Twitter

1,030 'Twitter' stories December 2010 - November 2013

Twitter is a social networking site that was created in 2006. Users send "tweets" to let people know what they are doing. It was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams.

Twitter accused of hypocrisy over Trump tweets

Twitter is a social networking site that was created in 2006. Users send “tweets” to let people know what they are doing. It was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. Prior to building the service, they were working on a podcast directory called Odeo.

Odeo was a directory and search destination website for RSS-syndicated audio and video. It employed tools that enabled users to create, record, and share podcasts with a simple Adobe Flash-based interface.

When iTunes 4.9 was released, it ultimately made Odeo irrelevant. The people behind the company went on to create a service called Twttr. Twttr would eventually be called Twitter. iTunes 4.9, believe it or not, ultimately led to the creation of one of the most popular social networks in the world.

The major turning point for service’s popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive conference. Over the next few years, Twitter began to see rapid growth. For mobile devices, it originally relied upon third-party apps. In 2010, Twitter acquired application developer Atebits. Atebits had built the Twitter app known as Tweetie for the Mac and iPhone. It was renamed as Twitter and released for free.

Over the years, the apps have seen various revisions. There are currently versions available for iOS while desktop users must either use the web interface or a third party app like Tweetbot or Twitterrific.

Twitterrific 5 updated with new profile layout, performance enhancements, more

Zac Hall Nov 10 2013 - 8:14 pm PT

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(via <a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6545163991_4cc0229e72_z.jpg" target="_blank">Flickr</a>)

Twitterrific 5 received a nice update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch tonight bringing a new user profile layout and pull-to-refresh animation as well as performance improvements.

Seriously, I think the Iconfactory undersold the major speed increase in the latest version of Twitterrific 5. Check out the full change log below.

Twitterrific 5 is a universal app (meaning you can buy it once and use it on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) for $2.99 in the App Store. The update is available for free for existing customers.

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Twitter for iPhone updated with in-line photos and Vine videos, quick-actions in the timeline

Mike Beasley Oct 29 2013 - 12:10 pm PT

2 Comments

Twitter for iPhone was updated today to version 5.12, which includes in-line photos in the main timeline view rather than using photo links. Vine videos now show up in the timeline as well, although it seems other video services will still require you to tap a link first.

The update also adds buttons to quickly reply, retweet, or favorite a tweet without having to swipe or tap it first. The new version of Twitter for iPhone is available for free in the App Store now.

Tweetbot 3 becomes top paid app in several countries, developers discuss future enhancements

Mark Gurman Oct 25 2013 - 8:25 am PT

7 Comments

Since its launch yesterday, popular Twitter client Tweetbot 3 for iPhone has topped the paid app charts in several App Store-supported countries across the world. A look at AppAnnie’s data indicates that the new application is the top paid app overall in 35 countries, and it is the top app in the Social Networking category in 70 countries. As Tweetbot developer Paul Haddad notes, these impressive launch day statistics are evidence for why developers should charge for major app updates…

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Tweetbot 3 for iPhone arrives: gorgeous new design, same great features

Mark Gurman Oct 24 2013 - 3:03 pm PT

13 Comments

For many years, Tweetbot from Tapbots has been my favorite Twitter app and definitely my most used app on iOS. The application includes several powerful features wrapped up in a quick, smooth interface. However, the design began to look dated with the launch of iOS 7, Apple’s revamped iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system, last month. For several months, the Tapbots crew has been hard at work on a complete, end-to-end redesign of their flagship app, and it is available now via the App Store. Check out my complete review…

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Vine iOS app updated w/ ‘Time Travel’ editing features & ‘Sessions’ for saving drafts

Jordan Kahn Oct 24 2013 - 9:29 am PT

1 Comment

Vine updated its iOS app today with a few new features that allow users to save and maintain multiple drafts of posts and edit their vines before posting.

