Revisiting Windows 8's Tweet@Rama
One of the pieces of Microsoft's Windows 8 demonstration back in June that didn't get a whole lot of attention was the social-networking component.
Microsoft officials showed off a TweetDeck-like program, known as Tweet@Rama, during the first official and public Windows 8 reveal at the All Things D conference.
Laptop Magazine had a couple of good screen captures of Tweet@Rama -- which Microsoft officials accessed from the "Share" feature under the Windows 8 menu via which the Start button was accessed. Tweet@Rama looked and worked like a Twitter client, with users having the ability to organize their feeds by topic.
In case anyone thought the Tweet@Rama app/feature was just a mock-up for demo purposes, that idea has been put to rest thanks to a Tweet from John Lam on August 17.
Notice that Lam -- who is on the Windows client team these days -- tweeted from Tweet@Rama. (Thanks to Francisco Martin Garcia for the heads up on Lam's tweet.)
Update: WinRumors' Tom Warren also noted that the Windows 8 Engineering blog team is using Tweet@Rama to post to Twitter, too.
A few points to ponder:
- It's not clear whether Tweet@Rama (which may or may not carry the same name when Microsoft debuts Windows 8) is a built-in piece of the operating system; a Windows Live service; or a separate applet.
- Is Tweet@Rama more than just a Twitter client? In other words, is it more of a tool to organize and integrate multiple social-networking streams -- similar to the FuSE Labs' Spindex project?
- Is Tweet@Rama related in any way to Socl (the project formerly codenamed "Tulalip," which may or may not be the same as Spindex)?
- And what about "Nuggets," another TweetDeck-like Microsoft project? Does Tweet@Rama have any connection?
- Is Tweet@Rama similar in function to the People Hub in the Mango release of Windows Phone 7? In other words, will it allow users to add/remove sources like Twitter, Facebook, etc., and opt for views with only some of those inputs selected?
Microsoft's response to my request for any information on Tweet@Rama? "Unfortunately we have nothing more to share at this time," a spokesperson told me when I asked.
I guess we can hope for a "Building Windows 8" novella blog post on this... If not, I am sure "all will be revealed at Build" (as we've been hearing for a few months now).