By: Hillel Fuld

Twitter apps for iPhone are a dime a dozen. There are tens of solid Twitter apps available, but if you, like me, spend a lot of your time on Twitter, “solid” is not going to cut it, you need your Twitter app to be fantastic. I have been using Echofon Pro for years, and I even wrote a post describing the perfect iPhone Twitter app naming a few features only Echofon supports.

However, with some of the latest Echofon updates actually disabling many of the features I loved so much, it was time to move on.

What better way to find the best Twitter app than to ask on Twitter, and so I did. Many people suggested the official Twitter app, some suggested Tweetdeck, and a few sang Tweetbot’s praises (which is a definite runner-up). Among the many responses I got, there was a new unfamiliar name that kept making appearances, Tweetlogix (download link).

People seemed to love it, but was it worth $1.99? Well, to be fair, I tweeted the developer and got a code, but now, after having used it for a day, I can safely say, it is very much worth the two bucks, in fact, knowing what I know now, I would happily pay double that.

So what is so special about Tweetlogix? In one word? Speed. This thing flies. It is significantly faster than any other app I have tried and I tried them all. See the picture below of my Twitter folder on my iPhone. And those are just the ones I left on my iPhone, I have reviewed five times that…

In addition to speed, Tweetlogix has the longest list of features I have ever encountered. Let’s start with multiple accounts. The way this is implemented in perfect and tweeting or reading tweets from each one of your accounts is seamless.

Another feature that I found to be super useful is the easy and quick access to lists. Many other apps also offer the ability to edit the main columns that appear on the home screen of the app. I would have liked to be able to put one specific list as a column and Tweetlogix does not support that, but right now, I can access any of my Twitter lists in two clicks from anywhere in the app.

Moving along, Tweetlogix offers inline photos and hyperlinks, which means one less click when viewing content in the Twitter timeline. Other apps like Tweetings offer this option too, but I found that Tweetlogix responded faster than Tweetings and there are significantly less bugs.

The list of features offered by Tweetlogix goes on and on and it includes things like Mute users, search nearby, follow lists, follow trends, and much more. You can even design your own personal theme for the app, something I have never seen before on any iOS app, nice touch!

In addition to muting a user, you can also mute a hashtag, which is a super useful feature when there are hashtags polluting your stream, such as a specific event many of your friends are attending. Another unique and seriously awesome feature is the ability to tweet what music you are listening to directly from the app.

You can upload pictures to TwitPic, yfrog, Lockerz, Posterous, Twitgoo, TwitrPix, Mobypicture, or img.ly, how is that for selection?

Tweets are sent in the background so you can hit Send and move on to the next thing. Makes the whole experience feel much snappier. You can translate tweets in real time, you can email tweets, save them as drafts, edit your profile, view tweets and DMs in a threaded view, and type in landscape anywhere in the app. Trust me when I tell you, those are just a small fraction of the features supported by Tweetlogix.

More important than the long feature list is the UI, which is super intuitive and borderline obvious. You can read the entire list of features here.

All in all, Tweetlogix is now my default Twitter app and I am pretty sure it will remain on my home screen for a long time. I don’t see anyone beating this app anytime soon. Highly recommended. Download it here.

By: Hillel Fuld

The Facebook iPhone app is the most downloaded iPhone app on the App Store and it has been for some time. Truth be told, it deserves all its fame, it is a well designed, feature-rich, and easy to use app. Having said that, Facebook (the site) is always evolving and just last week, new sharing options were added to the site. Well, I wouldn’t say “new” since they were clearly inspired by a competitor starting with the letter G and ending with a +, but they were new to Facebook.

