Today’s update for the Twitter app on Android devices just made tweeting 140 characters a little easier thanks to a much-needed redesign.

“Its new design reflects a native Android experience,” said Twitter technical lead for Android Jonathan Le.

First and foremost, that translates into a Twitter app with wider and taller timelines which make use of a device’s entire screen.

There’s also a flat navigation bar, and the ability to tap and hold for quick actions.

Twitter users on Android can now quickly navigate between tabs by swiping across their phone or tablets display.

Another time-saving perk to today’s update is the ability to see username and hashtag suggestions when a user begins typing his or her tweet or initiates a search.

iPhone, mobile versions also update

While the Twitter app update for Android received most of the social networking company’s love, there were some design tweaks for the iPhone and mobile versions, too.

“All three mobile apps, plus twitter.com, now show more types of content in expanded Tweets,” announced Le.

This expandable content includes photo galleries, apps, and product listings.

Twitter users will notice that there is a new link below embedded content that is shared from another mobile app.

Now, if a user clicks a link below a Foursquare check-in or Flickr photo, for example, it’ll send them from the Twitter app to the native mobile app - not the website, which probably doesn't have them logged in.

Twitter, playing nice with other social media companies, will even send users to download the linked app if it’s not already installed.

New Twitter Android design rolling out

The Twitter updates for Android, iPhone, the mobile web are rolling out over the next several days, according to the company.

However, Android owners who still have Twitter app version 3.8 or lower can go straight to the Google Play and update to Twitter for Android 4.0 today.

iOS device owners are also seeing the Twitter app, version 5.5, in the Apple App Store right now.

The Rdio streaming music service that launched in 2010 has been joined by a related pay-per-video video service known appropriately as Vdio.

Unlike Rdio, though, Vdio has more in common with iTunes' video on demand model than it does with Netflix; Vdio is pay-as-you-watch, allowing users to "rent" movies and TV shows from major studios.

Rdio, on the other hand, is a subscription-based service (like Spotify).

The new VOD service is currently available in the U.S. and U.K., but there's a catch: only paying Rdio Unlimited subscribers can access it.

Say what?

Currently Vdio is only available to customers who are already paying for Rdio subscriptions. Those subscribers get $25 of Vdio credit to promote the launch of the new service.

Anyone else is currently out of luck, though Rdio Vice President of Product Malthe Sigurdsson told GigaOM that that will change this summer.

Sigurdsson also reportedly revealed plans to expand to Canada "in the coming months."

What sets Vdio apart?

Vdio has a few unique features to differentiate itself from competing streaming video services.

Chief among those are Vdio's social features, which are closely tied to Rdio and allow users to follow their friends and see recommendations based on their tastes.

Sigurdsson stressed to GigaOM that basing the service on users' personal networks "rather than a marketing department" is a major plus.

Content from major studios and networks including Disney, Fox, Warner Bros., Universal, NBC, CBS, ABC, Comedy Central, Showtime, and the BBC can be streamed over the web and an iPad app (though unfortunately you can't purchase anything through the app itself).

Rdio is already available on a number of platforms, though, and Vdio could hypothetically expand outward to Android, Roku and other connected devices too.

Sigurdsson also teased that Vdio subscriptions could be added in the future, according to the report.

Yet more has leaked out about what Facebook supposedly plans to show during an event at 10 a.m. PDT Thursday.

Thanks once again to @evleaks, we may have our first fleshed out look at the Facebook Home UI.

Published by 9to5Google, which has provided a number of details over the last few days regarding Facebook Home and a device now known as the HTC First, the images show an in-color UI with a focus on photos.

The images show a phone screen that has photos taking up the entire screen, with bubbles of info - missed calles, Instagram alerts and messages - floating above.

Coming into focus?

Yesterday, @evleaks posted an image it claimed was of the HTC First, though the rendering was suspiciously generic. It also had the markings of Photoshop, never a good sign towards authenticity.

Today's images matche with the phone shown yesterday, so at least @evleaks gets points for consistency.

We get a glimpse at what might be the app launcher, and while it looks like any Android app center, you'll notice the Status, Photo and Check In options along the top.

Another leaked image presumably shows a photo and the various share options users can hit to get their pic on their various social networks - Instagram, Messenger, Picasa, Google+, Twitter, Messaging and, of course, Facebook - as well as Gmail, texts or trash.

We'll know if all the images - and all the leaks - are legit tomorrow. Tune into TechRadar for the lowdown on Facebook Home, HTC First, or whatever it is FB has in store.

Tony Stark has a new phone in Iron Man 3 and he's slumming it with an Alcatel One Touch Idol - a handset we branded "a middle of the road smartphone" when we got our hands on it at MWC 2013.

It's not clear exactly what the narrative impetus behind Stark's phone-buying decision is but we imagine that Marvel will come up with something to justify the big fat cheque that has no doubt changed hands behind the scenes.

After all, Tony loves to tinker with his tech - maybe he's ripped the Idol's insides out and replaced them with something uranium-powered to make it worth his while. Probably doesn't stop it feeling cheap though, eh?

Blips are TechRadar's new news nuggets that you'll find percolating through the homepage - or you can see them all by hitting the blip keyword below.

The much-longed-for Apple Watch may come packing fingerprint scanning, according to the latest rumours.

Word on the analyst street is that the fingerprint tech expected to show up in the iPhone 5S could surface in the iWatch too.

Oftentimes we wonder where analysts dredge these rumours up from but this time there's a solid backstory - Brian White was on a tour of China and Taiwan when he met an anonymous component supplier who let him in on a couple of juicy secrets.

White then penned a note for clients of Topeka Capital Markets, which AppleInsider managed to get its fruity little mitts on.

Finger-lickin' secure

In it, White describes the fingerprint scanner as being used for "essential security purposes" - no shocker - including credit card payments.

Going further, he expects the fingerprint scanner to be the main selling point of the iPhone 5S, much like Siri was on the iPhone 4S. So, yeah... form an orderly queue.

But iPhone 5S aside, White says that the scanning tech will hit other gadgets too, particularly the iWatch which he anticipates seeing on the market this year after he spotted "early signs of movement in the supply chain".

So, beefed up NFC with fingerprint security. Will that get you parting with your hard-earned cash for a new iPhone or an Apple Watch?