I just posted an article on ZDNet about my thoughts regarding adoption of Windows Phone 7 by Nokia in regards to Zune  Marketplace services and as you can read the Windows Phone 7 experience is very broken outside the US. In my opinion, the memo supposedly from Stephen Elop has a very US-based focus which is great for Nokia fans in the US like me, but just doesn’t feel quite right for Nokia.

I now have two Windows Phone 7 devices that I use on T-Mobile, the HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro, and I personally find them both to be quite fantastic with Xbox LIVE games, Zune music services and streaming, awesome applications in a Marketplace just getting past 8,000 apps, and a very fun and fresh UI. As I point out though, these services and experiences are NOT what people around the world will see on a Nokia Windows Phone 7 device. If Nokia’s intent with WP7 is to focus these devices on the US and UK, then maybe this strategy will add a few thousand more users. However, Nokia doesn’t have a high end brand association here in the US so they would have to tell the story of both their hardware and the slowly rolling out Windows Phone 7 platform. Going with WP7 is not an easy task and Nokia will have to work just as hard to sell them as they would by putting efforts into MeeGo or Symbian with full Qt support.

View full post on Nokia Experts

Like many people who work out of a home office, my workspace began as a bit of a hodgepodge of re-purposed furniture along with a few new pieces that got the job done. The bulk of my budget was dedicated toward equipment: computers, monitors, printers and the like. This served me well during the years that I was writing on a part-time basis, but when I transitioned to full-time several years ago, I discovered that ergonomics were a lot more important when you’re at the keyboard for 8 hours or more every day (as opposed to a few hours in the evening). Last year I embarked on a project to upgrade my office. I kept it quirky and reflective of my somewhat geeky style, but the goal was to set up a workspace that wouldn’t land me in physiotherapy after a few years. The final piece of the puzzle was a tough one. The chair. I’d invested in an overstuffed, soft leather number way back when and over the years it’s become perfectly molded. The problem is that while it’s comfortable to lounge in for a few hours, as a work chair, it’s not exactly the poster child for ergonomics. I’ve been lusting after a Herman Miller Embody, the chair that epitomized what I wanted: comfortable, ergonomic, well built and a bit on the funky side. I was recently at a conference where a Herman Miller dealer was set up and spent an inordinate amount of time collapsed in an Embody while a sales rep insisted that there were ways to ratchet that $1,600 price tag down to a more pedestrian $1,200 or so -but if I have to lop off all the features, that’s kind of pointless. I also looked at models from Ergohuman and Steelcase, but they remained elusively difficult to justify. Enter Lexington Modern and the Future Chair.

Future Chair (in black mesh with headrest). Image from Lexington Modern

I hadn’t heard of Lexington Modern before, but they came to my attention as the manufacturer of the Future Chair, a premium, ergonomic office chair that’s priced up there with those others (MSRP is $940); however, by ordering directly from the manufacturer, you can pick one up for $399, which is suddenly a very compelling price point. The question for me was: after spending hours in an Embody, would the Future Chair seem like a viable alternative, or feel like slumming it in a cheaper wannabe?

Lexington Modern shipped up a review model to try out. Delivery coincided with four feet of snow over several days that shut down Canada Post and courier deliveries in London (Ontario) for three days, and when the chair arrived the poor Fedex guy did not enjoy the experience of trying to haul the sizable box from the street up to my house with a hand trolley- a sled probably would have done better. The chair came in several pieces that took all of 10 minutes to assemble. Construction features a heavy, highly polished and reassuringly solid metal framework. I dragged it down to the office (all that metal means it’s not light) and set it up.

