Directory of the Top Mobile Developer Relations Pros on Twitter

July 21, 2009 by Lisa Oshima | Consulting, Developers, Mobile, Social Media

UPDATED 7/31/09: Below, you’ll find a list I compiled of mobile developer relations professionals on Twitter.  It’s interesting to see how many mobile companies are starting to use Twitter to engage with their developer communities.  The most prolific developer relations tweeps seem to be from Windows Mobile (which lists Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as communications channels on its site), the  Symbian Foundation (which has devoted a whole page on its website to list its Twitterers), and Motorola’s MOTODEV (which also runs communities on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn).  Twitter is rapidly becoming a great way for developers to aggregate the latest news and information about the various developer programs they participate in, without having to separately check in with each mobile developer community site.

Most surprising to me were the companies that don’t have a developer relations presence on Twitter (or at least not one that was easy enough for me to find quickly) – including Apple, RIM, and several of the major mobile operators.  Twitter is such a useful medium for disseminating bite-sized chunks of important information and driving traffic to a website or event.  It seems like a no-brain-er resource to drive traffic to developer communities of all shapes and sizes.

If you or someone you know is missing from the following developer relations tweeps list, please ping me with your suggestions or post a comment, and I’ll update it accordingly:

AT&T:

  • I couldn’t find anyone from AT&T’s devCentral team on Twitter. Ping me with your suggestions or post a comment.

Apple:

  • I couldn’t find many people from Apple’s Developer Connection team on Twitter. Ping me with your suggestions or post a comment.
  • Thanks to Eric Litman from @medialets for suggesting the following folks from Apple via LinkedIn. It looks like many of these are personal tweet streams, rather than being work-related, but good to know about none the less:
    • Bill Bumgarner: @bbum (Eric says Bill is “on the ObjC team but nobody bleeds in six colors more than Bill”)
    • Ian Baird: @rtmfd Ian says, “My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer”
    • Michael Jurewitz: @jurewitz “Mac OS X Developer and Performance Tools Evangelist”
    • Mike Lee: @bmf From Apple’s Developer Technical Support Team
    • Robert Marini: @wisequark (Eric says he’s not officially developer relations but ‘might as well be’) Robert says, “My statements are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer.”

Ericsson Labs:

  • @EricssonLabs:About: open innovation, developers, API’s, new enabling technologies, mobile, applications, messaging, content push, maps” (Thanks to Alexey Volovoy for suggesting this one.)

Google:

  • There are a handful of Developer Relations folks from Google on Twitter. Here are the Android folks (courtesy of Vivian Li):
    • David McLaughlin: @dsmcl David works at Google and recently posted Developer Relations job openings on his team.
    • Dan Morrill: @morrildl
    • Jason Chen: @jasonchen Android developer advocate at Google, photographer, world traveler, and digital denizen. (Thanks to Eric Litman from @medialets for the suggestion via LinkedIn)
    • Reto Meier: @retomeier: “Android developer, author, and Android advocate at Google.” (Added at the suggestion of reader, Kieran Gutteridge). Reto does developer relations for Android in EMEA.
  • Here are some of the other Google Developer Relations folks I found (not Android specific):
    • Ryan Boyd: @ryguyrg “Geek and Developer Advocate on OpenSocial at Google.”
    • Jason Costa: @jasoncostaDeveloper Relations, Google”
    • Developer information/ Google I/O: @googleio
    • General Google Updates: @google
    • Vivian Li: @vivianli “Google Developer Relations”

HTC:

  • @HTC: Thanks to Alexey Volovoy for suggesting this one. While not a developer relations specific tweet stream, Alexey says HTC often tweets developer-specific information.

LG:

  • I couldn’t find anyone from LG’s Mobile Developer Network on Twitter. Ping me with your suggestions or post a comment. Here are the LG addresses I found:
    • @LGBlogUK: Twitter feed for the official LG UK blog
    • @LGCanada: “LG Electronics Canada. The Innovators in Home Appliances, Home Electronics, and Mobile Phones”

Microsoft Windows Mobile:

  • Windows Mobile Developer: @wmdev We’re the Windows Mobile Developer team. Come chat with us, give us feedback & ask questions.”
  • Loke Uei: @lokeuei Loke is on the Windows Mobile Developer team.
  • Steve Hegenderfer: @hegenderfer Steve is on the Windows Mobile Developer team.
  • Luke Lnyswonger: @lnyswonger Luke is on the Windows Mobile Developer team.
  • Worldwide Partner Conference 09: @WPC09

Mobiforge:

  • @mobiforge: “mobiForge is the site formerly known as dev.mobi.” It’s an independent mobile development community. (Added at the suggestion of Francesco Cetraro)
  • Ruadhan: @rodono Editor of mobiForge.com (added at the suggestion of jamesgpearce)

Motorola:

Nokia:

O2 Litmus:

  • O2 Litmus: @o2_litmusO2 Litmus is a platform for the initiation and development of new mobile applications” (Thanks to @jamesparton for clarifying that this is the primary O2 Litmus Twitter account)
  • James Parton: @jamespartonHead of O2 Litmus”

Opera:

Orange:

Palm:

  • @chuq: “Developer Community Manager for Palm.” (PDN)
  • @palm: “Stay connected with Palm and learn about news, products, tips and tricks, deals and more.”
  • Updated 5/11/10: @webOSdev: Palm’s Developer Connection team.

