Crave

The Twitter app for the Zune HD is functional, elegant, and free.

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET)

I've spent only a few minutes with the app, but I feel declaring it as a welcome addition to the slowly growing roster of free apps for the Zune HD.

Will it blow your mind? Probably not. But as an officially sanctioned Twitter-branded app, users are given a very familiar, clean, and intuitive way to read and create tweets.

Power users will probably be a little bummed there isn't a landscape keyboard option or much at all in the way of settings. That said, this is only version 1.0, so don't count out the possibility of updates in the not-too-distant future.

Probably the coolest little surprise is a button that will automatically populate your tweet with the currently playing song's title and artist info. It's not quite as convenient as a Blip.fm link, but it gives you a quick way to announce your love of Afrika Bambaataa without mangling the spelling.

Another detail worth mentioning--there are no in-app ads. I guess since the Twitter app falls under the "utility" category of apps, Microsoft isn't bundling in the banner ads that plague their games. I imagine it'll be the same case for the forthcoming Facebook app, should it ever see the light of day.

To take a closer look at some of the features, check out the photo gallery.

Twitter for Zune HD (screenshots)

A look at one of Square's receipts for Sightglass Coffee, a San Francisco establishment in which founder Jack Dorsey has invested.

(Credit: Square)

Small business is front and center for Square, the new mobile-payments company founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Previously in a quasi-stealth mode (OK, more like San Francisco's worst-kept secret), Square has now launched in beta, is accepting e-mail requests for preliminary accounts, and has put up a basic Web site to explain the company's premise.

The Square hardware is a small, inexpensive card reader that plugs into the audio jack of a compatible device, including a mobile phone (it's starting with the iPhone and currently has job postings up for BlackBerry and Android engineers). It processes credit card payments, geotags their locations on a map, and e-mails a receipt to the buyer.

"Even though a majority of payments has moved to plastic cards, accepting payments from cards is still difficult, requiring long applications, expensive hardware, and an overly complex experience," the Square Web site explains, talking about how the company premise was hatched when now-executives heard about an artist whose sales were hindered by the fact that he was unable to accept credit card payments.

What hadn't been reported before is that loyalty programs and microdonations are built in as well. Square can track a history of your purchases at a given establishment for discounts and promotions, effectively replacing the buy-10, get-one-free card at coffee shops. Additionally, Square donates a cent of each transaction to a nonprofit organization that the merchant chooses.

CNET first reported the company's name (it had been code-named "Squirrel") as well as some of the details about its business model: low production costs, possibly to the point where the devices can be distributed for free, and profits from transaction fees. (It's not clear whether they actually will make them free.)

Square has set up offices in San Francisco, New York, and St. Louis, with a team of 11 employees announced on the Web site. It's backed by Khosla Ventures and some angel investors.

Parental Advisory: Explicit Content!

(Credit: Jeff Bakalar/The 404)

If you've ever sat around with friends and mourned the death of the mixtape, you'll certainly appreciate the first half of today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast. While Jeff was at home for the break, he stumbled upon a a collection of old cassette tapes including the Cool Side/Awesome Side mix you see up there. It's got a solid collection of '90s hits including "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows, Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun," and, of course, "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

I spy "Crazy" and something that starts with "Livin...," which I can only assume to be Britney Spears and Ricky Martin. Just kidding, Jeff, but seriously--we've all pulled some pretty embarrassing stunts in a pathetic attempt to win a girl's heart, so stick around to witness the humiliation.

(Credit: Tech Crunch)

Speaking of death, we're (kind of) sad to see the demise of the CrunchPad. The brainchild of TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and Fusion Garage, the CrunchPad was supposed to be an aluminum tablet computer with a 12-inch LCD screen running Ubuntu Linux and Webkit browser. Unfortunately, Arrington reported today that the CrunchPad project is officially dead. We're disappointed that we'll never be able to test the product ourselves, but we're sure that Arrington has something else up his sleeve.

We imagine that a lot of you guys will be traveling by plane for the holiday season, but what if you were forced to hand over your iPod to security agents to check it for pirated music at the airport? Sounds like a nightmare, but Wilson tells us that the Australian government is apparently proposing a plan to search iPods and other MP3 players for illegally downloaded songs, punishable by heavy fines or even jail time!

From a technological stand point, we're not even sure how the government plans on checking for purchased vs. bootlegged music. At the end of the day, it's always comforting to know that you'll NEVER get busted for listening to The 404, and isn't that the most important thing?

I'm sure that all Dell laptops are wonderful machines that would make perfect gifts for even the most misanthropic, laptop-loathing humans.

However, my feelings were temporarily frozen, not unlike Michael Douglas' forehead, when I espied that Austin's finest was trying to garland this holiday period with a Netbook that seems to have special twittering powers.

I see the liquid remnants of your scoffing floating through the ether. However, please peruse the picture with which I have decorated this post.

(Credit: Dell.com)

It's from the Dell site and it seems like a normal Dell Netbook, doesn't it? The blurb beneath this picture declares, "Build it your way make it your own," which is quite a tempting offer when you consider the price seems to be a vastly generous $299.

Yet this sweet little device appears to be called the Twitter Mini. And the promise that Dell offers reads: "Perfect for Tweeting! Windows 7 Starter Included!"