The model I was testing featured a black, all mesh back and seat, as well as an adjustable headrest. Low back and non-headrest versions are available, as is a leather seat or (low back only) an all leather option. Unlike other manufacturers that offer a fabric book full of color and pattern options, the Future Chair is available only in gray or black, so if colors are a deal breaker for you, this chair isn’t going to cut it. That being said, black and chrome make for a very sleek look. Where it counts -adjustability and comfort- the Future Chair hits all the right notes. The arm rests are fully adjustable (height, forward/backward and pivoting in and out), the headrest is height and angle adjustable, the seat slides forward and backward (as well as the expected pneumatic up and down), the chair can recline (with adjustable tension) and there’s adjustable lumbar support. The mesh fabric was breathable and flexible, but taunt enough to provide support across the entire back. They also included a “hanger” on the back of the chair for accommodating a jacket. Adjustment levers are intuitive, easy to access without having to get off the chair and clearly labeled. I was soon able to fine tune the chair to the point where it fits and supports me perfectly and have gone through several marathon writing sessions without feeling the least bit fatigued. My only issue has been that the adjustments for arm rest pivoting and headrest height are meant to be easily adjustable, but on the review unit, they were a little too easy to accidentally change. The headrest in particular, would slide down to its lowest position if someone were walk up and put their hand on it for support. The manufacturer says there should be enough tension to prevent this, so maybe the review unit has an issue, but I’d like to see the ability to lock those adjustments.

Future Chair looks right at home in the "business corner" of my home office. Photo by Brad Moon

So, after several weeks of putting the Future Chair through its paces, is it indeed a worthy alternative to an Embody? I think it is. It doesn’t have the famous name on it, but the Future Chair doesn’t feel or look like a compromise, whereas the new lower end alternatives from the big manufacturers (like Herman Miller’s own SAYL) do. It’s comfortable, solid, adjustable and has that ultra-modern look. Minor quibbles like the lack of upholstery options and a few adjustments that I would have liked to see made lockable aside, the only thing I couldn’t account for is durability. While Herman Miller offers a 12 year warranty on its uber-chair, the Future Chair is backed for one year. However, having examined the mechanics and experienced the solid construction, I don’t see any obvious failure points in the chair that would leave me concerned about how it will perform after a few years of use. Stay tuned on that one, I guess.

Disclosure: Lexington Modern provided a Future Chair for this review.

Future Chair by Lexington Modern
MSRP (as tested): $940 (note: available for $399 direct)

Wired: Offers full range of ergonomic adjustments, solid build quality, very attractive and modern look, relative bargain price (when ordered direct).

Tired: Color options are limited, some adjustments (headrest height and arm rest pivots in particular) would benefit from either tighter stops or the ability to lock into position.

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One of the great things about Android is the freedom to customize your device in just about any way you’d like (assuming you’re willing to root it). Enter kiteUI, a concept user interface which aims to completely turn the traditional Android UI upside down. The interface takes on a minimalistic, yet stylish, approach to navigating the homescreen, breaking the various screens into different levels rather than having five or seven completely different screens.

The project is being spearheaded by XDA member Liquidice, who is currently looking for some more coders to join the team. Continue after the break to check out the concept video, and hit up the source link if you’re interested in getting involved.

Read More…

kiteUI looks to bring a new UI experience to Android

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Yesterday I wrote a post listing the 20 things I love and 5 things I don’t in regards to the Nokia N8. I personally love the fact that Nokia personnel reached out to me regarding the things that I personally don’t like at the moment as it shows me they really do care and are listening. I don’t consider myself that important for Nokia to pay so much attention to, but appreciate their assistance.

After Chanse Arrington reached out to me via Twitter to offer the following comment, I tried what he said and would like to give him a hug

For the best experience on N8 in landscape keyboard options turn on word completion, prediction, and text correction to “show suggestion”

I figured out how to enable what he suggested and saw that I had just tried the prediction on method at first and found that to be a failure. I will list the exact steps below because it isn’t as simple as you might think and IMHO the N8 units should come setup like this out of the box.

