As of next Tuesday, November 17, you’ll be able to access Twitter and Facebook on your Xbox 360. The software update is free, like previous updates, and also includes Last.fm and Zune video compatibility. “What are you doing?” “Losing to 12-year-olds in Modern Warfare 2 over and over again! Not fun.”

The idea, I guess, is that you’ll be able let your friends know just how much fun you’re having while playing the latest game, or streaming the latest Netflix release, without having to go through the trouble of whipping out your phone or walking over to your computer. I see it as a convenience and nothing more. It may also mean that there’s nothing you can to do stop Twitter’s worldwide dominance.

This is what the Twitter interface looks like in motion:

Note that the Xbox 360 isn’t the only video game console whence you can tweet or alter your Facebook status. The PS3 and Wii come with a built-in Web browser, and a stand-alone Facebook interface for the PS3 was leaked just yesterday.

And while the Twitter and Facebook support will get the most attention, I think it’s the Zune HD support that’s most interesting. Say what you will about the Zune HD—Devin liked it, and I went out and bought it I was so impressed—but the idea of an instant-on, HD, 5.1 surround system movie service certainly intrigues me. Of course, its success now depends on what type of movies are released for it.

There is one common thing between all these tweets: everyone is excited to play this game. It’s already gotten two perfect scores and if what early players say is true, I’m sure more high scores are to come. I would add more to this, but let’s be honest, the lines on the West Coast are already two hundred deep and growing, and I need this game. Tonight.

For the rest of us, this thing is pretty rough. I follow 2104 people and so this thing was buzzing and Tweeting all afternoon until I finally turned it off. Weird batches of tweets would come in, all from one person, for example, or weird messages like “Oh Hey, you’re Tweeting so much! We’re going to try to catch up” or something to that effect. It’s also really slow. You have to click twice to read a Tweet – once to bring up the menu and once to read the Tweet – and scrolling is really bad. And it makes a buzzing and a tweeting noise when tweets come in – which is all the time. And it’s $99 with 6 months free or $199 for life. And it only does Twitter. No email. No texting. I’m really selling this thing, aren’t I?


What Peek has done, however, is create one of the first standalone Twitter devices. This is kind of a big deal and I’m going to talk about this more later this week. I suspect the rise of Twitter as a service and as a cultural entity. As I just retweeted, Manischewitz is now on Twitter. Yeah, the guys who make a nice matzo ball soup.

While I’m sure this will be relegated to the dustbin of history, we can say we were alive at a moment when a service gained so much traction that it was made flesh. Interestingly, Peek clearly knows what they’re doing here and they’re small enough to make a few mistakes on the way – again, more on that later – but, and this is momentous as the moon landing, spotting the first Tweek in the wild will mean Twitter is finally mainstream.

So the TwitterPeek gives you an always-connected view of Twitter over a nationwide cellular network. You can tweet and twat all you want. The device runs $99 with 6 months of service or $199 with a lifetime of the device service.

I’m sure the TweeterPeek is a wonderful device, but most feature phones now include a Twitter app. So if you’re really getting into Twitter, first reevaluate your life, and then check out your cell phone provider’s offers to make sure you simply can’t upgrade your phone to get access to Twitter. Or you can just drop $200 on the TweeterPeek and call it good. Your call.

Peek Unveils TwitterPeek – Making It Affordable for Millions More to Twitter on the Go

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Peek, the maker of the award-winning Peek email and texting device, debuts the world’s first Twitter mobile device today exclusively on Amazon.com. TwitterPeek promises to unleash the thrill of Twitter on-the-go by enabling millions to tweet interesting news, stories, and ideas as soon as they happen – in real time – without an expensive smartphone or data plan.

Twitter has become a worldwide phenomenon, but – until now – the millions of Twitter users without a smartphone haven’t been able to fully experience the fun of Twitter on-the-go. “TwitterPeek will make it easy and affordable for everyone who doesn’t have a smartphone to really enjoy Twitter on–the-go,” said Peekster-in-Chief Amol Sarva.

