HootSuite blog – Social Media Dashboard

Time flies! Already our little mobile Owl has grown one version older as HootSuite for iPhone celebrates version 1.1.6  for both the Full and Lite versions.

But what do you get an Owl for such a big day? Well we all chipped in and gave our feathered friend some shiny new features — which we suspect you’ll be excited about too.

This mobile Owl enjoys making life easier and these new tools will help you be even friendlier.

HootSuite for iPhone -- Now even Friendlier

Contacts are Special

These people we call “followers” are reaching out to learn your thoughts and actions from morning beverage selection to philosophical discourse — now you can get to know these people on the other end of the Twitters with refined “Contact Management” allowing you to search for user to follow.

Tap the all-new Contacts tab on the main menu to quickly search for people and view profiles. Simply type a friend’s name or nickname and HootSuite will find the most relevant person on Twitter. Then you can follow her in just a couple of clicks, plus add to your lists. Try it out and see how much friendlier you become, instantly.

List O’ Rama

“Lists are the new follow,” says Owly. And now, list management is elegantly integrated into the iPhone. Lists are a powerful way to follow just the stuff and people ‘you really, really care about’ in a simplified view. Within the Lists tab, you can:

• Add new lists — public or private
• Manage existing lists — add and remove people
• Modify lists — change names and descriptions
• View lists created (or subscribed to) by others
• Subscribe to lists created by others (even secretly)
• Save lists as a new tab with a quick click
• Read followed lists in a unique tab

Additionally, lists are a way to share the social affection as a sort of endorsement for your Twitter faves.

Bump, Owly Style

No longer must you fiddle with misspelling weird Twitter nicknames, typing at meetings and wasting time! Instead, just “Bump” to follow.

HootSuite for iPhone’s Bump feature has graduated from the Lab and is ready to make adding people to your social networks easier than ever.

Simply “Bump” your iPhones with a your new friend and the little owl will take care of everything else. (Note: Please, don’t get *too* excited and break your phones).

Even Shinier

To impress your eyes, everything in the new version is even shinier for iPhone 4 users –  each graphic from the icons to the interface elements are now in full hi-res so your phone will sparkle as brightly as your retinas will displays.

Custom Touches

Perhaps we are a tiny bit obsessive about making the app perfect for your tastes. Now with a list of new preference settings, you can adjust settings for a custom experience, including:

• Font size from 13 – 20pt
• Avatar size from none to large
• Geotagging — auto on/off
• Photo upload quality + save to library
• Re-tweet style — classic or native
• Timestamp — relative or absolute

Now you can really tune HootSuite to look and act as you’ve always wanted. If something is still missing, it might appear in the next release. Remember you can offer feature requests and encourage your fellow enthusiast to vote it up.

Mayor of Everywhere

It’s important to have a bit of playtime and the popular social-geo-location “check-in” game Foursquare is ready for your leisure time in HootSuite.

Just click the “menu” arrow from the compose box and choose “geo-location” and send your coordinates to your pals.

Whether you are at the pub or the park, your friend will flock towards you — check-in frequently and you’ll earn badges … and you’ll want these badges.

More from the Owls

Owls do manage to sleep occasionally … but all waking hours are spent making this application the fave tool in your app toolbox.

Always be the early bird by following @HootSuiteiPhone for the latest updates and news. And if you have any problems or concerns, visit the fully-loaded Help Desk and/or follow @HootSuiteHelp.

Download from Apple App Store:

HootSuite for iPhone
HootSuite for iPhone Lite

iPhone, mobile, releases bump, contacts, elf owl, elfowl, Facebook, foursquare, geo-location, HootSuite, iPhone, lists, mobile, mobile social media dashboard, profile, social media, Twitter

Hello HootSuite Community,

HootSuite is pleased to announce new premium packages designed for business and organizations, while also continuing to provide a free version for most customers.

Following in the steps of industry giants like Salesforce, Basecamp and Flickr, we’ve crafted the package tiers to provide the most useful tools to as many customers as possible while also providing advanced tools to customers who need the business-centric features. We’ll keep listening closely to see how we succeeded in meeting your needs.

Tiers for All

We aim to continue providing free service to approximately 95% of our current users. Based on a customer survey (thanks again to all of you who offered your opinions), along with a comprehensive review of usage data, we’re confident we’ll achieve this goal.

This means most of you will continue to use HootSuite in much the same way you do today. Additionally, power users and enterprises with teams can confidently rely on HootSuite for critical campaigns knowing there will be continuity of service from a stable company.

What’s This Mean for Me?

Starting today (Wednesday, Aug. 11th), all new customers will be required to select a plan upon signing-up — including choosing the free option if desired.

