Tweetdeck’s Dodsworth on what it means to join Twitter
After months of speculation, Twitter has finally completed its acquisition of Tweetdeck, the UK-based desktop software for the micro-blogging site’s more sophisticated and prolific users. Read more
TweetDeck linked in new takeover talks
What chance does a consumer internet company have if it doesn’t own the relationship with its most important set of users?
According to Howard Lindzon, one of the biggest angel investors in TweetDeck, that is one very good reason for Twitter to buy the desktop client that is beloved by many of its own power-users (a deal that The Wall Street Journal says is at an advanced stage of negotiation.) Read more
A skirmish in the Twitter wars
The spat that broke out today between Twitter and Idealab founder Bill Gross speaks volumes about Twitter’s own long-running failure to cash in on the success of its service. As one third-party developer told us: “Bill Gross has been saying he’s going to monetise better than Twitter and that could have upset them. He is either committing suicide or he is going to be extremely successful.” Read more
Tweetdeck busts the 140-character limit with Deck.ly
Tweetdeck, the software for social-media ‘power users’, is today unveiling Deck.ly, the latest strand of its plan to ease its dependence on Twitter and become a greater platform in itself.
At a basic level, Deck.ly allows Tweetdeck users to post Twitter updates longer than 140 characters. Read more
Twittersphere will benefit from a broader Twitter platform at the centre
At last, Twitter is building out its platform: with the purchase of Tweetie (pictured) it finally has its own mobile client.
But that doesn’t mean it’s about to start throwing its weight around or trampling on the very developers who have helped to make it a success, and some of the palpitations on the tech blogs are overdone. (You can follow the discussion on Twitter at #unionoftwitterapps.)
The fact is, the free-for-all around Twitter has been great for anyone who saw a chance to grab an audience by supplying essential services to the Twittersphere, but it has made things inconvenient and confusing for users. Read more
Making every journalist a Twitter correspondent
Sky News – which famously became one of the first media organisations to appoint a “Twitter correspondent” last year – is now issuing all its web reporters with tools for scanning social media for stories.
Every journalist in the online newsroom has had Tweetdeck – which provides a more sophisticated interface for using Twitter, Facebook and other sites than do their own homepages – installed on their computer. Read more
Seesmic acquires Ping and 50 social networks
Seesmic’s plans for platform and social networking domination have been extended with the popular Twitter client announcing today the acquisition of Ping.fm.
Seesmic switched from being a video social software app and took on Tweetdeck in 2009 - making its Twitter service available on Android, Blackberry, Windows, OSX and within a web browser.
The change in business plan was made possible by the acquisition of Twhirl. By adding Ping, users “can now update 50 social networks using Seesmic+Ping.fm from email, chat, sms, Blackberry, Android, web, Windows, OSX and much more soon,” according to Loic Le Meur, Seesmic’s founder. Read more
TweetDeck moves closer to real-time browser
The web browser has undergone a renaissance in the past year, compared to the Dark Ages of underdevelopment of the first half of this decade after Microsoft crushed competition from Netscape.
Google has introduced Chrome, Apple has just issued a lightning-fast version of Safari with a new user interface and HTML 5 is being adopted to enable browsers to run every kind of program normally associated with native desktop applications.
But the browser’s basic design is still centred around representing web pages rather than the activity of users and their connections. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
