Twitter's Contentious 'Redesign' Boosts Unofficial Apps

The week-old redesign of quick-messaging service Twitter was meant to simplify its tools and make it more accessible to newbies. But it has had some unintended consequences.

Independent developers of applications that tie into Twitter's network say they have experienced significant accelerations in downloads and revenue since Twitter 4.0 launched last week.

When addicts of the social network got their hands on the new version, many recoiled upon seeing the changes. They were especially vocal about the loss of some features in Twitter's mobile apps and about the private-message tab being hidden within another menu.

So thousands flocked to the various app stores to get third-party apps that look more like the previous version of Twitter. Some of the most popular apps cost a few dollars, unlike the free app made by Twitter.

Tweetbot, an anime-themed app for the iPhone, more than doubled its usual revenue just after Twitter's major redesign, said Paul Haddad, a co-founder for app maker Tapbot. When the small developer cut the price of Tweetbot in half on Friday, to 99 cents, revenue increased more than tenfold, Haddad said.

Independent trackers of app downloads verify that Tweetbot and others experienced big gains.

"Word of mouth really goes a long way on Twitter," Haddad wrote in an e-mail.

The maker of another popular app, Twitterrific, saw a "bump" after the Twitter changes, which carried through to this week, said Craig Hockenberry, the head of app maker Iconfactory. This effect is common, but short-lived, after a major change to Twitter, he said.

Twitterrific, which offers a free version with ads or a full version for $4.99, experienced a similar boost in March after Twitter updated its iPhone app with a much-maligned feature called the Quick Bar, Hockenberry said. The Quick Bar, which critics dubbed Dick Bar after Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, added an ever-present ticker showing trending topics and ads. Within a month, Twitter had removed the feature.

"Please stop complaining about the new Twitter app," Haddad wrote on his Tapbot Twitter account last week. "They might revert back, and I'm really enjoying the increase in sales."

For a relatively new Twitter app, like Twittelator Neue, the backlash provided some much-needed attention. That app, which costs $1.99, has seen about three times as many downloads in the week since Twitter 4.0.

"We've definitely seen a spike since Twitter updated their official client," Ollie Wagner, the Twittelator developer, wrote in an e-mail. "Changes like the ones they've made tend to be quite polarizing, oftentimes magnetizing audiences towards newer third party clients."

In March, during the Quick Bar fiasco, Twitter began discouraging makers of these types of apps from pursuing development. Ryan Sarver, a leader on Twitter's developer relations team, wrote then in a memo to partners that they should not be building software that reproduces the functions of a standard Twitter app.

"We need to move to a less fragmented world, where every user can experience Twitter in a consistent way," Sarver wrote. "This is already happening organically -- the number and market share of consumer client apps that are not owned or operated by Twitter has been shrinking."

As that number seems to grow slightly, it's unclear whether Twitter's stance has changed. A Twitter spokeswoman declined to comment, and Sarver didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source from : CNN

Android and IOS Domination The U.S. 'Smartphone' market

Google's Android platform and Apple's IOS dominates the smartphone market in the United States (U.S.) in 2011. While other operating systems that come to enliven the U.S. market, such as the BlackBerry OS and Windows, was forced to work hard to reform their respective strategies.

Institutions to market researcher The NPD Group, has issued a report on the smartphone market in the U.S. from January to October 2011. "The competition that has dominated Google and Apple handset providers forcing companies to make big changes," said Ross Rubin, Executive Director of the Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group, quoted by Kompas Tekno, Thursday (15/12/2011).

Google's Android platform represents 53 percent of the smartphone market in the U.S., up 11 percent from 2010. The increase is fairly rapid as in 2009 and the Android market in the U.S., only 9 percent.

For Apple IOS grew to 29 percent. IOS in the U.S. market share had declined. In 2009, IOS users by 24 percent, but in 2010 fell to 21 percent.

While the BlackBerry OS market Researh In Motion (RIM), this year fell to 10 percent. BlackBerry OS heyday occurred in 2009, when they earned 44 percent of the smartphone market in the U.S., beating the IOS and Android. However, the popularity of the BlackBerry OS began to decline in 2010 with the acquisition of 25 percent of the market.

While the two operating systems from Microsoft's getting worse because the market is only 3 percent of Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 only 2 percent. Windows Mobile had debuted in 2007 with market share to 42 percent.

Journalists allowed to use 'Twitter' in English courts

Reporters can now use Twitter, text messages and email in courtrooms in England and Wales without permission.

"Twitter as much as you like from today," Lord Chief Justice Igor Judge told journalists as he handed down new guidelines on using laptops and hand-held devices.

Under interim guidance issued in December 2010, reporters could apply to the judge for permission to use live text-based communications in court.

That came after journalists covering the extradition hearings of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asked to be allowed to tweet live news of proceedings.

Following a year-long consultation, the need to make an application has now been lifted for journalists and legal commentators. However, members of the public will still need to do so.

The taking of photographs in court and using sound recording equipment remains outlawed, while regular court reporting restrictions still apply.

Judges have the discretion to limit use of live text-based communications if they feel it would hamper the administration of justice, for example if it could be a distraction, interfere with the court's electronic equipment or put pressure on witnesses.

"It is presumed that a representative of the media or a legal commentator using live, text-based communications from court does not pose a danger of interference to the proper administration of justice," Lord Judge said.

"This is because the most obvious purpose of permitting the use of live, text-based communications would be to enable the media to produce fair and accurate reports of the proceedings.

"As such, a representative of the media or a legal commentator who wishes to use live, text-based communications from court may do so without making an application to the court."

He said the use of "an unobtrusive, hand held, silent piece of modern equipment for the purposes of simultaneous reporting" was unlikely to interfere with proper proceedings.

Scotland and Northern Ireland are separate jurisdictions within the United Kingdom.

Source from : Herald Sun