Twitter Transformation

For all you Twittertastic people out there, I’m sure you’ve noticed some changes to the site (or at least the ability to check the “New Twitter” out). Not only is the layout easier and more comprehensive, but it is infinitely more pleasing both in terms of aesthetics and content. To re-cap the improvements: location integration for statuses and trends, more information about the people you follow, what they’re tweeting, and what kinds of responses they’re getting, the ability to see all your and your friends’ retweets as well as tweets mentioning you in one place, and an overall updated look and feel.

However, why has the Twitter app not received a similar facelift — or is it in the works? I would go so far as to say that some of the updates to the web version are just plain necessary for the app since it is, well, just plain boring. Hopefully, if the changes are well received on the website, we will see some exciting additions to the app as well. I think it would be cool to see the ability to inject locations to your tweets, especially considering that the iPhone is a mobile device, and supplement these with pictures and videos from the various places you visit and tweet from. Similarly, location-based trends would be an essential way to add intrigue to the app. Also, since part of the allure of who is tweeting what are the details behind that tweet (e.g. who the tweeter actually is, who is responding to them and how, and related tweets), it will be necessary for the ability to expand tweets to include the same kinds of information that the web-version now offers. And the tab to see who’s mentioning you — it currently does nothing unless you’ve provided some hot topics, so the app developers should work on creating a tab that encompasses more generally who of your followers and followees are retweeting, who’s mentioning you, and what you’ve retweeted. Also, we can’t forget the Twitter word of the day. It is currently absent from the app, but needs to be a part of it, end of story. Finally, the app’s appearance is pretty drab, so that certainly needs a makeover as well. In essence, everything needs to be addressed and brought up to speed.

Furthermore, some of the third party Twitter apps (such as Echofon Pro for Twitter, TwitBird Pro for Twitter, and Twittelator Pro) implement similar ideas, from location-based tweets, to in-app messaging, to the ability to tweet everything from your voice to what music you’re playing, and superior aesthetics and UIs. Even though these apps tend to be on the pricier side, while the Twitter app itself is free, they provide strict competition, and we can expect to Twitter edged out if the need for improvements isn’t addressed.

Overall, I hope to see at least some of these changes make their way to the Twitter app. There is so much more to tweeting that the actual text, and the mobile developers need to realize that in the same way that the web developers have. Give the iPhone users something Twitterific to chirp about.


Read more: http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/2010/10/15/twitter-transformation/#ixzz12qNGWsnS

Pixels Pro is a New Graphics Editing App for the iPad

Pixels Pro is a new graphics editing program built from the ground up for the iPad and its amazing touch interface.

Simple. Intuitive. Powerful.

Pixels provides artists and creative professionals with the features of a top-tier graphics editing application in the palm of your hands. Come discover the unique features of Pixels. We promise it's not like any other graphics application for the iPad.

Features:
• Layers – Documents can have any number of layers to compose the final image. Each layer provides complete control of its contribution to the image using opacity, blending mode and layer masks for nondestructive editing.

• Selections - Advanced selection tools such as the Magic Wand are available as well as the simpler standard tools like marquee (rectangles, ellipses) and freeform path. Multiple selections can also be combined to create the exact selection the artist is trying to achieve.

• Brushes - All manner of brushes for painting are provided as defaults with the ability to create your own brush styles. Static brushes like airbrush and paint brush are available but brushes can also have dynamic properties like scattering and random sizes to create truly interesting styles.

• Fills - Solid and gradient fills are available in Pixels. Filling offers an array of blending and opacity choices as well as complex user definable gradients. Combined with selections these simple tools become immensely powerful.

• Text - Pixels provides a powerful text tool that can be used to create Text layers in any font available on your iPad along with the standard blending and opacity options of a layer.

• Filters - Layers or Selections can be filtered to achieve new looks using Pixels' provided filter library. Out of the box Pixels provides standard image filters such as brightness/contrast, level adjustment and blur. Along with the standard library of filters that comes with Pixels more are available through the in-application Filter Store.

• PSD Import/Export - Pixels can import complex PSD files for display and editing on your iPad. Pixels can export it documents to PSD, without losing any of information, which can them be opened and edited in any application that also supports PSD files. Importing PSD files, Pixels support most of the basic features, as well as some of the advanced features, of the file format to allow interoperation with applications that also support PSD files.

In addition to these features Pixels supports most of the basic operations of a graphics editing application. Transforming objects by moving, rotating and scaling them. Selecting colors in multiple colorspaces. User presets for brushes and gradients. In all there are too many features to list, get Pixels today and see for yourself.


You can purchase Pixels Pro from the App Store for $9.99.

Read More [via iPaDevice]