Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Flip video founder Jonathan Kaplan has launched his newest venture, a high-tech chain of grilled cheese restaurants.

The Melt made its debut on Monday with the opening of its first location in downtown San Francisco. It will be the first of four to open in the San Francisco Bay Area by the end of the year, with the goal of expanding nationwide in the next few years.

While grilled cheese may not seem like the logical follow-up to the Flip video camera, Kaplan has a plan. The Melt is not your normal restaurant. Sure, it serves delicious grilled cheese sandwiches and soups (they’re good — we’ve tried them), but it’s how you order the sandwiches that makes The Melt unique.

The Melt allows diners to order their meals via their mobile phones. Placing an order on your phone creates a QR code that you can then swipe in the store. Once swiped, your order appears on the “Order Board” and your grilled cheese is placed in a propriety grill with a built-in microwave. Kaplan’s goal is to go from swipe to grilled cheese in two minutes or less.

Kaplan has also thought heavily about the ingredients that make up his sandwiches. The Melt has struck unique agreements with breadmakers, cheese vendors and others to create very specific and rich flavors. A sandwich will cost you $5.95, a cup of soup $3.95 and a combo meal $8.95.

The startup is backed by some major players. Apple retail guru (and future J.C. Penny CEO) Ron Johnson sits on the company’s board. Sequoia Capital’s Michael Moritz, chef Michael Mina and Benchmark Capital’s Bruce Dunlevie are also members of its board.

We had a chance to preview The Melt last week, before its grand opening. Here are a few pictures of San Francisco’s newest restaurant. Let us know if you’re craving some high-tech grilled cheese in the comments.

If communication barriers on Google+ got you down, never fear. Google has released a tool to ensure that updates from its international user base can be easily translated.

Google Translate for Google+, released Monday, is a simple browser extension for Chrome that translates posts and comments into more than 50 languages.

“We’ve heard from a lot of Google+ users wanting an easier way to understand posts written in other languages. I’m an engineer on Google Translate and thought we could do something about that,” writes Google Translate front-end and mobile development lead Josh Estelle in an update on Google+. “Once you’ve installed the extension, refresh Google+ and you’ll see Translate links next to posts and comments. Click the links to instantly see translations.”

The addition won’t prevent all Google+ updates from getting lost in translation, but it will certainly make it easier for users to chat with others who speak different languages.

Over 700,000 American households have no car and no access to public transit, and transit advocates say those households are also less likely to be able to find and keep a job.

“We knew there were pockets of households who are economically hampered by the fact that they own no car and have no access to transit, but we didn’t fully understand the true scope of the problem until now,” said Adie Tomer, who authored the report for the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

It’s no surprise to public transit advocates, who have watched low-income families get priced out of transit-dense urban cores and move to older, car-centric suburbs where housing is more affordable but vehicle ownership is a must. In fact, the Brookings report shows that 42 percent of suburban residents without cars don’t have transit access. Employers have suburbanized, too, moving out of city centers for far-off office parks.

“Folks have followed the affordable housing, followed the jobs, but if they lose a job or lose a little bit of income, or if the car breaks down and they can’t afford to fix it, they’re stuck,” said David Goldberg, communications director at Transportation For America, a public transportation advocacy group.

“You want to hang on to that job at all costs and you want to be seen as a good employee, but if there’s no alternative, you’re in a world of hurt,” he said.

Even where transit access is strong, many employers lie outside the reach of buses and trains. The Brookings report found that most households could only access 40 percent of total nearby jobs in under a 90 minute ride on public transit.

Metropolitan Atlanta residents without cars are worst off when it comes to access to public transit. Nearly a third of carless Atlantans live in areas that can’t be reached by public transit. Not far behind were Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Phoenix and St. Louis. Surprisingly, car-loving Los Angeles came in tops for transit access for no-car households, with fewer than 1% of the carless not served by transit. New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Miami-Fort Lauderdale rounded out the top metro areas for transit.

Where transit access is low, it’s not all because of broken-down cars and spread out cul-de-sacs. Faced with strained budgets, transit authorities are raising fares, trimming routes and cutting back on frequency. “We’ve seen this large surge in transit ridership in the past few years, but we’ve seen corresponding cuts in service,” said Goldberg.

And though the majority of individuals stranded without public or private transit are low income, it’s a problem that affects anyone who leaves the house. “These days, people are really looking for flexibility,” Goldberg said. “People are looking for ways to save money, avoid traffic congestion, and they are increasingly wanting to be in places where they don’t necessarily have to use a car every time they go somewhere.”

