TiPb checks out the best, most must-have Twitter apps (that aren’t Twitter) to load up on your iPhone

Twitter for iPhone recently updated to include a rather annoying and intrusive Quick Bar that has outraged most of its users. So much so, that it has been coined as #dickbar. One solution is to jailbreak and install Twizzler, a tweek that’ll remove the trending bar from the Twitter app. However, for those of us who are devout members of #TeamPure, we must look towards other Twitter apps.

Follow along for TiPb’s top 5 Twitter apps (not including Twitter’s official app)!

Twitterrific

Twitterrific is the very first Twitter application to ever hit the App Store. It is full-featured, award-winning client with a beautiful and intuitive UI. Twitterrific supports link shortening and tweet translation in addition to the ability to filter your timeline for specific tweet types & trends. As an extra bonus, Twitterrific is a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

Available as an in-app purchase for $4.99, you can upgrade to Twitterrific Premium which will remove ads and grant the feature of managing multiple accounts.

Twitterrific does not support push notifications.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Twittelator

If you’re looking for an overload of features, look no further than Twittelator. In addition to posting to Twitter, you can post to your Facebook wall. One of the unique features of Twittelator is the ability to create and share themes.

For an in-app purchase of $4.99, you can upgrade to Twittelator Pro and unlock over 45 additional features including support for multiple accounts, more customization, Geocoding, and the ability to upload to WordPress and Posterous.

Unfortunately, one of the hundreds of features that Twittelator has to offer is not push notifications.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Echofon

Echofon is a full-featured twitter client with a very clean interface and support for push notifications. One of the unique features of Echofon is a mute option to squelch users, clients and hashtags. Additionally, Echofon previews media directly in your stream which helps you decide if it’s something you’re interested in. If so, a quick tap of the thumbnail will open the photo or video. Echofon is also a universal application for iPhone and iPad.

As an in-app purchase for $4.99, you can remove the ads and upgrade to Echofon Pro.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Tweetings

Tweetings is an excellent Twitter app with a clutter-free UI. It let’s you search who’s nearby and find out what’s trending at the moment or see who’s around you with Augmented Reality. Tweetings also allows selective or automatic updates to Facebook as well as support for TwitLonger, Twtmore, and URL shortening.

Many of the big features, like push notifications, are stripped from the free version of Tweetings, but you can individually choose which features are important to you and purchase them for $0.99 or upgrade to the full version for $2.99.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Tweetlist

Tweetlist offers an excellent way to view lists and quickly switch between them. The Tweetlists tab is quick to access and you simply swipe left and right to view different lists. This client is very snappy and has excellent Voice Over accessibility support. Tweetlists also offers support for Twitlonger, Instapaper, and Read it Later. Another fantastic feature of Tweetlist is that conversations open automatically – if a tweet is part of a conversation, the entire conversation will be displayed upon tapping on the tweet.

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

Bonus: Boxcar

Unfortunately, not all Twitter applications offer push notification support. That’s where Boxcar comes to the rescue. Boxcar can send you push notifications for mentions, DMs, RTs, new followers, favorites, and whenever you’re added to a list and you can choose from over 35 different clients to open automatically for Twitter, including the ones mentioned above.

The goodness doesn’t stop there though. Boxcar also offers push notifications for Facebook, Email, RSS, Growl, Github, Google Voice, Google Buzz, App Recommendation, and more.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPhone Twitter apps to get you going. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Top 5 Twitter apps for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Instead of releasing separate iPad 2 models for AT&T/GSM and Verizon/CDMA, why doesn’t Apple just use that new Qualcomm dual-mode chipset and support both GSM and CDMA on one device? That way users could not only swap microSIMs and move between different GSM/HSPA networks when they travel abroad, they could switch between AT&T and Verizon’s CDMA/EVDO networks when at home. (For an explanation of what all those terms mean see TiPb’s data and wireless networking glossary.)

Well, if the Verizon iPhone is any indication, Apple may indeed be using Qualcomm’s MDM6600 dual-mode chipset, only enabling CDMA on the Verizon version. However, the radio is only part of the equation. The other part is the antenna. Supporting different frequency bands requires different antennas at different lengths.

The AT&T/GSM model supports 850, 900, 1900, and 2100 MHz for UMTS/HSPA, and 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz for GSM/EDGE. That’s 5 bands (pentaband) already.

The CDMA/Verizon mode supports 800 and 1900 MHz for CDMA/EVDO rev. A. That’s 2 bands (dualband).

If — and I’m no radio engineer so I don’t know — the same antenna could work for both GSM and CDMA on 1900, Apple would still have to add the 800 MHz band for a minimum of 6 bands (hexaband) to support both GSM and CDMA in one model. (It might also require more or different internal connections on a tiny, tiny motherboard.)

While it’s never wise to underestimate Apple, they may simply not be able to engineer a hexaband antenna at this point. (No death-touch jokes please.)

Why isn’t iPad 2 dual-mode GSM+CMDA? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Welcome to iOS, Verizon iPhone users — Apple is sending a carrier update your way! We don’t know what it does yet but typically carrier update files control carrier-specific features like personal hotspot, tethering, links, network settings, etc.

