's TVs are excellent, and the company (for better or for worse) is at the forefront of 3D technology--although to be fair, only minor spec details separate Samsung's offerings from those of Sony, Panasonic, LG, Vizio, and the rest. On the other hand, the Omnia II, a Windows Mobile smartphone, and the Behold II, an earlier Android smartphone, were both complete disasters.

But for the most part, Samsung seems content to sit back, only releasing a product if there's already been a similar one that's seen significant success. The company is generally reliable, releasing reasonably styled, reasonably priced, reasonably functional products. But in a world where companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, HTC, and even Amazon are willing to step up and release groundbreaking products they believe in even though they may not succeed, Samsung's reluctance to wow us just doesn't cut it.

Dan Nosowitz, the author of this post, can be followed on Twitter, corresponded with via email, and stalked in Brooklyn (no link for that one--you'll have to do the legwork yourself).

Google Chrome may have been late to the browser game compared to Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari, but in two short years it's managed to become a formidable option--maybe even the best browser around--and is gaining market share fast (up to 7.5% these days).

The most notable new features include a streamlined UI, form autofill, and extension syncing. The UI change is what will hit most users first. The already-sleek UI is trimmed down even more, reducing the two menu icons (the wrench and paper page) into just the one, and moving the "bookmark this page" icon into an interior menu.

Power users, or those who jaunt back and forth between computers, will love the extension sync feature, which keeps all of your extensions handy no matter what machine you're using. Extensions are synced just like bookmarks, preferences, and themes--just sign in, and it's like being at home. Same with the autofill form feature, making it easier to fill out the many forms that require all the same information.

The changes may be minor, but they're all welcome. If you haven't checked out Chrome, I'd really recommend it--it's my personal favorite browser, thanks to its speed, flexibility, lightweight size, and the do-everything search bar. The newest version of Chrome can be downloaded for free here.

Dan Nosowitz, the author of this post, can be followed on Twitter, corresponded with via email, and stalked in Brooklyn (no link for that one--you'll have to do the legwork yourself).