Tweetie 2: Is it worth it?

Tweetie 2 was approved by Apple and got into the App Store yesterday. Now, many people are complaining about the super affordable $3 price tag. C’mon people. This developer, Loren Brichter, spent months working on this app. Software takes time and money to develop. So stop complaining. It’s only $3. I usually don’t pay for apps–I’ve only bought three apps since I got my iPod touch–but Tweetie 2 is such a well-designed app that it deserved my $3.

So what’s new? According to Loren Brichter, Tweetie 2 is a brand new app, based on a brand new, super efficient and speedy core called “Bigbird.” What’s that for the user? It puts Tweetie 2 ahead of all other Twitter cleints for the iPhone. Here’s just some things that it can do:

• An awesome UI. Super smooth scrolling; swipe over a tweet to reveal options, refresh your feed with a gesture…
• Full offline browsing. Yep. Tweetie 2 lets you compose tweets, read tweets, everything–all offline. Everything is seamlessly cached, even avatars.
• Persistence. If you quit the app, it opens instantly back to where you were the next time you open it.
• Post photos and videos with any service you want: TwitPic, yFrog, TweetPhoto, Mobypicture, Twitgoo, Posterous, img.ly, TwitVid…
• Shorten URLs with any service you want: j.mp, bit.ly, TinyURL, is.gd, l.pr, u.nu, Linkyy…
• Geotag your tweets.
• Draft tweets so that you can send them later.
• Threaded Direct Messages that make it look like a conversation.
• View nearby tweets and see what’s around you.
• Live filter your stream. Using the iPhone 3.0 SDK’s live search technology, you can instantly search for anything in your stream.
• Landscape support everywhere: composing tweets, reading tweets, etc.
• and much more…

A gallery of what Tweetie 2 can do is after the break.

Apple’s iPod shuffle “In Action” Video

Here’s why Apple thinks the iPod shuffle is easy to use. And I kinda see why, too.

New iPod Ads for Nano and Touch

Every Apple announcement always comes with some sort of catchy ad. Apple just released the ads for the iPod nano and iPod touch, which you can watch below.

Let’s Rock!

Today was Steve Jobs’ triumphant return to the stage. Apple today announced a new version of iTunes, a slew of new iPods, and the iPhone OS 3.1. Plus, did I mention, Steve Jobs was there? Yeah!

iTunes 9

The new iTunes 9 has a slightly redesigned interface, plus an album experience that Apple dubs iTunes LP. The Home Sharing feature lets you share music to 5 computers in your home, there’s better syncing, etc. It’s free, and you should download it.

iPod nano

The biggest thing about the iPod nano is that it now shoots video. It also has an FM tuner and improved Genius. Oh, and a bigger screen.

iPod touch

The iPod touch now boasts 64 GB and is now cheaper at $199 for 8 GB. No major changes.

iPod shuffle

The iPod shuffle now has 5 different colors. How brilliant!

Other little things

The iPhone/iPod OS 3.1 software is out! iPod touch users need to upgrade for $5. The OS contains numerous bug fixes, compatibility with iTunes 9, App Store recommendations, and more.

The iPod classic now has a 160 GB capacity.

Conclusion

If you didn’t read this super-brief review at all, just know that:

• iTunes 9 is out
• The iPod nano got a video camera
• Everything else didn’t really change

Best iPhone Twitter Client

With the recent releases of TweetDeck and Birdfeed, iPhone Twitter clients are all the rage now. But which client offers the best bang for your buck? Well, I have the answer: TweetDeck. The most interesting thing about TweetDeck is that, like its desktop sibling, it supports columns. You can view all your columns in a Safari (or Palm Pre cards) interface, edit them, and swipe between them with ease. TweetDeck also supports multiple Twitter accounts and is free in the App Store. And, unlike most other free iPhone Twitter clients (ahem, TwitterFon and Twitterific), TweetDeck does not display advertisements.