The iOS Facebook app received an update today to version 3.5 and as 9to5 puts it, it is a “monster update“. The new features and improvements include:

Made it easier to share with who you want

• Added the ability to tag friends and places in posts
• Added the ability to share external links from a web view
• Added new design for Profile and Group Walls
• Improved the sharing tool to add privacy controls on posts and match your settings on the web site

Improvements and bug fixes:

• Improved Notifications speed
• Fixed a number of Chat bugs
• Made it easier to select filters in News Feed
• Fixed a bug with the Notifications bar disappearing
• Fixed a number of Photos bugs
• Improved performance and stability overall

Now, I am sure as soon as I hit Publish on this post, I will figure it out, but I cannot for the life of me understand how to tag someone using the new app. I see an option to share the post with someone specific, but the ability to just have someone’s name appear in the post with a link to their profile, is something I have yet to figure out. It should be as easy as writing a @ and the person’s name, but alas, it is not. Strange.

Moving along, the app seems to function with the same speed and accuracy and the new Update screen seems like a big improvement. So what did I mean in the title when I said it is not what you think? I meant the new Facebook app still is not optimized for iPad. In fact, even the hack that was possible before and would turn the iPhone app into an iPad-optimized app is now blocked. Can someone explain this to me?

Why would Facebook be dragging their feet on this? Why would they bother releasing such a big update to an app that everyone was happy with overall, and not release an app for a device that holds over 70% of the tablet market? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Sorry, couldn’t help myself, won’t happen again.

By: Hillel Fuld

You know what is amazing about the tech world? Not the fact that there is so much innovation happening on a daily basis. What amazes me is how that innovation drives new technology and that new technology then gives birth to multiple new industries just to support it. Take the iPad (Um, tablet) space for example.

It is a brand new space yet somehow Apple managed to create such a superior product that it has all its competitors scrambling to make something even remotely competitive. So far, it’s a no go. Putting aside the iPad’s awesomeness for a second, the very existence of such a hot space has single-handedly created a sub-industry of news readers and that too, is taking off.

I do not need to tell you about Flipbaord and how amazing I think it is, we already covered that. I also do not need to tell  you how highly I think of Mike McCue, the man behind Flipboard, I interviewed him here. Well, Flipboard is not alone in this space anymore and there are other solutions offering consumers a solid reading experience of both social and personalized content on the iPad and other tablets.

One of the more interesting apps out there among others like Pulse, Editions, and Livestand, is of course Zite. Zite, unlike Flipboard actually learns your interests and serves  you content based on your reading patterns. Kind of like my6sense does. Well, apparently Zite is on to something and CNN announced yesterday that it will be acquiring the young company for approximately $20 million, as AllThingsD reports.

VentureBeat explains: “Zite CEO Mark Johnson told us he couldn’t comment about the rumored cost of the Zite acquisition. But he did take a moment to explain why he believed Zite was better than the rest of the magazine tablet apps. Mostly, he said, it’s because Zite has had six years of research and technology development behind it.

“We easily have the most personalized results,” Johnson said. “While competitors offer a dozen categories to choose content from, we offer thousands.”

CNN’s Estenson echoed Johnson and said the Zite team had achieved something unique in its approach to content personalization.

“I don’t think people have seen just how good and how powerful this technology is yet,” Estenson said. “People make applications that are pretty, and there are some good ones out there, but they aren’t this good.”

Zite will remain as standalone entity as a wholly owned subsidiary of CNN. But CNN’s infusion of capital will make it possible for Zite to expand its eight-person team to include more employees.

“Right now, we have more ideas than we have employees,” Johnson said. “We want to move on to more platforms than just the iPad. It makes sense to move to other tablets and to support smartphones.”

On another note, Flipboard does not seem to be taking a rest from its innovation and is plowing ahead. The latest news is that Mike is in talks with various media outlets to offer Flipboard’s audience of three million users, access to TV shows and movies within the app. Reuters reports “Chairman and Chief Executive Mike McCue said he will tackle the video project at the end of the year. He declined to say which studio partners he has approached. He also hopes eventually to cut deals with publishers to sell electronic books through Flipboard.”

