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Trillian IM is finally available to iPhone users.

(Credit: Trillian)

It took a few months, but finally, Trillian IM is available to iPhone and iPod Touch users through Apple's App Store. The application costs $4.99.

Cerulean Studios, the company that created Trillian, said that Trillian for iPhone sports several features users will already find on the company's desktop software. The app displays contacts, grouped and sorted by their respective categories. Users can also view multiple chat windows in a tabbed display. Thanks to updates Apple has made to the iPhone and iPod Touch, Trillian for iPhone also supports copy and paste. As with Trillian for the desktop, users can set their status, choose an avatar, and set up different status messages.

Because the app is always connected to Cerulean Studios' Astra server, users can synchronize content across multiple IM clients. In other words, any changes made on the iPhone version of the app will immediately be reflected on the company's Windows client and the user's Astra profile. Any contacts users add will also be synchronized with their other clients.

According to Cerulean Studios, all chats are maintained on the server, so they are kept in case of a lost connection. The app will also alert users when they receive an instant message, regardless of whether Trillian for iPhone is open or not. When an IM is received, users will see a dialog box, hear the Trillian IM-notification sound, and be able to start Trillian and reply to the person.

Those interested in using Trillian for iPhone will first need a Trillian Astra account. Luckily, the iPhone app allows users to sign up for Astra from within the app.

Amp Up Before You Score iPhone app.

(Credit: Pepsi)

PepsiCo has tweeted an apology on its Amp Energy Twitter account, as well as its Pepsi account, to those who may be offended by its new iPhone application, Amp Up Before You Score, which some have complained is insensitive to women.

"Our app tried 2 (sic) show the humorous lengths guys go 2 pick up women," a tweet read on Amp Energy's Twitter page. "We apologize if it's in bad taste & appreciate your feedback." The message was retweeted on Pepsi's official Twitter page.

The soft-drink maker stopped short of removing the free application from Apple's App Store.

Amp Up Before You Score is described by Pepsi as a "road map to success for your favorite kinds of women--24 in all." According to the company, the app first helps men "identify her type." To do so, the app shows a listing of "types of women" and features a "cheat sheet on the stuff she's into, with lists, links, and some surefire opening lines."

Perhaps the most suspect part of the app is the "Keep a List" function. The company describes that feature as such: "Get lucky? Add her to your brag list. You can include a name, date, and whatever details you remember."

After Pepsi released the app, people immediately took offense. Not only did Pepsi and its Amp Energy division hear it from Twitter users, the company also took shots from blogs that found the app particularly offensive. An overwhelming number of reviewers gave the app one star on its App Store page.

So far, Amp Up Before You Score is still available as a free download in Apple's App Store. If you want to see the app in action without downloading it, you can view a video from Pepsi here.

Apple announced Monday that over 2 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store since the e-commerce shop's launch in July 2008. The company also said that there are now more than 85,000 apps available.

More numbers: There are currently 50 million iPhone and iPod Touch customers, as well as over 125,000 developers in Apple's iPhone Developer Program. All that has combined to make the company's App Store the world's largest applications store, Apple claims.

"The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it."

At a rock-n-roll-themed event earlier this month, Apple reported that the store had over 75,000 applications and accommodated 1.8 billion downloads. In other words, in about three weeks' time, it has added over 10,000 apps and users have downloaded an additional 200 million applications.

Among those thousands of new apps recently added, one stands out for apparently pushing the borders of what Apple allows in its store: the first app featuring images and videos of bikini-clad adult film stars.

Using smart phones as navigation tools is all the rage these days, what with a slew of applications available for the iPhone and Android platforms that utilize those devices' built-in GPS systems in determining users' real-time location.

One such service is from Waze, which in August released its iPhone app after being available on Android for several months. Waze's service is meant to help drivers figure out where they are and how best to get where they're going, all with the help of a large community of other motorists.

Waze gives users many different views of the road, including this one, in which users' avatars turn into a Pac-Man-type creature when going down previously undiscovered roads.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Among the information that Waze provides are traffic flow, road reports, and warnings about where drivers might run into speed traps.

At DemoFall 09 in San Diego on Tuesday, Waze plans to unveil its latest steps forward, which include rolling out its service on every major smart phone platform (except BlackBerry) and offering, for the first time, voice prompts for directions.

That could be good news for users of, say, Symbian-based smart phones, in cities where AT&T service is spotty. And that's important because even in a city like San Francisco, using Waze on an iPhone--with AT&T as the only service provider--meant being subject to areas where there was a significant delay in information showing up on the screen.

