Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com Download Squad http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/%SiteURL%/media/feedlogo.gif Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Greasemonkey script fixes Twitter's new retweets]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/24/greasemonkey-script-fixes-twitters-new-retweets/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/24/greasemonkey-script-fixes-twitters-new-retweets/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/24/greasemonkey-script-fixes-twitters-new-retweets/#commentsFiled under: ,

Are you one of the many, many people who seem to be up in arms about Twitter's implementation of retweets? A neat little Greasemonkey script called Retweet Avatars might go a long way toward making you feel better about the new system. Instead of showing the original poster's icon, it shows your retweeting friend's icon, with a much smaller inset for the original tweeter.

This two-icon system is similar to the way some third-party clients plan to support retweets, and I think it's a good compromise. You still have "strangers in your stream," but their icons aren't displayed as prominently as those of the people you actually follow. Maybe Twitter should go ahead and use this system by default. Until they do, though, the script works for Greasemonkey in Firefox, although I couldn't get it working in Greasekit for Safari.

As a side-note: if you prefer to switch the icons, so the original poster's is larger, you can do that by making a 1-character change to the script. Instructions are on the userscripts.org page.

Greasemonkey script fixes Twitter's new retweets originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>avatarsretweetRTscripttwitterTue, 24 Nov 2009 09:35:00 EST<![CDATA[Seesmic Mobile arrives for Android and Blackberry]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/seesmic-mobile-arrives-for-android-and-blackberry/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/seesmic-mobile-arrives-for-android-and-blackberry/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/seesmic-mobile-arrives-for-android-and-blackberry/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Seesmic have released their 'Seesmic Mobile' Twitter client for Android and Blackberry on their respective application stores. Available for download free of charge, the clients are slick, feature packed and refreshingly free of advertisements.

The Android client (pictured above) has a great design that utilises a standard tab-based user interface with a red accent, providing virtually every feature (bar multiple account support) that a Twitterer could desire. Included are the ability to scroll without limits back through your timeline, photo and video upload (either from your device camera or from the gallery) via a variety of online services, the ability to add your location to your tweet, URL shortening, saving tweets-in-progress as drafts, switchable full name / username display and very granular notifications.

The Blackberry application also features a native-feeling UI and adds lists and saved search support, albeit at the expense of video and location features.

If you give Seesmic Mobile a try, let us know how you get on and - of course - don't forget to follow @downloadsquad!

Seesmic Mobile arrives for Android and Blackberry originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>androidblackberryfreewaremicrobloggingmobilerimseesmicseesmic mobileSeesmicMobilesocialtwitterMon, 23 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Listerine is a fresh and clean Twitter list organizer]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/listerine-is-a-fresh-and-clean-twitter-list-organizer/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/listerine-is-a-fresh-and-clean-twitter-list-organizer/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/listerine-is-a-fresh-and-clean-twitter-list-organizer/#commentsFiled under: , ,

With everyone going gaga over Twitter lists, it was only a matter of time before someone built a third-party service for creating and managing lists. Enter Listerine. Instead of making you go through pages upon pages of people you follow, this handy web app shows all your Twitter friends in a drag-and-drop interface.

The friends display shows mutual friends with a heart icon, and people who don't follow you back with a star. There's a search field, in case you follow so many people that even this compact grid layout is too difficult to navigate. To add a friend to a list, just grab their icon and drag it. Perhaps Listerine's coolest feature is the ability to direct-message everyone on a list. This works great if you want to invite your local list to an event, or DM your team at work.

[via Lifehacker]

Listerine is a fresh and clean Twitter list organizer originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>listerinelistsorganizertwitterWed, 18 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Seesmic launches native Windows Twitter client]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/seesmic-launches-native-windows-twitter-client/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/seesmic-launches-native-windows-twitter-client/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/seesmic-launches-native-windows-twitter-client/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Seesmic sure picked a weird time to announce a new Windows-native Twitter client. It's one of the most popular clients running on Adobe's cross-platform AIR platform, which just hit version 2.0. AIR was everyone's biggest complaint about Seesmic, so it makes sense that they'd want to ditch AIR on at least one OS. Creating a native app also allows for drag-and-drop Twitter list management and plug-ins for various third-party Twitter services.