The first new feature Vine is calling “Sessions.” These are essentially drafts of posts that you can save and access for future editing before posting:

Save any post and come back to it later –– work on up to ten posts at once. Simply tap the new icon in the bottom right corner of your camera to save a new session or open an existing one.

Vine is also including new editing features that it’s calling “Time Travel”. These features allow users to “remove, reorganize or replace any shot within a post at any time.” Now, when shooting a video you’ll see a new green bar that allows you to organize shots as well as a new “Edit” button when in preview mode.

The updated Vine app is available on the App Store now.

https://vine.co/v/hpMLHZea65u

Twitter to launch standalone Direct Messaging app?

Jordan Kahn Oct 17 2013 - 6:34 am PT

4 Comments

Twitter has been making a lot of improvements to its messaging experience in its mobile apps in recent months. It first introduced Direct Message syncing and other improvements back in July, and in recent weeks started rolling out the ability to receive direct messages from any follower (even those you don’t specifically follow) for a select number of users after testing it internally. Today, a new report claims that Twitter is planning further improvements to Direct Messaging and could as far as launching a standalone messaging app, much like Facebook Messenger.

The company plans to significantly update its direct-messaging product in the near future, according to multiple sources, bringing the long-buried feature to the forefront for the first time in years.

But Twitter’s new vision for direct messages will go further. It has kicked around the idea of launching a standalone direct-messaging application separate from the Twitter app, according to three people familiar with the matter. It is unclear, however, what form the final revamp of direct messages will take.

The report doesn’t provide much more info on Twitter’s plans, but does say it recently met with employees from MessageMe, one of the increasingly popular messaging apps that Twitter’s revamped DM service would attempt to combat. It also adds that we could see the new Direct Messaging app by the end of the year alongside a previously reported design overhaul.

TweetDeck for Mac updated with username autocomplete, a new tweet composer, and more

Mike Beasley Oct 15 2013 - 6:08 pm PT

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Twitter updated its TweetDeck app for Mac today with a few new enhancements. The new version finally adds support for autocompletion of usernames when mentioning other users. Also new in the latest version is an in-line reply composer that allows you to create replies to tweets right in your timeline without having to open a new tweet panel.

Speaking of the tweet composer, it has been overhauled in this version. Instead of a popup window, the new composer has a column of its own with all of the usual options. The panel closes automatically as you send a tweet, but can be optionally set to stay open at all times, making composing a new tweet a much quicker process. In-line replies can also be “popped out” to the composer panel to apply additional options like scheduling. The new tweet panel also allows you to preview your tweet before you send it so that you know how it will look on the web and in Twitter’s official apps.

You can get TweetDeck for Mac for free from the Mac App Store.

Apple Marketing SVP Phil Schiller calls out Samsung’s Note 3 benchmarking ‘shenanigans’

Jordan Kahn Oct 1 2013 - 9:02 am PT

7 Comments

Apple Marketing SVP Phil Schiller has been known to take to Twitter in the past to voice his views on rival platforms, and today the Apple executive is once again taking a jab at Android through his Twitter account. Today, Schiller points us to some more Android “shenanigans” with a link to a story from ArsTechinca about inflated Galaxy Note 3 benchmarks.

Ars reports:

After a good bit of sleuthing, we can confidently say Samsung appears to be artificially boosting the US Note 3’s benchmark scores with a special, high-power CPU mode that kicks in when the device runs a large number of popular benchmarking apps. Samsung did something similar with the international Galaxy S 4’s GPU, but this is the first time we’ve seen the boost on a US device. We also found a way to disable this special CPU mode, so for the first time we can see just how much Samsung’s benchmark optimizations affect benchmark scores.

Earlier this year Schiller took another shot at Android on Twitter by tweeting the words “Be safe out there” with a link to a study showing a much higher number of threats on Android compared to iOS. Schiller isn’t the only Apple executive on Twitter as earlier this month CEO Tim Cook started communicating with customers for the first time through his official account.