The following week, current HootSuite users will be asked to choose a package with the help of a migration wizard to help you choose the best plan.

For all customers (aside from Enterprise-class accounts), we’ll include a 30-day free trial. This period will allow you to experiment and discover which plan best fits your needs. Again, we’ll continue to offer a free plan for those of you who don’t require advanced options at this time.

While you don’t need to select a plan straightaway, take a look at the Pro Plans and Enterprise Package to see what is included at each level.

Keep on Flying

Since first spreading our owl wings over a year ago, we’ve listened closely to feedback from all corners. In the past 8 months, we’ve rolled out iterations galore — adding thoughtful tools to help you spread messages, monitor conversation and track results.

And don’t think we’re slowing down the pace! The upcoming road-map is loaded with new tools and integrations which will make for more enjoyable surprises. Plus we’ll keep listening to your feedback and offering help as we continue to create the preferred dashboard for social media managers, community builders, marketing agencies, and passionate fans.

Thanks to You

We sincerely appreciate you sharing HootSuite with your friends, mentoring your colleagues, and telling your company about the power of our social media dashboard. We take your trust seriously and look forward to growing with you.

Stay tuned to the HootSuite blog for more info and feel free to share your thoughts with us via Twitter @hootsuite_help.

With best regards,

Ryan Holmes, CEO, HootSuite

More

HootSuite Pro Plans
HootSuite Enterprise Plans
Online Media Kit — includes logos, descriptions and interview scheduling info

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Wondering how the HootSuite social media dashboard can help your business or organization engage with social networks and web conversations? Great! We can help.

Check out this first-in-a-series HootSuite Info Sheet called “The Basics” — a brief document explaining the core tools in HootSuite including tactics for spreading messages, monitoring conversations, collaborating with teams, and tracking results. Additionally, this document points out the integrated social networks, plus shares a few noteworthy clients and methods to get more help.

“The Basics” ~ HootSuite Info Sheet #1 on Slideshare

Share these info sheets with your collegues, teams, managers, etc. by downloading or embedding from Slide Share. Keep an eye out for more to come and find the growing collection in the Library section of the HootSuite blog.

Info Sheets analytics, assignments, business, collaboration, Facebook, foursquare, HootSuite, LinkedIn, MySpace, social media, social web, socmedia, team, Twitter, Twitter for business, wordpress

June 30th is Social Media Day — some cities have even made an official proclamation — and the folks at Mashable are hosting a barrage of worldwide events to celebrate and educate about the ways social web tools have revolutionized the way we share, communicate and engage with companies, government and friends.

Instead of planning a parade, HootSuite is celebrating with a release with a handful of fixes, tools to make your social media day more socially pleasing.

Tune-ups

In response to all the feedback and enthusiasm to last week’s HootSuite 5 release, we’ve made a few of the new tools a wee bit better — plus thwarted a few anomalies for a better experience.

Facebook Walls and Status: Facebook updates without links will post to both your Facebook Status and Wall, while messages with linked media will post only to your Facebook Wall along with thumbnail (help)

ReTweet Choice: Choosing default ReTweet style is a bit handier now with a pop-up window allowing you to choose whether you prefer “Old Skool” or “Twitter native” style re-broadcasts (help)

Quicker Scheduling: We’ve removed a mouse click from message scheduling — now simply choose the date on the calendar and click the button to queue your message to go anytime (help)

Security Migration

With many networks and services manageable from within HootSuite, information security is of top importance. With this in mind, next time you login to HootSuite, you’ll be migrated to OAuth security which is:

“An open protocol to allow secure API authorization in a simple and standard method from desktop and web applications.”

The process will be largely invisible to you and will make connecting to additional services easier — as well as keeping login information more secure.

Further, this move keeps us in step with Twitter’s evolving security protocols which are changing to OAuth exclusively in the coming days. There should be no action required and your part but we wanted you to know what’s up.

Coming Next

So we’ve knocked the top few most requested features in the Feedback Channel (including Native RTs and Facebook Media previews) and now are working on a few more stellar tools for your arsenal.

Here’s what on tap in the coming weeks:

HootSuite Blackberry — We know you can’t wait and it’s getting close — we’re making it great to be worthy of the Owl and Blackberry’s passionate users

Short Owly Pro URLs — HootSuite’s custom URL shortening service is in secret private beta and working great! Get on the list for your chance to get shorter

HootSuite iPad — Those who bought ‘em, love ‘em and we’re making an all-new tool for Apple’s popular tablet rather than a hacked iPhone or web app

HootSuite iPhone — A batch of new features will make users of the magically translating, updating, statistics-gathering mobile genius machine even happier

Fixes

Life in the browser can get tricky with so many different versions and varieties. As such, a number of anomalies popped up which are now hammered down for better performance (BTW, check out this post about which browsers work best with HootSuite).