Plugins so far include the user recommendation service MrTweet and the index of popular links, Tweetmeme. Other Twitter-like services will also be able to integrate with Seesmic through the new service. This doesn't necessarily mean the end of development for the AIR version of Seesmic, unless they come out with a native Mac client too. The Mac Twitter space already has a lot of great apps, though, so I'm not sure that'll happen.

To get beta access to the new Windows client, you'll have to sign up for Team Seesmic.

Seesmic launches native Windows Twitter client originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>clientseesmictwitterwindowsTue, 17 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitter apps now have people search, thanks to a new API]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/twitter-apps-now-have-people-search-thanks-to-a-new-api/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/twitter-apps-now-have-people-search-thanks-to-a-new-api/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/twitter-apps-now-have-people-search-thanks-to-a-new-api/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Third-party Twitter apps have access to nearly all of Twitter's functions. Even the new lists feature and the new retweet format can be supported by any ambitious developer. It's sort of strange then, that Twitter's people search is just now getting an API.

Now that this missing API is finally here, the ability to search for users should be popping up in your favorite Twitter program very soon. "Find people" on Twitter's site works by search both name and username, which is something apps couldn't achieve with the (admittedly very handy) "go to user " function.

If you're a curious developer, go check out the official announcement on Twitter's API announcements list.

Twitter apps now have people search, thanks to a new API originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>APIpeople searchPeopleSearchsearchtwitterTue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitter's new retweets stumble, but they're still coming (and it's good)]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/twitters-new-retweets-stumble-but-theyre-still-coming-and-it/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/twitters-new-retweets-stumble-but-theyre-still-coming-and-it/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/twitters-new-retweets-stumble-but-theyre-still-coming-and-it/#commentsFiled under: ,

There's been a flurry of news and views surrounding Twitter's retweet feature as it rolls out to more users this week. To sum up, limited introduction of the new feature was announced, then it was halted to fix some bugs, and now it's back on again. No big deal, but the user reaction to the new retweets has been so enormous and so polarized that Twitter founder Ev Williams saw fit to write a rare blog post on the subject.

The feature received heavy criticism from some users (including confused celebrities) who didn't understand that retweets will start appearing in your stream with the icon of the original poster. The words of someone you don't follow have always been able to end up in your stream as retweets, but now you'll see an icon, too. Don't freak out. If you see someone you don't like, you can go to that user's settings and block retweets from him or her. That's right: you have control over your retweet settings for individual users.

Ev's response in support of retweets includes two very strong points. Number one: formalizing retweets and showing the original poster's icon clears up any confusion about who wrote what you're reading. It also means you only see the message once, even if 17 of your friends retweet it, which makes for a tidier Twitter stream. Number two: the new system makes retweets trackable. You'll be able to click on tabs to see retweets by others, retweets by you and your tweets, retweeted. This wouldn't have been possible without formally coding the retweet process into Twitter.

This isn't a web-only feature: app developers already either support it or are working to make sure they support it soon. Some of them even have more elegant presentations of retweets than the web interface. In the meantime, chill out when you see a strange face in your stream. This is the new way of things on Twitter, and it's actually pretty cool.

Twitter's new retweets stumble, but they're still coming (and it's good) originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>evan williamsEvanWilliamsretweettwitterThu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Tweetdeck back in the iPhone app store with new features, fewer bugs]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/11/tweetdeck-back-in-the-iphone-app-store-with-new-features-fewer/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/11/tweetdeck-back-in-the-iphone-app-store-with-new-features-fewer/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/11/tweetdeck-back-in-the-iphone-app-store-with-new-features-fewer/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Twitter fanatics were disappointed when the hotly-anticipated update to Tweetdeck's iPhone app was pulled from the app store due to bugs, but it's available again today. The upgrade is a big one, including some of the most important features of the Tweetdeck desktop version. The biggest deal might be Facebook integration, a feature that keeps Tweetdeck competitive with its main desktop rival, Seesmic (which has Facebook support, but has yet to launch an iPhone app).

In addition, Tweetdeck for iPhone now has video uploading via 12Seconds.tv, taking advantage of the video capabilities of the iPhone 3GS. It also uses the device's GPS for a "nearby" feature that lets you read tweets from folks in your vicinity. Although I take every opportunity to bash Twitter's trending topics, fans of that aspect of the service will now find it in Tweetdeck. One feature I won't bash, though, is the address picker, which lets you choose a contact from list so your @replies are without typos.

