If you didn’t skip past this post, the odds are that you’re a BlackBerry user and Twitterer. And if our assumption is correct, then you’ll probably want to set your alarm clock for 9PM ET, as RIM has informed us that’s when it will release a public beta of Twitter for BlackBerry. We gave you a sneak peek of the app in February and weren’t very impressed with some of it, but that was a very early beta. By the looks of the change log we were sent (available after the jump), a lot of things have changed since then. Interested in giving it a shot? Grab it in the App World Test Center tonight.
Notifications of New Tweets and @Replies/Mentions
- When an @reply/mention is received, the user will be notified with a splat on the BlackBerry home screen ribbon as well as the application icon
- Users will also be notified of new tweets in the BlackBerry Messages list
Twitter Lists Functionality
- Comprehensive option to build a list of Twitter users on any subject
- Ability to add members to the list and view subscribers of the lists
- Users can also view other users’ lists
Profile Editing
- Users can edit their own Twitter profile from the application
- Users can also change their profile image from the application
Personalization Settings
- Users can customize the look of the application with the ability to:
- Show/hide the navigation bar and tweetbox
- Change the font/style to their own preferred choice
Enlarged Avatar (Profile Picture) Viewing
- Users can click on a Twitter profile image and it will be enlarged for better viewing abilities
Improved in-Application Caching/Polling
- Increased on-device caching for Timeline; Mentions to improve application performance
These new features build on Twitter for BlackBerry’s strengths at its original preview launch:
- Push Notifications for Direct Messages
- Timeline Support
- Following & Followers
- Posting, Sending, Deleting, Replying and Re-Tweeting Tweets
- User/Saved/Keyword/Proximity Search
- Tweet Photos/Links
- Trending Topics
- Seamless integration into core BlackBerry Applications
- URL Shortening
- Auto Update