In the short term, Tomer says lack of transit access is a major economic drain on low-income families. ““If you’re going to keep afloat during the recession, you have to be able to get to work,” he said. In the long term, areas with robust public transportation may even recover faster than their car-centric counterparts. “In terms of indicators like real estate values, places that have decent transit, those places are holding their value pretty well,” said Goldberg. “The places that are utterly car dependent have not recovered.”

Photo: Flickr/Joel Mann

Follow us on Twitter.

Like us on Facebook.

And soon enough we’ll start seeing +1 or circle us on Google+.

I would like to talk about an inflection point in social media that requires pause. I am not suggesting that there will be a social media 2.0 or 3.0 for that matter. Nor do I see the term social media departing our vocabulary any time soon. After all, it was recently added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.  Instead, what I would like to discuss is the end of an era of social media that will force the industry to mature. It won’t happen on its own however. Evolution will occur because consumers demand it and also because you’re willing to stake your job on it.

From Social Network Fatigue to Deals Fatigue to Follow Fatigue, businesses are facing a crossroads at the intersection of social and media. Following the path of media continues a long tradition of what Tom Foremski refers to as “Social Media as Corporate Media.” Following the path of social is a journey towards relevance.

As Foremski states, “Social media is not corporate media…if corporations try to turn social media into a corporate sales or marketing channel then they risk losing the naked conversations, and the insight into customer behaviors.”

His point is that there’s more to social media than clever campaigns and rudimentary conversations. Talking isn’t the only thing that makes social media social. Just like adding Facebook, Twitter and other sharing buttons will not magically transform static content into shareable experiences. Listening, learning and adapting is where the real value of social media will show its true colors.  Listening leads to a more informed business. Engagement unlocks empathy and innovation. But it is action and adaptation that leads to relevance. And, it never ends.

Indeed, there really are more examples of media than there are that of social media in many of the celebrated examples out there today. Even though distributing corporate media in social channels sets the stage for dialogue, there really isn’t much that’s social about it. In fact, study of many social media initiatives have led me to believe that much of what we benchmark against is actually anti-social in its approach.

The future of social media comes down to one word, “value.” Without it, businesses will find it much more difficult to earn and retain friends, fans and followers (3F’s). As adoption of social networks soared in previous years, growth is now plateauing.  eMarketer estimates that Facebook growth will hit only 13.4% this year after experiencing 38.6% acceleration in 2010 and a staggering 90.3% ascension the year before. Facebook isn’t alone in its sobriety either. The  rate of Twitter user adoption fell from 293.1% growth in 2009 to 26.3% this year.

Don’t get me wrong, people are still embracing social networks. However, the severity of competition for consumer attention is now unmistakable. Once liberal with their likes, Retweets, and follows, consumers are becoming much more guarded and realistic. Therefore brands will now have to more effectively listen to markets to make more informed decisions about how social media impacts the enterprise and in turn customer experiences.

The GlobalWebIndex “Wave 5 Trends” report delivers insight into how consumers are using social networks and technology in general.  According to the report, growth in social network usage among 16- to 24-year-olds in the US is stalling. And, in a few countries usage within this group is declining. In fact, one of the key insights shared in the report is subduing, “Facebook is no longer the one stop shop for the total internet experience.”

However, the report is not a harbinger of social networking’s demise. It is merely a lens into how behavior is changing. This is important for any business to realize that business as usual in social networks is in fact anything but.

Between June 2009 and June 2011, the following changes were noted in Facebook activity:

- Uploading videos is experiencing a modest increase around the world up 5% in the U.S. and 7.6% worldwide.

- Installing apps is on the decline, down 10.4% in the U.S. and 3.1% worldwide.

- Sending virtual gifts may not be gifts worth giving after all, with numbers declining 12.9% in the U.S. and 7.5% around the world.

Twitter on the other hand is a rich exchange for  information commerce, where links become a form of digital currency. For example, 45% share an opinion about a product or brand more than once per day. Another 34% of Twitter users also share a link about a product or brand more than once per day.

When asked what consumers want from brands, knowledge and entertainment soared to the top of the list. Additionally, The GlobalWebIndex Wave 5 Trends report tells us that online consumers want brands to provide services that fit with their lifestyle. They also want brands to listen to them.

What can we learn of this?

1) Businesses must first realize that there’s more to social media than just managing an active presence, driven by an active editorial calendar. Listening is key and within each conversation lies a clue to earn relevance and ultimately establish leadership.

2) Consumers want to be heard. Social media will have to break free form the grips of marketing in order to truly socialize the enterprise to listen, engage, learn, and adapt. You can’t create a social business if the business is not designed to be customer-centric from the outside-in and the inside-out.

