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Two App Store updates: Trillian ships, Google Earth 2.0 arrives

by TJ Luoma Nov 18th 2009 at 10:00PM

There are two arrivals in the App Store of note. First, after a three month wait, the multiservice IM client Trillian is now available in the App Store [iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch.

We previously discussed the fact that Trillian was sitting in approval limbo with no word from Apple as to why the app was being delayed. As of today it is available for US$4.99. Cerulean Studios website has more information on features, and we will be reviewing the app soon, but we wanted to let you know that it was available (for iPhone/iPod touch devices running OS 3.0 or later).

Second, the 2.0 update to Google Earth for iPhone [iTunes link] is rolled out now. The major new feature in the app is the ability to overlay your own custom Google maps onto the geographic display in GE; the app also improves POI selection and adds a slew of new languages. Google Earth requires iPhone/iPod touch OS 2.0 or later, and it's free.

[Google Earth hat tip to Ars Technica]

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There are two arrivals in the App Store of note. First, after a three month wait, the multiservice IM client Trillian is now available in...
 

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UnhappyJan

Sorry, Trillian for iPhone is a utter disappointment for me.

I've been using the free application "eBuddy" while I waited for Trillian,
The fact is once I got Trillian I felt that it was half finished and reading some of the dev comments on CS forum confirm this for me. They were waiting on store approval before they add more features.

Sorry but if you are going to charge money for an application then I expect ALL the basic features are included, and not having to wait another possible 60+days for the next version to be approved.

Half the features I expected to be in it, that ARE included in eBuddy arent even there.

-Facebook chat being one of them
-Contact list doesnt include offline friends (why not?, am I expected to remember everyones conact details to send offline msgs?)
- If you dont have friends sorted into groups then everyone falls under a "Ungrouped" tree (not "Online" as one would think)
- No options to change except your login details (sound/vibration on/off at least would have been nice?)

Thats all Ive picked up so far, and frankly I have no reason to load Trillian instead of eBuddy until Trillian is up to par with at least FREE IM applications.

Why would any iPhone user buy this application over one of the free or paid IM apps, unless they just want to be loyal to CS is beyond me.

November 19 2009 at 5:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to UnhappyJan's comment
UnhappyJan

- No options to change except your login details (sound/vibration on/off at least would have been nice?)

I have found out these are actually in the General settings of your Iphone.

Either way, there is still a few things missing from the app that I can get from a free client.

November 19 2009 at 6:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
PK

Right now the most powerful feature of Trillian for iPhone is its connection with the Windows desktop client, which is way more powerful than eBuddy. It's hard to unleash its full potential when you are not using the whole suite.

November 20 2009 at 2:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sayguh

push notifications?

November 19 2009 at 12:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
KissTheRing

Just get the Nimbuzz app, it's free and works great (includes landscape mode). When I got first got a mac I was so glad to replace Trillian with Adium and I've got no plans to go back to it.

November 19 2009 at 9:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jason

Too bad Google Earth doesn't yet have access to the compass on the 3GS. That would be neat.

November 19 2009 at 7:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eileen Kroll

I don't think anybody should complain about paying 4.99 for a version of Trillian. I realize that times are bad financially for alot of people. But times are bad for them also and they spend, I am sure, many hours working on this program for everyone to enjoy and I think they deserve to be paid for their efforts or they will stop making this and other great products for us to enjoy. Now we wouldn't want that would we?

November 19 2009 at 6:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Eileen Kroll's comment
TJ Luoma


Of course that assumes that the app is useful, compared to free alternatives.

I shouldn't be expected to pay for an app that I'm not going to get anything out of, just to support the developers, right?

November 19 2009 at 9:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
K

I wonder how Trillian compares to BeeJive? TUAW feel like doing a comparative review?

November 19 2009 at 4:39 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to K's comment
TJ Luoma


I've still yet to see anything that leads me to think the BeeJive does anything I need that justifies $10.

November 19 2009 at 9:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
andrew

TJ, having bought Beejive when I got my 3GS in June, I can say that at this point, you're right: it probably doesn't do anything that warrants $10. For free, Palringo, IM+, or Fring will give you multi-account IM communication with push notifications. Beejive arguably looks better than those two, but not significantly (certainly not without fault). However, Beejive had these features first; at the time, I think my only choice for IM with push notifications was Beejive and IM+ (and I preferred Beejive).

That said, Trillian comes along at half the price and looks a lot nicer. I think, at this point, with the free contenders doing the job passably well, the question is how important this is to you and how much you like good UI. I'll likely pay for Trillian for the same reason I paid for Tweetie; best-of-breed experience for an app I'll use heavily.

November 23 2009 at 10:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jc

Google Earth still won't work behind a proxy server, and neither does the YouTube app. Yawn.

November 19 2009 at 3:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
knight667

Now if only they'd come out with a Mac version...the iPhone/iPod touch version shows promise, though...

November 19 2009 at 1:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Adrian vG

I still don't see why you should pay for IMs and Twitter apps...

November 19 2009 at 1:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Adrian vG's comment
jbrown510

Exactly why YOU don't have to... seriously it's not like Cerulean is going to knock on a door with a gun and force you

November 19 2009 at 1:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tdowling

Because of the general understanding that people should be compensated for their work?

November 19 2009 at 1:25 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Danfo

Please cover Trillian's launch time on iPhone 3G - even Ping!'s ~3 seconds is hard to take, and it seems to be a pretty lightweight app. Thanks!

November 19 2009 at 12:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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