Have you gotten the Verizon iPhone carrier update yet? Notice any differences?

[via @techjunky79]

Verizon iPhone gets carrier file update is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Worried about your unlimited AT&T iPad data if you upgrade to iPad 2, or maybe you just want to save $100 on an original iPad? Well, good news on both fronts!

First up, AT&T has confirmed to Engadget that, if you have an original iPad with a grandfathered unlimited 3G data plan, you’ll be able to keep it if you upgrade to iPad 2. (We’re guessing most people would have just swapped microSIMs and hoped for the best but it’s good to hear it won’t be a problem.) New users, of course, will only be able to get the 250MB or 2GB capped plans.

Second, if you don’t have an iPad yet and price is the reason why, AT&T is also matching Apple’s recent discount, shaving $100 off the cost of an original iPad 3G. That means starting price is $529 and they’ll toss in a free month of data. (If you want a Wi-Fi model for $399, check Apple.)

[Engadget, BGR]

AT&T: Keep grandfathered unlimited data on iPad 2, $100 off original iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Forbes suggests Best Buy might be getting ready to roll out iPads to it’s 1,100 store strong salesforce.

A source with knowledge of corporate mobile device deployments tells Forbes that one of the country's top 10 largest retailers expects to distribute iPads to each of its on-floor sales associates. This retailer, the source adds, operates 1,100 stores across the U.S. As the country's largest electronics retailer — as well as a retailer that currently operates around 1,100 stores in the U.S. — Best Buy is a natural match.

I was at a restaurant yesterday and the waiter brought out an iPad to show us the dessert selection. Big screen, great looking photographs, and cool use of technology. Dessert required only static pictures, however. Best Buy could have fully interactive and connected product apps or web apps where they could show off use cases, fetch specs, demo recommended installations, etc.

Aside from just selling Best Buy tens of thousands of iPads, the advantages for Apple are clear. If Best Buy employees are using iPads, they’ll better be able to articulate iPads to their customers, and mainstream customers might just be more likely to gravitate towards the iPads they see being used rather than competing tablets that are simply on the shelves. Added to Apple Retail, that’s a huge presence.

Would you like to see your local Best Buy associate wielding an iPad?

[Forbes via MacRumors]

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Samsung is reportedly reconsidering the form-factor and price of their forthcoming Galaxy Tab 10 following Apple’s iPad 2 announcement this week.

“We will have to improve the parts that are inadequate,” [Lee Don-joo] told Yonhap News Agency. “Apple made it very thin.”

The 7-inch Galaxy Tab was priced at nearly US$900 without a two-year contract from mobile operators, while the price of the iPad 2 starts at $499, with the most expensive model costing $829. Samsung did not announce the pricing details for the 10.1-inch tablet.

“The 10-inch (tablet) was to be priced higher than the 7-inch (tablet) but we will have to think that over,” Lee added.

I’m guessing that wasn’t a unique reaction by competitors and would-be competitors, and is refreshingly candid despite the fact that persistent rumors should have given Samsung et al reason to be reflective long before this week.

The reality is this — even if Android OS tablets eventually outnumber iOS tablets (aka iPad) like Android phones do iOS phones (aka iPhone), they’ll be split among numerous manufacturers making it unlikely any of them will individually ship more product than Apple. Since Apple can purchase and even pre-pay for components in huge volumes their economies of scale will likely far outstrip what separate Android manufacturers can manage. That, combined with COO Tim Cook’s legendary supply chain management, will keep Apple’s costs low and, even with their traditionally beefy margins, their overall price points low.

Likewise Apple has a Senior Vice President of Design — how many other companies put that much emphasis on design? Apple’s focus and the profits they make to feed that focus mean they are often far ahead when it comes to the build quality of the products they can field.

Given that Apple is already bringing iPad 2 to market before most are bringing their first tablet — great artists ship — Samsung is probably wise to consider and reconsider everything from price to package. But really, it’s not iPad 2 they need to worry about. It’s iPad 3.

If Samsung or Motorola or HTC can release their iPad 3 competitor within the next 6 months — the way Google released the Nexus One 6 months into the iPhone 3GS product lifecycle — then things will start to get interesting.

[Yonhap News Agency via Android Central]

Samsung having second thoughts about Galaxy Tab 10 post iPad 2 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple is reportedly in negotiations with major record labels to allow users to download music they’ve already purchased without having to pay again. This would be similar to how the App Store lets you re-download purchased apps as often as you like without additional charges — as long as your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad is logged into the same iTunes account. Right now if you download the same song more than once you’re charged again each and every time. Allowing unlimited downloads would also act as a backup of your entire catalogue of purchased music in case the original files are lost or damaged.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is in talks with record companies to give iTunes customers easier access to music they've purchased across multiple devices [...] The arrangement would give users more flexibility in how they access purchased music. A deal would provide iTunes customers with a permanent backup of music purchases

If all goes well during these negotiations the service should be going online sometime this summer, and sounds like some good use of that massive data center Apple has been working on.

Is this the type of iTunes cloud service we’ve all been waiting for or do you think Apple could be doing more? What about streaming? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

[Bloomberg]

Apple negotiating with music labels to let users download again without paying again is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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