While there’s been a Facebook app for BlackBerry users for a while, it’s lagged pretty far behind the iPhone and Android apps in features for a while. It looks like that could change soon. n4bb has received a few leaked screenshots of what’s looks like it could be Facebook 2.0 for BlackBerry.

The new app looks a bit more like the Facebook apps for other platforms, and adds features that had been missing from the BlackBerry platform such as Facebook Chat and the ability to view friends lists, profile info, and pages.

A beta is reportedly due out in March, with a final release scheduled for May.

Last week we saw the first so-called Facebook Phone. While rumors had suggested Facebook might be building its own branded phone and/or platform, the INQ Cloud Tech is actually an Android phone with some tight Facebook integration including a large Facebook Widget on the home screen for accessing your social networking data. Now Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says we can expect to see “dozens of phones” with this kind of social integration.

The comments came during a video presentation as HTC unveiled two new phones with Facebook integration.

Honestly, this makes a lot more sense to me than a Facebook phone anyway. Facebook is a software company, not a hardware company. Rather than competing with existing device makers, Facebook is partnering with them to get its software onto their phones — which provides customers with more reason and opportunity to use Facebook’s core products and services.

You can check out the video after the break.

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As expected, Twitter has launched an updated app for Google Android. Version 2.0 is now available for download from the Android Market, with new features including:

• A new tabbed user interface that makes it easier to switch between views
• Scan your phone’s contact list to find friends who are already using Twitter
• Universal search
• Autocomplete @usernames when creating a message
• Easier photo uploads
• Faster actions such as reply, retweet, or follow

Overall the new app is easier to navigate, but I find it’s kind of sluggish when it comes to loading new messages.

Twitter is apparently getting ready to push out a major update to its Android app. The folks at Everything Android got an early look at Twitter 2.0 for Android and they’ve posted a hands-on video, which you can check out below.

The user interface has been streamlined to make it easier to flip between your timeline, replies, and direct messages. You no longer have to jump back out to the home screen to change views. You can also view favorites, retweets, and lists from a more tab.

Honestly, the update looks a lot better — but it doesn’t look all that revolutionary. In fact, most of the features have been available in third party Twitter clients for ages. Still, if you’re a fan of the official product, it looks like an update should be available in the Android Market soon.

via Gizmodo

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Facebook has rolled out a minor update to its Android app, adding support for Facebook Deals. In order to see coupons and other offers from local businesses, you’ll have to check-in using the Facebook Places feature. For instance, if you check-in to a coffee shop, you may get a coupon for a discount or freebie on your next order.

I just took the new app for a spin and tried checking into one of the places within range. Either the app could tell I wasn’t actually at the coffee shop around the corner, but was instead working from my home office, or there were no deals available. either way, it looks like you’ll have to actually use the Places feature regularly to access the Deals. You can’t just scroll through a list of available deals and start checking in willy nilly. I suppose that’s good for the participating businesses.

Facebook says the new app also includes some bug fixes.

Facebook Deals are already available in the company’s iPhone app.

The Facebook for Android app is available as a free download from the Android Market. It also comes preloaded on most Android handsets, so if you have automatic updates turned on (only available with Android 2.2 and up), you may already have the new version.

The folks behind the popular Touiter app for Android have changed the name to Plume — because Twitter contacted the company and suggested that the original name was too close to “Twitter” and could cause some confusion.

Scan to download

The app lets users view their Twitter timelines, mentions, direct messages, and other data, and includes support for custom color schemes, picture previews, geotagging, sharing photos, links, and other items.

Along with the new name, Plume also has a new logo and the company launched a new version of Plume this week which features the new name as well as some bug fixes and a few new features such as support for native retweets in the Pume widgets.

Plume is available as a free download from the Android Market, or you can get the premium version for an ad-free experience for $2.73.

Skyfire is a popular web browser for mobile devices with a few tricks up its sleeve, not the least of which is that it can display some Adobe Flash video on the notoriously Flash-resistant iPhone thanks to remote server technology which converts Flash to HTML5 before streaming it to your phone. Now the folks at Skyfire are preparing to launch a new version of their browser that’s optimized for the Apple iPad.

The new app is optimized for the iPad’s larger 1024 x 768 pixel display, but otherwise looks a lot like the latest Android version of Skyfire, complete with Facebook and Twitter integration.

MobileCrunch reports that Skyfire has submitted the new browser to Apple for approval, so it shouldn’t be too long before it pops up in the App Store. Skyfire for the iPad is expected to sell for around $4.99.

The folks at LinkedIn have released a public beta of their first app for Google Android. LinkedIn is basically a social networking service for professionals. Instead of adding everybody you’ve ever met or would like to meet as a friend, the idea is that you can use the service to connect with colleagues and other people in your field.

Basically, if Facebook is your dating profile, LinkedIn is your resume. I’ve personally had a LinkedIn account for the last few years, but I rarely ever update it or visit the site, because to be honest, I’m not looking for a job and I don’t really see much point in using the service when I’m not job hunting… which I know probably defeats the point, but whatever.

If you’re a more active user than I am, here’s what the mobile app offers. You can use it to view status updates from your network, search for people, respond to invitations, view profiles, and send messages to your contacts.

The app isn’t available from the Android Market yet, so you’ll have to join the LinkedIn Android Group if you wan to download it for your phone.