These refinements include:

• Search result columns in IE 7 & 8 are no longer mixed up
• Deleted DMs are now completely deleted
• Klout influence scores are now displayed in bios

Help

Some some users have reported veeerrrryyy slow performance — we continuing to monitor these reports and request you first do a hard refresh (CTRL+F5) and then try a different browser for trouble shooting. Still something amiss? Please submit a ticket at the Help Desk after searching for an answer to your conundrum.

We monitor all the mentions of HootSuite on Twitter and tend to the HootSuite Facebook page with great pleasure. However, the best place to go for help is the Help Desk. There are hundreds of articles to both assist you and apprise you of known issues. Still haven’t found what you are looking for? Submit a ticket if there is something we missed.

Feature requests are an important part of our community and tool evolution — we love hearing them but request that you share with others by posting at Feedback Channel. This allow others to vote ideas up and helps us gauge interest in new tools.

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This time around, the news round-up finds some new developments in business, partnerships and politics with dispatches from California to the Kremlin (well Washington DC anyhow).

As usual, catch all the HootSuite news via the social bookmark channel and/or follow @hootwatch for the firehose feed.

Aria Systems – HootSuite Selects Aria Systems to Monetize Twitter and Other Social Media

The folks over at Aria Systems issued a press release via wire and blogpost today talking about impending partnership plans with HootSuite.

HootSuite recognized an opportunity to develop recurring revenue streams for premium features and services that provide additional value on top of HootSuite’s core free client. HootSuite needed a revenue automation platform that supported a “freemium” business model, provided secure payment card handling and immediate service activation for paying customers, as well as automation for downstream billing and collections processes.

Given HootSuite’s historical agility and rapid evolution, the company also recognized that they needed a “future-proof” monetization platform that could enable their current model while providing complete flexibility for the future. Finally, the system had to integrate easily with HootSuite’s backoffice accounting systems. HootSuite chose Aria after reviewing several SaaS billing alternatives.

Great Aria! We look forward to seeing what we can come up with together with the SaaS.

The Atlantic Wire – Twitter Brings White House, Kremlin Together

You probably caught the news of the Russian President’s foray to Silicon Valley to visit entrepreneurs and execs from Google, Apple, and Twitter who helped him set up his own account. Of course, in true diplomatic fashion, the White House replied to the Kremlin’s translated tweet and chose (the Canadian made) HootSuite to deliver the tidings.

On Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev toured the headquarters of Twitter. Besides having a fruitful cultural exchange with Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, he also fired off his first tweet.

You can keep up with both Russian President Medvedev’s English Twitter as well as The Whitehouse Twitter.

The Washington Post – Obama discovers ‘Twitters’ …

Of course each word from the White House is monitored whether by mouth or by web and this Twitter exchange was no exception with the pundits piling on the gaffe. Mixing Twitter and Hooters to get HootSuite? Well, not exactly but we encourage all politicos to use the tool no matter their command of the lexicon.

Twitters? This sounded like either a nervous condition or a cross between Twitter and Hooters. Actually, there already is a cross between Twitter and Hooters: It’s called HootSuite — from which Sharron Angle, the tea party celebrity hoping to dethrone Harry Reid in Nevada, tweeted this on Thursday: “We have now passed Harry Reid in number of Facebook friends on our “sharronforsenate” page! Let’s keep this growing!”

Who says great political oratory is dead?

Confused? This video shows the usually loquacious President Obama fumbling name of the almost-ubigitous micro-update tool for the amusement of geekerati everywhere:

(video)

Video posted by CQblogger

BIV Business Today – Ryan Holmes Profile

Speaking of Presidents, The HootSuite CEO was profiled in Business in Vancouver newspaper in an interesting article about HootSuite’s origins and direction.

Curt Cherewayko writes: The success of Invoke and other ventures on Holmes’ entrepreneurial scoresheet suggests that HootSuite will be another innovative online revenue generator to emerge from the funky work-play space in Gastown that Holmes and the Invoke-HootSuite team call headquarters. {snip}

The company is attaching a “freemium” model to the service in July, which means that users will be still be able to use HootSuite freely but will have to pay for additional bronze, silver and gold standard services offered within it.

“HootSuite has big potential in terms of the amount of traffic it’s pushing,” said Holmes from an Invoke boardroom down the hall from the head office he shares with his dog.

He explained that HootSuite, which manages one million social media accounts for about 400,000 unique users, will try to monetize the 3% to 5% of accounts that are most active.

Those accounts are generally owned by large brands from the media and retail space including Conde Nast, AOL, Banana Republic and Dell.