TwitterPeek delivers the world of Twitter in a sleek, palm-sized gadget sure to top this year’s holiday gift list. “Twitter die-hards will appreciate its ‘always-on’ instant tweet delivery and newbies will finally ‘get Twitter’ once they have TwitterPeek in hand,” continued Sarva. “Even businesses that Twitter will dig TwitterPeek as a convenient way to stay connected with their customers.”

At $99 including unlimited nationwide service, TwitterPeek offers affordability no smartphone can match and a user experience far superior to SMS text messaging Twitter with a traditional cell phone.

Key features of TwitterPeek are:

Unlimited tweets and direct messages
Always-on instant tweet delivery
Views links (as plain text) and Twitpic images
Nationwide coverage. No wi-fi signal necessary.
Full QWERTY keyboard, color screen, click scroll wheel
30-day money back guarantee
1-year manufacturers warranty
Availability:

TwitterPeek is available exclusively on Amazon.com and TwitterPeek.com from November 3, 2009.
The original Peek Classic and Peek Pronto email and texting mobile devices are available at Amazon.com, GetPeek.com, Costco.com, and select Blockbuster and RadioShack stores.
Cost: TwitterPeek

$99 includes device plus 6 months of unlimited Twitter service ($7.95 per month for service thereafter)
$199 includes unlimited Twitter service for lifetime of device
No contracts

The Pronto costs $59.99 with $14.99/month service. The Classic costs $19.99.

In related news, it seems the company has created a new version of the hardware with dedicated Twitter access. We’ve seen images of the box, above, and we’re asking for more info right now.

[Thanks, Peter ]

What’s all this nonsense about professional athletes getting into trouble over what they say on Twitter (or whatever other site)? The NFL, which, as we all know, stands for the No Fun League, freaked out after Robert Henson, of the Washington Redskins, tweeted a few choice words to critical fans last week. Things like “All you fake half hearted Skins fan can .. I won’t go there but I dislike you very strongly, don’t come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!!” and “The question is who are you to say you know what’s best for the team and you work 9 to 5 at Mcdonalds.” I say good for Mr. Henson. Fans can get away with murder, but the man cannot speak his mind? Lame.

Now it’s the NBA’s turn. The league is expected to announce its policy on “social media” sites like Twitter and Facebook. It’s expected that players won’t be allowed to Tweet from inside the locker room, or from within a few minutes prior to a game’s start, or from within a few minutes of the game’s conclusion. Part of the reason is to placate the ESPNs of the world—why should fans tune into ESPN to see a post-game interview when they can get INSTANT REACTIONS from Twitter, especially when a player only speaks in platitudes on TV like “We have a good team here” or “We’re just gonna have to work harder that’s all.”?

The restrictions won’t be as strict as the NFL’s, but the fact that they’re there at all is 100 percent lame. (Never mind that the league has already fined Marc Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and person whom I have met once at SXSW, over Twitter comments; I totally marked out when I met him.) Fans can hurl abuse at players from the safety of the stands, but a player can’t say “please shut up, fans”? And yes, I understand that fans “pay good money” to attend the games, but does that give them the right to hurl abuse at the players? How about some civility. Golf and tennis doesn’t tolerate people shouting nonsense at the players!

I also understand that players are merely employees, so if management says “you will not Twitter during the game” then there’s not argument: if you want to stay on the team you had better not Twitter. That, or feel free to Twitter to your heart’s content, but not as a member of TEAM.

So there’s at least two sides to the argument. Feel free to disagree, but it’s really not that important anyway.

It appears that this was done to promote a Java programming company, which is pretty nice of them. Essentially they programmed the iPhone to take pictures every minute. The results are underwhelming, but the conflation of Twitter, the iPhone, helium, Java, and Romania is like a perfect storm of high-tech geekery. Some shots from on-high after the jump.

