On Saturday, I highlighted the recent release of Friendly, an iPad-optimized application for Facebook that enhances the world's most popular social network to take advantage of the iPad's screen and touch interface. One of the co-founders on Friendly and Twazzup, its sister product, Cyril Moutran (@mocy), met with me for lunch today and discussed how developing for the iPad presents new opportunities to make a splash in a less-crowded field, and gain real revenue. He also said he believes the launch of more touch-centric interfaces could be as revolutionary as the mouse and hyperlink did with the first generation of the Web.


Since its launch late last week, it would be safe to say that Friendly is seeing initial success. Despite its $4.99 price, the Friendly app has bumped into the list of the top ten paid iPad applications on the iTunes store, and sits at the #13 position overall right now, and is the #15 most grossing application across all of iTunes' iPad apps, going up against Apple's office productivity apps, and even beating out MLB's At Bat application for the iPad, which is in the #25 position. Just yesterday, Moutran said the application was purchased in 60 different countries around the world. And yes, the app sits in the #1 spot for paid social networking apps for the iPad, as many of the apps are free.


Moutran, who also counts time at Netscape, Schlumberger and Vignette on his resume, believes part of the reason for Friendly's success, as well as that from other iPad apps that have sold well, is their development of a unique experience that takes full advantage of the product's touch-based characteristics. Rather than expand a game to the full screen by doubling pixels, or hoping a more standard interface of small links and pixel-perfect clicks are going to be good enough, he suggests smart developers need to recreate their products for this new experience, and when there is a gap that needs to be filled, as there was with Facebook not having a dedicated iPad application yet, smart entrepreneurs will fill it.

I managed to get Moutran to do a quick interview, which is embedded below. Hope you listen.

Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world. The iPad is probably the hottest gadget in the world. It makes sense that the two products are on a collision course, as an increasing number of mobile Web users experience Facebook through their tablets and touch screens. But so far, Facebook has not yet debuted an iPad-optimized experience, relying on its solid iPhone application and its mobile Web site to make do. In this vacuum comes Friendly, from the team that brought you Twazzup, the innovative Twitter Web client, and the results, as you should expect, are very good. The experience is optimized for touch, and takes full advantage of the iPad's screen real estate. If the app were available free from the iTunes store, I would encourage everyone to switch immediately. As it is, its $4.99 pricetag is still alluring for those tired of compromise when it comes to Facebook and the iPad.


Cyril Moutran, cofounder and CEO of Twazzup, and previously the founder of Yokway, said in an e-mail yesterday that over the last few months the company has shifted its development efforts to the tablet format, and Friendly is the first major launch bearing the fruits of that labor.

As you can expect, thanks to the nature of the product, Friendly brings all the major elements of Facebook directly to the iPad, including browsing the news feed, full of updates from your friends, and enabling you to take actions on those items, or update your own status. The application is delivered in a very clean way, with tabs for "Live Feed", "Events" and outstanding "Requests".


This tabbed model trumps the button selections on today's Facebook for iPhone offering. In those cases, selecting a section (like Photos) siloed your activity, while Friendly keeps you one click away from all major parts of the site. Atop the application are quick links to "Home", "Profile", "Friends" and your Facebook in box. As you navigate the product, you can hit any of these options, or click the back arrow to return to the previous page - just like a real browser, which is how the product is described.


Like a real browser, Friendly does not compromise in its capabilities either. Clicking a YouTube ,video displays it in full glory on the iPad's screen, and you also gain the opportunity to edit Facebook fan pages, if you are an administrator, an increasingly important position for the network as activity morphs from being completely casual to more professional.


There are some who may balk at putting down five bucks for a network which itself is free, but it seems the company has delivered a premium app for a premium product in the iPad. The product is built from day one for he touch-driven experience, and is certainly worth looking into. You can find Friendly on the iTunes store here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/friendly-facebook-browser/id382011064?mt=8

Three months after being prematurely unveiled in early beta, Twazzup's Twitter feature-rich Web client, now called a "reader", has opened up to the public, at http://reader.twazzup.com/. The Reader goes beyond Twitter's standard interface, highlighting those you engage with most often, displaying rich media and showing live sentiment analysis and a tag cloud for every page you visit, including specific individuals or search terms. Despite its many different options, Reader loads quickly and brings more sense to your stream, helping to break out photos, video and links.