They use HootSuite to dig up analytics about, and to monitor and add to, the larger conversation in the social networking spheres of Twitter and, more recently, Facebook and LinkedIn.

“Those people are thoroughly entrenched,” said Holmes.

“The free users will either always stay free or they’ll at some point find some features that are worthwhile for them to upgrade to.”

WSJ.com – How Twitter and Facebook Can Get You Better Service At Hotels

The Wall Street Journal shares some tactics for hotels helping guests. In this example, the manager of a Marriott Hotel in Orlando uses HootSuite for real-time monitoring of guest sentiment as well as prospecting for new customers. The nuances of the job are illustrated in this comic strip:

Sarah Nassauer writes: At the Orlando World Center Marriott, Mr. Long and Ms. Pribila track what is said about their 2,000-room hotel every day, and often into the night.

One recent afternoon, Mr. Long peered at the computer in his small windowless office and opened up HootSuite, a program that lets users organize the millions of comments passing through Twitter at any given moment. He scanned the lists he has permanently set up on the software: current guests, past guests, people tweeting about Orlando hotels (so he can send notes to try to drum up business.), people tweeting about his specific hotel, and people tweeting about a conference currently at the resort. He checks HootSuite at least once an hour on his iPhone, often glancing at it while roaming the sprawling resort dotted with palm trees.

Via the hotel’s @TheFrontDesk account on Twitter, he and Ms. Pribila chat with future, current, and past guests. They answer questions and confront complaints. Then Mr. Long moves on to FourSquare, a website where people can use their mobile device to broadcast their physical location to friends, known as “checking in” at a location. “We monitor these people as well,” says the 28-year-old.

Small windowless office? Sounds like Mr. Long needs a room upgrade! PS We’ll be down to visit if summer doesn’t arrive here soon!

More HootSuite

Remember, you keeners can catch all the HootSuite news via the social bookmark channel and/or by following @hootwatch for the full firehose feed.

News Roundup customer service, Entrepreneur, Facebook, Hotels, Medvedev, monetization, Obama, SaaS, Twitter, Twitters, Whitehouse

This news round-up focuses on a few posts discussing social media efficiency, international versions, media convergence, plus planning and measuring strategic campaigns.

Take some time to enjoy the knowledge and let us know which articles you particularly enjoyed.

As always, catch more HootSuite news via the social bookmark stream and point out any articles we’ve missed in the comments.

Here we go:

Business Week – Stop Wasting Time on Social Media

Karen E. Klein and Ivan Misner (founder and chairman of business networking organization BNI.com) in a Q&A:

There are great services they should be using like Ping.fm, Seesmic, and Hootsuite.com. You can go there and it ties all your social media together. In other words, they’re probably logging on to their Facebook account and going to their page and typing in their message, and then going to Twitter and LinkedIn and doing the same thing. It kills time. If you use sites like this, you write one message and they ping everything so you’re not spending 20 minutes to do what you can in three minutes.

Some great tips for working efficiently – thanks Karen and Ivan.

ADO Strategies – Application Convergence: Have you seen the new Hootsuite?

Application Convergence: Have you seen the new Hootsuite? from ADO Strategies

Matthew Snyder writes:

What we have seen is that our friends in Vancouver  (Hootsuite) have really looked to market differentiation with these translation tools.

{snip}

When I saw the announcement in April by Hootsuite I felt like they were really listening to the customer; as there must had been lots others like me with the same predicament.  In my mind this is a big move by the Hootsuite folks in their attempt  at this and even though we have not yet seen this capability on Facebook,  MARK MY WORDS….. This is going to be one of the most important features for them with their 500M users in the coming months.  If they do not buy Hootsuite, then they will do this themselves by the end of the year.

Interesting points Matthew — we definitely feel it’s important to embrace users from around the world and take a true global view of the impact of the social web. Now, about HTML 5 …

CommunicateAsia – Hootsuite Awarded a Big Hat Tip (from me) for Thinking Like an Internationalist

Michael Netzley writes:

Hootsuite, one of the major tools for Twitter lovers, now has translation built into its iPhone app — Japanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. While this does give us access to one of the world’s truly leading digital markets, Japan, other Asian countries are not yet included (I remain hopeful). Still, a big hat tip to Hootsuite for thinking like an Internationalist! A rare thing in the 21st century, so much appreciated.

We’ve since added localization for Korean and Arabic to the iPhone with more language choices to come – thanks Professor.

thoughtpick – 4 Awesome Web-based Twitter Clients

M. Bamieh writes:

If you can appreciate the utility of an electric screw driver over its traditional cousin, you will appreciate Hootsuite. {snip} This is a heavy application, and certainly more enterprise centric providing you with a command console worthy of a marketing department HQ. If you have many Twitter accounts to manage or you are a star and would like to manage the accounts of your Twitter account ghost writers this is the tool to use.