You might think you just go into settings and find something for keyboard to make these selections, but you would be wrong. The hidden settings sprinkled throughout the operating system is one area that Nokia needs to address in the future, but since I am a geek I know to keep hunting until I find what I need so here is what I recommend you do with your N8:

1. Launch Notes and tap to create a new one.
2. Rotate your N8 into landscape orientation. This MUST be done to access the proper settings.
3. Tap the 3 line key between the forward arrow and return key.
4. Tap Input options>Activate prediction.
5. Again tap the 3 line key.
6. Tap Input options>Settings.
7. In here tap to turn on word auto-completion, text correction level to high, and text correction mode to show suggestion.

I am not positive about the correction level at high, but it sounds good. I have to admit that after making these selections the landscape QWERTY keyboard is indeed much better.

However, I tried to make it clear in my post that the keyboard itself isn’t that bad, but it is the way it is implemented where you have to jump into a completely different keyboard entry area out of apps to enter text and there is no smaller QWERTY in portrait mode.

View full post on Nokia Experts

Zoodles is an application that specialises in creating an educational and fun experience for children on computers. Now Zoodles is taking their success from the desktop environment to the Android platform.

With this application installed you can allow your smartphone to be ‘played’ with by your children with out the fear that you will retrieve your phone with all your contacts, emails, and other applications in a complete mess. Zoodles locks down your Android handset, keeping prying minds away from what you don’t want them to ruin. Essentially it provides a ‘Kids Mode’ for the Android Operating System.

Children can choose from hundreds of educational games, videos and puzzles, all available free of charge. On top of this, the app only delivers content that the child is capable of dealing with. For example, if the child has not yet got the ability to read, then the app provides content that caters for that.

Zoodles is available for free, and there is a 14 day trial for people who want to try a premium version.

View full post on Google Android News Android Forums

Lydia from WOMWorld just sent me an email with a link to the below embedded YouTube video experience. I have never before seen such an interactive video on YouTube before where the viewer, you, makes decisions on what you want to see right on the video that appears. As you can see you can choose to watch one of the three (or go back and watch all of them) people to unbox a Nokia N8. After the unboxing, you will see several options appear for you to click on to view more of the details and functions of the Nokia N8. The quality is superb and I am now more excited than ever to get a chance to try out a Nokia N8 for myself next week.

OK, so which unboxing did you choose first? I started with Suzy just because I like the green N8

View full post on Nokia Experts

OK, since news is a bit slow as we approach Nokia World (you do know I will be there, right?) it is a good time to see what is cooking over at Nokia Beta Labs. We are at the tail end of the summer here in Washington State and I am finding that mobile phone photos are not turning out very well with all of the background light. I just read on the Nokia Beta Labs blog that there two new applications for the Nokia N900 that look to take the camera to the next level. The HDR Capture application is designed for those situations when you are taking a photo with an open window with light behind the subject. The Lowlight Assistant is designed to help in situations when there is light, but not enough to give you a good photo.

Check out the samples and more details on the Nokia Beta Labs site. You can then sign into your Nokia account and download the apps.

View full post on Nokia Experts

Now that I am back to using my Nokia N900 much more I was excited to read the news on Engadget this morning that the Game Gripper is now available for pre-ordering for the Nokia N900. I just ordered one with an extra set of buttons for my N900 since I have my N900 loaded with SNES and ColecoVision games.

I grew up with the ColecoVision as one of my first gaming system and still vividly remember when my brother and I stayed up most all of that Christmas night playing games. I now have Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Zaxxon, Frogger, Galaxian, Pitfall, and Star Wars loaded on my N900. I also was a big fan of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and have Donkey Kong Country, Pitfall, and more loaded with this emulator. Emulator games play very well on the Nokia N900 and as an old-timer I am really loving it as a gaming system. With the Game Gripper I should be able to enjoy the games even more.

Do you enjoy playing emulated games on your Nokia N900 too? If so, what are your favorite games?

View full post on Nokia Experts

After the announcement of Android 2.2 and all of the great features we’d be getting with it, we found it hard to come up with more useful features that would take Android even further. It looks like Google’s satisfied with the functionality side of things, too, as now they’re going to be working very heavily overhauling the user experience.

