The ever-growing microblogging service Twitter has launched an official application for the Android (aptly named Twitter). This was soon after the announcement that Twitter entered into an agreement with Atebits to acquire Tweetie and brand it as the official iPhone app.
The fact that Twitter would dare to create an official app built upon their own network has caused quite a stir in the development community -- you’d have thought all the devs were leaving the Twitterverse. After all, it will be hard to compete with the official app.
Twitter claimed that due to the lack of an official app, everyone was losing out. Customers become confused and give up when they can’t find an official app, co-founder Evan William wrote in Twitter’s official announcement of the Tweetie take-over. It remains to be seen if the official release of Twitter apps will dramatically grow the already colossal social network.
Twitter, the official Android app, will handle your tweeting needs with an attractive and solid user interface.
The animated home screen spouts hot trending topics and access to the common client options; tweets, mentions, retweets, lists, direct messages and a profile stream.
From the status update screen, users can attach images, geo-location, Tiny urls or select multiple followers to include in the tweet from a list by checking them off -- a great feature considering it doesn’t have the auto-completion of names.
Twitter knows the importance of retweets and lists and has included separate screens for both of these features. Users can view their own lists, followed lists and lists that other users have added them to. Retweets are organized in a similar way; by you, by others and retweeted.
Android users have an advantage over other mobile devices; they can add widgets. Twitter has included two widgets (small and large) to post status updates from the home screen without the need to enter the app.
Customization can be had in the settings by enabling twitterholics to set notifications, change tiny url and photo-upload services along with contact syncing.
The most notable feature is contact syncing. Adding twitter pictures and tweets to contacts on the Android is done with one tap. The app will sync data from the people you’re following or optionally sync with existing contacts. Google plans to give out the source code used in this app so we can expect to see more contact syncing in future Android apps.
If you manage multiple Twitter accounts, you might not be using the app any time soon. The app currently allows for only one login, and if you sign out, Twitter will remove all Twitter-related data from the app and contacts.
If you’re not on Twitter yet, you’ll find the mobile app experience an excellent entry into the Twitter community.
Head to Head: Baseball numbers game
If you’re the parent of a little leaguer or involved with a recreational baseball or softball team, you should consider recruiting a few mobile apps to help out with compiling your stats.
For those who aren’t baseball aficionados , player statistics help coaches and players focus on strengths and weakness. In fact many of the strategic decisions made by coaches are based upon statistics. If you’ve ever used the traditional paper method of scorekeeping, you know it can be tricky getting everything down (not to mention messy if you find yourself correcting mistakes). And if you want to transfer the scorecard into a spreadsheet to keep season stats, you’ll have to type all of the game info into a computer and then calculate batting average, earned run average, slugging and all of the other statistics.
Here are a couple of mobile apps that can simplify the process.
GameChanger (free) for iPod touch, iPhone, iPad