Of course, Flipoaord is now only available on the iPad, but that too is going to change in the near future and we can expect to see an iPhone version and probably an Android one as well in the coming months. I mean, you don’t have to be a business genius to realize that you cannot survive on one device alone, even if it is an iPad.

As for monetization, Flipboard now relies on mobile advertising for its income, and has made it pretty clear there are other models in the works as well.

So which one is better, Zite or Flipboard? That is a matter of opinion, but i was always a big believer in choosing my own content and not having an app dictate it for me, so I prefer Flipboard, but that is just me. Which do you prefer?

By: Hillel Fuld

Yes yes, we have all heard the numbers and they are ridiculous. The only thing 450,000 iOS apps give me as a consumer is a whole lot of confusion, especially in light of the fact that no company has really cracked the app discovery challenge. There are so many iOS apps out there, a new iPhone user literally does not know where to start.

Back in the olden days, I used to visit the App Store every day to find new and exciting apps, either in the Free section or among the apps featured by Apple. I have stopped doing that as it has gotten seriously overwhelming and 200 apps on my iPhone is more than enough.

Having said that, there are some apps on my iPhone that I use regularly and could not live without (well, I could technically live without them, but my quality of life would significantly decrease) and I figured you would want  to know what they are.

The following are five apps I have on my iPhone that I use regularly and are definitely worth the download:

 1: Echofon: The number of Twitter apps I have on my iPhone is borderline ridiculous.  I mean an entire folder of apps that tweet is just insane. Having said that, my Twitter addiction is no less ridiculous and I need the Twitter app that I use to not hold me back. I have tried em all. Tweetbot, Tweetdeck, Tweetings, Maha, Osfoora, Tweetfire, Weet, and yes, Twitter. Each app has its advantages and disadvantages, but after all my tests, Echofon Pro comes out on top every time.

It is the fastest and more feature-packed Twitter app out there in my experience. There is of course a free lite version if you don’t want to pay the $4.99 and are not bothered by some in-app ads. If I were you, I would try out the free version and if you like it as much as I do, shell out the five bucks, you won’t regret it. Download it here.

2: Facebook Messenger: Whether or not the Facebook Messenger app will kill SMS or not, is up for debate. What is not up for debate is that among all the UI changes Facebook makes and all the new apps and features it releases, this one is a keeper. I downloaded it as soon as it was available and with the exception of one time, the app has worked flawlessly and done what it was supposed to.

If you have not yet downloaded the free app, and are a Facebook user (who’s not?) you are going to want to check this out. That is, assuming you are ok with appearing online all the time. Of course some people have issues with Facebook Chat so this app is not for them, but in my case, it has proven to be very convenient and I am a fan of the UI. Download it here.

3: iLlumination: The App Store has way too many flashlight apps, and that is a fact. Like Twitter apps, I have tried many of them and iLlumination somehow managed to stay on my iPhone. At the end of the day, this app is a flashlight so there is only so much I can say but it definitely has just the right amount of customization to make it a  sticky app.

You can define that the flashlight is turned on as you launch the app and you can define the color of the light itself. You can also make the light flash like a strobe and many other options. There is of course a free ad-supported version or a paid one with no ads. Download it here.

4: QuickPix: For an app to replace the default Apple solution on the iPhone, it has to be really good and QuickPix is. The app has replaced the default Camera app on the iPhone and primarily for one reason. It is fast, super fast! QuickPix launches seconds before the Camera app would and includes almost all the same features and more. There is a video and camera mode, you can reverse the camera to the front facing one, and you can define settings like Auto Flash, Exposure, and White Balance.

There are also features not supported in the Camera app like the ability to snap a photo while taking a video or the ability to take photos in Burst mode at a speed you are not going to believe. To be honest, it has been giving me some issues since I upgraded to iOS5 but that is a beta version so no complaints there. Download it here.