In addition, Twazzup is debuting a new product called "Insights". Based on data sourced from Twitter's firehose, Insights aims to offer real-time reports and alerts, edging into the crowded social media influence and measurement space. The reports show activity by day or by hour including the number of participants, unique links, original tweets and retweets.


The third leg to their three-legged stool is there focus on "real-time news", born out of their original Twazzup service, which stepped beyond Twitter search, and launched just over a year ago today, on April 13, 2009. Their real-time news service displays search results alongside live pictures, influencers, hashtags and news items. (See "Ash Cloud" or "American Idol" for examples)

The tie-in between search, the stream and measurement makes the trifecta very interesting. Twazzup certainly seems to be unafraid to compete directly with Twitter on their turf, and they are making a compelling case through differentiation.

Twazzup can be found on Twitter at @twazzup and is headed by Cyril Moutran @mocy.

As Twitter promised back in December at LeWeb, the company has now extended access to the firehose, the full feed of public tweets, to a full array of partners - going beyond the initial deals with search leaders Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft. The partners announced today include personal favorites Twazzup, Collecta and Kosmix, taking Twitter more into the realm of platform rather than destination.

Twitter, through its continued rise in traffic, use and the public consciousness, has seen the data flowing through its system grow increasingly valuable, as the company aims to live up to its lofty goal as the pulse of the planet. This rich data set, now open for partners to tap into, can potentially rival traditional search engines in terms of value, especially where real-time reaction and sentiment analysis comes into play.

Kosmix, behind the personalized newspaper service, Meehive, and extended topic pages on its own search tool, wrote to say, "Having full access to the entire tweet streams will give us the chance to surface all relevant and interesting information on what is buzzing on the Web for any given topic."

Financial deals were not disclosed by Twitter, or by its partners, but the company looks to have found a way to recognize revenue and gain income off of the public stream. In this age of real-time data, the faster and more relevant, the better. That Twitter is letting more of its secret sauce spread across the Web will make it harder for other sites, namely Facebook, to look as nimble.

Disclosure: Kosmix has previously done business with Paladin Advisors Group, where I am managing director of new media.

At the end of January, Twitter introduced local trending topics to show what people in your geography are tweeting about. But some have hoped the service would go further, displaying trends only from those you follow. While that may be on the roadmap, Twitter hasn't promised this feature, and other services are filling the gap. One of the first is Cadmus, which I first profiled back in November as a real-time stream filter.

Cadmus' new introductions, described in the company's blog post, highlight not only topics trending in your stream, but also groups conversations with nested replies to popular updates.

Unsurprisingly, for me anyway, my trending topics in the last few days have been "Buzz", "Google Buzz", "Twitter", "Windows Phone" and "Series", in light of Microsoft and Google's latest announcements.

As with Twitter's Web interface, clicking on a trending topic shows tweets that feature this keyword, but Cadmus, again, only shows updates from those who you are following.

Cadmus' personalization mirrors that of the new Twitter client from Twazzup which we highlighted last month. It too features personalized topics. Cadmus also pulls in content from FriendFeed and RSS.

You can find Cadmus at http://thecadmus.com.

Last April, Twazzup looked to make searching Twitter a more rich experience, one-upping the vanilla Twitter search interface by adding graphics, real-time updates, and influencers of individual accounts, to name a few most obvious improvements. Now, the company looks to be on the verge of shifting gears in an aggressive way, developing not yet another search engine, but instead, a feature-rich Web client for Twitter that looks within the real-time content stream to find different types of updates, and even goes so far as to expand links shared on Twitter, providing followers with a preview of that which you have shared. The result is easily the most compelling Twitter Web experience I have seen since Brizzly, even if it is not yet known when the service will open up to all, or what it means for the company's current search offering.


