Via: The New York Times

Falcon Pro 3, the much anticipated re-write of one of the most popular, well-put-together Twitter apps in Android history, has arrived. At this time, you have a UI that will look somewhat similar to users of the previous app, in terms of the color scheme. Outside of that, though, the column-based navigation is completely different this time around (think Tweetdeck), there are no settings to be tweaked (yet), DMs are completely missing, and overall, it seems pretty barebones at this time.
The developer of Falcon Pro, Joaquim Verges, promises that more features are coming, along with direct messages in future updates.

The announcement during MWC a couple of weeks ago that Verizon would be exclusively partnering up with Skype was quite the story.  In fact, if users actually adopt the usage of Skype, this could give VZW a pretty significant advantage and a nice little selling point to its smartphone users.  Well, as long as they have one included on this list.

Check out Verizon's fun little illustrated intro to Skype...

the official beta for swype was finally released last week and it included a semi-disastrous process which left many users without a working copy or a handful of issues.  it is also possible that the sign-up period for this trial version has ended, so for any of you wanting just the apk for easy installation, here you go...

download:  Droid.Swype.Beta.5612.apk  (alt link)


installation instructions for those of you new to the game...

1.  go into settings -> applications and check the "unknown sources" box.
2.  visit this post from your phone's browser.
3.  tap and download this file onto your phone:  Droid.Swype.Beta.5612.apk (alt link)
5.  tap on each downloaded file once finished and install it.
6.  go into settings -> language & keyboard and check the "swype" box.
7.  go into a text message, long press in the text box and choose "input method".
8.  choose "swype".
9.  done.

just last friday we posted the htc ime keyboard that was ported over to the motorola droid which unfortunately only worked in portrait mode.  it now appears as though that phase was short lived as a new version has popped up and completely supports landscape mode!  yeah, it's pretty fantastic.  nice timing right?  the same day the official swype beta is released?

2 apk's are still needed:  htc_ime.apk for the keyboard and clicker.apk for the settings/calibration.  install both...

keyboard downloads:  htc_ime.apk (alt link)
settings downloads:  clicker.apk (alt link)

instructions for those of you new to the game...

1.  go into settings -> applications and check the "unknown sources" box.
2.  visit this post from your phone's browser.
3.  tap and download this file onto your phone:  htc_ime.apk (alt link)
4.  tap and download this file onto your phone:  clicker.apk (alt link)
5.  tap on each downloaded file once finished and install them.
6.  go into settings -> language & keyboard and check the "touch it" box.
7.  go into a text message, long press in the text box and choose "input method".
8.  choose "touch input".
9.  done.

(via xda-dev)

a few of you expressed some concern about the new beta version of swype that was released yesterday as it appeared that it was missing the "edit" keyboard.  well a few of our amazing readers would like to point out that it's still definitely there!  in fact all you need to do is make a swype from the swype info key over to the "SYM" key and it pops up!

on a side note, are many of you still having issues installing?  try again today as i'm sure they were getting crushed yesterday with massive amounts of users wanting this.

huge thanks to everyone that sent his in!

while most of us have been playing with and enjoying the "unofficial" swype beta for months, the rest of you can now jump on board as it looks like they finally decided to release the "official" beta version. 

sign up here and they'll send you the download link via email.

while we all sit and wait for the android 2.1 update with 5+ screens to arrive, we wanted to point out a home replacement app which is on the market right now for free that allows you to have up to 7 screens without completely changing the look of your device.  you get to keep your standard launcher, look, color scheme and all, but you get to have a ton of screens.  that app is called launcher+ and is made by the same crew that supports home++.

also, while we're whipping through this quick app, we wanted to point out an app called home switcher for those of you with multiple home replacement apps that need an easy way to jump back and forth between them.

video action to follow...


update 3/5 1:25pm:  there have been a couple of additional tips for the launcher+ pointed out in the comments and i wanted to make sure you all saw them:

• long press on the menu button and you get a helicopter or mini-card view of your screens.
• if you hold an app shortcut over the trash bin for 2 seconds, you can uninstall it.
• thanks pierre!

downloads...

sorry if that title comes off a little negative (that definitely wasn't the intention), but i need to get this out so we can move forward and onto bigger and better things!  (wow, that sounded a little overdramatic.)  to everyone out there that is wondering or has wondered what the clock/weather/calendar widget is on my home screen, this is for you.

the widget is called Beautiful Widgets.


you can grab this beautiful thing from the market, but it will cost you a whoppin' $1.99.  trust me when i say this though, it is well worth the $1.99 when you think about the number of questions i've received on it.  it's definitely "beautiful" and the amount of skins you can download to it have made it a top app purchase for me.

and if you need further verification on its awesomeness, i'm sure there are plenty of readers who would like to weigh in...

download...

back in january we reviewed an app called buzz deck which proved to be a great resource for the latest news of any kind.  and today, one of our readers sent us a tip to the brother or sister app to buzz deck which comes in widget form and is tastefully titled "tech buzz widget."  while i called it "new" in the video, that should be corrected to say "i'm just slow at checking things out sometimes!"

check out the tech buzz widget in action...


download...

after showing you the video of tat home in action just a few weeks ago, the response was incredibly positive.  this looked to be the best home replacement type of app we were going to find anywhere, anyday.  in fact, i would take tat home over a custom rom right now and i haven't even tested the product yet.  crazy i know.

unfortunately today, the tat team released some semi-bad news...

and then they heard the outcry from the world and responded...

they are also looking to release the preview version of tat home some time in april to android 2.1 users.  if you weren't one of the 30,000 people that signed up at their site for this preview, you better do that now.

cheers nick!