3) Social media becomes an extension of active listening and engagement. Strategies, programs, and content are derivative of insights, catalysts for innovation, and messengers of value. More importantly, social media becomes a platform for the brand and the functions that consumers deem mandatory. From marketing to HR to service to R&D, brands will expand the role they play in social networking to make the acts of following and sharing an investment in a more meaningful relationship.

The end of Social Media 1.0 is the beginning of a new era of business, consumer engagement, and relevance.

#AdaptOrDie

Zynga is delaying its IPO — originally set for next month — until November, according to a report.

The social gaming company is spooked by the “rocky stock markets,” according to the report in The New York Post, which cites two sources with knowledge of Zynga’s plans.

Mashable could not reach reps from Zynga for comment.

In late June, Zynga announced plans to go public. The company, which is behind FarmVille, CityVille and Mafia Wars, among other titles, hopes to raise $1.5 billion to $2 billion in its IPO. But since the debt ceiling debate this summer, tech stocks have been hit hard.

Zynga’s is one of several social media IPOs planned over the next few months. Another high-profile social media IPO, Groupon’s, has also reportedly been delayed, but because of SEC accounting concerns, rather than stock market conditions.

When confronted with a new idea, do you:

• Consider the cost of switching before you consider the benefits?
• Highlight the pain to a few instead of the benefits for the many?
• Exaggerate how good things are now in order to reduce your fear of change?
• Undercut the credibility, authority or experience of people behind the change?
• Grab onto the rare thing that could go wrong instead of amplifying the likely thing that will go right?
• Focus on short-term costs instead of long-term benefits, because the short-term is more vivid for you?
• Fight to retain benefits and status earned only through tenure and longevity?
• Embrace an instinct to accept consistent ongoing costs instead of swallowing a one-time expense?
• Slow implementation and decision making down instead of speeding it up?
• Embrace sunk costs?
• Imagine that your competition is going to be as afraid of change as you are? Even the competition that hasn’t entered the market yet and has nothing to lose…
• Emphasize emergency preparation and the expense of a chronic and degenerative condition?

Calling it out when you see it might give your team the strength to make a leap.

Look out gamers — here comes the Razer Blade. It’s unusually thin at a mere .88 inches, and it’s relatively light at 6.9 pounds, but its claim to fame is those groundbreaking configurable OLED buttons and LCD touchpad that gives mobile gamers a versatile new way to win.

The Razer Blade is due sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, and it’s made by that same company that creates gaming mice that we’ve favorably reviewed, as well as keyboards and other gaming accessories with a certain design flair. In fact, the company wowed us in January at CES with a prototype “Switchblade” laptop whose keyboard did away with conventional keys altogether, instead substituting lots of tiny OLED touchscreens. Yes, Razer has credible design chops.

We haven’t tried this Blade laptop yet, but from what we can see, it has more going for it than just a pretty 17-inch face. It’s powered by a dual-core 2.8GHz second-generation Core i7 2640M processor (we’d rather have a quad-core chip) with 8 gigs of RAM and a Nvidia GeForce GT555M 2GB graphics card. Another quibble is the lack of a solid-state drive inside — just an old-fashioned 320GB SATA drive. Check the Razer Blade’s full spec list here.

We’re still scratching our heads, though, wondering why this laptop is so expensive at $2,799.99. Maybe it’s because of its snazzy new tiny-screen paraphernalia.

Judging from Razor’s pre-sale guff, the screens and their “Switchblade UI” must be expensive to build — they consist of 10 “dynamic adaptive tactile keys” — each a tiny OLED screen — that can be configured according to whatever game you’re playing.

The 480 x 800 LCD panel directly below those keys has two modes: If you’d like to use a separate mouse instead of its touchpad, you can use that mini screen as an extra screen to display in-game info (think weapons). In its second mode, the mini-LCD functions as a multi-touchpad if you like your gaming laptop to be completely self-contained.

While there are plenty of heavier, thicker and faster gaming laptops such as the $1,599 quad-core MSi GT683 we tested (and liked a lot), this Blade breaks new ground with that innovative user interface.

What you think, gamers? Does this one pass muster?

Watch this noisy video for a peek at the Razer Blade’s unique Switchblade operating system in action:

via Razer

The very best steak I ever ate was at a dinner with Jeff Pulver in 2007, at the 9 Steak House in Las Vegas at the Palms. I was so floored by the flavor. I had eaten plenty of steak from all over, and yet, this was truly the most flavorful steak I’d ever eaten.

I asked the server to tell me what they did to season it, because clearly it was magical.

