Webware

Popular desktop Twitter client Twhirl has a new sibling. Seesmic CEO Loic Le Meur, who acquired the Adobe AIR-based application about a year ago, has dubbed the new service "Seesmic Desktop," which is being launched in preview as a separate product from Twhirl.

Some of the new features include the capability to monitor multiple feeds side-by-side in a similar fashion to TweetDeck, create custom user lists, and post from multiple accounts while the application keeps track of which ones are which to keep duplicates at bay. You can also drag and drop photos from your computer to post straight to Twitter, making use of the fact that it's running off of Adobe's AIR platform.

However, not all of this functionality will be available from the get-go. The service is being launched in "preview" and will support only Twitter, however Le Meur said his team is on track to release support for other services in about a month. He also said that there's a pro version on the way that should fill in the company's business model, since this version--just like Twhirl, will not contain advertising.

One thing is clear though--Twhirl's life cycle may be at an end. While Le Meur said that development will continue on it, that could simply mean bug fixes. Considering Seesmic Desktop is launching as a Twitter client from the get-go should tell you something.

Seesmic Desktop preview is available for download right now, although you've got to sign up to be a member of "Team Seesmic," the company's new community site.

You can catch the whole live blog after the break.

The new Seesmic Desktop is kind of like the old Twhirl, meets Tweetdeck--with a dash of iTunes.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Twhirl (download) and AlertThingy, two social-publishing tools that run exclusively on Adobe's AIR, have been freshly updated to support more services and come with some cool (and useful) new features:

As we blogged about a few weeks back, Twhirl was working on giving Seesmic users a way to record videos, not just view them. The new version lets you do that and also adds Ping.fm support across the board, letting you cross post to other accounts you may have.

Other new goodies include a spell checker, Bit.ly link shortener, and an option to have any search pop up with real-time results as they update. This is especially useful for Twitter since you can keep an eye on the velocity of a heavily tweeted event or keyword as it's happening.

AlertThingy (coverage), which launched its third version early Tuesday now includes support for Basecamp, Huddle, Ping.fm, TwitPic, Twitter's search engine, and Yammer. Three of those: Basebamp, Huddle, and Yammer, mark a decidedly business-centric movement of the app. Instead of open and public social networks, these three are for small (or large) teams or private organizations who are working on something. For those using one or more of these services, this update makes the tool a little more attractive.

Another change from the previous version is a new view that like Tweetdeck, lets you stretch out Twitter feeds into separate compartments. This lets you keep an eye on replies and private messages at the same time as you've got your main feed up.

Two services I use, Twhirl and Ping.fm, and one I don't, Seesmic, are getting integrated this week in ways that will likely help all of the products.

First up, Seesmic CEO Loic LeMeur just announced that the multi-posting tool Ping.fm now supports Seesmic, a video microblog service. Seesmic has a new API, which has made it possible for the Ping.fm team to allow embed a recording function for Seesmic videos within Ping.fm. It's very simple to use the Ping.fm service now to create a Seesmic video, but the real benefit is that you can then easily post a link to the video on another micro-blog or social site, like Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, or Plurk (or any combination of them), without visiting any of the sites themselves.

You can now record Seesmic videos within Ping.fm, but what I'm really looking forward to is the capability to post to Ping.fm from within Twhirl.

The AIR app Twhirl, primarily known as a Twitter client (although it also supports Seesmic and Friendfeed) is also getting related new features that should be released later this week. Taking advantage of the same Seesmic API that Ping.fm is using, the client will soon let you record Seesmic videos directly. The current version lets you watch, but not record, Seesmic vids.

Also coming to Twhirl in the upcoming release is support for Ping.fm: You'll be able to use the client as a front-end to your Ping.fm account, which means if you like the Ping.fm service (like I do) for its capability to multi-post items to several services at once, and also like the Twhirl service for reading your microblog feeds, soon you'll be able to take advantage of the Ping.fm functionality without actually leaving the Twhirl client.

Together, these three services make for a nice system for microbloggers, and the set-up makes it much more likely that a user of any two of the products will take up use of the third. I may just start using Seesmic, for example. I would like to see more interface and login integration between the services (you have to have accounts on all three to use them as I described), but for now, this is a very welcome improvement to them all.

Previously: The looming crisis: Personal syndication overload.

The next update of Twhirl will get support for yet another nanoblogging service, Identi.ca, and on that platform Twhirl will feature a communication method that Twitter users have been asking for: push updates.

Read to end of story for the download link and instructions.

