Ford bringing SYNC systems to base trim levels, drops from $395 to $295

Ford's been pushing SYNC in its autos since 2007, but you wouldn't have known it had you opted for the base trim level on your ride. Thankfully for those who appreciate the basics, that's a-changing. The automaker is aiming to entice more potential owners by offering the voice-activated infotainment systems across all levels for $295 (down from $395, where optional), starting with its 2012 Edge and Explorer models. To sweeten the deal even further, it'll also become standard on SEL variants for the first time -- before, it was a luxury previously reserved for Limited and Sport. Ford plans to roll out the system across its entire lineup in three years time, bringing the 2013 Ford Taurus, Focus, Escape and Flex into the fold. You know, options for all of you who aren't hip on the all-American, gas-guzzling SUV. Full PR past the break.

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Ford bringing SYNC systems to base trim levels, drops from $395 to $295 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Madonna Vs Lady Gaga

Who is your ultimate pop princess? We compare their iconic styles.

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YouTube's Creator Playbook: Your Guide To Achieving Internet Fame*

Looking to turn yourself (or your show) into a YouTube star but don’t know where to begin? YouTube’s looking to help ��the video portal has launched a comprehensive guide outlining how content producers should be approaching the platform and which features they can take advantage of. The 70 page guide has a fitting title: The Creator Playbook.

The new document was discussed today at the VidCon conference in Los Angeles, and is part of YouTube’s broader goal to help creators produce high quality content (YouTube’s recent acquisition Next New Networks is the driving force behind this mission).

Of course, YouTube is quick to clarify that while this should be a useful guide, there isn’t anything that’s guaranteed. It’s really just a well thought-out set of best practices � if your content isn’t any good, optimizing the first five seconds of your video isn’t going to be much help. From the first page:

The Creator Playbook is not a collection of rules or guaranteed ‘tricks’ to get more views. Instead, it presents best practices, optimization tips, and suggested strategies for building audience and engagement on YouTube.”

The document is a hefty 70 pages long but isn’t as daunting as you’d think. YouTube has broken each of its miniguides into three sections: Programming & Producing, Publishing & Optimization, Community & Social Media. And each tip within a section gives an at-a-glance overview of how long it will take to implement (the easy ones are five minutes, the harder ones a day or more), which metrics the tip will impact, and how much of an effect content creators should expect.

Some of the topics will be obvious to TechCrunch readers (use Facebook and Twitter a lot!) but it’s unlikely that you’ll already know everything in there. The sections outlining how video metadata can impact your search result rankings is particularly useful ��and there’s a checklist at the end you can run through each time you upload a video.

Note that while there’s an entire section dedicated to thumbnail optimization, there’s nothing in there about using a woman’s cleavage as your thumbnail photo, which seems to be a curiously popular strategy on the site.

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Best Buy launches Insignia connected TVs with DVR-less TiVo

Right on schedule, Best Buy's announced it's good and ready to ship two Insignia-branded connected televisions with TiVo's UI -- minus the whole DVR thing, that is. The two 1080p sets, available in 32- and 42-inch flavors, are landing months after the retailer said it was buddying up with TiVo to borrow its user interface -- and only that, there's no indication these will play nicely with Premiere DVRs and their multiroom streaming at launch -- for searching content and also just getting up and running easily. As you'd expect, folks perusing these sets can watch movies from Netflix, CinemaNow, and YouTube, as well as stream from Pandora and Napster. Rounding out the list of apps are Facebook, Twitter, Photobucket, and Chumby, with more to come, Best Buy tells us. In addition to the easy access to content, the story here is that the UI plays nice with existing cable boxes, making the installation easy even if the person holding the remote doesn't happen to have a lengthy serial number on hand. Look for the 32-inch number for $499, with the 42-incher fetching $699. Find the full PR and some b-roll video after the break, along with a smattering of hands-on shots of what should be an all-too-familiar interface.

Gallery: Insignia TVs with TiVo's UI

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Best Buy launches Insignia connected TVs with DVR-less TiVo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Erik Bedard Traded: Red Sox Acquire Pitcher From Mariners In 3-Team Deal

CHICAGO — After a deal with Oakland for Rich Harden fell through, the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox were still able to find a starting pitcher to bolster their rotation Sunday.

They got oft-injured lefty Erik Bedard from the Seattle Mariners in a three-team trade before the deadline. Bedard's stint with the Mariners has been problematic but his years in Baltimore were strong ones. And that's the pitcher the Red Sox hope they will eventually see.

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Matt Cassel Impresses the %&$# Out Of Kenny Powers

In the latest installment documenting Kenny Powers’ tear through the world of sports attire as new CEO of K-Swiss, his newest marketing guru and NFL quarterback Matt Cassel puts out some pretty $%

BigCommerce Raises $15 Million To Help Retailers Manage E-Commerce

BigCommerce, a company that provides e-commerce software to online retailers and merchants, has raised $15 Million in Series A funding from General Catalyst Partners.

Launched in 2009, BigCommerce provides a comprehensive SaaS for retailers and merchants to manage e-commerce online. BigCommerce helps small businesses power anything and everything related to an online storefront from search to inventory to online payments to marketing and SEO. And the price for the software is affordable for small businesses, with basic plans starting at $25 per month.

Features include multi-channel retailing, automated email marketing, inventory control, an online storefront, and more. The company, which has 20,000 clients and is profitable, also launched an application for merchants to list inventory on Facebook.

The company has $200 million in total transactions via its SaaS and is adding 1,000 clients per month. The new funding would be used to expand the company's headcount in Sydney and Austin, Texas operations, sales and marketing initiatives and more.

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