Further, because the service will now be available on other platforms, it means that the overall amount of data available to drivers--via the crowdsourced nature of the system--will be broader. And, because users until now have had to occasionally look at their small screens to see where they need to go, the voice prompts may well mean an easier--and safer--way to get to a destination.

Waze's application begins as a standard turn-by-turn directions tool and also offers a slew of other features, many of which give drivers something fun to look out for as they make their way to wherever they're going.

"At the end of the day," said Di-Ann Eisnor, Waze's community geographer, Waze is "about a community of drivers helping to build this map."

The company is counting on one part being fun for drivers: seeing where anyone else who's using the system is.

That may be fun for a while, but the application is really about making for a better driving experience, and that will rely on a critical mass of users. Rolling out on Android and iPhone first was a good way to ensure a significant number of drivers, especially tech-savvy ones, had access to it right from the get-go. But only time will tell if the new platforms the service will be on will make a difference in producing that critical mass.

For CNET News' latest coverage from DemoFall 09, click here.

Location-based social network Brightkite announced its first native BlackBerry application on Thursday. It was created by a third-party developer using the company's application programming interface. Brightkite already offers native applications to iPhone and Android users.

Dubbed myKite, the BlackBerry app, which was created by developer Chris Hallgren, locates the user through the BlackBerry's built-in GPS. It then finds other Brightkite users nearby in real time. When other people are found, myKite allows users to browse profiles, check status updates, post photos, and write notes on different establishments around town.

Prior to the release of myKite, BlackBerry users had to access the company's mobile site from their phones. According to Hallgren, he used Brightkite's API to develop myKite because he "wanted a native app for the BlackBerry."

myKite is available now for free in the BlackBerry App World. BlackBerry owners can download the app by either accessing it from their devices or by following this link.

Multiplied Media's local-search BlackBerry app Poynt hit the 1 million-download mark this week.

Poynt, which is similar to Yelp's local app for the iPhone, provides users with a series of local-search tools to help them find establishments in and around their area. They simply need to search for a specific location, and Poynt will display contact information and plot its position on a map. The app even provides directions on how to get there.

Unlike many of the local-search services currently available on mobile devices, Poynt also boasts people-search features, allowing users to find folks in their area.

So far, Poynt's application is only available for BlackBerry owners, but the company was quick to point out in a statement that a version for the iPhone is on its way. A previous announcement from the company said that it would be made available toward the end of the year.

Although a million downloads is a milestone for any developer, a certain level of measured excitement should go along with this announcement. The BlackBerry App World isn't Apple's App Store. There are far fewer applications. And as a BlackBerry owner that uses Poynt, I can say that although the product works well, there aren't many other viable alternatives to make me want to switch.

Poynt's real battle might begin when the company takes on Yelp and the others on the iPhone.

Music service iLike, best known for third-party applications on platforms like Facebook, made its big iPhone app launch today. The company has rolled out an app for alerts about local concerts, and also launched its previously announced program for bands and artists to create custom fan applications.

Apple still has to approve the "Local Concerts" app, according to a release, but iLike is excited about its potential impact regardless.

"It's something that we really felt was a good idea on paper as we started developing it," iLike CEO Ali Partovi told CNET News, "but as it reached completion and we started using it ourselves it really started seeming like a killer app."

iLike already has had a concert app in the iTunes Store. The company didn't promote it much, Partovi said, because the iPhone 3.0 software was what really made the app worthwhile, and so iLike was waiting until that came out.

"We found that there really were a few key capabilities that the iPhone OS didn't support at the time," he explained, referring specifically to push notifications and some software tweaks that enable better personalization. So the revamped iLike concerts app, thanks to iPhone software upgrades, will scan the music selection on an iPhone or iPod Touch, and send pop-up alerts when a band or artist that the user listens to will be in town.

"It turns the iPod into much more of a live device to be connected to the world of live music," Partovi said of the free app.

The custom artist apps, meanwhile, haven't changed much from when iLike originally announced the program in May. Over 250 artists have signed on to the program, the company said, including Pete Yorn, Reba McIntire, and Enrique Iglesias. iLike takes half the revenues from sales of the apps, and charges a $99 fee with the right to serve ads if the artist in question decides to offer its custom app for free.

CNET News reported last month that iLike was also in talks with the major music labels to open a download store, after a deal to offer full-length songs through subscription service Rhapsody failed to materialize.