5: Meebo: As you might have noticed, 3/5 of the apps on this list are social but I guess that makes sense given the amount of time I spend on the social Web. When it comes to IM apps, like Twitter apps and flashlight apps, they are a dime a dozen. There are so many of them and I have tried them all. Some of the great IM apps I have tried include Fring, IM+, Nimbuzz, imo, and many others. Yet, somehow when I need to send an IM, Meebo is my go-to app.

It supports well over 100 networks including the big ones like AIM, Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook, and more. It does NOT have Skype but I have not found an IM app that does. Meebo loads fast and has been the most stable solution I have found in the last year or so. Oh, and it is free. Download it here.

You think that was  easy? Choosing just five apps to recommend out of hundreds? It wasn’t, but all five are great apps in terms of what they offer and how they offer it. I could have listed many more apps for you like Viber, Tango, Linkedin, Flyscreen, Daps’em, WhatsApp, Songify, and NetTalk, but I chose not to. Oh, crap!!

By: Hillel Fuld

Another day, another messaging service. Of course, the pioneer of this space was RIM with their BBM service, and to be honest, despite having traded in my BlackBerry for an iPhone 4, nothing compares to the ease of use and popularity of BBM. Having said that, everyone wants a piece of the messaging pie and if you are in the mobile game, you have to release your own messaging application.

Apple has included iMessage in iOS5, which I have been testing out since the day it was released to developers. It is nice, fast, and easy. As far as I can tell, it is the only messaging platform that is aiming to  truly replace SMS. I say this because when you send your friend an SMS using iOS5, it defaults to iMessage. Seems there is no way to send a traditional SMS if both sides are on iOS5, but I might be missing something.

Google is of course not far behind with a messaging platform for Android, but we have to wait and see how that turns out. Meanwhile there is the Huddle feature on the Google+ app.

Windows Phone will have Skype as its messaging platform, and Skype’s recent acquisition of GroupMe will facilitate group chat on Windows Phone devices.

Just last week, Facebook jumped in the ring with its free messaging app for iOS and Android.

OK so each one of the major mobile players now has its own messaging platform, but it doesn’t end there, not even close. WhatsApp, which is a cross-platform app for quick messaging is exploding with popularity. Then there is Kik, PingChat, Text Plus, and the list goes on and on.

So what is Samsung, the world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer supposed to do? Sit back and watch all these other small players release messaging apps and not release one of their own? Of course not! And so, ChatON is born.

Based on the company’s press release “ChatON is Samsung’s global mobile communication service that works across all major smartphone and feature phone platforms. ChatON lets users interact with friends and family, regardless of device platform – functionality across multiple platforms lets all users join in, with text, images, hand-written notes and video shared instantly. Users can chat in groups, while a Web client will allow the easy sharing of content and conversations between mobile and PC.” Of course, we are talking about Samsung devices only, which is far from clear from the press release.

ChatON will support all Samsung smartphones and feature phones as well as a web UI for chatting via a PC. Users will be able to share texts, images, hand-written notes and videos via this service. ChatON will also have group chatting feature.

To be honest, I am not 100% sure i understand what Samsung is bringing to the table here with so many other options. I mean why use ChatON if you can use WhatsApp? No video? OK, use Tango across iOS and Android. Want other features like group chat? Huddle? Perhaps ChatON’s big selling point will be a kind of one-stop-shop to replace all the rest of the options. If that is the case, Samsung is aiming high. Having said that, if anyone can do it, Samsung can.

By: Hillel Fuld

Let me just start off by saying that I love Linkedin. Having said that, I do think the site is the best kept secret on the social Web. I don’t say that because Linkedin lacks users, I say it because I believe most people use it for professional networking, for which it is great, but they miss out on an entire side of what Linkedin can offer.

I am referring to traffic. While distributing content on Facebook or Twitter might be easier and more seamless, I have found that if you distribute content on Linkedin via relevant groups, the traffic is unparalleled.

I also believe most people need to do some serious work on optimizing their Linkedin profile in order to achieve maximum results, but both these topics are for another time.