Now this is the type of radio a fancy gentleman would use. It’s the latest PURE Sensia, a touchscreen European radio that supports FM, DAB (and DAB+), and Internet radio. There’s also Wi-Fi and “widgets,” I guess, for sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Compare this to the old clock-radio you’ve got on your nightstand, and I think you’ll agree: this is better. It has built-in stereo speakers (but let’s be real: you’re not going to be using this to listen to your meticulously encoded FLACs now are you?) as well as a jack to hook it up to external speakers—perhaps you and your Sim friends are having a party tonight?

The best part, though, is those aforementioned widgets. You’ve got the two big guys right now in Facebook and Twitter, along with access to Picasa, Google’s take on Flickr. Then there’s things like weather widgets, news widgets, etc. It’s almost Chumby-like.

Mr. Radio is a tad on the expensive side, however, coming in at £249, or just over $400. Still, it’s a fine-looking radio, and one I wouldn’t mind using it, provided I had $400 to burn, which I don’t. What are you gonna do?

via SlashGear

Holy smokes, someone from Microsoft just tweeted a Tweet that has everyone jumping around like they just don’t care! The tweet reads: “Good things are worth the wait… http://bit.ly/win741 will go live soon with all the details of the $29.99 deal. ^MS” What does that mean?!

Officially, we have no idea what Microsoft is talking about, so we’ll be refreshing that Web site over and over again just like everyone else.

It’s Windows 7 Home Premium for college students, or, more accurately, anyone with a .edu address. I graduated last year, but it just said my e-mail address qualifies. Hooray!

Did you happen to catch Fringe last night? Apparently – I missed it – Fox decided that it would be hip to superimpose a Twitter feed on top of the picture. Well, the Internet has spoken and no one likes it. Oh, and it’s going to happen again tonight during Glee.

Check out this pic from Dave Zatz. The damn twitter takes up nearly the bottom third of the screen. It had to be distracting. Marketing Pilgrim has some great comments from its readers stating the solution: change the channel. But in case you missed the FAILfest last night, be sure to tune in tonight to watch the Glee cast members twit about their innermost thoughts.

Just like last.fm, Xbox 360 owners looking to socialize with friends on Twitter and Facebook via Xbox Live must have a Gold Membership. Just a little nugget that popped up in the price cut announcement from earlier that we thought you might want to know about.

Xbox LIVE Gold Membership will be required for Twitter and Facebook when they are available, and is required for Netflix. Games, media content and Netflix membership are sold separately; a hard drive is required for storage.

The premise is simple enough: the four fakes will tweet on Twitter and … uh … micro-blog on identi.ca, pretending to be Linus Torvalds. You, the Linux using community, will follow along at home, presumably while you all recompile your kernels, and vote for which fake Linus you like the best. All I know right now is that the four fakes are “well-known community and media leaders”. Who could they be?!

To make this competition even more compelling, it even has its own rap song and video! Hooray!

All snark aside, the song and video are pretty funny (and well done!) and this looks to be a pretty fun way for the Linux community to interact.

Taking a page from the popular FakeSteveJobs blog (http://www.fakesteve.net/), we’ve invited four well-known industry and community leaders to guest tweet as if they were the real Linus Torvalds during the weeks leading up to LinuxCon (http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/linuxcon).

These FakeLinusTorvalds (FLTs) will be tweeting live from our Identi.ca (linuxfoundation) and Twitter feeds (www.twitter.com/linuxfoundation) beginning today, and their identities will be revealed at LinuxCon, directly after the Kernel Panel (http://linuxcon.linuxfoundation.org/meetings/1564), featuring the real Linus Torvalds, on September 21, 2009.

During the final two weeks prior to LinuxCon, we’re inviting you to vote for your favorite FLT here at Linux.com. The winner will be chosen based on community vote and will be presented with the “coveted” “Silver Penguin” award on stage at the conference.

Visit this page often to get updates on the best tweets of the week and to participate in the ongoing speculation about who is behind these FLTs. Who knows? Maybe even the real Linus will weigh in.

Yup, you can now tweet God, as it were. There’s a Twitter account, @thekotel, that takes your tweets, prints them out, then takes ‘em to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

The account was started by one Alon Nir, who’s from Tel Aviv. He told Reuters that he hopes the account would be “beneficial to people all over the world.” A little high minded, sure, but there’s no harm in that, I don’t think. (Unless there’s some rule in Judaism that prevents talking to God via Twitter.)

