We broke the news that TweetDeck is coming to the iPhone at 9 PM PT, a play to expand its audience. That is not the end of the TweetDeck story, however. On top of the iPhone application, TweetDeck is releasing a new version of its desktop software, and it comes with a lot of new features.
TweetDeck's Desktop Upgrade
Understandably, TweetDeck needed to update its desktop software in order to work correctly with the iPhone app. Specifically, TweetDeck will support mobile-to-desktop sync. This means whenever you make a change on TweetDeck (i.e. change friend groups or columns), it will automatically update on your iPhone and vice-versa.
TweetDeck however thought it was time for a major upgrade in features as well. So along with the ability to sync with the iPhone app, they have implemented an array of new features, small and big. Two of the biggest: multiple accounts and unlimited columns. Here's a quick highlight of some of the important ones, with screenshots showing these features in action:
1. "Block and Report Spam" button: Clicking on this button will not only delete the spam message, but it will block that specific user and report them to Twitter. Simply brilliant.
2. "Reply All" feature: You can now tweet to everyone who is mentioned in a specific tweet.
3. "TweetDeck Recommends" column: Just as it sounds, it's a column with a list of recommended people to follow.
4. Deeper video playback support: Qik, 12seconds, and other video clips are fully supported in TweetDeck.
5. Auto-suggest filter: When you start typing someone's username, it will find the person and allow you to add them to a group quickly.
6. Integration with YFrog for photo sharing.
7. RE (In reference to): A new menu feature that allows you to reference a specific user or a tweet in your own message.
8. Multiple accounts and unlimited columns: Yes, two of TweetDeck's most requested features have arrived.
And like we said earlier, these are just a few of the features that TweetDeck's desktop version has added.
A New Turf Battle Begins
With both Seesmic and TweetDeck launching new features, and TweetDeck positioning itself to compete with the Tweetie iPhone app, we could see a renewed fight for the hearts and minds of Twitter users everywhere.