Combine all those features with details like a landscape keyboard mode and the ability to save drafts, and you've got a pretty solid version 1.1. If you've been using and enjoying Tweetdeck, this update should be some sweet icing on the cake.

Tweetdeck back in the iPhone app store with new features, fewer bugs originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>12secondsfacebookiphonetweetdecktwitterWed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitter plans to cut the noise out of trending topics ... but how?]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/twitter-plans-to-cut-the-noise-out-of-trending-topics-but-ho/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/twitter-plans-to-cut-the-noise-out-of-trending-topics-but-ho/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/twitter-plans-to-cut-the-noise-out-of-trending-topics-but-ho/#commentsFiled under: ,

Have you ever actually clicked on any of Twitter's trending topics? I don't want to sound like the old guy telling whippersnappers to get off his lawn, but trying to read almost any Twitter trend gives me a headache. There's so much spam with popular hashtags attached that even people who care about the trends aren't getting a great user experience. Twitter realizes this, and they're going to do something to cut down the noise.

The precise something that Twitter intends to do isn't really clear. Biz Stone's blog post is full of ambiguous language: "We're working to show higher quality results for trend queries by returning tweets that are more useful." It's not clear whether this means manually filtering trends in some way, or whether Twitter is introducing an algorithm to weight tweets by relevance. I think the average Twitter user is less concerned with the technical details, and more concerned with how effective this experiment will be at reducing junk tweets.

[via TechCrunch]

Twitter plans to cut the noise out of trending topics ... but how? originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>spamtrending topicsTrendingTopicstrendstwitterFri, 06 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitter officially adds Spanish-language support]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/04/twitter-officially-adds-spanish-language-support/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/04/twitter-officially-adds-spanish-language-support/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/04/twitter-officially-adds-spanish-language-support/#commentsFiled under: ,

To butcher a quote from Spider-Man: with global power comes global responsibility. Now that Twitter has caught on around the world, it has to start supporting its many, many users who speak languages other than English. Spanish is the latest language to get official support from Twitter, announced in a blog post by Biz Stone. Appropriately, Biz wrote his announcement in Spanish.

In case you didn't study español in high school, here's the gist (Thanks, Google Translator! Thanks, high school Spanish teachers!):

Earlier this month, Twitter invited volunteers to translate the site into more languages. Biz thanks the volunteers who worked on the Spanish translation and explains that you can now change your language in Twitter's settings panel, or on the Twitter.com front page in the bottom right corner. He goes on to recommend some Spanish-speaking users to follow, including celebrities like NBA star Manu Ginobili.


Spanish is Twitter's third language, after English and Japanese.

Twitter officially adds Spanish-language support originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>languagespanishtwitterWed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[More Twitter List goodies: official list widgets!]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/more-twitter-list-goodies-official-list-widgets/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/more-twitter-list-goodies-official-list-widgets/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/more-twitter-list-goodies-official-list-widgets/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Now that the new Lists feature has rolled out to everyone and become a big part of Twitter, the microblogging service has taken the logical next step and launched list widgets. That means you can embed a live version of your favorite Twitter list anywhere on the web. It doesn't even have to be your list, actually: if someone else has a favorite that you enjoy, you can make a widget of that, too.

Like the List-to-RSS solution I wrote about recently, list widgets allow you to follow a list without following everyone on it. Widgets also make it very easy to customize the appearance of your lists, as well as a bunch of other options. Live auto-updating is included - or you can set how often it loads new tweets - and you can also control the number of tweets that appear at once. Don't want to show avatars or hashtags? That's fine too, there are some checkboxes that will take care of it. This set of features makes widgets a great way to share your favorite Twitter content outside of Twitter.

[via TechCrunch]

More Twitter List goodies: official list widgets! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>list widgetslistsListWidgetstwitterwidgetsTue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST<![CDATA[New Seesmic beta is the first Twitter client to support lists]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/02/new-seesmic-beta-is-the-first-twitter-client-to-support-lists/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/02/new-seesmic-beta-is-the-first-twitter-client-to-support-lists/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/02/new-seesmic-beta-is-the-first-twitter-client-to-support-lists/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Seesmic might not be the best Twitter client, but it is the first to support the new lists feature. Users who sign up to Seesmic's mailing list can get access to the latest beta version of the Adobe AIR-based desktop client, including lists. List support is not complete yet: you can view your own lists and add people to them, but you can't see which lists have added you. It looks like you can create a new list, but you can't, yet -- if you check Twitter's web interface, you'll see your list isn't really there. These features are coming sooner than later, though, and this limited support is enough for Seesmic to call "first!"