HootSuite loves marketing departments and Twitter stars alike

inmanNews – How to measure social media strategy and success

Katie Lance writes:

Along with Google Analytics, I utilize the statistical feature in Hootsuite. I think Hootsuite is a must for any social media manager or anyone who is consistently managing a social media campaign on different platforms.

Once you are logged into Hootsuite, to view your statistics, look at the lower-left-hand corner of your screen and click the “Launch” button. From there you can check your stats summary or individual messages by clicking “Summary.”

Glad to hear Katie – have you tried the custom URL parameters yet?

Youngentrepreneur – 8 Awesome Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs

Navid Zolfaghari writes:

Through Hootsuite’s unique social media dashboard, you can collaboratively schedule updates to Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Wordpress and other social networks. Hootsuite helps organizations launch marketing campaigns, identify and grow audience, and distribute targeted messages across multiple channels.

Thanks for putting HootSuite at the top of the list Navid – we concur with many of your other tips too.

The WELDer – How To HootSuite Like A Pro

How To HootSuite Like A Pro from The WELDer

Gretchen Stone writes:

The beauty of HootSuite is that unlike some other apps, you can update multiple accounts from just one platform. So, for instance, if you’re tasked with managing your company’s profile, you can also update your own without having to log out. You can even send the same message to both, cutting your typing time in half.

{snip}

Short cuts like HootSuite take the frustration out of keeping up with your online presence and more importantly save time for busy executives.

Great tips and love that header graphic with the superhero lad.

StayOnSearch – Using Hootsuite to Manage Your Twitter Engagement Efforts

Mark Thomson writes:

In my personal opinion, I have found Hootsuite to be by far the best Twitter client out there.  I’m sure a lot of people can make an argument for clients like Tweetdeck and Seesmic, but I find Hootsuite to be the most user-friendly, feature-rich, and up-to-date Twitter client available.

The interface is clean, customizable, and includes a wealth of information about your twitter account.  Let’s take a detailed look into how Hootsuite can be used to manage your daily engagements for both personal and business use.

We’re glad you are on-board Mark and props on a very comprehensive roundup about HootSuite.

Social Media for Dealers -  Twitter tools profile: HootSuite

The first tool we’re covering is HootSuite. HootSuite is a “professional Twitter client”, fancy for “free tool that allows you to post, schedule future posts, track, follow and stay updated with your Twitter strategy”.   Check out the article “How to Get the Most Out of Social Media Using Hootsuite” by Zachary Sniderman on Open Forum. He does a great job over-viewing Hootsuite.

{snip}

HootSuite offers the best tracking options of the Twitter tools we’ll cover. It offers statistics and tools that can tell you anything from what links were clicked on (and when) to which sites are sending traffic your way.  Of course it also measures retweets, replies, and mentions.  It’s a great way gage your success and set benchmarks for the future.

In case you were wondering, “Dealers” in this case means RV dealerships – nothing nefarious

More

As always, catch more HootSuite news via the social bookmark stream and let us know about any we’ve missed in the comments.

News Roundup asia, business week, convergence, Facebook, japan, localization, news, News Roundup, pro, social media, strategies, strategy, tips, translation, Twitter

Indeed, there are a several other companies building tools for publishing to Twitter and other social media publishing platforms. And of course, each has a distinct focus, feature-set, and an audience of enthusiasts.

While we concentrate on building tools to help spread messages, monitor conversations and track results, several sites have put HootSuite head-to-head with other social tools to give the tale of the tape.

We’ve dug up a few recent (and one older) comparisons to share… kicking it off with a fun one which is a few months old, but worth the wait:

FlowTown: If Twitter Clients Were Action Stars

What would Chuck Norris do if he had to take down some chumps in a new and unfamiliar landscape? He would march in like he’s been there a million times and take care of the job. And then he’d tweet about it…undoubtedly via HootSuite. Similarly, HootSuite runs entirely online, allowing you to manage your networks with ease and style no matter where you happen to be and whatever Internet-connected operating system you are using.

ZDNet: CoTweet vs. HootSuite: Battle of the business Twitter apps

Who wins this battle? It’s really a tough call, as neither is a silver bullet in its current form. In the end, however, I need to recommend HootSuite as the free Twitter business application of choice. Its intuitive analytics, customizable dashboard, ability to integrate other social networks, and tweet management are overall superior to that of CoTweet.

Nate Bal: The Difference Between TweetDeck, HootSuite And Seesmic

Different programs = different features. Though all of these programs are real-time browsers that connect you with your contacts across multiple social networks they don’t necessarily have all the same features. See the graph below.