In other words, the Twhirl client won't have to ping the Identi.ca servers to get updates; instead, updates will be sent directly to the Twhirl client. This makes nanoblog conversations more live--you can have a back-and-forth without hovering over the "update" button. It also means that your Twhirl client doesn't have to be hitting the Identi.ca servers every few minutes for updates, which reduces the load profile on the service, theoretically at least.

The latest version of Twhirl gets push nanoblog entries from Identi.ca.

In practice, the push capability of Identi.ca is more complex. Identi.ca doesn't do the pushing itself. Instead, Identi.ca sends its updates to Google Talk, a Jabber-based IM platform that supports the open XMPP standard for instant messaging; and it's those XMPP messages that get pushed out to the Twhirl desktop clients installed on users' computers.

The two-step requires users have two logins: One for Identi.ca, and one for Gtalk, and that they enter them into both Identi.ca and Twhirl.

It's unknown when (or even if) Twitter will open up a push interface or unlock its XMPP support, or how Twitter and Twhirl will work together to make setup easier than it is for Identi.ca.

Twitter does support the XMPP standard for sending out the "fire hose" of its content, but it's not open. Only four sites right now get the feed: Summize, which Twitter bought, Twittervision, FriendFeed, and Zappos (yes, the shoe company).

Identi.ca, by the way, is cool because it's open-source. But other than that I find little reason to use the service: it doesn't have Twitter's user network nor newbie Plurk's user interface innovation. Seeing Identi.ca updates pushed to Twhirl just raises the obvious question: When will we get this feature on Twitter?

The new version of Twhirl will probably be announced Monday, Seesmic CEO Loic LeMeur told me.

You need both an Identi.ca and a GTalk ID to get the push feature to work.

How to
To get the version of Twhirl that supports Identi.ca, grab this download. Log in to the Identi.ca site, go to the IM tab and enter in your Gtalk ID. Also check the "Send me notices through Jabber/Gtalk..." box in Preferences. In Twhirl, go to the configuration panel for Identi.ca, go to the Network tab, and in the "XMPP Settings" box, enter your Gtalk ID and password, and "talk.google.com" in the server field. You'll know it's working if you see a little lightbulb icon in the lower-right of the Identi.ca panel light up.

You can follow me on Identi.ca, but I hang out more on Twitter and Friendfeed.

Related:
How I got burned by Twitter's API, and how to fix it.
Which way will Twitter go? by Dave Winer.

It's like Twitters that talk.

Seesmic founder and CEO Loic LeMeur is circulating an early release of Twitter client Twhirl with Seesmic support. Seesmic, if you have forgotten, is Twitter in video. Download the new release here.

The test client only plays Seesmic videos at the moment. It doesn't let you record them. Seesmic won't be updating the Twhirl client for everyone until recording is added. That's due in a few weeks. Following that, although it "will take a while," will be a version of Twhirl that lets users show their Twitter, FriendFeed, and Seesmic feeds in one window. That's the version I'm waiting for.

Twhirl was a brilliant acquisition for Seesmic. Not because it makes Seesmic better. Seesmic.com itself is already an attractive and useful site that doesn't really need a desktop client the way Twitter does. Rather, embedding Seesmic support in Twhirl gives the service exposure to all the Twitter users on Thwirl who would likely otherwise never pay attention to it. The real question for me is how any of these services are going to make money, and especially how those revenue plans will be reflected in aggregating clients like Twhirl.

Twhirl keeps getting better, but it has a way to go.

Seesmic, which recently acquired the AIR Twitter client Twhirl (download), has shipped a new version of the software. There are minor improvements in Twitter functionality, mostly designed to keep it from requesting too many updates from the Twitter API, which produces the dreaded "limit exceeded" message if you use the app too enthusiastically. The Twitter service, which used to allow clients like Twhirl to fetch updates 60 times an hour, dropped its limit to 20/hour during the Steve Jobs keynote; it's only back at 30/hour as of this writing. Twhirl can now adjust its update frequency so it's always under the Twitter maximums.

Twitter will, at some point in the future, hopefully move to a push model for updates based on the XMPP protocol. At that time, according to Seesmic, Twhirl will also be updated to use the protocol. That should solve at least one of Twitter's capacity issues. Today, if you press the update button one time too many, you still time out.

Twhirl's most visible improvements are in its FriendFeed support, where it now handles comments and links in items gracefully. You can also share photos on FriendFeed via the Twhirl client just by dragging your image to a box in the client.

The app also supports FriendFeed rooms.

Seesmic support in Twhirl is still missing, as is the promised single-pane view that merges content from the three services. I like a Twhirl a great deal, but there are aspects of the Firefox add-on MySocial 24x7 that make it an even better client for the FriendFeed.