I like the idea of lists in a Twitter client, but Seesmic really seems to be taking the kitchen sink approach to development. Last time we wrote about it, Facebook Page integration had just been added. There's a good chance you'll find one killer feature in Seesmic, whether it's pages, lists, or something else, but there'll be a bunch of other features that you don't need. Seesmic's strength is in being the first or only client to implement some of its features, but I think it's spreading a little thin in trying to be a top-flight client for both Twitter and Facebook.

Meanwhile, Seesmic's competitor in the "widescreen," AIR-based Twitter arena, Tweetdeck, is lagging behind on lists. Techcrunch reports that Tweetdeck plans to introduce the feature soon, though, with "extensive" integration.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

New Seesmic beta is the first Twitter client to support lists originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>betaseesmicseesmic desktopSeesmicDesktoptwittertwitter listsTwitterListsMon, 02 Nov 2009 13:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Subscribe to Twitter's new lists as RSS feeds]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/02/subscribe-to-twitters-new-lists-as-rss-feeds/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/02/subscribe-to-twitters-new-lists-as-rss-feeds/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/02/subscribe-to-twitters-new-lists-as-rss-feeds/#commentsFiled under: ,

If you're loving Twitter's new lists feature, but you're finding yourself a bit overwhelmed by following so many new people, there might be a better way to try out a list. One Twitter user has put together a list-to-RSS script. All you have to do is pop a list's URL into the site and drop the resulting feed URL into your reader. This way, you don't have to check the list on the web, and you don't have follow everyone on it.

Be warned, the list-to-RSS site has run into some rate-limit issues with Twitter's APIs, so you may have to check back periodically if it doesn't work for you on the first try. Meanwhile, if you're still looking for some good lists to subscribe to, may I recommend the Download Squad team list? Sebastian has also collected some great list recommendations and a step-by-step guide to using lists in an earlier Download Squad post.

Subscribe to Twitter's new lists as RSS feeds originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>listsrssrss feedsRssFeedstwittertwitter listsTwitterListsMon, 02 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitter Lists finally unrolled to the masses -- get your lists here!]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/29/twitter-lists-how-to-directory-good-lists/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/29/twitter-lists-how-to-directory-good-lists/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/29/twitter-lists-how-to-directory-good-lists/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Though Twitter seem to be having some stability issues, at the time of writing, almost every active Twitter user should now have access to the new Lists functionality.

We covered it briefly back when the beta started, but here's a quick guide on how to make them -- and how to get the most out of them, because really... this might be exactly the change we social media addicts have all been waiting for.

It's really quite easy. In three steps:

1. Visit the Twitter homepage. If you see the Lists box (as seen at the top of this entry), then you're good to go -- if it's not there, you'll have to wait until you're included in the testing, which should be really soon now.


2. Type in the name of someone that matches the list you're creating. Why this doesn't auto-complete using some kind of funky AJAX I do not know...

3. Finally, hit that new button that you've probably not seen before, and add them to a list!

And now you're done adding the first person to your first list! What now? Well... you can either make your own list of awesome people (or boring people to avoid?) -- or you can go and use the lists that other people have made!

Here are some good Twitter Lists to get started with -- I'll try to cater for everyone:
If you have some great, comprehensive lists, please let me know, and I'll get them added -- there doesn't seem to be a List directory or search yet!

Update -- masterful fellow DownloadSquad blogger Lee has just discovered a Twitter Lists site called Listorious. It's really rather good.

Twitter Lists finally unrolled to the masses -- get your lists here! originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>listsmicrobloggingsocial networkingSocialNetworkingtwitterThu, 29 Oct 2009 21:20:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitter takes deleted tweets out of search results]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/26/twitter-takes-deleted-tweets-out-of-search-results/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/26/twitter-takes-deleted-tweets-out-of-search-results/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/26/twitter-takes-deleted-tweets-out-of-search-results/#commentsFiled under: ,

Even before Twitter purchased Summize and turned it into Twitter Search, users started to realize that a deleted tweet was never truly deleted. If you knew what it said, you could easily find it by searching for some of the words, and even if you didn't, you could see someone's deleted tweets in the results for "from:username." M.G. Siegler over at TechCrunch noticed that after Twitter made high-profile search deals with Google and Microsoft, they also decided to clean up the problem and stop indexing deleted tweets.

