Twitter for Android Gets Design Overhaul to Bring User Interface and Experience Closer to Desktop

Twitter for Android has gotten yet another update. This one’s another overhaul in both design and functionality. Four tabs bring all that Twitter has to offer – Home, Connect, Discover and Me. Home is just your streaming timeline of incoming tweets.

Connect is where you can find not only your mentions, but notifications about new followers, retweets and direct messages. Discover is where you find the ever-so-popular trending topics, the search function and a place to get suggestions for new accounts to follow.
Finally, the Me tab is pretty much your profile. Update your photo, your information, see who you’re following and who’s following you, manage lists, privacy and more are all possible under this tab.
It really simplifies the mobile experience and it’s about as aesthetically pleasing as the Twitter application has ever been. You can find the update in the Android market (the web Market is not showing the update yet but it’s there).

Read more »

Twitter acquires Android security firm Whisper Systems

Here’s an odd bit of M&A news. Wired reports that Twitter’s latest acquisition is a tiny Middle Eastern company whose sole focus is enterprise-grade security for Android phones. Whisper Systems, made up of notable computer security guru Moxie Marlinspike and CTO Stuart Anderson, gained the public’s interest when it developed a secure, encrypted calling service called RedPhone in the wake of the revolution in Egypt.

“As part of our fast-growing engineering team, [Marlinspike and Anderson] will be bringing their technology and security expertise to Twitter’s products and services,” Twitter wrote in an announcement on its corporate blog. “We’re happy to have Moxie Marlinspike and Stuart Anderson onboard.” The duo will gradually shut down their satellite projects, but RedPhone will be shuttered immediately – an unfortunate circumstance, as many Middle Eastern countries are still in the throes of citizen revolt. Whisper System notes that RedPhone will live on in “some form”, perhaps precipitating an open-source release.
But what could Twitter want with Whisper? Well, the primary Twitter service itself isn’t that secure. It’s possible that the company just wants to beef up its own security after years of high-profile hacks and celebrity identity theft. Plus, Twitter’s already investing in the Android ecosystem. Twitter has purchased TweetDeck, makers of popular Twitter clients across all platforms, including and Android app that technically competes with the official version of Twitter. We’ll me watching misters Marlinspike and Anderson with interest.

Read more »

Google’s Android team joins the rest of us on Twitter

If you’re reading this and you’re even a casual user of Twitter, you probably want to hit this link up right away. Google’s Android development team has just created its own Twitter account, @Android. Just an hour after their first message, they’ve already over 4,000 followers – and it’s growing fast.

Google’s most impressive feat of the day might have been securing that short and sweet Twitter handle – try signing up for a new account today and getting a snappy username. Twitter has been known to work with celebrities and companies for marketing purposes, and since Google’s as big as it gets in the tech world, we’re sure they came to some kind of amicable arrangement. The @Android avatar is currently the official Ice Cream Sandwich statue chilling out on the Google Campus.
The account only has two tweets at the moment, but you can bet they’ll be highlighting the latest and greatest in the Android world soon enough. For a more in-depth look at the inner workings of the Android dev team, be sure to check out the official Android Developers Blog. Oh, and while you’re at it, add Android Community as well – our Twitter handle is almost as good as the official one: @Androids.

Read more »

Facebook fighting Twitter, Google with acquisitions

Facebook is expecting to acquire a total of 20 new companies in 2011 in an effort to better compete with Twitter and Google, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The social network purchased 10 new companies last year and just one in 2009, but has already acquired 13 various firms this year. Most recently, Facebook purchased the group-messaging service Beluga, which was created by several former Google employees, and re-released it as the “Facebook Messenger” product for the iPhone and Android smartphones. In an interview with Bloomberg, Facebook’s director of corporate development Vaughan Smith explained the strategy behind Facebook’s acquisitions. “Two years ago we didn’t have a track record in acquisitions,” Smith said. “While we expected them to work well, it was still a crapshoot how they’d turn out. We’ve built a culture that supports entrepreneurs, and it’s working incredibly well.” Facebook other big purchases this year include Snaptu, design firm Sofa and Push Pop Press.
Read

Read more »