Birdfeed [$2.99 - iTunes link], one of the best looking, slickest working iPhone Twitter clients we’ve looked at, has just been updated to version 1.2 and is jam-packed with new, well-handled features:
Geographic locations can now be attached to posted tweets using Twitter’s new Geo API, and a tweet’s location, if present, will now be displayed as a place name (e.g. “Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, New York”) in the tweet detail view. Tweet locations can also be examined in a new map view.
Flickr accounts can now be used as photo sharing services for
New photo posting sheet allows larger versions of photos to be examined before they are posted, and for metadata (such as title, description, and tags) to be entered.
Settings for location posting, photo sharing, and URL shortening are now located inside the app, and can be specified on a per-account basis. Additionally, the local tweet cache can be cleared for each account from its settings screen.
The Direct Messages Inbox now has a toolbar with refresh and mark all read buttons.
Mentions can now be marked as read simply by tapping into their detail view from the main timeline.
Favstar.fm and Tweeteorites have been added to the profile services menu.
How’s 1.2 holding up so far? Birdfeed implements the Geo API flawlessly, though it takes a while for the location to manifest (I got near Quebec the first time I tapped it, then a nearby cross-street when I tapped it again — which is kind of creepy in a cyber-stalked sort of way).
If you’ve given it a try, let us know what you think.
Gameloft — and other developers according to Gameloft — are cutting back on development for Google’s Android platform due to the “weakness” of the Android Market. According to Reuters, Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said:
We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like … many others. [The Android Market] is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue.”
Ouch. Harsh words. Meanwhile, with iPhone generating 13% of Gameloft’s revenue (400 times more than Android), we’ll no doubt see plenty more on the iTunes App Store.
While we’ve heard developers and pundits talk about the business advantage of the iPhone before, and while Android’s numbers may be rising and soon, in the short term the bigger houses like Gameloft might just stick with where the money is.
Mplayit [Facebook link] is a new online service that aims to let your Facebook friends share iPhone app recommendations with you — and then take it one step further and actually let you see videos, demos, and other information before you decide to buy it via the iTunes App Store.
Now anything with iPhone and Facebook in the title is no doubt attention-grabbing, but as the App Store zooms past 100,000, discoverability is going to need fixing, if not from Apple than from a ton of independent thinkers just so something (anything) can shake out. Is Mplayit it?
Mplayit introduces “playable discovery” for the iPhone today in its new Facebook app store and said it would add Android and Blackberry in the coming months. Rather than hunting and pecking for reviews and top lists, the Facebook page shows real “apptivity” that is going on in app stores so users can see which apps are receiving the most downloads, reviews, plays. In coming weeks, mobile users will also be able to see the “apptivity” within their social network so they can clearly see which apps their friends and family are most interested in.
Our guess is it will depend on how many popular apps they can really show off in a way that’s compelling for users. If you check it out, let us know what you think.
(And really, anything that keeps Facebookers busy, and not hitting “invite all” to spam online friends with random events on other continents — is huge.)
TomTom has released a rather significant update to their $99 iPhone Turn-by-Turn GPS application [iTunes Link]. It seems as if they had second thoughts about omitting first generation iPhone 2G (and iPod touches) support in the TomTom car kit. It was only last month that TomTom officially stated the kit would not enable GPS with the original iPhone or iPod touch. My how quickly things change, perhaps the release of the free Google Navigation application had something to do with it…
If anyone still rocking the first generation iPhone or a new iPod touch and try TomTom out, let us know how it goes!
After a long time in limbo, fan favorite desktop Instant Messenger (IM) client Trillian [$4.99 - iTunes link] has finally (finally!) arrived for iPhone and iPod touch.
Features include AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk, tabbed chat windows, clean contact lists, killer connection management, instant cross-device sync (via Astra server), simultaneous sign-in, and “intelligent” push notification.
Confession: I’ve been podcasting, now I’m editing, so I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but if you’re giving it a go, please let us know your favorite features, pros and cons, and just in general — what you think!
Instapaper and Tumblr developer Marco Arment riffs on the NYT’s article on Palm webOS’ trouble wooing developers, and it’s predictably good stuff.
His major point is that with its huge install base (which topped 50 million iPhones and iPod touches months ago), it makes more financial sense to develop for Apple’s platform, rather than Google’s Android or Palm’s webOS which might have on 5% to 10% as many devices on the market.
Giving developers an app store is the easy part. The hard part is bringing us enough customers. The iPhone is so good that it built up a huge installed base without any third-party apps, but no Android or webOS devices can say that yet.
Arment points out that the iPod touch makes a huge difference as well, giving developers a similar device to work on without the need for an expensive cell phone contract. He also echoes Fake Steve’s comments on different hardware complicating development, though he thinks if Android popularity continues to grow, the platform might justify the investment one day.
Saw these last night while watching the show that used to be House MD, new Apple iPhone “App for That” commercials focusing on Gift and Song. Of course, the tag line has been bumped from 75,000 to 100,000, and they continue with “apps for just about anything”, which is likely legal cover in case “app for that” confused someone into suing over that still-missing Apple Glass Trackpad app…
Again, Apple is sticking to apps to sell iPhones, and showing off some great variety, and killer good looks while doing so. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, or time for Apple advertising to switch it up?
For those of us looking for that pinnacle action RPG for the iPhone, Ravensword: The Fallen King [$6.99 - iTunes]has been released. This game looks absolutely fantastic! I have only played this game for a few minutes (enough to leave the inn and wander the town. I will have a more thorough update later) but the controls are great and there are lots of options to tweak the performance based on your hardware.
The character and environment detail is some of the best I have seen on the iPhone. The game is similar to other games such as Oblivion in this genre. There are NPCs to interact with and several weapons and items to use. There has not been a game quite like this so far on the iPhone, so it will be exciting to see its reception in the App Store. I for one, know what I will be playing this weekend!
Call of Duty is a huge franchise, and what better way to expand that franchise then to unleash it, World of War style, on the iPhone and iPod touch — and add Zombies. Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies [$9.99 - iTunes link] contains only one map right now, “Nacht der Untoten” (Night of the undead) but allows 4 player multiplay via WiFi and over the internet, or 2 over Bluetooth. There are three control schemes, achievements, leader-boards, and the promise of in-app purchases (map expansions?) later.
So, Call of Duty fans and Zombie fanatics, how’re you liking your first iPhone experience?