Nate Bal: The Difference Between TweetDeck, HootSuite And Seesmic

Articles Base: Social Oomph Or Hootsuite Is The Question!

After some in depth comparisons of Social Oomph and Hootsuite I decided that the following features were the best to bring  up on both programs: Social Oomph or Hootsuite will both do what you want them to manage your Twitter account and automate it for you.

Dragon Blogger: Comparing HootSuite to TweetDeck

Keep in mind that Tweetdeck is an Adobe Air application that installs on your desktop while Hootsuite is a completely web based application that doesn’t need to install so this leads to some difference from how the applications work. So without further chatter, I present to you the pros and cons of both Hootsuite and Tweetdeck and you can decide which works best for your needs.

Stephanie Burt: Product Review: Tweetdeck vs. Hootsuite

For me, the clear winner is Hootsuite. My multiple account management started in Tweetdeck, but I feel its more for users that have one or two account to manage. In Hootsuite, the ability to preschedule tweets/status updates alone is a lifesaver. Its an everything, but the kitchen sink type of product, which gets my 100% support. Now only if it really did the dishes.

Baby Boomer Entreprenuer: A Review of Hootsuite as compared with TweetDeck

I mostly like Hootsuite and will probably keep using it, but I don’t think I’ll give up Tweetdeck entirely, if for no other reason than to keep up with new followers. I think it’s easier to update my Facebook profile and page from Hootsuite and I really like the schedule later feature.

Need more? Explore past News Round-ups and, if there are others you think need to be shared, please let us know with a comment.

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Designed to Simplify

HootSuite keeners likely noticed a handful of new features for HootSuite iPhone released recently including language localization and a batch of handy tools which allow you to forward Twitter messages by email and save links to Instapaper. But this was only part one of the “Elf Owl” release.

Today, you can fill your toolbox with even more goodies designed to make social media experience more efficient and enjoyable. Ahhh … feels better already doesn’t it?

Get Your Fingers Working

HootSuite for iPhone update is available at the iTunes App store in Lite (no-cost) and Full ($2.99 USD) versions. Follow @HootSuiteiPhone for updates.

Internationally Comfortable

We know it’s nice to see an interface in your own language so we added full localization for Japanese, German, Spanish and Portuguese speakers.

Users will see all interface elements including options, settings and basic functions translated so no more fumbling to figure it out.

The localization is an industry-first for a Twitter iPhone app — including Twitter’s official app (formerly Tweetie) — and reflects Twitters rapid growth in markets beyond the US.

Which languages would you like to see localized next? Add your thoughts at the Feedback channel.

Handier Translation

The localization is a great addition to the translation tools which interpret to/from 50+ languages. Extra useful for monitoring brand sentiment which is critical for social-savvy marketers who must be aware of public opinion to amplify messages or prevent PR blunders.

Plus, now a single click translates foreign messages into your phone’s default language so you can get the gist of what your customers from Thailand to Timbuktu think about you, your brand, or your industry.

Fun: Try translating comments from rival team’s fans during the upcoming World Cup matches .

Clear your Mind

Whether you are reading Twitter and Facebook for business or pleasure, you want to interact with your social streams efficiently. Some people call this “getting things done” but we call it “simply handy.” Meet some of the new tools the mobile owls sprinkled in to clear your mind — many of which were submitted by HootSuite enthusiasts through the feedback channel.

Conversational Context
Don’t let replies confuse you – know the original context of conversations from days before with threaded messages arranged chronologically in chat-like bubbles.

Facebook Comments
Easily participate in the conversation by commenting on anything on your Facebook News Feed — along with posting messages to Facebook Pages and Profiles.

Keep your Place
HootSuite remembers your position and places you right back in the stream so no more re-reading to find your place when you take a phone call or use another App.

Saved as a Draft
Need more info for your update? Interrupted while typing? Save your message as a draft and finish it up later at your leisure without starting from scratch.

Read it Later
Don’t want to read an article right away? Just click to save links to the (free) Instapaper service to save for future reading on the big screen when you have the time.

Email that Tweet
Want to share a message with someone not using Twitter? Send any micro-update by email to share the news with bosses or pals to bring them into the conversation.

Remember to Bump
Released a few weeks ago in HootSuite Labs, the “Bump to Follow” tool is gaining fans in noisy clubs and quiet rooms alike who follow by “bumping” phones. Try it ~ but hold on to your phone!

Spreading the Word

HootSuite isn’t in the league of Ichiro, Godzilla or Spinal Tap in Japan… but we’re getting there. CEO Ryan Holmes recently visited Nippon to show off the localized iPhone at numerous events including speaking at Open Network Labs Live event, meeting users at a Tweetup, attending a Maker Faire, plus talking tech with the CEO of Softbank — Japan’s largest “keitei” mobile phone provider.

