After initially pulling their iPhone app due to frequent crashes, TweetDeck’s iPhone app is now live on the App store!

While I was never a fan of their desktop app (as I loathe all things Adobe AIR), their iPhone app has features that put premium apps to shame by striking a balance between power and elegance.

TweetDeck has created a video highlighting its best features, although here is my take on the app thus far. read more

Of the 3 dozen plus Twitter apps available, very few of them support push notification. Even the “big 3” (Tweetie 2, Twittelator Pro and Twitterrific Premium) still lack push support, despite the fact that smaller rivals like SimplyTweet have already enabled them for their users.

While there are many apps out there with push notification, Echofon (formally known as Twitterfon) is the first that I have seen that uses what I call “smart push technology,” a feature that I wish every iPhone app had. read more

After (almost) embracing the hype of Tweetie, I realized what was missing from my twitter experience was push notification. While TwitBird (formally known as iTwitter) was able to do this “half baked” for its users, what I needed was an app that did it regardless of whose service my friends were using.

Long story short I discovered an app called SimplyTweet (by Motion Obj), whose $5 price almost made me weary of spending even more cash within Steve Jobs playground.

Fortunately I decided to take the plunge—hence this review. :-) read more

VentureBeat runs a story on author Scott Rosenberg who says that Twitter has set blogging free. Or, more precisely:

“Blogging has always had this word ‘trivial’ hung from its neck,” Rosenberg said. “Twitter has finally liberated blogging from that, from all these charges from the media, all these dismissive putdowns of trivialities.”

It’s an interesting thought, the notion that the blog bashers have moved to Twitter. What do you think, is Twitter helping traditional blogging in this way?

With the announcement of the new Pico microblogging theme Six Apart now also stepped in to the microblogging game and wants its part of the pie. They also announced new features to simplify microblogging on the TypePad platform:

• “Post from anywhere” capabilities with email, iPhone, and TypePad bookmarklet
• New simple, professionally-designed, stylish themes
• “Post once, publish everywhere” with built-in support for Facebook, Twitter, and Friendfeed
• Control of your own advertising, your domain, and your personal brand
• All backed with support and training from TypePad One

These features might be new for Typepad users, I personally fail to see where they are new. Other than having ‘built-in plugins’ for the technically challenged people. Everything else, and much more, can be obtained freely via Tumblr and/or WordPress. For the minimum $4.95/month TypePad charges, I can host my blog on my own domain and have much more freedom.

@ev announced today on the Twitter blog that the microblogging company works at implementing an Phase 1 of the official Retweet project. Although details haven’t been finalized yet, Evan Williams showed a sketch of the possible future integration, all while admitting that the users and the Twitter community basically decide what Twitter becomes.

Retweeting is a great example of Twitter teaching us what it wants to be. The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact and the more efficient dissemination of information across the entire Twitter ecosystem is something we very much want to support. That’s why we’re planning to formalize retweeting by officially adding it to our platform and Twitter.com. read more

SiteProNews has announced the launch of its SPNbabble micro-blogging site which allows users to post their short messages to a number of other services including Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, Plurk and Tumblr.

Cross-platform posters aren’t a new thing, though SPNbabble does offer up a toolbar (compatible with IE, Firefox and Safari) which may well be useful for those who like to post from within their web browser. read more

If you’re looking to set up a new blog or revamp an old one, you’re probably looking at the standard platforms, WordPress, Blogger, MovableType, etc.

However, depending on the type of site you wish to set up, you may want to give Tumblr a second look. Though Tumblr isn’t right for every blog, for certain kinds of sites, it can be a very powerful time-saver and traffic-builder.

So even though it is easy to discard Tumblr as “just a microblogging service”, it’s important to not dismiss it so quickly. Underneath the veneer of microblogging service lies a powerful blogging platform that is more than adequate for some of the many popular blogs, including Keyboard Cat and Gary: Landlord of the Flies.

But is it right for your blog? That’s a question only you can answer but here might be some good signs to consider. read more

Not too long ago, Twitter mentioned that they were becoming uncomfortable with third parties using their trade marked names (like Tweet and of course Tweetie) within the name of their software.

While they were not implying that they were going to immediately unleash the legal hounds (aka lawyers) against those violating their trademark, they may want to require apps to post a disclaimer–especially when they use their official name. read more

If you are an RSS addict like I am, you probably stumbled across the news that iTwitter, an iPhone App created by @iConnect, had launched on the App Store.

Uttering those four magical words (push notification for twitter) many users downloaded the app before they had a chance to bump the price from free to $3.99 USD.

While the iTwitter app is impressive overall, its push notification feature may help underscore the need for the Twitter team to establish themselves as a gateway to Apple’s servers instead of the various Tweet clients out there. read more