Of all the Twitter clients I’ve tried Tweetbot is at the top of a very long list of Twitter clients. Tweetbot ranks among the top of all Twitter clients because it easy to use while still being robust enough to handle the most demanding of Twitter users. Among the more useful features are sliding a tweet right to view replies and sliding left for more detailed view of the tweet (scroll up for replies, if any exist). Most timelines include the ability to search the downloaded tweets (use search on the left navigation bar for a more powerful search).

What Tweetbot doesn’t do for you is make you fit into how the developer envisioned the application being used as the only way it can be used. Tweetbot offers quite a few options to help customize it to suit you. You can change the font size (tiny to huge), display name ( full name, user name or both), date format, navigation (hiding or displaying favorites, search, profile, lists, re-tweets and mute filters), streaming, quote format and much more.

Beyond the left and right sliding of tweets Tweetbot makes use of another gesture: triple tap. Triple tapping can cause one of the following user configurable actions: reply, re-tweet, favorite, translate, or view in Favstar. Translation occurs in the app in the form of a dialog box. In the few tweets I tried translating, it translated quick enough to be useful. Presumably translation translates tweets to the default language of the iPad, as this is one of the few features without any user customization. Given that the developer’s domain has DNS entries for Google Apps, translation is likely handled by Google. Having never heard of Favstar I found it to be an odd choice for the triple tap gesture however, users of the site might like it. Favstar allows users to get more detailed information about tweets; think analytics for tweets.

One feature I especially liked is the ability to import and export Twitter accounts into Twitter’s iOS application. This meant I didn’t have to re-type all my Twitter account information to start using Tweetbot. People with multiple Twitter accounts will particularly like the easy transition.

Tip: Leave your Twitter account setup in iOS and uninstall the Twitter app to retain Twitter integration in other applications yet save the space; this will also stop double data and Twitter polls from both Twitter applications.

Alerts in Tweetbot work as they should except for one simple oversight. Tweetbot doesn’t have the ability to run in the background and poll for new tweets in your Twitter stream. Tweetbot alerts for mentions and direct messages any time but the lack of background updating for Twitter stream as a whole feels like an oversight; for users that want or need such a feature. Tweetbot does allow for “streaming” of your Twitter stream but only when open and the active application.

Plume, my personal favorite Twitter app, has been updated today to version 3.0. Along with the increase in version number, the app now includes some nice new visuals that fall in line with Android 4.0 and new navigation methods. You can now easily swipe left and right from column to column, and navigation in the app is easier thanks to the inclusion of the new action bar up top.

Brand new user interface to be more inline with ICS, TMI.me long tweet handler in addition to Twitlonger, MyPict.me picture upload, resize uploaded pictures depending on the network type in use (hence the new permission), bugfixes

I’ve been using this version since it was in beta, and have been extremely impressed with it. This release takes all the things you love about Plume, but mixes in soem ICS flavor making it look better and easier to use. Get it in the Google play store now!

Also, all current versions of Tweakdeck will continue to function, but there won’t be any updates until this gets resolved one way or another.

From Paul:

“Unfortunately, this evening I received an e-mail from the ‘Global Brand Protection Manager’ at Twitter, stating that…

It appears that your app TweakDeck is causing confusion because of your unapproved use of the Twitter bird and your description as “TweetDeck Based“.”

“With this in mind I have unpublished TweakDeck from the Android Market while, through my new found Twitter contact, I try and obtain permission to re-offer TweakDeck with an icon and name which doesn’t risk trademark infringement. I have asked the contact to put me in touch with the TweetDeck Android team and i’ll keep you posted on when / if I receive a response.”

Via [Modaco]

Today Twitter released a big update for their Android app and the iOS app (not so much the iPad though). The updates provide a new UI for both apps that are very similar in nature. They have changed Mentions to being called Connect now, combining an Interactions tab along with your Mentions.

Also included now is a Discover tab/hub, that allows you to to search hashtags or keywords, see what is trending, and also view your suggested friends. It is really nice that both Twitter and Facebook are trying to get on the same page with their apps on both platforms. Go ahead and update your apps or download them to try out the new updates, and tell us what you think?

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This week Nic and Liz dive into a ton of stuff. They finish it off with a long discussion about something or other…you’ll see! Show notes after the break.