Although Twitter is a tool that helps you connect with others around the world, what if you want to find some "tweeps" that live in your area? It's easier than you might think.

Twitter itself provides location information on profile pages, but that's not enough to help you find some locals. You're not going to sift through every profile to look at the person's location, after all.

That's why you need to check out the following sites and iPhone apps that will help you find folks who live nearby.

Find some locals

Happn.in Instead of simply finding tweeters close to you, Happn.in has you choose your area and see what the "trending" topics are there. So, if nearby users are discussing taxes or a local baseball team, they will be displayed as some of the more popular topics where you live. Under each topic is a listing of the latest tweets from people discussing those items. It's a neat idea, but beware that many towns are not included in the Happn.in listing, so it's a better service for people living in big cities.

Happn.in lists trending topics in your area to find others to follow.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Localtweeps Localtweeps asks you to input your ZIP code to add yourself to the service. When you input your ZIP code, it populates (but does not update) your Twitter stream with a tweet that includes your location. Your profile is then added to the Localtweeps directory, allowing people to find you based on where you live.

Because of the way Localtweeps adds users to its directory, you'll find that there aren't as many users as those in other services in this roundup. That said, it tends to be more accurate, since the people who join want to be located. So, although it sacrifices quantity, Localtweeps actually does provide some real quality. It's worth trying out.

Localtweeps doesn't have too many users, but it makes up for it in quality.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

The ability, with iPhone OS 3.0, to cut and paste content across applications will mean a huge boost in traffic for Twitter.

(Credit: Apple)

The iPhone world is rejoicing over the "it's about time" cut-and-paste feature in the just-released 3.0 version of the device's operating system. But I'm willing to bet that another group breaking open the champagne right now is the team at Twitter.

Not to mention the makers of Twitter iPhone apps.

And why?

Everyone knows that the reason that cut-and-paste was the most-heralded new feature in iPhone OS 3.0 was that for the first time, it would allow people to move content around between applications, be it between a browser and a note, or from a weather app to a text message and so on. Clearly, then, being able to paste content into Twitter means that for the first time, using the service on an iPhone will approximate the depth of using it on a computer.

(Credit: Twitter)

And that means that just as global Twitter awareness is going through the roof because of its role as the primary communications platform for rapid fire news developments from and related to post-election Iran, the service is going to get another massive boost from what I'm predicting will be a new huge influx of iPhone users.

Think about the tens of millions of first-gen or iPhone 3G owners, not to mention iPod Touch users, who are going to migrate to OS 3.0. And then add all the iPhone virgins whose first experiences with the device will be on a $99 iPhone 3G with OS 3.0. Or who will go straight to the 3G S.

I would argue that many of those people either have never used Twitter before or have had limited exposure to it, either on their existing iPhones or other mobile devices, or online. Now, with what is sure to be a rush of attention to the fact that it will offer never-before-seen possibilities to someone using an iPhone to participate fully on Twitter--meaning sharing ideas, copying URLs and so forth--I think Twitter is about to see a giant spike in usage.

To be sure, many people will move their already significant Twitter use from their computers to their iPhones. And already, many people are using Twitter on their iPhones every day. But adding the element of being able to paste content into your average Twitter app from elsewhere on the iPhone is going to make the service one of the biggest winners of all.

People may argue that Twitter has yet to reveal a business model, but they certainly can't argue its growth. No one knows how many new users the Iran election has brought, or will bring, Twitter. But with OS 3.0 coming hard on the heels of the turmoil in the Middle East, it's hard to imagine any one service going through two such potentially game-changing events in such a short period time.

No one, of course, could have predicted the situation in Iran. But the release on Wednesday of iPhone OS 3.0 was on everyone's radar. So I wonder if, when the Twitter team blogged about the "significantly increased" network capacity that came as a result of Tuesday's now famous server maintenance-related downtime--famous because the U.S. State Department asked Twitter to postpone the downtime in order to facilitate continued #IranElection posts--they were really hinting at the service's ability to handle any iPhone 3.0-related rush of traffic and new users.

Of course, even as Evan Williams and Biz Stone, et al., are toasting Twitter's latest good fortunes, one would imagine they're also praying to the god of server stability.

On June 21, Geek Gestalt will kick off Road Trip 2009. After driving more than 12,000 miles in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and the Southeast over the last three years, I'll be looking for the best in technology, science, military, nature, aviation and more in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota. If you have a suggestion for someplace to visit, drop me a line. And in the meantime, join the Road Trip 2009 Facebook page and follow my Twitter feed.