Friday, February 18, 2011

Twitter Takes Aim At UberMedia, Shuts Access To Twidroyd

Taking aim at Pasadena-based UberMedia, the Twitter client firm headed by Bill Gross, Twitter has shut down access to the firm's API for two of UberMedia's clients, including Twidroyd and UberTwitter. According to a statement on Twitter's blog, it shut down the access, for "violating our policies." Twitter, in announcing the shutdown, suggested that users should, instead, download the "official" applications for BlackBerry, Android, and iPhone. UberMedia and Twitter have been headed for a showdown, as UberMedia has acquired a large portfolio of the available, third-party Twitter applications out there. UberMedia is backed by Idealab. The move is not the first battle between Twitter and a Southern California Twitter-focused startup; last May, fellow Twitter advertising startup Ad.ly, based in Los Angeles, faced a similar situation with Twitter when it banned in-stream ads.