Another Inside Look at Twitter for BlackBerry – Beta v1.0.0.37

A couple months ago I took you inside the first Twitter for BlackBerry® beta app and shared my likes and dislikes. While I was impressed with the app’s GUI, color scheme, and features, I was disappointed with the basic features it lacked and its sluggish performance. Nonetheless, today I got my hands on the new Twitter for BlackBerry® beta v1.0.0.37 and all I can say is “amazing” – simply amazing. This new version of Twitter for BlackBerry® is a pleasure to use now that RIM added several features, made improvements to existing features, and now uses data cache to speed up performance.

The features in this new version of Twitter for BlackBerry® include:

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An Inside Look at the Twitter for BlackBerry App

Research In Motion (RIM) introduced the first version of Twitter for BlackBerry® on Thursday and allowed users with an invite code to take the app for a test drive. I managed to get my hands on the Twitter for BlackBerry® app and at first glance I really liked what I saw. The GUI was clean, the color scheme was attractive, and the app was loaded with features. It appeared to be far more advanced than any of the other BlackBerry Twitter apps that I have seen, but as I started messing around with it there were a few features that I felt could have used some improvement and the overall performance was quite sluggish. I’ll explain that in greater detail a bit later, but first let me give a quick preview of the app.

According to the Inside BlackBerry blog, Twitter for BlackBerry® was designed to integrate seamlessly with the Blackberry platform so it would create a familiar experience for both BlackBerry and Twitter users. Upon launching Twitter for BlackBerry® you are presented with a stylish home screen which contains seven navigation icons: Home, Mentions, My Profile, Direct Messages, Find People, Search, and Popular Topics. Just below the home navigation bar is the status update field where you can type your tweets and the remaining portion of the screen is your Twitter timeline. I have used just about every BlackBerry Twitter app from TwitterBerry to UberTwitter to SocialScope and while SocialScope has always been my preferred app, Twitter for BlackBerry® crushes the competition when it comes to its GUI and with a little work and some additional features it should set the new standard for BlackBerry Twitter apps.

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Twitter Launches Hovercards

Twitter has just announced a new profile preview feature they are rolling out called “Hovercards.” Hovercards are cards that display additional information about an individual when you hover over a username or avatar in your timeline and will also allow you to interact with the individual without having to navigate away from your Twitter Web page. Hovercards will display basic information about an individual such as their location and whether or not you follow them. However, there is an expanded view of the card that will display their Web site, bio, latest tweet, number of tweets, number of people they follow, number of people that follow them, lists, and a dropdown menu of options. According to the announcement posted on Twitter’s blog, the new feature was developed to make it a simple process for users to access individual’s profile information without having to spend time visiting their profile page. If you access Twitter via Twitter.com then this new feature should make your experience a lot easier when you are interested in gathering information about another Twitter user.

This new feature is being rolled out in stages over time so it is not active for all Twitter users yet. Keep in mind that this feature is only useful if you are using Twitter.com.

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