Pownce: Twitter on Steroids

New social networking apps are making their names known throughout the Web 2.0 network every day, and one of those new and exciting apps is Pownce.

Pownce has already been labeled by some "The Twitter Killer", and is a social file sharing and networking app similar to the afore mentioned mega-network. While I don't think that Pownce will succeed in becoming the bane of Twitter, I do believe that it will - and already is - becoming an extremely successful Web 2.0 application that is definitely making it's mark on the scene.

Features

Some of the unique features to Pownce that other services such as Twitter do not offer include the ability to share files, links, and events, as well as directly send messages from the Pownce desktop application (Twitterific does not have this ability, forcing the user to log into their Twitter home page).

Pownce also features a very nice web interface, in my opinion, nicer than Twitter's. Some seem to prefer the simplicity of Twitter's web UI, but I like Pownce's sleek and streamlined theme. Pownce also offers the ability to change color schemes on the web home page to a further extent than Twitter, which is a nice way to add a little customization to your Pownce home.

Pownce offers all the features of Twitter, plus file sharing and other ways to network.

Desktop Client

Pownce offers its own desktop client in the style of Twitterific, but this is the part where I have to say better things about Twitterific in comparison to Pownce.

The Pownce desktop client is simple enough - doing what it needs to do, and offering according buttons and controls - but Twitterific's incredibly simplistic and easy-to-follow design has won me over. Pownce has a very similar looking desktop app, but I find it more cluttered, and less inviting to use over extended periods of time.

Another strike, is that the Pownce desktop application requires the installation of Adobe's AIR (Adobe Integrated Environment). It's only a few megabytes to download, but it's still another hurdle to . . . well . . . hurdle before getting to actually using the application. There are also some small bugs, but they're mainly too small to care about.

Still, Pownce has a grasp of what they need to do with the desktop client, and some simple changes may move me from Twitterific.

Conclusion

It's obvious to me that Pownce is a very nice networking application that will not die any time soon. However, Twitter has been a long time standard for social networking of this class, and Pownce has a little catch up to do. So, I will be sticking with both, because both are very nice applications. However, if Pownce improved a few features (primarily on their desktop client), it might be enough to switch me over from Twitter.

A Pro account is available for purchase through Pownce. For the cost of $20 USD you can disable ads and get file transferring of up to 100MB, but I don't think it's worth it. You might as well use YouSendIt, and you can send to any email address.

Do you think Pownce will end up being the Twitter killer? Which do you prefer, and which will you end up using?