I've been very popular on Twitter lately. Too bad it's not personal. Many subscribers seem to be gaining more attention than they've earned, and probably a good deal more than they want.

This past month has seen a surge in Twitter spam, subscriptions from followers who have created faux accounts to advertise their links or wares. The noticeable uptick has alarmed the blogosphere enough to warrant journalistic notice, off the record in intra-office chatter and on it. The disingenuous among my own modest list of followers don't appear to be peddling anything other than URLs, but it matters little. I have declared them a nuisance. The squatters must go.

These 'people' are not my friends.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Unlike Facebook, which requires dual authentication before friends make it onto the social roster, Twitter attachments can be single-sided. I've never had reason to block anyone before, but scooping off the scattered scum is proving more tedious than it should. From the list of followers on Twitter.com there is the option to subscribe to a user's updates or to block them. Blocking one user resets the follower list, putting you back at the starting point of your multipage count. That's fine if all your new "pals" cluster on Page 1, but crummy if they're spread between Pages 4, 7, and 10. Simple pagination would simplify the task, as would the ability to batch process blocking.

Up until about a week ago, Twitter's API was itself the meta-blocker of a different sort, barring developers from building the rejection feature into third-party services. Now the capability is turned on, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone confirmed, though documentation won't be broadly shared until "some time next week." At that point, third-party services like Twhirl, a desktop client that adds all sorts of goodies to the Twitter experience, would be able to let users block stalkers by hovering over their icons from a scrolling interface.

For a service this popular, better native blocking tools should be a no-brainer. Hopefully they will be before the spam really catches on. In the meantime, you can at least pick out the fictitious followers using Twitter Twerp Scan, an app we learned about from DownloadSquad. Twitter Twerp Scan quickly calculates the ratio of friends to followers for each of your fans. Subscribers with high ratios follow many more tweeters, but are not followed in turn. The raked popularity count makes them likely spammers who you don't have to feel guilty about cutting out.

Shortly after Loic Le Meur's Seesmic acquired the excellent Twitter client Twhirl, the new geek hotness FriendFeed got its first AIR application, Alert Thingy (review), which also handles Twitter feeds. Le Meur charged his new employee with putting FriendFeed features into Twhirl to maintain parity.

FriendFeed support in the current version of Twhirl is pretty sparse. If you find it frustrating, however, sit tight for a few more hours because yet another update to Twhirl is on the way, Le Meur told me tonight.

This new version will let you post images to your FriendFeed account just by dragging them into your window. That could be pretty cool if you're a FriendFeed user. Personally, I'm hoping that the Twhirl developer finds a way to integrate Twitter and FriendFeed data into one window; the current two-window setup takes up too much screen real estate.

We also await Alert Thingy's latest update in this enjoyable game of AIR application leapfrog.

A lot of window space for news about nothing

Seesmic (review), which is working towards the public release of its video nanoblogging and chat service, has acquired Twhirl, an AIR-based Twitter client. Twhirl is the most popular third-party client according to ReadWriteWeb, accounting for about 7% of messages sent on the service.

Meet Seesmic's new desktop client app.

Twhirl was developed by Marco Kaiser in Germany. It's the first AIR app he wrote, and he did it as a side project. Kaiser will stay in Germany as a new employee of Seesmic. It's been a busy week for him, apparently: His wife also had a baby this week.

In my opinion, Twhirl (review) is the best way to use Twitter. But that position is hardly secure. Heavy Twitter users are fickle and often switch apps when newer and better ones come along. I say that based on experience as well as observation.

But Twhirl is several steps ahead of the competition. It already cross-posts to Twitter-alikes Pownce and Jaiku, and Kaiser was already working on integration with Seesmic when that comany's founder, Loic Le Meur, approached him with the acquisition offer. (See Le Meur's blog post regarding the acquisition.)

Kaiser's app will now evolve into Seesmic's official desktop client, and the first Seesmic-enabled version of it will ship in two to three weeks, Le Meur told me. Seesmic, which is still in private beta, will open up to public access before that version of Twhirl becomes available.

Twhirl will continue to support Twitter, and Le Meur has no plans to add text nanoblogging to Seesmic. His service is all about video, he says.

Seesmic's video service is often compared to Twitter since it encourages short-form back-and-forth commentary, as Twitter does, and its social architecture is similar: You "follow" people whose results you want to see, and they can follow you back. That should make the mechanics of using one client to access both Twitter and Seesmic at least potentially workable; but we'll have to see how well it operates in practice.

Despite Twhirl's importance in the Twitter ecosystem, it is not a huge app by normal software standards: It's been downloaded only about 100,000 times since its first release, Le Meur said. Despite the buzz in and about Twitter, the nanoblog market is still very immature.