Tim Cook probably won’t be retweeting Conan O’Brien’s Siri fail

Ben Lovejoy Sep 25 2013 - 4:47 am PT

6 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW1UDKyxJJ4]

Tim Cook’s may be on Twitter now, but he’s probably not going to be retweeting a poor showing from Siri on the late night program last night.

Actress Jane Lynch’s tweeted a recent experience with Siri in which it apparently responded to her request for directions to Le Pain Quotidien with “I have no listing for Let Pam Cookie Ian.” She recounted the story in an interview on Conan, in which two further live Siri attempts also failed.

The first, Lynch’s voice on O’Brien’s phone, wasn’t really a fair test: Siri keeps personalised voice files for each user on its servers. But the second, in which O’Brien used his own phone, resulted in the infamous “I’m really sorry about this, but I can’t take any requests right now” message.

With some iPhone fails, though, you have to look more to the human factor than the phone. Sure, it’s a bit of an oops moment when Apple Maps directs local drivers onto an airport taxiway, but as with many other GPS fails, you’d kind of think drivers might notice that they were crossing a runway – or that an international airport might, you know, make sure the gate was closed or something …

Apple CEO Tim Cook joins Twitter, waxes on visiting Apple Stores today

Jordan Kahn Sep 20 2013 - 12:14 pm PT

8 Comments

[tweet https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/381131235247923201]

Other Apple executives have been on Twitter for a while, and today CEO Tim Cook sent out his first tweet mentioning that he visited retail stores in Palo Alto for the retail launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c. Cook has been a member of Twitter since July, but ~~his account is not yet verified by Twitter~~. Apple marketing chief Philip Schiller retweeted Cook’s tweet earlier today proving that the account is indeed run by the Apple CEO.

Earlier today Cook, along with Apple executives Phil Schiller and Eddie Cue, made an appearance at Apple’s Palo Alto retail store in California to greet customers that queued up for the launch of the new iPhones today.

Apple Marketing SVP Phil Schiller sometimes tweets about issues related to the company. For example, back in March Schiller tweeted the words “Be safe out there” along with a link to a study showing a much higher number of security threats on Android compared to iOS.
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More than $15k in rewards offered to crack Apple’s iPhone 5s TouchID fingerprint sensor

Jordan Kahn Sep 19 2013 - 3:23 pm PT

3 Comments

As noted by BusinessInsider, a number of security researchers and other hackers have come together to offer rewards to the first person that can “reliably and repeatedly break into an iPhone 5s” through bypassing the new TouchID fingerprint sensor feature. They aren’t looking for a software hack, however, but instead want hackers to break into the device by lifting prints, “like from a beer mug.”

It’s not exactly a legit contest, as the creators of the site are only claiming responsibility for their own bounty offers. Their bounties come out to around just $200 of the approximately $20k in pledges listed on the site.

In order to collect, you’ll have to have video proof of the process. The site’s creator explained in the “terms and conditions,” which is actually just a series of tweets:

All I ask is a video of the process from print, lift, reproduction and successful unlock with reproduced print. I’ll put money on this… Enroll print, Place it, lift it, reproduce it, use the reproduction to unlock the phone without being locked out… satisfactory video evidence of the print enrollment, lift, reproduction and successful application of the print without locking out will do.

While there’s no way of telling if most of those offering bounties will actually payout, the largest pledge comes from IOCapital for $10K:

https://twitter.com/Arturas/status/380748248589148161

Apple said at the introduction of the iPhone 5s that “all fingerprints will be encrypted, stored securely and never uploaded to iCloud or its own servers,” but there have been a few questions surrounding how Apple’s new TouchID fingerprint sensor works. Earlier this month Apple addressed security concerns and noted some features to prevent hacking of the fingerprint sensor:

Only that passcode (not a finger) can unlock the phone if the phone is rebooted or hasn’t been unlocked for 48 hours. This feature is meant to block hackers from stalling for time as they try to find a way to circumvent the fingerprint scanner.