Twazzup Breaks Out Content by Type, Displays Rich Media, Integrates Search
With Twitter's maturation, the service has recently adopted a number of new features, including the much-discussed Lists, addition of geolocation, and integrated retweeting. These additions have led to greater functionality by practically all clients, but few have looked to take the next step, not only integrating the new options, but presenting a new approach to the real-time streams. Brizzly was among the first to debut in-line display of video and images. Twazzup does this also, but in addition, expands links to provide previews of content, like you see on Facebook, and the automated categorization of content by its type, a sentiment analysis of updates, and an associated tag cloud, velocity of updates, and the ability to take action on updates, such as favorites, retweets, or replies in a single click.


Viewing a list shows sentiment analysis and a content cloud
To be honest, the more I played with the beta functionality of the new Twazzup, the more features I uncovered. While not completely baked, it is easily the most feature-rich Web client out there, and when it does debut, it should see people kicking the tires in a big way.

Today, Twitter's standard Web client is functional, if not exciting. You have the familiar "What's happening?" box and a series of updates from those you follow, as well as your own personal statistics on the right. Twazzup focuses less on your own numbers, but those from your stream.


Note the velocity in the top right and new updates on Twazzup


Mentions on Twazzup also show tags, sentiment, who shared the content.
In addition to a simple "Post Update" button, Twazzup's client shows the total number of recent updates from those in my stream in the last hour, selects "Highlights", which includes those I talk to most often, influencers and popular shared links, "Photos and Video" for shares that display rich media, "Questions" for those updates that have questions, and "Map", which highlights updates that feature geolocation, complete with avatars from those Tweeters.


Check Out Twazzup's Map for Where Tweets Originate


Retweets, replies and favorites in line on Twazzup.
The velocity of the tweets can vary from time of day, of course. In my testing, it looked like the nearly 10,000 people I follow were tweeting at a velocity between 6,000 and 15,000 updates a day, on a quiet Sunday. No doubt a weekday, or a big news day, would see higher numbers. Given the high numbers, it can sometimes be hard to find the most relevant data. Twazzup dices these updates with its powerful search roots. A "Refine" search box on the right shows only those tweets in my stream that match keywords, and the search term is highlighted in results.


Searching for a frequent term in the stream on Twazzup
One of Twazzup's big features is a minimalist navigation bar atop the screen, which shows lists you follow, mentions, and an Inbox (where direct messages come and go). On the right side, you also have a "Settings" box which lets you choose what contributes to your "Highlights" on the page. It's much like the right navigation bar on the Twitter page, but the only numbers that populate it are those of how many mentions you have seen, how many new messages are in your in box, or how many new items are on your home stream.


I can choose my Highlights from Twazzup.
In place of the right side navigation, you get details on your stream, from a tag cloud based on included keywords, with larger words being used most frequently, and a smiley face to indicate positive feedback, or frown to indicate negative mood.

Twazzup's new Twitter client shows significant potential, especially when compared to Twitter.com and Brizzly, but it doesn't yet offer some of the more advanced features some clients offer, from what I could tell, including support for Facebook, multiple user support or columns, like Seesmic Web. But it does hint at API integrations, including a connection to LinkedIn, so I will be very interested in seeing what is in store for the very newest of Twitter Web clients. I don't yet have information on when the service will open up, or what this means for Twazzup's current search offering, but there will soon be a new name in town when it comes to Web interfaces for Twitter, and that name is Twazzup.

Twazzup, which initially launched as an alternative search engine for finding popular items on Twitter, has expanded its reach - first with the product offering customized versions of its page for specific events, charities, or even political movements, like the upheaval in Iran, and now, perhaps in stealth mode, the company is working on a channel called "Live", at http://live.twazzup.com/, which presents the most thorough profiles available for Twitter - a remarkable step ahead of the standard offering.

Twitter profiles are pretty vanilla. Everybody's Twitter profile (like mine here) shows your most recent tweets, a quick Web link and bio, and your following vs. follower counts. But looking at this page doesn't give much indication of who is getting engagement, who the person is influenced by, or outside of the last 20 tweets, what they tend to discuss.


