Lately, there have been rumblings that much-beloved Twitter might start to turn a little evil and begin to compete with the huge economy of third-party apps that has sprung up around the service.
Well, it looks like those rumors are at least partly true, as today Twitter announced an official Blackberry client. Here's a list of the app's features:
- Real-time BlackBerry push of Twitter direct messages
- Camera and photo gallery integration
- Browser integration for Tweeting links
- Customizable interface for changing fonts, hiding tool bars, etc.
- Inbox integration so you can read your Twitter direct messages along side your email and text messages
- @integration so that if you receive an email or text message which includes an @username, it is linked to the Twitter app profile page
- Twitter lists integration
- Notification of @mentions
- Search for users, content, and trending topics
- Localized for French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Brazilian Portuguese
Sounds pretty impressive and robust.
But just through sheer name-recognition alone, it seems likely that most people will ditch third-party apps like TwitterBerry in favor of this one, especially if they are just casual users unfamiliar with the differences between apps.
One wonders if it's just a matter of time until Twitter releases a desktop client or official iPhone app - and sends Tweetdeck, Tweetie and others to early graves. It'd be much preferable if Twitter remain everyone's favorite 'startup' and let all those third-party developers continue to thrive.
SAI
About the Author
Navneet Alang is a Toronto-based technology and culture writer whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic and The Globe and Mail. Between 2010 and 2011 he wrote technology commentary for TECHi on Apple, cloud video and the future of the desktop computer.
Comments