RIM:

Sony Ericsson:

Symbian:

  • The Symbian Foundation lists all of its twitterers here.  These are the highlights for Developer Relations:

    • @symbiandevco: The official Symbian Foundation developer hub on Twitter”
    • @symbian: Symbian in general
    • @symbiansigned: The Symbian Signed team’s tweets (application signing)
    • John Kern: @kern3020 Developer Technical Support
    • Bill Washburn: @BecomingWilliam “Community Manager”
    • Lee Williams:@leemwilliams Executive Director of the Symbian Foundation
    • David Wood: @dw2 Symbian Foundation. EVP Research and co-founder of Symbian Ltd.

T-Mobile:

Twitter:

  • Alex Payne: @al3x is Twitter’s Platform Lead. He heads up the API team, and interacts with developers, leading developer discussions about Twitter here. (Suggested by Lars Kamp)

Verizon:

  • Verizon Developer Conference: @VDCConference
  • I also found the following Verizon Wireless PR people on Twitter who have talked about relevant topics for developers:

Vodafone:

  • Betavine: @betavine “Betavine is the open mobile application community: a place where anyone can come to find and share information and experiences about making applications on any technology platform whatsoever. While Betavine is a Vodafone project, it is in no way limited in its scope to Vodafone technologies for platforms.”
  • Greg Reeve: @seat2d Greg isn’t ‘developer relations’ but he is the head of applications and connectivity for global technology.
  • @mobilewidgets: News about Mobile Widgets from Betavine (at the suggestion of Sanj Matharu).
  • Sanj Matharu: @sanjmatharu Sanj is formerly of Samsung and now works with developers at Vodafone.

WIP (Wireless Industry Partnership):

  • WIP connects developers to the information, resources and people in the wireless industry.  There are several WIP-related handles to follow on Twitter:
    • @wipwiki: “all the tools, partners and resources you need to get started or take the next step in mobile development”
    • Caroline Lewko: @mobilejam: “making life easier for mobile developers connecting to info, resources and people”

Miscellaneous: While not official “developer relations” reps at companies, these tweeps work closely with mobile developers on events:

  • Matthäus Krzykowski: @matthausk Works with developers in his capacity as co-chair for MobileBeat 2009 and writes for VentureBeat (Suggested by Lars Kamp)
  • Rudy De Waele @mtrends: Rudy organizes a ton of developer events including Mobile Mondays in Barcelona and Madrid and a variety of events at Mobile World Congress.

Shameless plug: @lisawhelan

  • I tweet regularly about issues that are relevant to mobile development and developer relations.  If you need help building or growing a mobile or web-based developer community, please keep me in mind. I’ve consulted for Palm and Motorola (MOTODEV) and SocialMedia Networks on a variety of developer relations projects – from strategy to implementation. I’m always interested in talking about mobile developer relations and alliance management, so please get in touch if you’d like to bounce around ideas or learn more about my work in this space.

11 Responses to “Directory of the Top Mobile Developer Relations Pros on Twitter”

  1. Austin Teames

    HTC: @HTC
    I could not find a developer specific feed but I have been following @HTC for a while and occasionally they post dev info in regards to HTC and Android

  2. socialmediablog

    Thanks for the suggestion, Austin. I've added @HTC to the list.

  3. Francesco Cetraro

    Great post!

    FYI the dotMobi Registry also runs a developers community at http://mobiforge.com/
    You can also follow @mobiforge on twitter.

  4. Francesco Cetraro

    Great post, thanks for putting all this information together.

    If I may, I´d also like to suggest you take a look at http://mobiforge.com, the mobile developers community managed by the dotMobi Registry.

    You can also follow @mobiforge and @dotMobiOfficial on twitter.

  5. Francesco Cetraro

    Sorry, didn´t mean to spam… just had problems with submitting the first comment 🙁 /Francesco

  6. jamesgpearce

    Yes, mobiForge was a glaring omission! @rodono @xbs @andreatrasatti @jorabin etc etc etc

  7. socialmediablog

    I've just added @rodono. Can you tell me more about @xbs @andreatrasatti @jorabin (who do they developer relations for)? @xbs and @andreatrasatti don't list affiliations in their bios, and @jorabin's Twitter updates are protected.

  8. Lior

    A great an very useful post. Many thanks!
    There's a new one that was opened last week:
    Mobiledevworld.com is a premier meeting place and open community for mobile software, mobile internet and mobile services professionals and enthusiasts to exchange ideas, discuss technologies and explore this exciting field of mobile technology.
    The site also holds the most comprehensive database of mobile phone specifications and technical data.
    mobiledevworld.com is totally free – created by mobile professionals for mobile professionals.

  9. Lior

    Forgot to mention that they are on Twitter too @mobiledevworld (and me too – @BizDevFrance)

  10. Anonymous

    Not sure I bleed six colors, exactly. Maybe just one. Just like others, my tweets are my own.

  11. bbum

    Not sure I bleed six colors, exactly. Maybe just one. Just like others, my tweets are my own.

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