This move isn’t only something Google’s wanted to do since Android 1.0 was released, it’s something they hope will continue to cut down on fragmentation by providing a default skin and enhanced core functionality that their manufacturing partners will be proud to adopt (as TechCrunch describes it, it will essentially make the need for custom skins “pointless”).

All of this will be coming with Gingerbread, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves: we still have yet to finish our bowl of Froyo.

[via TechCrunch]

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Vopium is one of a group of apps that uses a Wi-Fi connection to make and receive phone calls and text messages. It is a good concept—the more one can avoid AT&T’s spotty network, the better. Plus any calls made over the Internet don’t incur minutes against a calling plan.

AT&T’s recent lifting of its policy against using 3G for VoIP calls means that apps like Vopium can also be used on its network. VoIP apps have also proven to be a popular method to make international calls due mostly to the lower price. New users even get 15 minutes of talk time and 15 text messages when signing up for service.

Vopium allows free calls to other Vopium customers as well as users of Google Talk or Skype. (…)
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Vopium Offers Limited Phone Experience | Best iPad Apps | Best Free Apps

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Due to the nature of this release, I’ve written this review in an entirely different style. I hope it doesn’t annoy the lot of you, but it’s literally how I perceived the app as soon as I installed it on my phone. While long-term usage isn’t reflected in my tests, the review should still give you a pretty good idea of the quality you can expect with the installation of this app.

Additionally, I hope to bring you guys a full gallery of pictures as well as a video run-through very soon for the many people unable to try the app out on their sub-2.1 devices.

We first saw Twitter get official apps on both the Blackberry and iPhone platforms. Pondering when Android might get its own official treatment, we wondered if Twitter would develop their own Android app or acquire an existing one like they did with Tweetie. We have our answer, and we’re blown away by the potential that this app has (and the innovation that it brings to the Android market in its entirety).

Upon starting the app, I’m greeted with the usual login screen asking simply for my username and password. It’s what immediately follows that blows me away in more ways than one: Twitter asked if I would like it to link my friends up to contacts in my phone. I opted not to do this as I don’t have many personal contacts that use Twitter, but Twitter’s initiative to integrate this into their app screams “this is how it’s done”. It’s clear why the app is exclusive to Android 2.1 and beyond: the app tailors to specific features within the core of Android itself.

Excitedly, I move on from that screen and am quickly taken to a nice looking launch screen (reminiscent to what you’d get upon launching the Facebook app). If nothing else, Twitter really shines as an app that shows the potential of the Android OS that’s yet to be unlocked by a majority of developers out there. Animated backgrounds constitute the stunning effect of blue and gray clouds moving across the screen, trending topics pop up at the bottom of the app in fluid motion, and clean, stylized icons make you “feel” like you’re using Twitter. That last bit may be somewhat on the weird side, but there’s an indescribable feeling you get when everything looks and feels official.

Clicking near those speech bubbles at the bottom brings up the full offering of trends as you can navigate between current, daily, and weekly happenings. Everything you expect to see from the trends API shows up here, and the app even graciously lets you know how long ago the list has been updated. Straight from here, you can go into the full search view using the icon that resembles a magnifying glass in the upper left corner. You’re given the text box to enter the search term, as expected, but you’re also given a unique set of search options that – up until now – has not been implemented in any Twitter app.

You can search by location using a toggle below the search field, and you’re able to differentiate the search between people or tweets. I’ve only seen a handful of apps allow you to search people, so it’s a very welcome addition. Even the apps that I did find it in limited you to just opening specific usernames, while Twitter’s search digs into the profile data, as well. I want to send out a tweet now, so I jump directly back to the homescreen by touching the Twitter logo at the top of the app (it must’ve gotten happy when I touched it because it glowed). On the compose screen, everything looks like business as usual: you’re given a box to type in, the ability to upload photos, and you can add specific usernames to your tweet in case you need to mention that one person who always changes their name.

