Posts tagged App
Let me Poynt you on your way
Mar 3rd
I am, flat out, entirely too indecisive. It stems from my ADHD being distracting and my laid back personality. Where do I want to go for lunch? Well, as long as it isn’t where I went yesterday, I don’t care. What do I want to do Friday? Whatever. Where’s there a grocery store? I don’t know.
Luckily, there are several BlackBerry apps that come to my rescue – Poynt, Yelp and Where. Over the next few days I will be reviewing each of these apps, with my all-inclusive wrap-up coming on Friday.
Of the 3, I definitely use Poynt the most often. After the 20 second, automated setup, it uses your phone’s GPS to find restaurants, movies or anything else you’d like. It then provides you with the 20 closest (in proximity) locations to your search. *want to have some fun? Search for Starbucks in Manhattan!* You can find more options as well, but if the first 20 aren’t good enough, that’s more on you than the app. It’s also wonderful if you’re traveling since you don’t need to know anything about your location for it to work.
In the more recent versions, Poynt has added the ability to search for businesses, people, movies, restaurants, gas prices and an option to map your current location.
Poynt works with both BlackBerry Maps and Google Maps, with the option to select your preference. Personally, I like the ability to choose every time, as I use both mapping applications depending on what I’m trying to do (BB maps for directions, Google Maps for satellite pictures)
Of all the mapping apps, this one is, far and away, my most used. And the best part…it’s free!
Any of you guys use this app? Have something you like better? Let me know!
To download, head here from your BB browser
And sorry about super cheesy title for this post…it was just too tempting to pass up!
Follow me on twitter
Tether updated to 1.1.0.2
Mar 2nd
Although I fully understand its purpose and its usefulness, I have to chuckle at the concept of Tether. We’ve spent decades trying to make computers small enough to fit onto a piece of rice, without losing functionality, but we still return to the larger devices.
On that note, Tether has been updated to 1.1.0.2 bringing a faster UI and general bug fixes with it. I’ve never used Tether myself but I don’t travel all that much. If I did, though (and didn’t have my netbook), it sounds like a really great program.
So, any of you guys use it? How do you like it? Any problems?
For more info, check out their website.
Thanks to CrackBerry for the heads up.
Follow me on twitterUltimate Lock brings out a confession
Feb 24th
After weeks of Tiger Woods apologies, I have come to a realization. I, Guru Ricky, have lied to you, my loyal readers. I am sorry.
So what did I lie about?
I lied when I said that the one thing I would change on my 9550 would be the battery life. In truth, it would be the Lock function. You see, I’ve been using a variety of lock applications for quite a while now – so long that it’s become part of my life and I didn’t even notice.
For a while, I used Berry Slider. Then, when there wasn’t an OS5 compatible version, I used Pattern Lock. Then, after updates, I went back to Berry Slider. I thought I was happy, having finally found my perfect lock app. But that feeling is being challenged by Epic Applications new Ultimate Lock.
As much as I love my BB, apparently I wish it would lock/unlock like an iPhone or a Nexus One. I want more than simply pressing a button on the top of the phone.
Like most locking apps, Ultimate Lock uses a finger-swipe to unlock your device. Based on the Droid/Nexus One, you swipe from left to right to unlock, while a swipe from right to left will switch from one user-defined profile to another (quite handy for quick switches without having to unlock the device).
UL offers all your normal settings option: launch on lock button, on phone call, on screen timeout, etc. You can set personalized backgrounds or use a pass code for added security.
There is one feature that is unique to UL, and that is the notifications options. Most lock apps will let you know you have a message, but UL will go as far as telling you who sent the message and what kind of message it is (see picture at the top for example).
For more info, check out the video.
I’m still playing around with this app, but I’ll post any cool findings on Twitter, so make sure you’re following me. And let me know if you use this app, or any like it.
Follow me on twitter
reMail acquired by Google…but why?
Feb 20th
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m REALLY looking forward to this war brewing between Google and Apple. I think it’s fair to say Android phones and the iPhone are primarily marketed more towards consumers than business users and, with that market constantly growing, these two tech giants aren’t going to be pulling any punches.
Want proof? (I mean other than the in-again, out-again of Google Voice in the Apple’s App Store)
On Thursday Google acquired reMail, an iPhone email client, and virtually IMMEDIATELY pulled it from the App Store. In fact, the reMail website already has tons of Google propaganda all over it.
According to the press release, reMail will continue to work on the iPhone support for the app will continue until the end of March.
As far as Google goes, the jury’s still out on what they plan on doing with their new acquisition, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer is “nothing”. I mean, with as much money as Google has, they can definitely afford to buy a company for the sole purpose of hurting a rival. It’s actually a pretty brilliant move on their part…and I think it’s hilarious.
Follow me on twitterTwitter for BlackBerry vs SocialScope
Feb 19th
It’s been just over a week since Twitter for BlackBerry came out so I figured it’s about time to compare it to my preferred Twitter app: SocialScope.
I’m only going to be comparing the similar functions of the two apps so even though SS carries Flickr (anyone use this? what’s it for?) and foursquare support, I won’t be discussing them further than this sentence that ends right here.
After waiting for months for a SS invite, I finally got one on Christmas Eve (talk about timing!). I actually got it from a friend who had an extra – like my own personal Santa. With most BB apps, it’s the little things I appreciate. For example, SS puts all of the tweets I send facing the opposite direction (the people I follow show up avatar then tweet; mine show up tweet then avatar), making it easier to find my own tweets; T4BB doesn’t have this option. SS also has the option for 2 accounts, though it’s possible T4BB will add this feature in the future.
Also, SS (and UberTwitter – haven’t used any others significantly to vouch for) use different colors for @replies and DM’s in your timeline (replies are yellow, DM’s are blue) to help them stand out.
One area T4BB totally beats SS is with software updates. It’s only been a week, but T4BB has already updated their app (though rather minimally) where as SS updates are as hard to get as, well, the app itself. Another is that T4BB alerts you to new tweets via your Messages folder (“opening” the message opens T4BB) which is also nice.
As far as appearances go, both apps look clean and polished, as you would expect from any app really.
SS also has significantly more options in the settings menu. You can choose how tweets are displayed (username or actual name), what service you use for uploading images, image caching, etc.
I really don’t see myself leaving SS, but you never know. We’ll just have to wait and see what RIM does with their app
So what do you guys think? Like SocialScope? Or Twitter for BlackBerry? Or maybe you prefer UberTiwtter? Or even Seesmic?
Leave some comments and let us know!
Interact With Us