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Does Twitter Have An Internal iPhone App?

Posted on November 7, 2009 by jessestay

A while back I was surfing the Twitter developers wiki and noticed 2 interesting images uploaded by Ryan Sarver, Twitter’s Platform Project Manager. One of the images looks like a very rough status message entry screen, with a toggle button for Twitter’s new geolocation feature. This same feature just launched in read-only mode on Seesmic’s new desktop app yesterday. The second image is what looks like a screenshot of an iPhone screen prompting the user to enable Geolocation, taking the user to their Geolocation settings to enable it on a user’s account.

Then, today, Robert Scoble pointed out that you could see the new Geolocation feature launched in Seesmic Desktop in action by viewing Ryan Sarver’s tweets in the Twitter client. This makes me wonder how Ryan is broadcasting his location. Does Twitter have an internal iPhone app they are using, or are these just proof of concept images for other developers to use in their own apps?

Twitter has long been criticized for the lack of a good native mobile client. They have also admitted in the past that a new version of at least the mobile web client is in the roadmap. Could they be taking this a step further and building an entire iPhone app out of it?

Based on current facts the natural assumption would be that this is just an internal app they are using to test out mobile features like geo-location. The roughness of the screenshots and focus on just geolocation that we know of thus far lends to that conclusion. However, it’s important for all developers to be prepared, and be aware that in any market sustained by just Twitter your greatest competitor could just be your supplier of information (a concept I learned in business school), Twitter itself. If you’re developing an iPhone or mobile app for Twitter this is indeed something you should always be prepared for.

Here are the screenshots – you tell me. Is Twitter building an internal iPhone app?

Twitter Hires Another Facebook Veteran

Posted on November 5, 2009 by jessestay

According to Twitter’s Team list, Brian Sutorius, who, according to his Facebook profile, was previously on Facebook’s Platform Policy team, is now Twitter’s newest API Support team member. After the loss of Alex Payne moving to more operational roles, and Chad Etzel, who was on a contract basis with the team, Sutorius joins the likes of Ryan Sarver and Doug Williams in the Support role. Twitter’s API Support team are in charge of managing the Twitter development mailing list and ensuring the Twitter API is managed properly.

Sutorius worked since July of 2007 on Facebook’s Platform Policy team, the team at Facebook in charge of enforcing policy infringements on Facebook’s developer platform. The team ensures applications are following policy, not storing information more than 24 hours, aren’t serving deceptive ads, etc. Now it would appear he could be doing similar things on a team working to shore up its own platform policy agreement. Brian was there when Facebook grew through their own policy changes – Facebook Platform was launched around May of 2007.

It’s exciting to see Twitter bringing more veteran talent into their team. With the previous hire of Josh Elman, Facebook’s former Platform Manager, and now Brian Sutorius, Twitter is solidifying its effort to innovate and bring Twitter closer to Facebook as a competitor. As I said earlier, it’s these types of hires that are making me more excited about Twitter. We’ll see if they live up to the people they’re hiring and keep things moving forward.

Screenshots Emerge of the New Twitter Retweet Feature

Posted on November 5, 2009 by jessestay

Nick Shin just wrote me mentioning he has the new Twitter retweet feature on his account, @marketwire. He wrote about it on his blog which you can read here. It would appear it works very much in a similar way to how Twitter original mentioned.

To start, users with this feature will have a message at the top of their stream mentioning they have the new features. Each Tweet in your timeline on Twitter.com will have a new “retweet” icon that appears similar to the “reply” link when you mouse over a Tweet. When you click on it, you are asked if you want to retweet the message. Click “yes”, and it gets popped at the top of your friends’ streams, along with a mention that you retweeted it (this is very similar to the way “likes” work on FriendFeed – the message keeps getting recycled so long as people keep liking it).

Underneath each message, it lists each user that retweeted the post. Instead of being icons of each user, it looks like Twitter is now going the FriendFeed method and listing out the text usernames of each user. This also brings more discovery potential for each user that retweeted it.

So, today marks the day Twitter grows even more like FriendFeed it would seem. I think this will eventually become even more powerful than the old-form “RT soandso” format because it is much easier to just click a button than type text, but we’ll see how frequently people use this and if the old style continues to be tradition as it is today. “Retweets” are the new like. Do you have it? Do you “like” the new retweet feature?

The images above are just 2 of the images listed on Nick Shinn’s blog. Be sure to check out his blog for more screenshots and info. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Paypal Pays Off With Paypal X Innovate Conference

Posted on November 4, 2009 by jessestay

Paypal has spent awhile now planning a conference for developers which they would be able to announce their new Paypal X developer platform for flexible payments. I’ve talked to Sudha Jamthe, in charge of many of their social media promotion efforts for awhile now, and I know they’ve really been looking forward to this event. I must say their planning and preparation for this event have truly “paid off”, as audience reaction has been spectacular, many stating on Twitter that the event was one of the best events they’ve ever attended, others saying it was “one for the record books”. I must agree.

Internet problems yesterday aside (today seems to be a little better), Paypal has aimed to please. Starting off with some amazing keynotes and announcements of an incredible flexible payments platform for developers showcasing some amazing companies that have implemented this platform, it just didn’t stop there! Paypal continued to impress, offering every developer at the event a free Eee PC Netbook. The internet quickly went down from additional traffic. 🙂

The event was filled to the brim with snacks, food, drinks, and things to feed developers brains as they would think of the next big idea utilizing the Paypal X developer platform. Freebies were everywhere. Sessions included all kinds of howtos and tutorials on how to implement the platform.

Then, concluding the event, an amazing party ensued full of speed painters, dancing, music, “Stomp”-like performers, drinks, food, and more. Audience members and attendees were able to truly build connections with each other. They were treated like royalty, and their brains and stomachs were fed.

Paypal has done an amazing job at this conference. It’s something that many, including myself will remember for years to come. Thank you, Paypal, for allowing me the opportunity to come out and be a part of this amazing experience. I hope there are many more to come and others will also be able to experience this in the future. Paypal truly understands that developers are the “X” factor in their product. I’m stoked to see what I can do with it.