The screenshot above gives you some idea of what to expect of the AIR application in-action, and also shows you what the adverts (or sponsored links) look like. Even at this early stage, Pownce has two account levels: Free and Pro. Free accounts get ads such as those above inserted on the website, and within the AIR client. There's also a limit on file uploads (10MB per file limit). The $20 a year Pro Account gets you 100MB per file uploads, an ad-free experience, and a 'Pro' badge inserted on your profile. Twenty bucks a year is fairly reasonable, and whilst I'd likely pay that, I doubt I would pay it until I've established a network similar to the one I have on Twitter right now.

Everything considered, I'm impressed with Pownce. It does seem to be a service that's trying to do perhaps just a little too much, and perhaps needs to think about its purpose period. That qualm aside, I use Twitter incessantly, and Pownce brings some neat features to the 'status service' arena. Sure, Pownce does a lot of thing, and some may see it as a service that offers just a little too much (I'm not entirely convinced with the 'rating' of posts yet - simply making a post a favourite as per Twitter is enough for me), but I really think that it has potential. The ads are inconspicuous, which is a welcome touch - and it's good to see there's a business model upfront. Twitter may be getting some venture capital in the future, but that is little consolation for those of us who've had to suffer the unreliability of the service to date. Unlike the Twitter.com website, I will happily use the Pownce.com website - it's far less cluttered and, at least for now, is far more stable than Twitter thanks to the small (but growing) list of invitees signing up. So far, I'm pretty impressed, however there are, of course, a few negatives that I just have to mention.

Firstly, there's no SMS updating, or IM updating or uploading yet. Although I occasionally turn on Twitter updates to forward to my mobile phone, the lack of received SMS updates is not something I really miss - my SMS inbox fills up too darn quickly! That said, I would like to be able to update my own status via SMS once in a while (or perhaps send a mobile-phone camera photo over as a file). Another thing is that the service seems to not be sure what its actual purpose is. To send things to friends cubicle to cubicle, I wouldn't upload to Pownce - I'd use a local server or Bonjour, and whilst storing files is neat, I'd prefer to upload my top photos to Flickr and link them, instead of uploading them to Pownce.

Here's the other downside - and it's something of a large one where I'm concerned. Whilst I love the neat touches, the slick website design, and the (generally) uncluttered web interface, my dilemma is this: I don't ever keep a browser permanently open (I'm forever using CPU cycles by quitting and then re-opening the browser whenever I need it) - I live in Twitterrific, and I swear by native OS X applications. The look, feel and integration with an OS make using native applications so much more rewarding to use, and by using AIR, Pownce just doesn't offer that yet. Once the Pownce team decide to open up the API for some 3rd Party developer love, and I can move away from the AIR-based client (whose behaviour is somewhat annoying), it'll have my assured thumbs up.

Pownce is currently in a closed alpha test, with a signup list for those wanting to get their hands on an invite. For those of you still waiting, then I've brought together a gallery of Pownce screenshots to show you what you're missing out on.

Summary

The Good: Generally Excellent Website User Interface (Particularly when compared with Twitter.com), Reliable Website, File Uploads, Contact Groups
The Bad: The 'everything and the kitchen sink' feature set that tries to encompass all the tools you might need, the huge amount of options that will confuse and annoy you at first, no SMS updating with messages. The fact that it seems to be confused with what its actual purpose is - part Tumblr, part Twitter, part Box.net.
The Ugly / Downright Annoying: That AIR application. 'Nuf said. It's not that the application is badly designed, per se, but more that I'd rather use a OS-specific client that behaves like any native desktop app would. Bring on a public API. Oh, and email notifications that simply point to the URL of each relevant update, and contain absolutely no content? Lame. Turn them off under Settings -> Notifications, otherwise your inbox might end up like our very own Lisa Hoover's before too long.