My Live.Twazzup.com Profile
The new live.twazzup.com service, in contrast, focuses less on the numerics of one's profile, but what actually happens when they hit the send button. As you can see on my live.twazzup.com page, the service shows top keywords and hashtags I use, my most recent tweet, who influences me, where my last few links have headed, and most interestingly, a real-time results stream of people who have mentioned me on Twitter.


A Live.Twazzup.com Profile for @QueenOfSpain
The result is a very clean and informative way to see who is participating in the conversation with any individual, and what they are promoting in their link economy.

With the rise of spam bots and autofollow or auto-unfollow services, the total numbers are getting less important over time, in my opinion. Twazzup is looking beyond the numbers and showing us the bigger picture - delivering what I believe to be a more accurate profile of who we are on Twitter.

You can find your own Live Twazzup profile at http://live.twazzup.com/. Just add your user name.

Combining the world of search and the world of microblogging, including Twitter, is a popular thing to do these days. With Twitter Search having its hiccups, entrants like Twazzup, OneRiot and TweetMeme have all joined the game of trying to find the best content on Twitter, or finding the most influential users. In the last few days, Topsy, which bills itself as a "new kind of search engine" powered by the social Web, has gotten a good amount of visibility, especially due in part to an aggressive recommendation from Michael Arrington at TechCrunch - who is a big fan.

Topsy is interesting in that rather than finding the best result due to external hyperlinks or having "one right answer", as Google and most other search engines do, Topsy instead relies largely on the number of times a URL is shared (or tweeted) around that specific keyword.

For example, while searching Apple on Google sends you to Apple.com, Searching for Apple on Topsy instead sends you to watch Apple's TV Ads for the "Get a Mac" campaign. You can guess that when the new ads debut, they are frequently sent around Twitter, pushing that link to #1.

Similarly, Topsy is influenced by recency, which explains why a similar search for Microsoft has articles on their Bing search product competing with Google rather than the vanilla Microsoft homepage you would get with Google.

But, as with Google, not all things are equal in the world of microblogging. If you have an account with hundreds of thousands of followers, thanks to a position on the site's Suggested Users List, you will no doubt have much more influence on how many times items are retweeted, and therefore, a much higher impact on Topsy. That means then that accounts like TechCrunch and Mashable, who are in the SUL, are highly featured, and other competitors, like VentureBeat and ReadWriteWeb, do not fare as well.

The impact of a big account can be seen both on individuals and topics.

Stories on TechCrunch.com are #1 on Topsy when searching for individuals like Eric Schmidt, Dave Sifry and Reid Hoffman, each a leader in tech, covered by the network. In parallel, Mashable holds the #1 overall position for individuals including Mark Zuckerberg., while ReadWriteWeb finishes #1 for Paul Buchheit.


Top Topsy Results for Eric Schmidt


Top Topsy Results for Mark Zuckerberg


Top Topsy Results for Reid Hoffman


Top Topsy Results for Dave Sifry
Essentially, Topsy is the delivery of "authority-based search" that Loic Le Meur was asking for at the end of 2008, but done so in a way that doesn't explicitly say so.


Top Topsy Results for Tesla Motors
On topics, you can see TechCrunch holds the top position on Topsy for Tesla Motors, as well as the #1 position for LinkedIn, #2 for Socialmedian and Google News as well as #3 for FriendFeed, with Mashable finishing #4 on that search. In each case the coverage of the company trumps the company's site or official comments.


Top Topsy Results for Apple's iPhone
In turn, Mashable holds the #1 Topsy result for iPhone, and the #3 spot for MySpace.

That's not to say there is anything inherently "wrong" with these results, but they are definitely different, and if Topsy should take off, the influence of larger blog networks and the Suggested User List on Twitter will expand further. Should search results lead you to the one true answer that delivers you a bland corporate page, or should they instead lead you to social news impacted by a large community?