I’m looking at the account right now, and it has some 3,200 followers.

Of course, all prayers are private. Then again, I seem to remember a situation when supposedly private tweets were accidentally made public. So pray at your own risk, I guess.

Twitter. Twitter? Twitter! TWITTER! Yes, the world’s most important Web site has been co-opted by evildoers, being used to control personal information-stealing botnets.

Take a look at that screenshot up there. It may look like gibberish, but it’s actually nothing more than a base64-encoded text string. After decoding, unpacking, and the like, that string of gibberish leads to a file that will steal your soul!

Actually, it’s just a rogue DLL file that’ll send your sensitive info to any number of nefarious servers.

The problem is, if Bad Guys can use Twitter to send coded commands for botnets, the world as we know it is in danger.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Twitter’s security team is looking into the matter.

I now look forward to people encoding all sorts of nonsense into base64, then Tweeting away.

via PC World

Twitter was down for a little while yesterday (it’s still a little iffy), and it was the closest the United States of America has ever come to collapsing.

P.S. I know the song is played out; that’s why I picked it!

Years ago, London ruled one-fourth of the world’s population. Now? Training its civil servants how to tweet “issues of relevance or upcoming events.”

The UK’s Cabinet Office original story titlehas published a 20-page “how-to” of sorts, the goal of which is to encourage civil servants to learn and use the micro-blogging service that, one day, will bring clean drinking water to the more than 1 billion people in the world who lack it. (Am I mistaken? Why else is Twitter so popular then?)

Twitter maintenance—tweeting, replying to tweets, etc—would take less than one hour per day. So it’s not like the civil servants’ junior staffs would be preoccupied with constantly checking the Web site.

Says a Cabinet Office spokesman:

With more and more citizens using the internet it’s important that, as part of its communications approach, the government develops its capability to use digital channels effectively and that includes social media tools such as Twitter.

It’s sort of funny. Just last week, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Twitter was essentially banned in the White House. (A claim that was later pared down some.) The Administration doesn’t want people tweeting and re-tweeting on the job.

(The White House’s Twitter account is maintained by New Media, which is located in the Eisenhower Executive Building. You know, in case you didn’t reach your “useless information” quota for the day.)

This is Kevin Spacey. He’s a man who gets paid millions of dollars to pretend to be other men, for entertainment. And here he is on the “Late Show With David Letterman” trying to explain Twitter, the pulse of the planet, to Mr. Letterman.

Key points to remember: Twitter is free; you type with your thumbs; it’s “a waste of time.”

Mr. Spacey: “And now, I’ll get, in about an hour, lots and lots of people saying ‘hi’ back.”
Mr. Letterman: “That really is a miracle.”

via Huffington Post

The device costs $1 per user per month along with a small$1000 fee for the appliance. You can also try their Free 50 offer right now if your unsure if you want to allow this sort of frippery on your plant floor.

The service includes browser-based and standalone AIR apps.

Rapid, secure and scalable deployment, with either an on-site appliance, installed on your premises behind your firewall, or a hosted appliance installed in our data center.
Optional integration with your directory services (LDAP/Active Directory), which populates Socialtext’s rich user profiles, makes your corporate directory social, and provides single sign-on with your other intranet applications.
Extensibility, using REST APIs. The activity streams that appear on profile pages in the microblogging appliance can easily be integrated with third-party applications, providing a unified activity stream or making other applications social.
A rapid stream of enhancements with monthly software updates. Hosted appliances get updated automatically; on-site appliances have a single-step upgrade process, for all the benefits of SaaS and on site deployment combined.
Profiles in Socialtext Microblogging Appliance show not only the standard corporate data such as reporting structure and contact information, but also give a rich picture of the person, showing their photo, the people they are following, their profile pages on external social networks, tags that describe them, their recent Signals (140-character microblogging messages), and more.