Curious? Catch the recaps of Ryan’s journey to Japan including pics, vids, and interviews.

While not quite as “exotic” as Tokyo, Community Director Dave Olson spoke about community building and shared HootSuite power-tuning tips in Bellingham, Washington plus hosted a mobile-industry trade mission visiting Vancouver from the Netherlands.

Stay up with all the HootSuite news and recaps here on the HootSuite blog and by following @hootwatch as well at @hootsuite and @hootsuite_help.

Seeking more company information including descriptions, logos and media contact? Visit the online Media Kit.

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Built for Socializing

HootSuite adds more tools to the iPhone version of the popular social media dashboard including: instant language translation, geo-location, and Facebook integration plus several key interface enhancements.

With the latest update, you’re still able to manage and monitor multiple Twitter accounts, track keywords and brands, plus explore on-board click-through stats… but we’ve added even more treats.

This release adds the ability to translate Twitter and Facebook messages on the fly — in 50+ languages! Additionally, users can update Facebook accounts, compose Twitter messages in landscape view, share geo-location info, “reply-to-all” with one click, and “Bump™” iPhones to follow one another.

Time for a Holiday

No matter where you’re headed, this Owl will help you stay in touch and informed with instant translation to 50+ languages, geo-location to pinpoint yourself on the globe, and Facebook Profiles and Pages added to the mix — plus a few surprises in the suitcase. With all these new tools, the Owl decided to hop on the plane for a worldwide tour with iPhone in tow.

Check out the new features in action at exotic world locales in this video then get your thumbs on the updated HootSuite for iPhone for a bundle of surprises designed for any quest — from your neighborhood to around the world.

Facebook your Fans

The new release adds Facebook support, allowing you to update your status (in the aforementioned world languages), track your friends’ news updates, and schedule your messages for future publishing. Beyond Facebook Profiles, you can import Facebook Pages from your HootSuite account, and add “likes” to your friends’ posts.

Translate-ability

This Owl is international – Track Twitter conversations from around the world with instant translation to and from over 50 languages — ideal for monitoring relevant topics and brand mentions from global friends and customers. You can also compose in your native language and translate on the go — then post your update to both Twitter and Facebook — makes running international outreach campaigns easy.

Wherever you Go … Geo

Alert the world to your exact location by including geo-location data with your Twitter update. Great for chronicling a trip, remembering a special spot, or for helping friends find you for fun times. Just click a button to pinpoint your location, and your Twitter posts will be tagged with your whereabouts.

Well Groomed Owl

The new HootSuite for iPhone enjoys a freshened interface with large, intuitive buttons, plus a landscape view for composing Twitter updates in a larger, thumb-friendly space. Additionally, you can easily catch up with all the messages since the last time you checked with a “drag and refresh” option, plus quickly populate a message with all recipients using the “Reply to All” option.

Enter the Lab

Seeking a fun way to add followers in person? Dig into HootSuite Labs to try the “Bump™ to follow” feature — to try, just high five another HootSuite-enabled iPhone and you’ll see the chance to follow each other with a confirmation click. Fist pump, low five, freeze frame five — they all work. Enjoy testing this beta feature, no lab coat required.

More:

Press release with screenshots

HootSuite for iPhone page

Time for a Holiday video – features music “The Nostalgic Buffoon” by Jeremiah Jacobs (@jeremiahjacobs)

Note: “Bump” is ™ of Bump Technologies, Inc. http://bu.mp/

iPhone, releases Facebook, geo-location, iPhone, release, releases, Support, translation, tweetie, Twitter, upgrade

All About the Teamwork

As you’ve likely noticed, HootSuite has added “Owners and Teams” – a new access structure designed for group message publishing and conversation monitoring. With this Team Collaboration release, you can easily coordinate with clients and colleagues — without sacrificing control over valuable account information.

Reaction to the Release

Venture Beat – HootSuite targets agencies and groups with social collaboration tools – Cody Barbierri

HootSuite, a social networking navigation and management startup, today launched several new collaboration tools targeted at public relations agencies and groups who often work in teams to publish and manage through their various social networking channels, like Twitter and Facebook.

The new collaboration tools are meant to help the group publishing and monitoring process  according to the company’s blog. More specifically, help make sure the process is as easy as possible between agencies, groups and their clients. Valuable time is often lost as groups scramble to figure out who should respond or post what during the day.

Vertical Measures – HootSuite Does it Again! – Kaila S.