Nintendo posts first quarterly operating loss; 3DS now just $169.99

Internet as hard to give up as cigarettes, liquor, study says

Remote unlock and start for cars hacked

China shuts down two fake Apple Stores

Spotify sued by PacketVideo for patent infringement

“Linking is not a crime”: Czech Pirate Party declares war on Big Content

Rogue academic downloader busted by MIT webcam stakeout

Google wants e-mail in Android suit redacted

Facebook to pay hackers for bugs

Petition to revive Oscar the Grouch trash-can utility in OS X Lion

AT&T to throttle smartphone data starting October 1st

Hulu sued for patent infringement

Italian cyber-crime police hacked in AntiSec attack

http://m.lifehacker.com/5825746/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-internet-snooping-bill-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

FBI working from list of top 1,000 protestors in Anonymous raids

Police arrest 19-year old LulzSec hacker ‘Topiary’

Ultimate hack: LulzSec may have duped British authorities into  arresting innocent man

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Show Notes After the break…

http://blogs.ajc.com/news-to-me/2011/07/13/woman-uses-captured-burglar-as-sex-slave/?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59004.html

Secret Service Investigating ‘People Staring At Computers’
Apple Store Sets Secret Service on Spy Camera Artist
Kyle McDonald’s tweet https://twitter.com/#!/kcimc/status/88956546972778496

Social Media Background Check

iPhone/iPad/and iPad 2 (first time) Jailbreak Uses zero-day exploit

Microsoft: No botnet is indestructible

Murdoch hacking phones and what not

http://mashable.com/2011/07/18/news-of-the-world-whistleblower-dead/

Spoitfy

Google+ is the search giant’s take on social networking. Yea, the same guys that made Buzz. So why the hell would you care about Google+? Well, it is actually pretty friggin awesome! Google has managed to take many existing ideas and merge them into a single site that is not just easy to use, but it’s a lot of fun as well. They have improved on many things that both Facebook and Twitter lack while at the same time tossing in some new features to lure users over. I have been using Goole+ for just over a week now and wanted to share my Guru Breakdown with you.

Circles

 

Hangouts is basically a video chat room that supports up to 10 people. The great thing about it is no software is needed, no drivers need to be installed, and it is free. When you want to start a Hangout you simply click the Hangout button and choose which circles you want to “hangout” with. A bunch of us from Gadget Gurus Network and some of our listeners were all hanging out and it could not have been easier and was a ton of fun. When a person is talking, their video “pops” up in the middle of screen. You can also text chat with in a Hangout (think Ustream) and even watch YouTube videos together (think Xbox live parties).

Sparks

 

Sparks are user defined topics of interest that Google combs the Internet for and delivers right to you. Say you define “Apple” as a Spark, Google will gather relevant news covering Apple and you can easily see, share and comment on it right from Google+ without ever having to leave the interface. What nice is it doesn’t just do a search for the keyword, it actually looks for news topics and articles that are relevant.

Photos

 

Photos are probably the most underrated feature of Goolge+. Like Facebook you can upload, tag, and share your photos with unlimited storage. There are a few key differences that make photos in Google+ super powerful compared to other services. The first is Circles, allowing you to only share certain photos or certain albums with certain people. All those pictures of you getting blitz drunk and passing out on the “take one for the team” chick, you can just share with your buddies and keep your boss out of it. The second is that all of your pictures can be pulled out of Google and back to your hard drive. With Facebook, once you upload those pictures, the effectively belong to them and you can’t get them back. The third major photo sharing feature is the ability to share with people that aren’t on Google + or any social network. Google+ will simply send them and email with a link to your photo or album you wish to share.

VS Twitter

With Twitter everything you share is public unless you make your account private. You can create lists very much like Goolge+ circles but you can’t limit what you say to just those lists. In my time using Google+ it seems to generate more conversation on a given post since you can comment like in Facebook. Sometimes these comments get WAY off topic and sometimes they are really good conversations. The big advantage I see over Twitter is the ability to easily see a conversation as opposed to hunting down mention after mention in “conversation view”. Google+ can also be much more personal given that you can share an album of photos, give much more detailed info about yourself, and actually see people with Hangouts.