Naturally, I am already excited. It has been something of my month's dream to find a device that is perfect for pumping out my 140 finest characters. But I'm stumped to the point of limping to work out why this particular Netbook is perfect for tweeting and others aren't.

I clicked on the image and found myself at this page, which offered me nothing other than some severe pain in my neck and brain.

While telling me this was a Netbook, and while mentioning that this series of Netbooks was "small, ultraportable, and designed to keep you connected," there wasn't even a mention of the word "Twitter."

Look, were there a Technological Olympics, I would not even make it as a hostess. But could someone please explain to me why the Twitter Mini is perfect for tweeting when the Mini 10, for example, is perfect for, well, according to the site, nothing at all?

Does the Twitter Mini automatically shorten tweetable URLs if I just stare at the screen? Does it have a direct and very hot line to Ashton Kutcher, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephen Fry, and that weird Russian girl who keeps following me, even though the Twitter folks keep deleting her naked entreaties?

Or did someone in the Dell marketing department get a little over-excited? Please feel free to send me a tweet.

The Twitter service with the cutesy raccoon mascot is making a new home on BlackBerry and Google Android phones. The free Seesmic, like its proliferate rivals, lets you read, manage, and compose Twitter messages much more flexibly than you can do from Twitter's Web site. We crash-tested both mobile versions as soon as we heard the news.

Seesmic on Android
Seesmic 1.0 for Android is available from the Android Market app, which is located on the smartphone. It takes up just over 1MB. The interface spreads four tabs along the top in both landscape and portrait mode, one each for the timeline, replies, direct messages, and your profile. There's also a ribbon on the screen that you can tap to refresh the feed. Click to open a tweet and you can save it as a favorite, retweet, or reply as a public "@" message or as a private posting. From the menu button, you can refresh, compose, or tinker with the settings.

Although Seesmic's Android interface is much more stripped down than its desktop AIR app for Windows and Mac, the app manages to remain flexible by giving you a choice over the kinds of notifications you'd like to receive, and over the partner services you'd prefer to use to send a photo, video, or shorten a URL.

Sure, it's blurry (blaming the BlackBerry camera), but squint hard enough and you'll see that Seesmic associated a picture with my account that's not actually my face.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

The biggest flaws we've noticed so far? ... Read More

You laughed at the Segway back in 2001, and you're probably still laughing now. But unless we're very much mistaken, Dean Kamen's ludicrously overpriced and over-engineered stand-up scooter is about to spawn a wave of new-school electric personal-transport devices. Read on for more technology that triumphed in the end.

(Credit: Crave UK)

For every overnight digital success such as Twitter, there's a technology that came up the hard way, clawing every point of market share from bitter rivals and struggling to win over a disinterested public. But quality triumphs in the end. Here are 10 sleeper technologies whose day came at last.

Read more of Sleeper successes: Tech that's taken its time at Crave UK.

Dell Zino HD: Mac Mini killer?

(Credit: Dell)

No, The 404 Podcast isn't getting a TV deal with CBS, but it doesn't seem that far out of reach. The network has its giant eye on the witty musings of a cynical old man, posted on a Twitter account created by his son, Justin Halpern. Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are signed as Exeuctive Producers and Justin himself will super the writing along with Patrick Shumacker. Uhh, HELLO CBS, is anyone from our parent company out there? You already got a strategically developed television show just waiting to delight the eyes and ears of America: it's called THE 404.

Next, we take a moment to spotlight the Dell Zino HD, a full-on entertainment PC that looks remarkably like Wilson's firstborn son, the Mac Mini, but can actually do a lot more with up to a terabyte of storage space, 8GB of RAM, and the option to throw in a Blu-ray or DVD drive. Wilson wishes his Mac Mini gave him direct HDMI access and a bigger hard drive, but still defends Apple and its OS to the death--it's interesting to hear him try to wiggle his way out of this one.

Another story from today's episode comes from our own Caroline McCarthy, who tells us that the New Oxford American Dictionary has picked the verb "unfriend" as its 2009 Word of the Year. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the process of removing someone formerly deemed as a friend on a social networking site such as Facebook or Twitter. You might recall the Burger King ad campaign that encouraged users to "sacrifice" friends to get a free burger. Systems like these encourage the use of the term "unfriend," and give it value in the everyday lexicon, but when will this stop? I'm scared to think that the 2018 Word of the Year will something awful, like "tweet" or "pwn."

If you haven't had a chance to listen to yesterday's show with Tony Hawk, definitely go back and check it out and keep listening for your chance to win tons of video game prizes, including a free giveaway of Tony Hawk: RIDE. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

We've already had some time with the new Xbox Live Dashboard update, and now the new firmware, which will bring Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm to the console, is available for download today.

In addition to these services, Microsoft will be rolling out Zune Video, which promises instant-on 1080p video streaming as well as 5.1 surround sound.

We should note that Twitter, Last.fm, and Facebook will require an Xbox Live Gold membership ($50/year) and both Twitter and Facebook services require all users to be at least 18 years of age.

If you aren't a member of Xbox Live Gold, a free preview weekend will begin November 20, at 12 p.m. ET and run until November 23, at 12 p.m. ET.

For a sneak peek at these new Xbox 360 features, check out our video playlist above or click over to the slideshow.

Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm hit Xbox 360 November 17--photos