You can check out all of the bounties being offered and learn more through the istouchidhackedyet.com site.

In tandem with iTunes Radio launch, Apple starts using @iTunes Twitter account

Michael Steeber Sep 18 2013 - 2:17 pm PT

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Alongside the official launches of both iTunes Radio and iOS 7 today, Apple has begun using the @iTunes Twitter account. While the account only has two tweets at the time of this writing, it appear that the page will be used for general purpose, iTunes related announcements.

https://twitter.com/iTunes/status/380400209110392833

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iOS 7 downloads causing network outages at several school campuses, activation server failures

Jordan Kahn Sep 18 2013 - 1:44 pm PT

30 Comments

As noticed by BusinessInsider, Apple’s release of iOS 7 today is causing havoc for the networks of several college campuses and other schools where a large number of iOS device users are attempting to download the new OS. Some schools, including Ohio University, is even urging students to delay upgrading to iOS 7 as the network experiences network problems due to the high amount of traffic.

Others having WiFi issues today include New York University, Michigan University, and Western Connecticut State University. Those three schools haven’t confirmed iOS 7 is the cause of network outages today, but students on Twitter have noted that iOS 7 is likely the culprit…
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A look at what some high-profile apps will look like when iOS 7 hits

Mike Beasley Sep 12 2013 - 2:39 pm PT

19 Comments

Click for a larger view.

Apple announced on Tuesday that iOS 7 will be publicly available on September 18th. The revamped OS moves completely away from the realistic designs of the past six generations, dropping almost all “artificial shadows” (as Apple SVP Craig Federighi called them), gloss, and even button borders. Instead, the Jony Ive-inspired interface features an entirely rethought design language that focuses heavily on large icons, lightweight fonts, whitespace, transparency, and conservative use of color.

We previously took a look at what some of Apple’s own in-house apps could look like when redesigned for iOS 7. During Apple’s September 10th event, Federighi flashed up a slide displaying the upcoming iOS 7 updates for many third-party applications. None of the apps were labeled, but we’ve tracked down names for most of them.

The apps featured are:

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Join us for a live Hangout during today’s keynote

Scott Buscemi Sep 10 2013 - 8:52 am PT

19 Comments

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T14HAvdtX8A]

Despite our best hopes and wishes, it appears Apple won’t be providing a livestream for today’s event. While you’re keeping tabs right here for our liveblog and tweets, we’ll also be hosting a live Google Hangout starting about 15 minutes before the 10 am PST event and extending through the duration of the keynote.

Check it out here.
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Apple changes featured stations in iTunes Radio – likely for a demo today

Ben Lovejoy Sep 10 2013 - 6:45 am PT

1 Comment

Apple has updated the Featured Stations in iTunes Radio, likely in preparation for a demo of the service during today’s iPhone launch.

The featured stations include Spin the Globe, Trending on Twitter, iTunes Top 100: Pop and the Pepsi-sponsored Pulse #Now.

iTunes Radio will be available on all iOS devices, including Apple TV, as well as in iTunes on both Macs and PCs, as a free ad-supported service. There will be one audio ad every 15 minutes, and one video ad per hour. However, iTunes Match subscribers will be able to listen to the service free from ads.

Thanks, Nick!

Shazam iOS app updated with Twitter previews and faster recognition on older iPhones

Ben Lovejoy Sep 2 2013 - 6:26 am PT

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The latest version of music tagging and discovery app Shazam now offers instant previews when you tweet a track and offers faster song recognition on the iPhone 4 and 3GS.

○ Much faster recognition, especially on the iPhone 4 and 3GS.
○ Better recognition in difficult environments.
○ Now when you tweet, your followers can play previews right in Twitter through our Twitter Card.
○ Explore charts are more dynamic, showing you what’s hot in the last seven days.
○ New TV experiences (US only).

