Last night I heard about Twitter acquiring the Tweetie iPhone application.  Tweetie, often raved as the best Twitter iPhone app, will now be offered for free instead of $2.99.  On Twitter’s blog, the company justified its acquisition, “People are looking for an app from Twitter, and they’re not finding one.”  I think they are right, and I’m happy they will be giving away the app.

When I heard the news, I was not surprised that they had released a native application, but I was surprised they had acquired another company to do it.

After waking up this afternoon (hey, don’t judge; I was up working until 10am), I was linked to this story on CNET. As the story shows, some view Twitter’s move as an attack on third-party developers and have compared it to Apple’s move with iPhone OS 4.0 (a move I do have reservations about).

To me, Twitter’s actions are significantly different from Apple’s, and significantly better for users and developers.  As I see it, Twitter is simply re-entering the market that made Twitter what it is.  It is NOT moving to block any third-party development.  The developer community is understandably nervous about any acquisitions and freebies, but, in this case, I think the anxiety is misplaced.

I’m a firm believer in competition and transparency. Twitter seems to be, too.  They have certainly encouraged developers to create external solutions through their API (application programming interface).  The Twitter API is well documented and allows access from a variety of languages and platforms, unlike Apple’s approach, which rules out anything not written in Objective-C.

Services like Seesmic go beyond a simple read/post interface and offer an expanded service (ability to post to updates to 50+ services), serving more than a generic recreation of Twitter. In contrast, Tweetable offers a generic read/post service that integrates with the admin panel of my blog, making Twitter available in a unique location.  I’m all for that.

Ultimately, innovation and improvement are the two greatest assets in any business model. Twitter’s acquisition of Tweetie shows it understands this logic well.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter follows up by buying more related services or expanding internally in similar directions.

A phone manufacturer supporting the development community? What a concept! Beyond a concept, it’s slowly coming a reality with the introduction of the GeeksPhone One. GeeksPhone is introducing a new concept, one beyond the typical handset manufacturer’s business model. This device is targeted at Android developers, specifically ROM and firmware developers. While their introductory device’s hardware might seem behind times, it is reported that they are working on new models also.

What makes this device different?

Most Android based handset manufacturers frown upon 3^rd party development. This is likely because of proprietary software concerns as well as warranty issues. Motorola has come out and said plainly this. HTC, on the other hand, has not openly embraced the development community, however has made their base ROMs openly available on their site.

GeeksPhone took a simple step, placing the recovery image on it’s own partition, which does a lot to protect the phone from bricking. Beyond being a great protection, it should also encourage more people to get their hands dirty with Android.

With the mention of future handsets on the horizon, I’m really looking to see what’s on the table. With the release of a more powerful device, I could see myself owning a GeeksPhone in the future even though it would have to be imported.

How do you sell me a new Android phone? Introduce AIR to Android 2.x and show me a working demo. That’s how excited I am, even though there’s no time frame for the release. While AIR will be a mobile version, it offers the same flexibility Adobe AIR has brought to desktop operating systems. As I’ve written in previous posts, I’m a huge fan of AIR and several applications based on AIR. Let’s put this Flash hype aside and focus on what AIR can do for mobile devices.

While all the possibilities were available on Android through Java, the addition of AIR will bring lots of new apps from non-Java developers. Using AJAX, Flex and Flash as development tools, web developers will be able to implement their apps in a whole new way.

Below is a video of AIR and Flash in action on the Droid.

What are your thoughts? Any applications you’d like to see ported over to the AIR Mobile platform?

Visiting http://buzz.google.com from my G1 shows a table of compatible devices (and operating systems). When looking at the list, the first reaction is YAY Android gets all the functions.  Second glance, and you realize Android 2.0+ gets all the functions. Furthermore, there is no mention of pre-2.0 devices. This leaves me with the assumption that the support will only come with Google maps and not through the browser.

The issue as I see it, is that Google is segregating the OS instead of building an app for use on all android devices. As a G1 owner, fan-boy, it might come off like I am screaming UNFAIR.. However, my G1 is well past its life expectancy, so I can cope. The greater issue is that devices are still being produced, and developed on earlier versions of the OS.  for instance, the Sony x10, releases next month on 1.6. A long with a handful of other devices, the Sony will arrive to the market behind the times and possibly missing support of future Google Services.

With all my ideas and thoughts about the future of technology, I’m going to focus on Android applications because I believe it’s a huge player in the future of the mobile world.  Since the market is really starting to pick up for Android, I’m guessing we’ll see a lot of developers step up to fill the increasing demand for applications. With innovative developers stepping to the plate and the new powerful handsets coming out, I’m sure the applications will really start to stand out compared to other mobile devices.

The first major component we’ll see will be application integration.  Beyond integrating with basic features too, I’m confident we’ll start seeing more applications that act as compliments to others including extensions of current applications.  One application, Twidroid, is already offering tools for third party developers to do write applications that integrate with the powerful Twitter application.  I’d imagine as newer devices become more popular, we’ll begin to see a lot more powerful applications integrating with each other to create a stronger user experiences (thanks to the multitasking ability of Android).

