Windows Phone 7 Wednesday; Twitter apps are here

Another week and another 419 apps for the Windows Phone 7 platform, including another Xbox LIVE game title. You will find Parachute Panic ($2.99), which I purchased after hearing it was a great game with cool graphics. Remember, you can install this game and give them a try for free before you make the purchase. After installing it you will find it in the Games hub and not on the list of applications, but you can still pin it to the Start screen.

The number of new apps each week is staying fairly consistent at just over 400 a week with a current count up to 6,884 apps.

One of the first complaints most of us had about Windows Phone 7 at launch was the lack of Twitter support when Facebook was so well integrated. It has been a couple of months since we have had Windows Phone 7 devices and we now see at least five dedicated Twitter applications available for the platform. I found the Twitt client after I shot the included video so it isn't shown in action (it never showed up in my Marketplace search). The list below has the Twitter apps from newest to oldest with a table below giving you a quick look at some of the key features of Twitter mobile clients and how they stack up.

1. Birdsong: This newest Twitter client just launched yesterday. Birdsong is available for $1.99, but there is a free trial that lets you check it out a bit. It has a very nice threaded conversation view, configurable timelines, integrated photo viewing, integrated location previews, and an integrated web browser. I love the conversation view and the integrated web browser that lets you follow links and stay within the application. If they can get notification support soon then this will likely become my default Twitter client.
2. Twitt - A Twitter Client: I used the Twitt application back on my Windows Mobile 6.x devices and it appears to be a decent application. I don't like that so much of the display is taken up by headers and the Metro UI though and would like to see more usable screen real estate. The application is available for 99 cents and there is no trial version to test out. There is no conversation view or notifications, but you can use it to have your Tweets read out loud.
3. Beezz: The client I have been using for that past few weeks is Beezz, primarily because of the Toast and Live tile notification support that makes it easy to jump back into the application. It looks similar to the original Twitter client, but does have a few less features. The main thing I see missing is conversation view. I also like clients that let you add text to Retweets, but Beezz doesn't let you do this yet. You can get Beezz for FREE in the Marketplace.
4. Twitter: The second Twitter application available on WP7 was the official Twitter app and with the exception of toast and Live tile notifications it is one of the most full featured clients even today. It has the look and feel of other official Twitter mobile clients and I keep it on my device in case there is something I need to do that I can't with another application. Twitter is available for FREE.
5. Seesmic: Seesmic was the first Twitter application on Windows Phone 7 and at first it did not have support for the native keyboard, but that has now been fixed. Seesmic is a full featured client that supports multiple Twitter accounts, and Facebook, while having a pretty slick interface. There are no notifications or support for conversation view so I never use it on my HD7. Seemsic is available for FREE.

Here is a table comparing some key features of Windows Phone 7 Twitter clients and as you can see there is not yet a SINGLE application that has all of the high end features power users will likely want in one client. Then again, after I put this table together it becomes pretty obvious what Twitter application I am going to put above the fold on my Start screen.

Birdsong Twitt Beezz Twitter Seesmic Notifications None None Toast and Live tile None None Conversation view Yes No No Yes No Multiple accounts No No No Yes Yes, Facebook too Photo upload Twitpic Twitpic Twitpic Multiple Two options Retweet comment Yes Yes No Yes No Location Tweet No No No Yes Yes Tweet username No No No Yes No

Which application is your favorite? What are the most important mobile Twitter features for you?

UPDATE: It seems my search using the term Twitter on my HD7 didn't turn up all the prospects and a friendly reader sent me a link to Twozaic for WP7. This looks like an interesting UI and it actually appears this app may have everything, but notifications as well.