The Dev Shack » Blackberry

UberTwitter Releases New Update – Adds Multiple Accounts and Ads

mfleming — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:14:08 +0000

Most of you know that my favorite Twitter client for my BlackBerry has been UberTwitter. I started using it since their first beta release and have been an avid user ever since. Yesterday saw a new update to the application, Beta 4. Two items included in this update jumped right out at me.The first is the support of multiple accounts. I have been waiting for one of these apps to add support for multiple accounts for awhile now. I have various Twitter accounts set up for different interests and it has always been a pain to have multiple Twitter applications installed on my BlackBerry. This new feature seems to work well so far. You can set up as many accounts as you wish and each are viewed independently (meaning the timelines for each account are not combined). It’s very easy to switch between accounts and this switch occurs fairly fast.

The second feature, and the one that seems the biggest gripe for most users, is the addition of advertisements. At the top of the timeline is a rotating ad, with mine mostly showing a Yahoo ad. This addition to the application could be a downfall for some users, and cause them to go looking for another app to use. Reading around a bit it does appear that UberTwitter plans to release a paid application which would remove the ads. As long as the price is right, I would pay for UberTwitter, as it’s still the best Twitter application for the BlackBerry in my opinion.

Some of the other new features in Beta 4:

TwitVid support
You can block users
bit.ly integration
Faster photo uploads

One other quick note, I FINALLY received my beta invite to SocialScope this morning. A lot of BlackBerry users claim this as their favorite social media application, as it works with Twitter and Facebook. I will post my thoughts on SocialScope after giving it a run for a few days.

UberTwitter, A New Twitter App for the Blackberry

mfleming — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:14:26 +0000

For the past week or so I have been trying out a beta version of a new Twitter application on my Blackberry, called UberTwitter. So far I have liked what I have seen. Previously I had been using TwitterBerry, which is probably the most used Twitter app for the Blackberry out there. There were just a few things I really didn’t like about it, with the biggest pain being the speed of the application in general. I have been very pleased with the speed of UberTwitter so far, especially considering this is the first beta release of the application. It also includes integration with GTalk, the Blackberry’s GPS functionality (it can geo tag the location of your Tweets), and also integrates it’s own picture functionality. The developers are already working on an update. You can read more about UberTwitter from their official site.

10 Skills Developers Will Need

mfleming — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:09:58 +0000

Justin James at TechRepublic posted an article yesterday that covers his opinion of the 10 skills developers will need in the next 5 years. You can read his article and I’m sure you will agree with some of his items and there will be some you take a different view on. Here are my thoughts:

I agree 100% with the first item in the list, that you should already know or learn at least one of the most popular languages (.NET, PHP or Java). That does not mean you need to be proficient in every one of them, but I would agree that you should be in the process of at least being very proficient in one of these. I know and love ColdFusion, and as long a Adobe updates and stands behind the product I will use it. I have started some deep learning of .NET (with C#) and it has expanded my horizons. After being reluctant about .NET at first, I can now say it like it. Knowing more than one language will also help you to determine what platform will be the best for your projects in the future. A certain platform will not always be the best solution to a particular problem. Having a knowledge of other languages will help you make the right decision and be successful.

I am not sure if Justin was listing his items in order of importance, but if he was I would disagree with having mobile development listed as the last item in the list. Mobile applications are gaining steam every day and there is one important factor that seems to get overlooked sometimes. Depending on your application, most organizations are looking to put a little part of that on a mobile device or at least have a website that displays well on a mobile browser. Take a look at the most popular websites currently, those like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, etc… They are started on the web, but you can find tons of dedicated mobile apps for your Blackberry, iPhone, etc… that take advantage of those technologies. I may have moved this item up a little further in the list.

I do agree with item four on his list, knowing and understanding web services. Web services easily allow you to release an API or some other hooks into your application. This easily allows third party integration with your application, which is getting more and more common every day.

That’s it for my thoughts. What are your thoughts?

BlackBerry App World Goes Live

mfleming — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:46:54 +0000

True to their word, RIM has offically launched the BlackBerry App World today. You can read more about it on the BlackBerry site or check it out OTA at mobile.blackberry.com.

Pandora Releases Blackberry Client

mfleming — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:16:58 +0000

Pandora announced the release of their Blackberry client today. After downloading it to my Curve and playing around with it a little, my first impressions are positive. The streaming quality was really nice, as I did not experience a single stop in the streaming. The app also picked up all my normal stations that I had created via their website. If you have a Blackberry I would recommend giving this a try. Just visit www.pandora.com from your device and you can download the app OTA.