“Salt and pepper,” he said.

Huh? He was serious. Salt. Pepper. Done. That’s it. And yet, it was the best flavored steak I’d ever had. By the way, if you’re ever over to the house and I cook you steak, that’s what I use to season it. Salt. Pepper.

Salt and Pepper Simplicity

We seem to want to complicate things as humans. We seem to believe there are deeper secrets than the simple actions that others take to succeed. When people ask me how I got so many followers on Twitter (and now on Google+), I say the same thing: “be helpful.” And yet, they think there’s more to it. Salt. Pepper.

Simplicity allows us to appreciate the execution more than the cleverness of our plan. Complexity is mostly about being clever, if you’ve never noticed. Simplicity is about execution.

There’s a place for complexity. Surgery can be complex. Building huge structures can be complex. Rocket science is pretty complex.

But what you and I do, both professionally and when we’re just trying to be better humans? That’s salt and pepper.

Simple Isn’t Easy

Simple doesn’t mean easy. Telling the truth is simple. The results of that aren’t always easy. Being clear and helpful isn’t easy. Write out on paper how to tie a shoe, without any drawings. That’s not easy. And yet, shoe-tying is simple (for most folks).

Listening to people is simple. Actually doing it isn’t easy. Apologizing is simple. Sometimes, it’s the hardest thing in the world to do. Letting go is simple. It’s never easy.

Salt. Pepper.

The more places in our life and our business where we can season with salt and pepper, the better life becomes. Executing cleanly on simple efforts is far more valuable than pulling off something clever that gets you attention briefly, but has no lasting change.

And truly, if you want to know just one more secret, I’ll share it: complex is usually just a lot of simple things played out in a smart sequence. There you go. Free!

So, what’s your salt and pepper?

Already using Google+? Follow Mashable’s Pete Cashmore for the latest about the platform’s new features, tips and tricks as well as social media and technology updates.

Google+ was meant to be an identity service, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said this weekend, shedding some light on Google’s reasoning behind Google+’s controversial real-name policy.

Google’s requirement that members of its social layer, Google+, use only their real names has been a point of contention for several weeks — especially for people with uncommon names and people who prefer to use pseudonyms. Schmidt’s comments at the Edinburgh International TV Festival reveal a new perspective on Google+.

NPR’s Andy Carvin asked Schmidt how Google justifies its names policy when it could put people at risk.

“He replied by saying that G+ was build primarily as an identity service, so fundamentally, it depends on people using their real names if they’re going to build future products that leverage that information,” Carvin wrote in a Google+ post. “Regarding people who are concerned about their safety, he said G+ is completely optional. No one is forcing you to use it. It’s obvious for people at risk if they use their real names, they shouldn’t use G+.”

Paraphrasing Schmidt’s comments, Carvin wrote that the Google exec also said the Internet “would be better if we knew you were a real person rather than a dog or a fake person. Some people are just evil and we should be able to ID them and rank them downward.”

Because Schmidt’s comments were made during a Q&A session, Carvin said he wasn’t able to ask any follow-up questions.

On Sunday, venture capitalist Fred Wilson followed up with his own thoughts on Schmidt’s “identity service” comments and the products that Google might build based on users’ information.

“It begs the question of whom Google built this service for? You or them,” Wilson wrote in a blog post. “And the answer to why you need to use your real name in the service is because they need you to.”

Since its launch in late June, Google+ has begun to spread its reach across the web. The +1 button now shares directly to Google+ and it’s added friend annotations; and Google+ posts now appear in Google search results. The pieces all fit together to provide Google with a broader picture of its users — not just on Google products anymore.

How could Google leverage users’ identity information for new products? Perhaps through more targeted advertising or personalized search, or maybe something completely different.

Wilson seems to imply that just knowing Google’s intentions is useful. “Well at least we got that out there and can deal with it,” he concluded.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Charles Haynes

One of the best things about the many iPhotography apps available is that they increase the capabilities of the iPhone’s camera. One great example is panoramic photography. Pano is one such app featured in the App Store’s Hall of Fame. It is available for both iPhone and Android devices and helps create stunning panoramic images.

We got in touch with Debacle Software, the developer of Pano, to find out more about the app’s history and showcase 10 extraordinary panoramas created with the app.

“When we created Pano in 2008, our aim was to develop a photography tool that would allow users to capture things that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to capture with their cameras,” says Julian Lepinski, Pano’s co-creator.

Take a look through the photo gallery for examples of flawless skies, amazing scenery and more. And let us know in the comments if you’ve created your own iPhone or Android panoramas.