Darn it Twitter. How can a company with so much potential and so much perceived momentum seem like they just are asleep at the switch? After this week's visible discussion where we clearly outlined how your real-time search database is so broken that it barely has any value past the last 48 hours, you had to go ahead and break the real-time aspect of it as well - doing so on a long Memorial Day weekend when it seems nobody is around to hit the big shiny red button to turn the blasted thing back on.

Yes, your base product is working. I can Tweet. It can get to people. But your Twitter Search product is completely on pause - and has been all evening. Forget about using Twitter during an emergency or an earthquake, or even to see other people's top trending hashtags. The ones you have listed now are themselves six hours old. The Lakers' NBA game is still in the second quarter, according to you, even though ESPN tells me they won hours ago.


Go Lakers! No, wait. You're saying the game already ended?
It's getting to the point I even feel guilty pointing it out - considering how often you get hit for database inconsistencies, odd behavior and downtime. But all that goodwill that had built up as you were at the tip of the spear of a phenomenon many are calling the real-time Web is just wasting away - even as you take down your partner infrastructure, like TweetBeep, TweetDeck and Twazzup down with you.


So, is the Twitter Search team on holiday?
It's like I asked you at 11 tonight, @ev, @biz and @al3x, "if there is a box I can reboot, just tell me where to go." On behalf of your growing, and in theory, loyal, user base, I will do this, because it's the right thing to do. I just wish you guys were more on top of it, and could at least tell us what is going on - and how much more fail we should expect.

I don't want to care this much. I want your product to just work the way it is supposed to work so we can benefit from it and so you can find a way to make money. But right now, you're making real time look like a joke.

Twitter's acquisition of Summize in 2008 gained the red-hot status update service arguably the most impactful new entrant into the Web 2.0 space last year, as the company looked to harness the millions of daily tweets flowing through its system and make sense of it all. Now rebranded as Twitter Search, the former Summize product is being relied upon for breaking news, trends, and acting as the pulse of the always-connected community, staying well ahead of Google and other traditional search leaders. Today, a new entrant, Twazzup, is looking to extend the Twitter Search platform, by not only providing real-time updates to the search results, but also highlighting popular users, links and tweets relevant to searched keywords.


The New Twazzup: for Searching Twitter
If you're familiar with the Twitter Search interface, it's well defined by its highlighting of hot topics that are rising on Twitter, being discussed by the masses, as well as its tendency to pile up queued tweets that have not been displayed. To get the new tweets, you need to refresh. But not with Twazzup, who rolls in the new results in real time, much like FriendFeed's new beta interface. Also similar to that interface, Twazzup features a user-friendly pause button in the top right to slow things down a bit.


Twazzup Results for Obama

Twazzup Results for Baseball
Today, Twitter Search is all about getting you the results, period. Its options are very spartan. For example, if you search for Facebook, you see the results and can either reply to the author, or view the specific tweet. But there's no data about the authors or the topics.

On Twazzup, the same query for Facebook shows search results, and a helpful kind of subset of results that displays related topics. For Facebook, I could also click the word social, and see when both Facebook and Social are in the same tweet. (that result is here) Other topics, like networks, linkedin and strategy also pop up when both Facebook and social are combined.

But beyond combining search terms, Twazzup's right side column does more than just show hot topics, like Twitter Search does. It also shows a popular tweet that contained the search terms, top "trendmakers", who talk about those terms and drive retweets or click-throughs, and popular links that are spawned from those keywords on Twitter.


Twazzup Trendmakers and Popular Tweets for Obama
For me, searching Twitter is practically as useful as messaging via Twitter, as it offers a lens into not just what people "are doing", but what they are thinking, observing or talking about. Given Twitter's driving an ever-closer integration with its acquired Summize product, I expect more users to flock toward the standard Twitter Search than to new products that arrive, like Twazzup, but as Twitter thus far has done very little to expand the Summize product beyond its initial feature set, there is significant room for third party services to improve the status quo.

Twazzup can be found at http://www.twazzup.com, and on Twitter, of course, at http://twitter.com/twazzup. The company's CEO and Co-Founder is Cyril Moutran, who launched Yokway last year. (See our initial coverage)