I decided I wanted to upload some video for this tweet, but unfortunately the option wasn’t there. I’ll take a photo, instead. Twitpic integration comes with the app and Twitter does so elegantly. When I returned to my timeline to check out the tweet I just sent, I can see the picture I uploaded integrated directly into the timeline: a real treat that a lot of apps just don’t provide. Unfortunately, electing to see the pic in a larger view takes you out of the app and into the browser, but this is a huge nitpick on my part.

Hitting the back button to get back to the app, I notice someone replied to my tweet. Thanks to my short term memory loss, I forgot which tweet they were responding to and frantically searched for a way to view the conversation. There was just one problem: Twitter didn’t code a true conversation view. Instead, I have to click the “in reply to” link (click-able directly on the tweet itself) over and over until I drill down to where I need to go. It’s a cumbersome drawback, but I’ll deal with it, for now.

After getting my refresher, I want to check out my friend’s profile to see if they’ve made any changes to their profile. By clicking the icon above his picture, I can also jump into another sizable list of options to access: who’s following them? Who are they following? What lists are they involved with? What tweets have they favorited recently? All of this is accessible with your own profile, as well, with the obvious added benefit to edit all of your information besides the day you became a tweeter (or twitterer? twatter? You decide.)

Even with my qualms with Twitter’s native retweet system, I must accept the fact that people use it. As most third-party apps have already taken advantage of the new APIs that Twitter offers, I wasn’t surprised to see it fully implemented here. It’s invaluable to not only see the list of tweets that have been retweeted by the people I follow, but also to see who’s been retweeting you (and stuff retweeted by you, for good measure.)

I wanted to retweet something my friend posted that I thought my followers would enjoy, and I also wanted to append my own commentary to it, while I’m at it. While I can’t fault Twitter for it, there is no official way to facilitate old-style retweets. There is a very cumbersome work-around (using Android’s native “Share” feature, but I’d rather not have to deal with it. It’s a disappointment, for sure, so here’s hoping Twitter plans to bring it in future updates.

Falling victim to the advent of native retweets, I reluctantly went through the operation and returned to the home screen to do some more of my blue-bird bidding. I haven’t had any direct messages recently, but it appears my inbox and outbox have synched up just fine. Next, I check out lists. I’m listed by quite a few people on my personal account (not nearly as many as the Phandroid Twitter account) and I can see these lists just fine. Tweets from the other members of the list are aggregated alongside mine, and I can see who’s following the list, too.

Everything is as you would expect, with the app even giving you the option to set up a new list (and to dictate the privacy settings for it). I rarely use lists on Twitter, but I created one for the sake of a review. It took me a while to find out how to add someone to it, but after figuring out that you had to goto the user’s profile and hit the menu button, I was on my way.

Finally, after exploring every corner of the app (and deciding that I wanted to use it on a daily basis) I headed into the settings menu to customize my experience. If I ever get annoyed with animated backgrounds (and I probably won’t) I can shut them off with ease. I’m able to select the specific URL-shortening service I want to use, too, which is surprising seeing as Twitter dubbed http://bit.ly as their official URL provider. I’m also given my choice of picture uploading sites, as well. You only get a couple of settings per function, but more could definitely be added in the future.

Notification options are in-tune with what you’d get on an ordinary app, too, allowing you to set refresh intervals, LED options, the types of tweets you’d like to check for, and the sound you want it to play when new tweets fly in (pun is crucial to a successful diet, folks). Anyway, after setting the app up how I like it, I’m good to go. I almost forgot that Android supports widgets, though. I back out to my phone’s homescreen and long-press an empty desktop to see if there are any widget options available: you can choose between a small and large widget to pretty your homescreen with.

