Twikini, one of our more favorite Windows Mobile Twitter applications, just hit Version 1.6. First, the change log:

• Bug fix: Fixes connectivity issue many T-Mobile users were experiencing when downloading timelines.
• Bug fix: After a re-tweet, the highlighted tweet would be lost, and the newest tweet would be highlighted. Fixed this.
• Improved: Tapping on a user's picture in the profile or tweet window will show a large picture of the user.
• Improved: The profile window will show the date on which a user joined Twitter (this can be useful when deciding whether to follow someone).
• Improved: Added "My Profile" (under the Tools menu) to quickly check your own profile.
• Improved: URL shortening will use http://j.mp instead of Bit.ly, which will give you 2 extra characters. (Note: j.mp is part of Bit.ly).

Now, the real interesting part: If you've previously purchased Twikini from the Trinket Software Web site, you can head on over there (or use the in-app version check feature) and get the upgrade.

But Twikini also is available in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. And while it's not the first app in the Marketplace to be updated (Facebook is another one that comes to mind; there may be others), we've gotten a feel for how long it took the update to be pushed out. From Twikini's Twitter feed:

Twikini 1.6 now available in the @wmdev Marketplace. Wow...that certification was FAST! less than 24 hours.

That certainly passed muster faster than anything in Apple's app store. Of course, that's hardly a fair comparison, as Apple's seeing 8,500 submissions a week, and there's no way the Marketplace is at that pace yet. But it does give us an early baseline, and it will be interesting to see how Microsoft keeps up with submission demand.

Has anyone else been having trouble with your Windows Mobile Twitter clients?  Specifically when you first launch, or have to have the application re-sign in you get an error message?

Turns out you're not alone. But before you blame the client you may want to know that it appears to be a Twitter issue, not a problem with your application.  For instance, these are the various error messages:

• Twikini: "Something went wrong. Please try that again."
• PockeTwit: "Communications Error"
• moTweets: "Failed to Sign in"/ "Unable to retrieve your timeline"

Annoying, eh?  Even Jake Stevenson, head project manager of PockeTwit, blamed his program at first until others noted it seems to be not unique to PockeTwit.

Unfortunately we'll just have to wait and see if Twitter (who notoriously don't update/fix much) will address this or if any developer can come up with a workaround. (I also get a re-direct on the web version now, where one did not exist before--possibly related).

Any thoughts on the issue?  Sound off in the comments.

That's a wrap, folks. Five days later and we've given away 20 licenses for apps by Trinket Software. Here's how it broke down:

Congrats to all the winners, thanks to Trinket Software, and look for another big software giveaway real soon. (Hint: Details to come in the next podcast.)

A couple of minor updates recently were released for a couple of popular Windows Mobile apps.

Skyfire has been bumped to Version 1.1, bringing keyboard shortcuts for Page Up (2) and Page Down (8). There also are a few performance upgrades. Download Skyfire here.

Twikini also has a new build, reaching Version 1.4. But unless you've been dying for German, Italian, Dutch and Danish language support, you can skip this one, as language additions comprise all the new features. Download Twikini here.

Our summer giveaways continue, and we're blowing it up this week with the folks at Trinket Software. They're the makers of the Twikini Twitter app; PowerSMS, which enhances the use of text messages; No Calls, which sets profiles based on time, who's calling, etc.; and Fake Call, which can can generate fake calls on a schedule or on demand, to get you out of those awkward situations you seem to always find yourself in. (Or is that just us?)

Anyway, we're giving away a whopping five licenses for each of those four apps. (That's 20 licenses total. Yeah, we like showing off our mad math skilz.) Check in after the break for what you have to do. We're gonna make you work for it this time around.

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Twitter client Twikini V 1.2 has been released. While it's not the cheapest (read: free) client out there, it is one of our favorites. Here's what's new in 1.2:

• When you click a Twitpic link, a large version of the photo is shown inside Twikini. No more having to launch a browser.
• You can choose to launch links in Skweezer.
• Twikini can show @replies and DMs by default at startup. Similarly, you can choose to only auto-refresh @'s and DM's.
• Nu på dansk!
• If you scroll to the end of the time line, Twikini will "wrap" back to the top. (Careful: If you're at the top of the time line and hit "up," it'll take you to the bottom of the time line.)
• After replying to a tweet, the time line won't jump back to the top.
• Improved GPS codes and several other bug fixes.

You can install this version right over your old one, but you'll have to re-input your accounts. Twikini is $4.95 and has a 14-day trial. You can find it here.

When Trinket Software released the first beta of its Twikini Twitter client (Twitter + bikini ... say it slowly) in mid-April, we became instant fans. It was lightweight and speedy. And while there were a few beta bugs, worked progressed, issues were resolved and features were added. Twikini has now reached an official Version 1.0 and has shed its beta – and free – status.

There are a couple of pricing options, which is a little uncommon. For $4.95 you get Twikini plus any of Trinket's other applications (see the full list here). Hardly a bad deal. Businesses (that'd be us) are asked to pony up $9.95. There's a third option, but it's not one we condone. Trinket's giving away Twikini to bloggers. (For the record: I purchased a business license.) You're on the honor system here, folks. Do the right thing.

Oh, and we mentioned features. It's worth reading through the version histories, but here are but a few of our favorites:

• Multiple account access. A must for us.
• URL-shorteners. TinyURL, bit.ly, etc.
• In-line Twitpic. View the pic directly in the tweet. Very cool.
• View a tweet's location on Google maps.
• Tweet song info. WMP only, unfortunately.

Twikini runs on all versions of Windows Mobile (5 through 6.5, Standard or Pro). You can try the 1.0 release of Twikini for free for 14 days. (Trinket says the previous beta versions will at some point cease to work.) Get the full deets on their site here.

You can follow Twikini on Twitter at @twikini. And as always, we're at @wmexperts.

Update: Version 1.1 is now out, and it fixes a few bugs (one of them a pretty serious one). Go get it here.

If we had to pick being guilty of just two things here at WMExperts (yes, we know the list is much, much longer than that), it'd be a love of all things beta, and testing out new Twitter clients. And with that in mind we've been playing with Twikini, a rather lightweight client from Trinket Software (@twikini). It's just been released as a free beta.

Hit us up after the break for a lightning review.

Update: There were some issues running Twikini on the Moto Q. A new version has been released that fixes this and adds some other updates. Get it here.

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