What we are talking about here is the new iOS Linkedin app that completely exceeded my expectations of what Linkedin is capable of, as far as design is concerned. Of course, alongside the new iOS app, the company also released a new Android app and an HTML5 mobile site. You can read the Linkedin announcement here.

When I first opened the new iOS app, I was truly impressed from the very first second, something many other apps are lacking with a loading time that takes way too long.

The company describes the new app:

We’ve completely re-organized the application around 4 key areas:

• Updates: View updates from your network and top news from LinkedIn Today
• Inbox: You can view your invitations and messages in one place
• You: Access your profile, connections, share updates, and even more in the future
• Groups & More: Browse and interact with your groups, as well as build your network through our People You May Know feature

All in all, the app is designed beautifully, the feature set is rich, and most importantly, the speed is enhanced and blazing fast. Given the inferior Web interface of Linkedin.com (try removing a contact from that person’s profile, can’t be done.), I have no doubt in my head that I will be accessing the leader in professional social networks directly from my phone and not on my computer. Something tells me I am not alone on this one.

By: Hillel Fuld

We reported yesterday that minutes after the Skype app for iPad was released, the company tweeted that they had pulled the app to “ensure the best Skype experience”. That was a little bit of a strange move by Skype, especially after having posted a video of the app a few months back, and then removing that too. Now, 24 hours later, the app is alive and kicking in the App Store, download it here. Putting aside all the drama that led up to this release, Skype for iPad was very much worth the wait.

The first thing  you will notice about the Skype iPad app is that your contacts appear as large thumbnails, a very nice visual display not found in other versions of Skype. Everything about the new UI is optimized for the iPad, and unlike the Mac version of Skype, everything seems to be in the right place.

Under the contacts button on the left side of the app, there is a History option to view all your past calls and conversations. In the upper left corner, you can click on your profile picture and it opens up a taskbar including status, profile, Skype credit, and a few other options.Your contacts are categorized into “Tags” such as All Contacts, people in your address book, Online Contacts, and Skype Contacts.

OK, enough about the UI, how is the UX? In my tests, which were on Wifi (got rid of my iPad 3g and went with a Wifi version), the call quality was best of its class and can only be compared to calling PC to PC on Wifi. The video was superb as was the audio, and the ability to use full screen video on an iPad still amazes me and strikes me as somewhat futuristic. You gotta try it to see what I mean.

Unlike the iPhone app, there is no problem chatting while on a video call, although the keyboard and the chat box tend to block the video picture, which can get annoying fast. All in all, the Skype app for iPad is designed to perfection (or very close to it) and the call quality combined with the fact that you can call a PC, iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Android phone over Wifi or 3G means one thing. Bye bye Facetime, you have been replaced, at least until you support 3g calling.

Of course, no review of a Skype app would be complete without the question of how the upcoming Microsoft acquisition of the VoIP giant will affect the service. I mean will there be a Skype Home, Skype Premium, and Skype Professional version? Will it be removed from all services besides Microsoft products? Microsoft promises it won’t be, but I guess only time will tell… Should be interesting.

Credit: Cnet for the photos

By: Hillel Fuld

I don’t even know what to make of this story. Skype, the company that leads the VoIP space and has recently announced it is going to be acquired by Microsoft for bilions of dollars still does not have an iPad app. It is one of the stranger stories and has everyone wondering what they are waiting for. Of course, Skype is not alone on this front, and even Facebook still does not have a native iPad app, but that is a different topic.

Finally, after months and months of waiting, Skype users were happy to discover a completely new app in the App Store. This was not a new version of the iPhone app that is optimized for iPad, this was a new app called Skype for iPad.

The app worked on Wifi and 3G, enabled users to call using the front and back cameras found on the iPad 2, and unlike Skype for Mac, the iPad app actually had a comfortable UI that would enable you to add new uses seamlessly. Except one slight problem.