Much like Facebook’s widget, you’re given a single tweet at a time with the user’s picture and name to identify (as well as the time, client, and who they’re replying to, if applicable). Navigating tweets is done in similar fashion, too, using left and right arrows to bring up the next one in the queue (in contrast, the small widget only shows the latest tweet). One thing I didn’t understand is why you’re able to reply to a specific tweet from the small widget, while you only have the ability to compose an entirely new tweet from the bigger widget. Fortunately, going into the timeline via the widget itself helps alleviate the pain, but those 2 seconds of time I wasted could’ve gone toward my weird addiction to Twitter.

The Pros:

• This just looks like the Twitter client you’d expect from Twitter themselves. The beautiful interface (including the stunning animated backgrounds) sets a new standard for Android apps (of all types)
• The application integrates nicely with the core Android operating system, housing the ability to link your contacts up with your Twitter friends to see tweets in the address book
• Integrates Twitter’s core features with great depth, allowing you to effectively replace the actual Twitter site
• Allows a degree of customization that you might not expect from an official app.

The Cons:

The Bottom Line:

If you’re a Twitter user (and the lack of old-style retweets doesn’t completely ruin your Twitter experience) you will want this app – that’s granted you are on a device with an up-to-date firmware. I’d love to see Twitter bring out a stripped version of the app for other firmware versions, but for now a lot of people are going to have to do without. Still, the app itself is a development milestone that all developers should strive to match. If only for its UI features alone, it echoes the potential that Android has to create beautiful, compelling, and feature-rich applications that works without fail. While it won’t draw everyone in (especially if you have something against the color blue), you owe it to yourself to at least give it a download and see if you like it for yourself.

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Be sure to check back frequently as we’ll be bringing you more reviews of some of the premier twitter apps that the Android market has to offer. If there’s a review for an app you want to see in particular, let it be known in the comments below! Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter if you haven’t already.

Other posts in the Twitwars series: Twidgit Lite, Twidroid, Twicca

View full post on Android Phone Fans

Anyone who’s been with Android – and naturally, with Twitter – since the beginning knows the story about Twidroid: It was the first Twitter client on Android to set the bar of what a Twitter app should be. It gets a shaky reputation for being unreliable, somewhat unstable, and very inconsistent on its performance over time, but that was back in ‘08. It’s 2010 now, and Twidroid has grown a considerable amount since then. It’s even pioneered the advancement of new core Twitter features such as native retweets and list support.

We’re going to focus on what Twidroid is and not what it was: a damn good client that should be your first stop in the market if you need something to get all of your tweeting done. Twidroid’s user interface should stand out as remarkable to anyone that needs a good combination of features, usability, and aesthetics: it looks absolutely wonderful.

The default sky-blue theme fits well with the look and feel of Twitter.com itself, and the ability to switch between multiple themes in the “Pro” version grants you a degree of customization that isn’t often available in other clients.

Hi-res icons ensure that everything within the app look great, and on various screen sizes and resolutions. You can change font settings and even disable profile pictures for faster loading times and better performance. Twidroid steps away from the usual cast of icons to put its own spin on the different functions you can tap into. There’s a lot more substance beyond the app’s looks, though.

This high degree of style doesn’t come with any notable performance issues. The Twidroid of today is miles ahead of the version we were treated to just months ago: tweets load exceptionally fast, navigating through the interface and scrolling through the timeline is a lot smoother, and I rarely, if ever, run into any force close issues.

Those are all things you expect from any application, though, but Twidroid packs a powerful feature set that a lot of apps can’t hold a candle to. In the pro version especially, multiple account support (with combined or swipe-able view) is a god-send for those of us who need to handle multiple accounts. Usually, you’ll have to look to a desktop client to get that sort of functionality but Twidroid manages to put it all in the palm of your hand.

Managing multiple accounts is simple, but I would love it if I could select multiple accounts from which to tweet (currently, you can only select one at a time). I also found it quite confusing to delete an account: naturally I’d long-press on the list item and expect to find an option there, but instead you have to press the Account and then press your phone’s “Menu” button to find an option to delete.