The update also mentions ‘new TV experiences,’ but Shazam hasn’t yet revealed any details. Shazam’s previous update added multi-track purchases. The free app is available for download on iTunes.

How-to: Setup and use Dropbox to manage and share photos, files

Sarah Guarino Aug 24 2013 - 9:00 am PT

23 Comments

Before Dropbox became popular, there was iDisk, which was Apple’s cloud storage system. iDisk allowed you to store documents, pictures, QuickTime files, and PDFs in one cloud-based “drive.” This was accessible on all of your Apple products as well as at me.com on a PC. It was practically like having your most important files in Finder on your computer – but everywhere.

Then iCloud came out. iCloud dropped support of iDisk, which meant there was no longer a way to access all of your files in a Finder-like cloud system. This paved the way for third party apps like Dropbox to become even more popular.

Dropbox is free. Dropbox works on any platform: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Blackberry. Dropbox gives you 2GB of storage space for free and they offer incentives to increase your allocated amount of free storage space.

There are two different ways to set up Dropbox:

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Twitter triggers return to automation service IFTTT

Scott Buscemi Aug 21 2013 - 10:17 am PT

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Last year, automation service IFTTT (IF This, Then That), which just released an iOS application last month, dropped support for all Twitter triggers after the social network made changes to their third-party app requirements. Now, the two companies have worked together to revive many of the tweet triggers, including “new tweet by you,” “new tweet by you with hashtag,” “new link by you,” and “new favorite tweet by you.”

As noted by The Verge, all of these hooks have to do with your own tweets rather than others’ tweets, which had been accessible before the support was dropped last year.

Some of the popular ‘recipes’ on IFTTT’s Twitter page include: “When #Facebook profile picture changes, update #Twitter profile picture,” “Tweet your newest uploaded Flickr pictures,” and “New link post by you then tweet the link.”

IFTTT is a free service and the iOS application is available for free in the App Store.

Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac hits Amazon Germany and MacMall US with purported September 5th delivery date

Seth Weintraub Aug 18 2013 - 1:06 am PT

13 Comments

Cat’s out of the bag? It appears that Parallels is preparing an update to their award-winning virtualization software for Mac. Amazon Germany has a pre-order page up with Parallels Desktop 9 artwork and an expected delivery date of September 5th. Having a quick look around, it appears you can also order it now in the US at MacMall/PCM for $74.99 shipped:

Parallels 9? http://t.co/Q4t2QvPdXM

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) August 18, 2013

A variety of other retailers appear to be getting units in stock after a quick Google search of manufacturer part PDFM9L-BX1-EN-NT. The September 5th release date would seem to fit into Parallels’ schedule. Previous releases were:

Parallels 8 – Released on September 4, 2012
Parallels 7 – Released on September 6, 2011
Parallels 6 – Released on September 14, 2010
Parallels 5 – Released on November 4, 2009

Parallels allows Mac Users to run Virtual machines of Windows, other instances of Mac OS, Linux, Android and just about every other Intel-based OSes out there inside of Mac OS. Likely updates this time around would probably include OSX 10.9 Mavericks and Windows 8/.1 compatibility improvements.

Parallels has traditionally allowed users who’ve bought within 2 weeks of release a free upgrade to the new version but no ~~such policy has yet been announced for this version~~. (Update: Here’s Parallels Tech Guarantee saying if you buy after August 15th (now) you are covered for a free upgrade when V9 comes out.) If you are interested in purchasing Parallels now (and it is a GREAT product), we recommend downloading a free 30-day trial of Parallels Desktop 8 which would conclude after the above early September update, guaranteeing you wouldn’t need to pay extra for an update to v9.

If Parallels 9 is indeed coming out soon, you can bet we’ll have a full review of the product and/or any iOS accessory products, should such products exist, as soon as they are available.