Skype just tweeted that they are removing the app from the App Store as it “went live prematurely today”. Putting aside the question of how such a thing even happens, what on earth is Skype waiting for?

The app looked good, got initially positive reviews and already hit pretty much all the mainstream tech media, so why pull it?

By: Hillel Fuld

It feels like just yesterday we wrote about some big news in the mobile free calling landscape, and today brings yet another huge step forward. Tango, the cross-platform (iOS and Android) mobile app that enables free video calling over 3g and Wifi, has just announced two astounding developments.

The first is that the company just raised a whopping $42 million series B round of funding, which combined with the previous $14 million the company raised, brings the total to $56. How is that for proof of a tech funding bubble?

The other announcement however, is far more exciting from a tech perspective. Tango, a company that has grown twice as fast as Skype did in the early days and now has over 18 million users in 190 countries, is porting its video calling solution from the mobile phone onto Windows computers all around the world. What is interesting is that Skype and all the other old school communications platform first launched on the desktop and only then went over to mobile. The direction with Tango is a clear sign of the times and the dominance of mobile technology in the world we live in.

The Windows version of Tango will be released later this summer and there is no mention of a Mac version in the works. In fact, Uri Raz, cofounder and CEO of Tango says, “There are 1.5 billion PCs in use worldwide and 95 percent of the world’s computers run Windows. With this launch, we are well positioned to reach our goal of 100 million customers by this time next year.”

I know what you’re thinking. “How is this any different than Skype?” Well, there are various differences, such as Tango not belonging to the big bad Microsoft, but putting politics aside, here is what the company has to say about the service “People will be able to Tango between Windows PC, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch, iPad, and hundreds of Android phones and tablets. The new PC product is mobile-centric with the same look and feel as Tango on the phone. It’s simple to register. There is no log in or password, just type in your mobile number and you are done. Tango will automatically find people you know, and makes inviting friends and family a breeze.” Doesn’t sound too much like Skype, now does it?

The company says they hope to have 100 million users by this time next year, and by the looks of it, they might have to raise their expectations over the coming year. I know I will be downloading it on my PC, how about you?

By: Hillel Fuld

Viber, one of the most solid VoIP clients for iPhone, has just announced the release of its Android app. Of course, there are many apps that allow iPhone and Android users to talk for free, but no one does it quite like Viber. Between the deep integration with your phone’s address book, the ability to get calls even when the app is not running, and the absolutely unprecedented voice quality, it is no wonder Viber has achieved such tremendous success in such a short time period.

Viber also offers free texting to its users and supports both texting and calling to anyone who has the app installed over Wifi and 3G. As mentioned, the new Android app launches today after a long wait, and initial reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

The company also announced that based on the last 30 days, the app has over 12 million active users and call traffic of over one billion minutes per quarter. ”This is an incredibly exciting day for us,” said Talmon Marco, Viber CEO. “We have been looking forward to launching our Android app, especially after having received a staggering number of requests from Android users asking us to bring Viber to the Android market. Our latest user numbers are the best indicator of how much our users love to talk and send messages for free with Viber.”

In just seven months since its release, Viber has over 20 million registered users who currently talk on Viber for 11 million minutes every day, with an average of 6 minutes per call. Impressive stats by any standard. The new Android app has been in a beta testing stage for months with over 50,000 testers and it includes some features that are exclusive to the Android platform. These include:

• Full call screen notification when a Viber call is received
• Push notification for new text messages, which lets users respond without opening the app
• Tighter integration with the phone, including a full view of your phone’s call log from within the app
• The ability to replace the phone’s dialer with the Viber one, which will enable users to make free calls by default

This is big news for Android users, but let’s not forget that iPhone users should be happy about this too. I mean, what iPhone user does not have one or two (or a hundred) friends who try to bring them over to the dark side of Android at least once a day? Now iPhone and Android users can talk for free and this brings Viber into the category of cross-platform communication apps like Skype, Tango, and Qik.