That was a minor annoyance, though, which doesn’t bother me as much now that I at least know how to get to it (and honestly, who’s going to be deleting accounts that much anyway?). Other useful features that you won’t find in many other clients is the ability to reply to all (so you don’t have to type each name separately if multiple people were mentioned), auto-complete usernames whenever you press use the “@” character (in case you can’t remember the exact twitter name of someone you follow) and in-depth search features to ensure you stay on top of whatever you’re looking for.

Specifically for search, I would love to see some options for setting local Trend and Search options – even if divisible by country alone – so I can weed out some of the tweets that I can’t even understand. Everything else here seems to be top-notch, including support for saving your search terms and synching them to the Twitter server, as well as a Twittersphere option that’ll pull up a list of links related to what’s trending on Twitter at the time.

Composing a tweet is very simple as the app presents you with a collapsable interface to write your tweet, attach files, and send it off into the cloud, but there are some annoyances here. For starters, if you’re a fan of using a d-pad or trackball, it’s rather difficult to navigate the composition window as there is no graphical queue to tell you what’s currently highlighted. Another frustration presents itself when you’re using a phone with a smaller screen (or even any phone in landscape view) and the window takes up half of the real estate.

This might not seem like a deal breaker to some as you’ll most likely be focusing on the tweet you’re writing, but if you are using a large font style and need to go back and forth to reference something in a particular tweet, it does a fantastic job of getting in the way. Check out the gallery of screenshots at the end of this review for examples of what I mean.

That’s very nitpicky stuff, though. Beyond the stream of updates you’ll be getting, Twidroid equips you with an impressive set of preferences you’ll want to dive into to make the app behave exactly as you need it to. There are a ton of options here and it would take too much time to go into each one for the sake of this review’s length (and for the sake of your insanity).

Luckily, whatever you think you’ll need to change will most likely be customizable. From the photo provider you want when you upload those quick pics to changing even the smallest nuance of notification preferences, if Twidroid isn’t what you want it to be out of the box then I’m pretty sure you can make it what you want.

Twidroid was and continues to be an app of firsts in the Twitter space. That continues with its unique – and now imitated – ability to bring plugins into the mix. If you’re a developer, you can create plugins that interface directly with Twidroid to extend its features beyond what you get with the 1.7mb download that this clocks in at. There is very little support right now – There are only two plugins known to exist – but what’s out there shows just how well built Twidroid’s engine is and how extensible it can be. Hopefully, with time, more developrs begin to support this functionality (which I can only describe at this point as virtually useless to the end user).

The Pros:

• An extremely large feature set which includes multiple accounts, a reply-to-all feature, and more
• In-depth customization of every corner of the app
• Great looking app with options to change colors and other appearance settings
• Multiple widget styles in the “Pro” version that give you a great look at the latest tweet information on your homescreen

The Cons:

• Jumping between timelines is somewhat clunky when you have the “remember timeline position option enabled”
• Hashtags can get messed up due to punctuation
• Geo-information seems to work only when it wants to

The Bottom Line:

The guys behind Twidroid work hard on this app to ensure its quality is upheld over its development cycle, and it shows. There are still a few annoyances here and there – such as punctuation being used in the link of a hashtag if there is no space between them – but punch for punch, you’d be hard-pressed to find another Twitter client that gives you this much control over your 140-character life. Try out the free version, and if the features of the pro version house functionality that you can’t go day-to-day without, then I’m sure you won’t even care about the $5 you’ll have to shell out for it. For more details on Twidroid plugins and the differences between the Free and Pro versions, visit http://www.twidroid.com

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Be sure to check back frequently as we’ll be bringing you more reviews of some of the premier twitter apps that the Android market has to offer. If there’s a review for an app you want to see in particular, let it be known in the comments below! Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter if you haven’t already.

Other posts in the Twitwars series: Twidgit Lite

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