Twitter Launches T.co
Twitter has launched T.co, their own URL shortener. They had already been using twt.tl within DM’s to protect users from phishing scams, so this is just taking things a step further. Another issue that they are looking to solve is the fact that there is no native way to shorten links, so less tech savvy users are left in the cold. The t.co domain will be used to wrap long links. It will address one of the major shortcomings of link shortening, which is obscuring the destination for the link. Twitter will also use information collected from t.co for it’s Promoted Tweets platform and an eventual premium analytics package.
New LinkedIn Inbox
LinkedIn has welcomes you to your new inbox. They’ve given it a new look and feel, separating invites and messages into two separate tabs. They’ve also added advanced functions likes Bulk Actions and Delete…wait, what year is it again? It’s good to see LinkedIn is taking some steps forward, but they are still running behind. Granted, most people just use the site for networking and not communications but, if LinkedIn keeps lagging, people may drop it altogether.
Twitter Finally Tells Us How To Tweet
Finally, after all this time of being in existence and avid users having a hard time explaining what to do with it, Twitter has finally released some How To videos for Tweeting. They are accessible from Twitter’s Support Center, but you can also watch them directly on YouTube. If you’re already well versed with Twitter and know what you’re doing, you will be bored to tears by these videos. For instance, the one on Retweets is about 3 minutes long. For everyone else, these videos will do a good job of explaining the basics.
Arrington Disses the Evo
According to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, the HTC Evo 4G is horrible on battery life. It is so bad that, if you insist on getting one, he recommends you buy a second phone to actually make calls on when the Evo dies. He starts off his rant by claiming to be a “die hard Android Fan,” then proceeds to rip into it’s battery life, HTC Sense interface, and stability. Following Arrington’s advice, you should just buy an iPhone 4 or a Nexus One if you insist on going Android. I think the Evo and iPhone 4 are pretty evenly matched, though.