This is a big win for personal privacy, because although Twitter Search is relatively low-volume and you'd have to know where to look to find a deleted tweet, the sheer number of Google searches that happen every day would inevitably result in people seeing tweets they weren't meant to. I think it's great that Twitter has closed this privacy loophole, but it's also important to think before you post anything, because with retweets, third-party aggregators and the like, your tweets aren't always going to be isolated to your Twitter page. Treating them as public, Google-indexable info is probably the best policy.

Twitter takes deleted tweets out of search results originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>deletedindexingsearchtweetstwitterMon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Yfrog now supports photo and video tweets from your webcam]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/24/yfrog-now-supports-photo-and-video-tweets-from-your-webcam/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/24/yfrog-now-supports-photo-and-video-tweets-from-your-webcam/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/24/yfrog-now-supports-photo-and-video-tweets-from-your-webcam/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Yfrog, one of the most popular photo-posting services for Twitter, is making a move into video and offering webcam support. You can record and tweet, right from the Yfrog site. To get started, check the space where you'd normally see the option to upload an image or enter a URL: the new webcam option has been added right next to those. When the video window pops up, you can record a video, take a still shot, or take a still shot on a 5 second delay.

As always with Yfrog, the photos and videos you take are only a click away from being posted to Twitter. Because Yfrog is already one of the top players in the Twitter photo uploading game, and supported in several major Twitter apps, there's a good chance it could start to dominate the Twitter video arena, too. Currently, Twitvid and Twiddeo are two of the most popular options.

[via CNET]

Yfrog now supports photo and video tweets from your webcam originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>photosrecordingtwittervideowebcamyfrogSat, 24 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Bing makes search deals with Facebook and Twitter]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/bing-makes-search-deals-with-facebook-and-twitter/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/bing-makes-search-deals-with-facebook-and-twitter/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/bing-makes-search-deals-with-facebook-and-twitter/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

With so much hype about real-time as the future of search, it makes sense that the major players in search would make moves to partner up with real-time networks like Facebook and Twitter. What's surprising is that the first big move is coming from Microsoft Bing, and not from Google. At today's Web 2.0 summit, Bing announced deals with Twitter and Facebook, which will allow Bing to start searching those sites' status updates. The Twitter search was demonstrated at the conference, and you should be able to play with it later today at bing.com/twitter. The Facebook product isn't due out until later, but it will give Bing access to all Facebook's public status updates.

Bing showed off some impressive features of its Twitter search product at the conference, including filtering of duplicate tweets and adult content. It also expands bit.ly URLs, so you know where those shortlinks lead. Unlike Twitter's own search, Bing's product attempts to deliver not just the most recent tweets, but the most relevant.

Apparently, both Twitter and Facebook have been talking to Google as well, but Bing is first to make a deal. The two deals are separate and non-exclusive, meaning that Twitter and Facebook aren't getting into bed together (yet) and that there's still room for Google to make a play like the one Microsoft just pulled off.

[via CNET]

Bing makes search deals with Facebook and Twitter originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bingfacebookreal-timerealtimesearchtwitterWed, 21 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitter Lists feature hits beta, makes Twitter a lot better]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/15/twitter-lists-feature-hits-beta-makes-twitter-a-lot-better/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/15/twitter-lists-feature-hits-beta-makes-twitter-a-lot-better/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/15/twitter-lists-feature-hits-beta-makes-twitter-a-lot-better/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Twitter's new Lists feature has rolled out in beta to a large number of users, and it adds a lot to the Twitter experience without detracting too much from the site's simplicity. You can create, view and manage lists of users from the Twitter.com sidebar, and add users by going to your "following" page. Once you've got a list created, clicking on it will show you a timeline of tweets from the users you've added.

If you make a list public, you can send a link to others to share it, and they can add everyone on your list in one fell swoop. You can also see which lists you've been added to by clicking on a link located at the top of the sidebar next to your following/followers numbers. This bumps the link to your timeline, showing your total number of tweets, out of the way to a small-print link under your username. Of course, it's also possible to make private lists, in case you want to group people into categories without offending anybody.

