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Oh, Twitter… why do you hate third-party apps so? While we’ve never been huge fans of TweetDeck, the popular app was absorbed by the microblogging service and is now being laid to rest (at least in any kind of app form) as Twitter continues their mighty push toward an all-browser experience. But will the people make the change with them? Time will tell…
Twitter Kills TweetDeck Apps to Focus on Web Version
How’s this for irony: Twitter used the Posterous platform it acquired and then shuttered to announce the death of another acquired product, this time TweetDeck. While the company plans to continue development of its “modern, web-based versions of TweetDeck,” the more popular AIR, Android and iPhone editions are being put out to pasture, along with Facebook integration. “They will be removed from their respective app stores in early May and will stop functioning shortly thereafter,” the tersely-worded blog post explains. The move is partially blamed on Twitter retiring version 1.0 of their API this month, but it’s hard not to read this as exactly what it is: Another move by Twitter to kill third-party apps, whether they own them or not.
White House Responds, Says It’s Time to Legalize Cell Phone Unlocking
Finally, some good news out of The White House! Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation & Privacy R. David Edelman has responded to a We the People petition looking to make cell phone unlocking legal once again, and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. happens to agree with more than 114,000 consumers who took the time to sign it in reaction to the change. “If you have paid for your mobile device, and aren’t bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network,” Edelman elaborated. “It’s common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers’ needs.” It’s unclear what will actually be done to change things, but this is a good first step.
IDC Predicts 2013 Will Be Year of the Smartphone
According to IDC research data, 2013 could very well be the year that marks a tipping point for smartphones, marking the first time shipments exceed those of less internet-savvy feature phones. The “perfect storm” appears to be the result of three factors: Smartphone prices falling around the world, an expanding customer base for such devices and the rapid rollout of 4G wireless networks. Now that smartphone growth has started to peak in the U.S., manufacturers are eyeing emerging markets such as China, Brazil and India, which are expected to make up an ever-increasing slice of the pie in the years ahead.
Apple Releases Java for OS X 2013-002 Update
Apple pushed out another Java update for OS X on Monday afternoon with the aptly-named Java for OS X 2013-001, a 63.84MB download for OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 and later (including OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion). The update “delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_41,” and once again disables the Java SE 6 applet plug-in on systems that do not have Java for OS X 2012-006 installed. To use such applets, simply click on the “Missing plug-in” area in your web browser and download the latest Java applet plug-in from Oracle.
Dropbox CEO Calls Out iCloud for “Bizarre Limitations”
TUAW is reporting that Dropbox CEO Drew Houston spoke at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, where he warned that cloud storage solutions from a single smartphone manufacturer might not be the best idea. As an example, he cited the “bizarre limitations” of iCloud, which include the inability to share documents with Android users. “You shouldn’t have to care about the logo on the back of your phone or computer, it should just work with everything you have,” Houston elaborated. “That’s the kind of limitation we want to help remove for people.” So who does Houston think is doing it right? Partner Samsung, who ditched their own proprietary cloud storage solution in favor of Dropbox, the company Apple tried unsuccessfully to acquire in 2009.
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