VS Facebook

Ah the social network giant. Does it have anything to fear from Goolge’s lowly social service? Short answer? Not now or anytime soon. Google+ has some major improvements to Facebook as far as selective sharing and some privacy details, but at the end of the day your Mom and Dad aren’t going to want to learn the complexities of Google+ yet or at all. Google+ definitely has a leg up in the photo sharing department and in my opinion is better at connecting people, but these are all things Facebook could implement in an update. In fact they are releasing a new photo sharing system (project Spartan) this week. While I enjoy using Google+ much more than Faceebook, I would like to see some of my more personal friends and family hope on board, maybe once Google makes it 100% public it will have enough steam behind it to get “regular” people over to give it a try.

Overall I am really liking Google+ and the mobile app for Android is really nice. iOS guys don’t feel left out, an iOS version has been submitted to Apple for approval and should be out soon. There is also an HTML web app that gets the job done if you aren’t on Android or iOS. The desktop version is hands down one of the best looking and clean UIs out there. For all of it’s feature I never feel Google+ is cluttered or confusing to look at. So once you get your invite, head on over and add The Gadget Guru to your circle, we don’t bite (well Nic does).

Mobile Mike +
Vic Webb +
Nic Ball +

When Apple announced their “One More Thing” this year at WWDC, Twitter Integration, my first thought was “Why not Facebook”. While Twitter has blown up exponentially over the last five years to it’s current 200 million users, it is still over shadowed by the 500 million Facebook users. Users spend over 30 hours a month on Facebook while only two hours a month on Twitter. So why did Apple choose to integrate Twitter so tightly into iOS 5 and not include Facebook?

For starters, Apple and Facebook have gotten off to a rocky start with Ping. Apple introduced Ping with Facebook integration, but it has since been pulled. Apple was accessing an API that is free to use, but not for a large volume of requests. Facebook then blocked access from Ping and the integration has not made a return. Is Apple not willing to shell out the licensing fees for Ping and iOS or have they just not settled on an agreement with Facebook yet? Steve Jobs is known for holding a grudge and blocking Ping from Facebook is a good way to piss him off. Apple and Facebook’s rocky relationship could be one reason why the social network was left out of iOS 5.

Another possible reason as to why Apple chose to integrate Twitter into iOS 5 might be less political and more to do with use cases. Twitter users access the service more from mobile devices than Facebook users. Apple is obviously focused on mobile and iOS right now, Steve Jobs even demoted the Mac as “just another device” at WWDC this year. Twitter users have embraced mobile use more so than any other social network and Apple may have recognized this and decided to integrate it into iOS 5.

Whether the reasons are political or technical, one thing is for sure, Apple and Facebook are looking less like partners and more like enemies.

This week Nic and Liz discuss all things hacking, E3 and a good chunck of legal news. Plus we talk about Liz’s new contest called Money Mouth!!

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hellolizzy@facebook.com

Show Notes After the break… 

Yesterday was a big day for iOS users with the announcement of iOS 5. Apple addressed the single largest complaint from users and updated how iOS handles notifications. Instead of annoying modal pop ups that interrupt what you are doing, users will see a small indicator at the top (think webOS but at the top) that no longer stop you from what you are doing. Clicking the notification brings you to the app or you can swipe down on the screen to view a list of all system notifications. Apple also tossed in a stock ticker and weather widget within the notification window.

Along with notifications, iOS 5 will implement “PC Free” startups that no longer require you to use a computer to get your iOS device up and running. The back up and restore process has also gotten the PC Free treatment. Using iCloud, your iOS 5 device will have daily backups sent right to the cloud and restoring from those backups are all done OTA with no need for a computer.

Apple also introduced a new messaging service called iMessage. iMessage is a push messaging service very much like Blackberry Messenger that uses data in order to send instant messages directly between iOS users. You can send images, videos, your locations and contact information all within the standard messaging app. The service is fully functional with read receipts and the ability to see when someone is typing to you. Goodbye BBM, it was fun while it lasted.

The other major change in iOS 5 is Twitter integration. Much like Android’s “share” function, iOS will allow you to update Twitter directly from within applications. Only Safari, Maps, Camera and YouTube look to be supported, but I am sure more apps are to come. Hopefully this is one of the APIs Apple released so that third parties can build this into their own apps.

Along with the above enhancements to iOS, Apple also made tweaks to the camera, allowing you to use the volume up button to take a picture (ala Camera+), added tasks like reminders, Newsstand for magazines, WiFi syncing, and multi-touch gestures for the iPad. Head on over to Apple’s iOS 5 page to watch the videos and see all the info.