Today, Hootsuite has upgraded their Twitter platform yet again, and integrated many features that users (like myself) are super happy about. Twitter rolled out their solution to multi-tweeters a few weeks ago (to a few select companies), and Hootsuite has now integrated their version into their platform. Team collaboration on Hootsuite is easier than ever, allowing team owners to control the account and invite other team members to manage an individual account. Team owners can manage the roles of each individual team member, including revoking access with the click of a button.

Web-WorkAtHome.com – HootSuite Adds New Team Collaboration Tool – Bill Masson

I have always been a fan of HootSuite and they keep on going from strength to strength. This latest set of enhancements gives you more flexibility especially if you are part of a group. Team collaboration is very much in mind in these latest updates, with every social network account having a designated owner who is in charge. This gives the owner the ability to add team members to social networks without compromising password security. Team members can have basic or advanced access to accounts which can easily be transferred as roles change.

With the new Team Management system, you can:

• Invite other HootSuite users to share your Social Networks
• Request access to someone else’s Social Network
• Assign Team Members advanced permissions
• Add RSS feeds to any Social Network you have access to
• Consolidate all your HootSuite accounts

methodshop.com – HootSuite Releases Team Features

Oh Hootsuite, we can’t even begin to count all the reasons why we love you. But the team tools you announced today are just amazing.

Once you add all your accounts to Hootsuite, you can then do all the normal stuff you might do like reply, post, and shorten links. But Hootsuite also allows you to post the same message to multiple accounts, schedule posts, track clicks, import RSS feeds and as of today, add additional team members to help you manage your accounts.

If you haven’t tried Hootsuite yet, then stop reading this article and go sign up for an account now. Hootsuite allows you to add all your social media accounts (Facebook Profiles, Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, etc.) into one easy to use dashboard.

Web Business Consultants – HootSuite Upgrades – Christine Weremy

In April 2010, Hootsuite added some upgrades that makes it easier to update multiple social media pages (including Twitter and Facebook pages) and to share administration privileges with others. According to the brand’s April 13, 2010 article, each account can add “team members” to the account without compromising password security and each member can hold various administration capabilities (i.e., basic or advanced).

The new updates allows the administrator to add multiple accounts to his or her account without having to create a new account (before accounts with different email addresses couldn’t share the same account). The upgrades also includes adding multiple RSS feeds to a social media pages and a ‘reply all’ option. According to the April article, this option allows the administrator to pre-populate a message with all recipients of an original message with one click.

Anocial – HootSuite Rolls out Team Collaboration – Brian Ellis

Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after.

Hootsuite announces today that it now plays better with others. The team collaboration tools will now allow you to assemble your own team and give them rights to various social media accounts as needed. Once on the team anyone can add any social media account to the team without administrative rights. The team owner can assign administrative rights to whom ever they choose but retain the right to delete any account when needed. All in all, I see this as a step in the right direction.

USF: University of South Florida – HootSuite: Manage Team and Multiple Twitter Accounts with Ease

HootSuite is a free ‘Swiss Army Knife’ online application for serious Twitter users. If you manage multiple Twitter accounts and/or share twittering duties with your team, you should give HootSuite a try.  HootSuite manages every aspect of the Twitter experience and even provides statistics on your tweets made from HootSuite and Ow.ly, HootSuite’s URL shortener.  There are numerous other features that will help you streamline your Twitter account management, including scheduling your Tweets for times when your readers are actually reading.  I actually schedule most of my tweets for between 9 am and 5 pm, although I actually tweet them around 2:00 am.

Watch this five minute video to see some of the slick features in this amazingly useful product.  Oh, there is also a HootSuite iPhone App. so you can manage your Tweets on-the-go!

This fundamental advancement will enable enterprises, agencies, content publishers, and consultants to work with clients and colleagues seamlessly, without sacrificing control over confidential account info or compromising message timeliness.

Best known as a web and mobile-based tool for managing Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and other social networks, HootSuite continues to respond to organizations who use the dashboard for customer relationship management and support desks applications, in addition to social media promotional campaigns.

And here’s a few more sources who covered the release:

• Computer User – HootSuite Adds Social Network Team Collaboration Tools – Ideal for Agencies, Enterprises, Consultants and Marketing Groups
• Computerized Spirit – HootSuite Adds Team Collaboration Tools – A Brief Tour
• topix – HootSuite Adds Team Collaboration Tools to Social Media Dashboard
• pingmicro - HootSuite Adds Team Collaboration Tools to Social Media Dashboard – Svartling
• twitterarabic-blogspot – HootSuite Targets Agencies and Groups with Social Collaboration Tools
• Yahoo! news – HootSuite Adds Social Network Team Collaboration Tools – Ideal for Agencies, Enterprises, Consultants and Marketing Groups

Thanks for the coverage and just wait to see what we have planned next!

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