Group messaging and picture apps were the obvious contenders to break through at this year’s South by Southwest, and based on the hundreds of thousands of GroupMe threads muted and Instagram filters applied, it seems that both varieties of apps are well poised for the mainstream. For countless other companies, however, making SXSW more than a four-day bender of a work write-off can be a challenge. Free beer and vaguely familiar musical acts work when you have marketing budgets the size of StumbleUpon‘s or Foursquare‘s, but it’s hard to recite your elevator pitch when the crowd is moshing. We found several apps, sites and giant media conglomerates whose untraditional approaches to engage the tech set at SXSW involved more than “open the bar and they will come.”

Attendees at this year’s South by Southwest were treated to “Mario,” a Jon Nicolosi-directed and -produced indie drama about the existential and romantic anguish of Super Mario.

See previously: God of War: the quirky indie movie; The Fantastic Mr. Star Fox

(via Laughing Squid)

At South by Southwest this year, 4chan founder Christopher Poole delivered an interesting speech in which he (to no one’s surprise) supported Internet anonymity, as well as called the imageboard, as well as its infamous subforum, /b/, misunderstood.

“4Chan is misunderstood – people like to think that /b/ is the dark heart of the internet. It isn’t just that.

People want to think everyone on 4Chan is a young rambunctious male. That’s not accurate – it’s a wide range of people using it. One of the things that 4Chan does that’s really special is the way people come together to collaborate en masse. It’s the process at which you arrive at the product that is fascinating.”

Poole also discussed Facebook honcho Mark Zuckerberg, declaring Zuckerberg’s views on anonymity incorrect.

“Zuckerberg’s totally wrong on anonymity being total cowardice. Anonymity is authenticity. It allows you to share in a completely unvarnished, raw way.

The cost of failure is really high when you’re contributing as yourself.”

He also discussed a mistake he feels he made with 4chan, which is believing the community can police itself, given the right tools.

“One of the mistakes I’ve made is believing in an invisible guiding hand as far as moderation goes. And that if you give the community the right structure they could police themselves.

“I’ve underestimated the value of having a real staff presence, and encouraging them to police the boards behind the scenes. When it’s not clear that we’re leading things it’s like we’re not there and that we don’t care – it’s extremely detrimental to community.”

Head on past the break to watch the other two parts from Poole’s speech, which features some behind-the-scenes information, including popular memes like CAPTCHArt.

Former White Stripes frontman and low-tech recording enthusiast Jack White has been a bit of an iconoclast in the music industry. Instead of embracing digital recording techniques, he banned any and all digital devices from his recording sessions. When iTunes became the largest music seller in America, White expanded his Third Man Records production company to include vinyl pressings and opened a store in Nashville to sell them. Now he’s taking it a step further, unveiling a mobile record store. This bumble-bee colored book-mobile beauty makes the Apple SXSW popup store look downright pedestrian.

Premiering at the SXSW tech and music show, the so-called “Third Man Rolling Record Store™” boasts a custom design made by White himself, sound system, mixing and amplification for a full band, “two turn-tables and a microphone,” a complete stock of vinyl (both LPs and singles), and the special novelties that were previously only available in the company’s Nashville store. The shop-on-wheels will feature recordings from Third Man Records artists, including The White Stripes, The Dead Weather, the Raconteurs, among others.

After SXSW, the RRS will begin appearing at cities, concerts, and festivals. Would-be patrons are advised to track the magical, enigmatic vehicle via a special Twitter account, though that may not be necessary. As the video promises: “We will find you.”

Take a peek at the promotional video, after the break.

If you’ve been to the hip tech, music, and art festival SXSW in previous years, you’ve probably seen Apple users clinging tighter than usual to their precious products. It is, after all, about five miles from downtown Austin to the nearest Apple store, meaning that one slip and fall with an iPhone could ruin your week. But all that’s changing this year with a temporary, or “popup,” Apple Store in the heart of Austin.

Local news outlets are reporting that Apple has leased space near Sixth and Congress, and has already begun construction. Black vinyl has apparently been placed over the windows of the location, which is expected to open this Friday, the first day of SXSW.

The location is surely less for the convenience of current Apple users, and more an effort to draw in customers amongst the thousands of tech-savy SXSW attendees. There’s no word yet as to what kind of services will be available at the popup store, but you could almost certainly buy an iPad there.

So, if you find yourself in Austin this weekend with some serious disposable income and a hankering for a new iPad 2, now you know where to go.

(The Statesman, image via NetworkEffect)

This past weekend, Robert Rodriguez provided the SXSWing hordes with a sneak peek at Predators; today, we’ve got the real movie trailer, and it’s even better.

Despite the fact that, well, there isn’t all that much Predator screen time, it’s got the suspense, the action, and the scary red eye-glow things, and it manages to satisfactorily answer that peskiest of sci-fi questions: Why we should care about any of the boring humans? Answer: they are dangerous space convicts, and one of them is Adrian Brody.

Video after the jump:

Scott Dadich, Design Director for Wired and Jeremy Clark, Experience Designer for Adobe, previewed a demo of Wired‘s future plans for an iPad version of the Conde Nast title. Judging by the response on Twitter, the demo created bit of a stir, primarily it seems for showing what the future of magazines could look like. Video of the demonstration after the jump:

This past Saturday, The People vs. George Lucas debuted at South by Southwest Film, ladling out a healthy dose of righteous Star Wars nerdrage upon one of the farthest-fallen figures in the geek pantheon.

The documentary, directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, has as its focal point the franchise-slaughter Lucas committed when he rolled out The Phantom Menace in 1999, smothering the franchise goodwill of thousands of fans with visions of Jar-Jar Binks.

We haven’t seen the whole thing, but based on the trailer, The People vs. George Lucas looks like a pretty strange affair: cartoons, people in costumes, and serious-talk thrown in a blender. In their review of the movie, Heat Vision criticizes the film as “messy:” “There’s no clear hook for the film, merely an idea that’s instantly grokked by geeks and usually ignored by others.” They also recommend the excellent, jaw-dropping 70-minute YouTube takedown of Phantom Menace.

Judge for yourself with the HD trailers after the jump:

In what looks from afar like it could be the biggest news from SXSW Interactive thus far, Twitter CEO Evan Williams is currently rolling out Twitter’s new @Anywhere platform, a possible Facebook Connect rival which could transform Twitter into a one-stop, more seamlessly interactive entry point into third-party sites, including eBay, Digg, and nytimes.com.

4chan admin, evil genius and TEDTalk deliverer moot shakes hands with FourSquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai. Both are festooned with the coveted Gold Badges.

(via Geekosystem roving correspondent and SXSW Interactive presenter Rachel Sklar.)