Twitter rebuilds iPad app with new profiles, photo streams

Twitter is rolling out a completely overhauled version of its mobile social networking application for Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad, promising significant speed and usability improvements as well as new personalization features.

Twitter for iPad 5.0 supports one-touch access to photos, videos and Web page summaries.

Twitter for iPad 5.0 is highlighted by a revamped timeline supporting one-touch access to photos, videos and Web page summaries. From there, users can tap an item to view images, play videos or read Web links in fullscreen mode.

The revised Twitter for iPad also brings new discovery tools collecting news stories popular within the user's network, as well as tweets and accounts that are followed and marked as "favorite"  by people they know. Users may additionally access new tools to track their social interactions and more efficiently determine who has followed or mentioned them, or retweeted or designated their posts as "favorites."

Twitter is also updating its iPad and corresponding iPhone and Android apps with new profiles featuring header photos. "[The header photo] appears consistently above your Tweets on iPad, mobile apps and twitter.com, and you can change it anytime," said Twitter Product Manager Sung Hu Kim. "You can also remember the moments you've shared on Twitter by swiping through your photo stream on your profile or tapping photos to go fullscreen."

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo announced the redesigned Twitter apps Tuesday morning during an appearance on NBC's Today. Costolo said there are now 140 million Twitter users worldwide, generating 340 million tweets every day. Twitter is now valued at $8 billion.

For more:
- read this Twitter Blog entry
- read this TechCrunch article

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