The next development, which we’re already seeing in applications like Gowalla and FourSquare, will be location based interaction.  For some, maybe most, there seems to be the concern of personal privacy with applications knowing and reporting their locations. I think as the year goes on, we’ll start seeing people loosen up and location based interaction becoming more popular.  A big part of what’s leading into this has been the progress already made by applications like Layar (Reality Browser) and Sherpa, that use your location to inform you about your surroundings. While I was questionable about this premise at first, the idea started to grow on me as I read more about Gowalla and Foursquare and how they’re being used. A huge upside of applications like these, is that it is opening up a completely new type of marketing environment where companies will be able to reach nearby potential customers. I think it will be huge.

More entertainment applications! I think 2010 will bring a lot of new entertainment to Android devices, beyond games I think there will be new media outlets for the platform. Already, we have a wide variety of options for media types on Android.  While I personally don’t use my phone for music/movies, I think the ability to have a media marketplace on the phone will encourage healthy competition.

Last but not least, I think we’ll really see a whole slew of niche applications coming to Android. While other platforms have their own niche applications, the versatility of Android and ease of publication, will bring a lot of interest from companies trying to get more in touch with their audience/customers.

My friend was willing to let me post his picture on my blog so I could show off Photoshop’s Application on Android.  So let me start by thanking John.

Most of us have become accustom to hearing “oh that was Photoshop’d” however it’s no surprise that almost every picture sees some type of image editing process before it’s showed off.  What I haven’t seen, until recently, was a mobile platform for editing pictures on your phone. Surprisingly, this was a bare market, despite having most mobile phone cameras preform miserably.  So I welcome Photoshop’s Android application with open arms.

First thing I want to say, is this isn’t going to be a full featured image editing system, hell it’s FREE. Naturally, it isn’t loaded with all the tweaking tools that the full desktop application carries, however I think it’s enough to preform quick touch ups on photo’s before uploading to Twitter or Facebook while still at your party.

By limited functions, the application includes tweaking for exposure, tint, saturation and even soft focus.  The application also lets you rotate, straighten, crop and flip the image in case you got some funky angle and don’t want to look like you were preparing for a Myspace photo contest (you know who you are).  To me, this is more then plenty for a mobile device.  Frankly, I don’t think I have enough screen real estate at times for using Photoshop on my desktop, so what else could I ask for on my G1?

As Androidandme.com mentioned, the app runs in the background CONSTANTLY.  Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue for me, hell background apps are what make the Android awesome, however Photoshop doesn’t need to run in the background for any reason that I can imagine. Another frustration is that it is hard to take screenshots from inside the application so it’s hard to show you what was going on when I edited the pictures below.

Another issue I had was that you have to preform manipulation by touching the screen, this is a bit touchy so it gets in the way while trying to make fine adjustments.  I’d much prefer a wider range on the manipulation, as well as the ability to do so through the trackball instead of just using the screen.

Overall, I’d rate this application 8/10 as it keeps growing on me the more I use it.  Initially I was as skeptical as the next, but I found that it really serves its purpose and does so well.  I think if they removed the consistent running in the background and opened up the ranges for manipulation a bit, it would make the application a lot stronger.

Here are some images I manipulated in Photoshop:

After a few years of “dealing” with AT&T I have most recently switched to T-Mobile about 6 months ago. For the longest time I was one of the people that always said “Oh nothing will ever be greater than my iPhone.”  Well truth be told the Motorola Cliq has just hit a home run with me, that’s right android has won my heart haha. Granted the iPhone was a pretty big hit over the past 2+ years but in retrospect I only ever used the phone for games or apps that helped pass the time while I was sitting in sociology lectures. Sure they had some decent apps for your social networking sites, but this is where the Cliq stands very strong. One touch status updates will automatically direct all status’ to Facebook, Twitter, Myspace wherever all at once. The iPhone forces you to select app, wait for it to load, and then login. With the Cliq it’s simply, touch and go. This phone is a socializing giant and I have a feeling iPhone app developers are falling all over themselves to try and jump on the bandwagon to try and compete. They better be working quickly because the MOTOBLUR is expected to be running on more than ten devices in the coming months.

Like I’ve stated I have had T-Mobile for a while now and it’s not just the new phone that I am so happy with, I am more so overwhelmed by their generosity and customer service. The last thing I remember getting from AT&T was my iPhone and I was “assisted” by some cold, hard headed, foreign bitch that didn’t want to do anything! I straight up left the store and ended up ordering one online instead of dealing with that. After my contract ended there was no way I was staying with AT&T. I was either going to hack the iPhone and use it on T-Mobile or just get a new phone when I switched. Long story short I gave up on the iPhone. After a few months of using a Blackberry 8320 and a Moto Zine I decided to look into upgrading my plan which consisted of 600 minutes and unlimited texts. After a day of deliberation and much help from T-Mobiles customer service and billing department I decided on getting the new Moto Cliq and the Even More Plus plan that included 1000 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data which only amounted to $20 more a month than I was all ready paying.

All in all T-Mobile gets a well deserved 10 out of 10. With such strong phones like the G1, Moto Cliq, MyTouch, and numerous others that will come out running android, you pair that up with their new rate plans and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if people start dropping their current providers at the end of their contracts and start switching.