Parallels 8 – Released on September 4, 2012
Parallels 7 – Released on September 6, 2011
Parallels 6 – Released on September 14, 2010
Parallels 5 – Released on November 4, 2009

Thanks/Danke Tipsters!
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Investor Carl Icahn takes ‘large position’ in AAPL, stock goes up

Mark Gurman Aug 13 2013 - 11:54 am PT

2 Comments

We currently have a large position in APPLE. We believe the company to be extremely undervalued. Spoke to Tim Cook today. More to come.

— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) August 13, 2013

Billionaire investor, who gained increasing fame in recent months due to his attempted take over of Dell, has announced via Twitter that his firm has taken a “large position” in Apple:

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Twitter #music app gets new ways to discover artists, scans iPhone library for personalized recommendations

Jordan Kahn Aug 9 2013 - 10:36 am PT

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Twitter updated its Twitter #music iPhone app today with several new ways to discover new artists in addition to personalized recommendations based on the content in your iPhone’s music library.

Version 1.2 of the app now allows users to “listen to artist’s top tracks, similar artists, and the artists that your favorite artist follows on Twitter.” However, another interesting new feature will scan the device’s music library in order to serve up relevant recommendations based on your past listening habits.

Twitter is also making it easier to find artists that you like by making it easy to quickly access the artists that you’ve tweeted about in the past.

Personal recommendations based on previous listening habits is becoming a prerequisite for just about any music app ahead of Apple’s iTunes Radio launch. Apple’s upcoming service will rely heavily on its personalization features similar to iTunes Genius, and Rdio and others have been adding similar features that focus more on stations custom tailored to the user’s listening preferences.

Lastly, the app gets support for a number of new languages:

What’s New in Version 1.2

We’ve added a bunch of new ways of discovering music. Listen to artist’s top tracks, similar artists, and the artists that your favorite artist follows on Twitter.

We also scan your iPhone’s music library now to suggest more relevant artists to you. And we show you the artists that you’ve Tweeted about so you can always get back to them.

Finally, we’ve localized #music into all of your favorite languages. If you’re one of those good looking people living in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, or Switzerland then we’ve got you covered!

New JOBS featurette shows extended movie clip with commentary

Jul 31 2013 - 1:41 pm PT

1 Comment

Open Road Films has posted a new JOBS ‘featurette’ which provides an extended look at the film coupled with commentary from Ashton Kutcher, Michael Stern (Director) and other supporting cast members. Check out Ashton’s in-depth interview with The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky for even more insight into his thoughts regarding the film and the general tech landscape. JOBS is slated to be released nationwide on August 16th, but posters for the movie are already popping up at theaters.
https://twitter.com/iDannyOcean/status/356863921975611392

‘Inspired by true events’: Official trailer for Ashton Kutcher’s ‘Jobs’ film goes live (9to5mac.com)
Ashton Kutcher’s Jobs movie gets an official psychedelic poster (9to5mac.com)
Ashton Kutcher’s ‘jOBS’ biopic to open nationwide on August 16th (9to5mac.com)
Ashton Kutcher on passing up the opportunity to meet Steve Jobs (9to5mac.com)
Ashton Kutcher’s thoughts on playing Steve Jobs and the wider tech landscape [Video] (9to5mac.com)
Jobs star Ashton Kutcher rumored to be close to $10M deal … to sell Windows PCs (9to5mac.com)

Housecleaning: We’ve moved to WordPress comments

Seth Weintraub Jul 28 2013 - 7:17 am PT

46 Comments

Just a quick note that we’ve moved our comment system to WordPress. You can log in with your WordPress, Twitter or Facebook accounts and you will need manual approval by mods the first time you comment (so prepare to wait a few minutes/hours). Previous stories will continue to contain previous comment archives.

Why didn’t we go to Disqus or Livefyre? If it was only comments, we probably would have. But we’re building something kind of cool behind the scenes with WordPress and this is just the start.

As always, we read and appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Twitter

What’s New in Version 1.2

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