Twitter Lists feature hits beta, makes Twitter a lot better originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>listsnewstwitterThu, 15 Oct 2009 20:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Hate Twitter spam? Now you can report it with one click]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/13/hate-twitter-spam-now-you-can-report-it-with-one-click/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/13/hate-twitter-spam-now-you-can-report-it-with-one-click/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/13/hate-twitter-spam-now-you-can-report-it-with-one-click/#commentsFiled under: ,

The head honchos at Twitter have decided to take action against the site's growing problem with spam accounts by giving users some new options to file spam reports. You'll see a new "Report as spam" link on the sidebar of each user's Twitter page, and a "Report as spam" action available from your followers and following lists. Clicking on either of those links will give you a chance to decide if you're sure you want to report, and then block the user and flag them for review.

Previously, reporting spam meant following Twitter's @spam account, and sending it a direct message with the username you wanted to report. There's no official word from Twitter on how the spam reports work, yet, but I suspect it's something like the way blocking worked before: i.e., the more times an account is marked as spam, the more likely it will be to get deleted. This seems like a much more efficient way to handle the spam problem, and it'll be interesting to see if it results in fewer bot accounts on Twitter.

[Thanks, Damon!]

UPDATE: Twitter's official blog post on spam reporting is up now.

Hate Twitter spam? Now you can report it with one click originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>reportspamspammerstwitterTue, 13 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitter working on live video tweets?]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/11/twitter-working-on-live-video-tweets/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/11/twitter-working-on-live-video-tweets/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/11/twitter-working-on-live-video-tweets/#commentsFiled under: ,

According to an unsourced story from the Telegraph, Twitter's founders have been throwing around the idea of bringing live video posts to the site. The post describes mobile video uploads posted directly to users' profiles, as opposed to posting links to short videos, a la Tweetube or Twiddeo, but there's not much more to the story. If the rumors are true, it's going to bring some speculation about whether this is the best use of Twitter's resources.

Twitter still has spam problems to deal with, as well as at least three other major new features that are rolling out right now: geolocation, user lists and a new format for retweets. Without more details, we don't know where the storage space and bandwidth are going to come from: will video be a drain on the Twitter experience? Now that the service is pushing between 10,000 and 25,000 tweets a minute, there's a lot to consider when building out new features.

So, Download Squad readers, would you use a Twitter video service? Let us know in the comments and the poll below.

UPDATE: Looks like the folks at Mashable got a quote from Twitter founder Biz Stone, denying any plans for video features: "Haven't read the piece but no video hosting. 140 characters of text including spaces. You know the drill!"

View Poll

Twitter working on live video tweets? originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>liverumortwittervideoSun, 11 Oct 2009 14:34:00 EST<![CDATA[Tweetie for iPhone hits 2.0]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/tweetie-for-iphone-hits-2-0/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/tweetie-for-iphone-hits-2-0/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/tweetie-for-iphone-hits-2-0/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

We've covered iPhone Twitter clients to death here on Download Squad, but we simply couldn't help but post about Tweetie 2.0 which launched just yesterday. If you're not familiar with Tweetie - which won an Apple Design Award earlier in the year for version 1 - it's often touted as the best Twitter client for the iPhone platform, and this new version raises the bar in terms of features and experience.

There's a tonne of new features (and an all-new underlying core to the application) - so here's just a few of my favourites that I've noticed:
  • Searching within timelines - super-handy if you're trying to find that tweet without having to scroll back through your Twitter history
  • Swipe-to-refresh - if you're at the top of the list of tweets, Tweetie allows you to swipe up and hold momentarily to refresh without tapping a refresh button. It's a really smart touch (though, assumes that you've read all the updates that are in front of you).
  • More integration with location services and image services - If a tweet contains GPS data, or an image from the likes to Twitpic, Tweetie shows you a small preview of the information below the tweet.
  • Multiple-draft support - version 2.0 allows you to save multiple drafts for posting later, and also allows you to post all drafts, whether a tweet or direct message, with one tap.
  • More services - There's built-in links to the likes of Favrd, Favstar.fm and many other Twitter mashups when you're browsing user profiles.
Tweetie 2.0 also heads into uncharted territory by being the first iPhone app to have a paid upgrade. Whilst this has caused much bickering from certain "celebrities", given that a copy of Tweetie 2.0 is just $2.99 for all users it's not going to break the bank. You can pick up your copy on the App Store.

Tweetie for iPhone hits 2.0 originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>iPhoneTweetieTweetie 2Tweetie2TwitterSat, 10 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST