10 Must Have BlackBerry Applications

10 Must-have BlackBerry applications

A quick Google search for Blackberry apps will reveal numerous blogs and articles full of glowing reviews and recommendations of many different kinds of Blackberry apps. Since I recently aquired a Blackberry, I felt it my duty to add another entry into this ever growing list of must-haves. Although, to not look like I copied every other list out there, I've tried to focus on some more obscure apps as well as the well-known, main-stream apps. Also note that all of the below apps currently live on my BlackBerry.

Let me know if you find this useful and if you have other suggestions, especially apps that might not be that mainstream but definitely are cool and useful, please let me know!


1. Pandora

The application that I have used the most by far so far is the Pandora music player. Being available for multiple platforms, Pandora essentially lets you pick an artist or a song and it plays music by that artist as well as other artists within the same genre. At first, I was a bit dubious as to whether this actually would work or not but I was pleasantry surprised after just five minutes. I've found myself listening to Pandora for hours without hearing a song that I don't really like or don't think fits that particular "station." To make things even better, I can listen to Pandora on my computer and on my PS3 as well. I was particularly pleased about the latter since my PS3 is connected to my stereo at home. In other words, it's a fantastic app and absolutely worth using for all music lovers. I use it heavily on a daily basis.

Download at: http://www.pandora.com

2. Slacker

Slacker is another music app that also works very well. I discovered Slacker before Pandora but have since mostly used Pandora. The difference is simple but substantial. Slacker plays music along genres, Pandora plays music according to your artist selection. So, Slacker has 'rock' categories while Pandora lets you pick the actual artist. Having said that, Slacker is still a great app if you just want to listen to a specific genre in general and I've included it in my top list even though I hardly use it anymore.

Download at: BlackBerry App World

3. Shazam

Shazam...such an odd name but what an amazing app. Just having tried it recently, it's basically an app that will connect you to the music you don't know but wish that you did. Let me explain: say you're driving down the road, listening to the radio, you switch channels and hear parts of a song that you like but you don't know the artist. Launch Shazam, hold it to your speaker and Shazam will find your song for you with a convenient link to buy it. Shazam! Will I ever use it? Now and then, maybe, but definitely cool!

Download at: http://www.shazam.com (free trial)

4. Opera and Bolt

Opera Mini is almost a must have for Blackberry users. Although the built-in browser will do for the most part, in some cases it's very convenient to be able to look at a site the way you would on a regular computer. Opera doesn't support flash and all that other fancy stuff though so it's still lacking in functionality. But, it's a good complement to the Blackberry browser.

I also wanted to mention Bolt in the same sentence as Opera since it's basically does some similar things. One added feature is that you supposedly can stream video in Bolt, although my limited testing was not able to successfully do this. However, if you're looking for a bit more than what Opera offers, check out Bolt. It's a very competent alternative

Download at: http://mobile.opera.com
Download at: http://www.boltbrowser.com

5. Facebook

Facebook, the most popular time-waster at the moment, has been available on the Blackberry for quite a while now. It's an easy way to stay in touch with all your friends anytime, whether it be at work, on the road or at home. A must-have for any Facebook and Blackberry user.

Download at: BlackBerry App World

6. Myspace

MySpace, the previously most popular time-waster, is also represented on the Blackberry platform. The functionality is very much like that of the Facebook app so in other words, it lets you keep in touch with all your friends and pretend-friends. A must-have for any MySpace and Blackberry user.

Download at: BlackBerry App World

7. Google Apps

Google, the new master of the Internet world, as naturally made it a point to have a presence on every platform imaginable, not to mention that they make their own mobile platform. However, even on the Blackberry, there are plenty of representation and since these apps are all related, I'll mention them all in one go.

Google Maps is probably the most popular of these, I'd imagine. Connecting to the massive Google Maps database and GPS enabled, it's the perfect app to replace the Yellow pages once and for all. With GPS navigation and even street view, it's a regularly used app on my BlackBerry.

Google Mail is next on the list. Although the Blackberry easily lets you connect your personal email accounts, Google actually has a very good BlackBerry app that provides similar capabilities and with an interface that's very similar to what you see on your computer. If you want to keep personal stuff separate from business, it's the perfect app to use. One thing I would point out is that it is lacking a bit in features. Attachments, for example, are non-existent. Annoying.

Google Search is part of the downloadable Google App and features an interesting option to search by voice. Although I haven't tried it that much at this point, it seems to work ok for the most part.

Google Talk is the instant messaging system that's tightly integrated into Gmail. Although I rarely use it with friends, I've found it useful for use with ReQall, another one of my favorite apps.

Download at: http://www.google.com

8. ReQall

Ever have problems remembering what to buy at the store or forget to send that report to your boss before you head out the door on vacation? ReQall is the solution to your problems. ReQall is basically a reminder of sorts. It allows you to set up reminders for to-do lists, meetings, add shopping lists and other things. ReQall will then "jog" your memory through various means, such as SMS, instant messaging (Google Talk in my case) or even email (premium edition). With the BlackBerry app you can also easily add new reminder either by typing them in or even by speaking. You can also type your reminder into IM and there is even a toll-free number you can call to record reminders, hear updates and so on. I found it to be just what I need to remember things.

Download at: http://www.reqall.com

9. Qik

Qik is a very interesting little application. Essentially, it's a video recorder. But wait, there's more: it's a live video recorder. Yes, that is correct. Register on their website, fire up the Qik app and hit record and within a few seconds, you will see a live feed on the website coming from the camera of your phone. Very cool! So, going on a crazy ride at the fair? Let your family in the lower 48 watch all the craziness while you're at it.

One important note about Qik: streaming video requires quite a bit of bandwidth. The BlackBerry Curve I have is only EVDO so the upstream is pretty terrible. However, if you have a RevA device, the quality is pretty good. If worst comes to worst, you can always record and then upload. Qik will also upload the video to Facebook and other social sites based on your configuration on your profile. A fun application although maybe not very useful.

Download at: http://www.qik.com

10. BeeJiveIM

The Blackberry is not only great at email, it's also great at instant messaging. From being able to constantly be connected with my work, I can also use all the other IM clients, such as MSN, Yahoo!, Google and so on, to keep connected with all my friends. Then I found BeeJiveIM.

BeeJive IM is all these clients put together in one plus some. BeeJive supports all the regular IM clients (A.OL, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Google, Jabber) plus Facebook and MySpace chat. The best of it is that you have it all available in one program and the program also looks significantly better than any of the standalone clients. Having used this program on my PPC previously, I've found it to be a good program before and I was excited to see a version for the BlackBerry as well. A must for all your IM needs.

Download at: http://www.beejive.com (30 day trial)

Hooked on BlackBerry

Being a HTC PocketPC fan for a long time, I've hesitated to jump ship to the also excellent BlackBerry for many reasons, some professional, some purely personal.

However, forces outside of my control suddenly presented me with an offer I couldn't refuse so as of this past Thursday, I am now also officially addicted to the BlackBerry.

Now, that means there's a whole new world to explore...can't wait to dig deeper!

Hulu Desktop - Expanding Online Media

When Hulu launched its services, I was an instant fan. Finally, I thought, a way to watch some of the shows that I've missed on TV or just other shows I might not normally watch and I can do it on my computer! Of course, for me, this all played into a greater scheme of mine, to be able to watch as much TV on my computer by connecting it to my TV using HDMI.

At the time, this plan went down the tube due to overly restrictive bandwidth policies by my ISP so I had to abandon my plan at the time and just fork out the money for DirecTV. In hindsight, I don't regret it because there's plenty of content still you can find online.

The last year or so I've played around with the Boxee software and I've tinkered with the idea of getting a good computer set up to use as a content player for my TV. Boxee seemed like the perfect candidate, until Hulu pulled their support. At that point I could see my dreams go down the toilet.

In the last few days or so, it become apparent why Hulu pulled their support. They wanted to do their own Boxee thing. They released the Hulu Desktop through their brand new Hulu Labs. Talk about coincidence. One good idea leads someone else to copy it? I can't say but I figured I should at least check it out.

The Hulu Desktop software is less than 1MB in size and uses Flash. It actually reminds quite a bit of Boxee, which is so ironic. The question of course is if it does the same thing any better.

Hulu Desktop (HD), like I said, has pretty much the same interface as Boxee. You can easily use a remote or just they keyboard to navigate around between the different categories. You can easily find the shows you're looking for, based on categories, channels and so on. The picture quality is the same as Hulu itself and it looks like the content is too (although I think the HD content is missing).

The player is not that different from the browser version but it does have a cool preview pane that you can use to find a specific scene in a show that you'd like to skip to. So, let's say for example that you're looking for a super funny scene in a movie, you point your mouse pointer at the place where you think it might be and you'll see a small preview window pop up and play that section of the show in the window. If it's the right one, you click on it and you're taken there. Of course, you'll have to watch the ads if they come in the way. However, this is definitely a cool feature that I wish all online streaming video sites would implement.

The navigation takes a bit getting used to. It's not as intuitive as Boxee is, for example. I'm still not quite happy with it but I guess over time you'll get used to it.

Overall, I think it's a very capable player that will be a perfect fit if you're watching Hulu on a TV or just want quicker access to the content since the content browser is pretty efficient.

If you're a Linux user, at this point you'll have to wait. There is no Linux version. I tried to install Hulu Desktop using Wine on Ubuntu 9.04 and had some success. In fact, it installed fine and it starts fine, it just doesn't play any video. For some reason, it appears it can't find the Internet connection. Of course, I'm sure some smart guy will figure that one out before long too. Until then, VirtualBox and Windows works although playback isn't as smooth. So, those of us with Linux, for now I think we're stuck with the browser version.

Ubuntu 9.04 on XPS 1530

Having installed Ubuntu 9.04 from scratch onto my Dell XPS 1530, the question that first came to mind was if anything is different and works better? I remember I had some minor but very irritating bugs when I first installed 8.04 on this same computer. So, let's do a quick overview of some of the issues I had back then.

1. Eject Button - the eject button did not work on 8.04 and unfortunately, it does not on a fresh install of 9.04 either. Bummer. I'll have to fix that one again.
2. Touchpad - fortunately, the touchpad worked right out of the box this time around. No need for a fix.
3. The Nvidia driver - this one still had to be enabled but that was no big deal.
4. Touchbad take 2 - the touchpad still is a bit too sensitive...when typing it jumps all over the place sometimes...annoying annoying, will have to look for a fix for that one.
   

Other things that work, that I have tried:

• built-in camera - seems to work without problems, at least in Skype.
• mic - the mic works although the volume is pretty low. I'll have to look into this one.
• HDMI output - works once the secondary screen is detected in NVIDIA X Server Settings (found under System>Administration). The sound is a bit uneven though. MP3's will play fine while Flash videos play in the computer speakers instead of through my TV. Will have to work on that one too.

I'll be adding more info as I come across and use it, naturally.

For now, doing a fresh install has been a good experience and I'm glad I did it, if nothing else only to get rid of Windows Vista. I still have access to Vista but it's through VirtualBox for now.

Liberated from Windows!

This last year, I have progressively been moving away from Windows and I have embraced Ubuntu. I've been stuck with Windows for many reasons, specifically because some things I just can't do on Ubuntu yet.

This past week, I finally started experimenting with VirtualBox and I've discovered salvation from the Windows empire...or at least something like it.

I discovered that with VirtualBox, I can run the software I need to while not having to boot into Windows every single time I need to do it. So, today I made the decision that my laptop is being liberated from Windows once and for all (with the exception of VirtualBox).

Ubuntu 9.04 will be installed fresh!

Mobile Video Streaming

In our world of instant access to everything, now and then we see news clips where someone somewhere managed to record something regarding a newsworthy event, such as a plane crash, a cool car, silly cat or whatever. In some of these cases, the clips end up on the news.

Last night, as I was just browsing for cool PPC apps, I stumbled over the Qik application.

What is Qik, you ask?

Qik is an application that when loaded on your phone, be it a PocketPC, Blackberry etc., will allow you to share videos from your phone. The kicker is you can do it live! So, essentially, your phone becomes a live recording device and the content is viewable to anyone has access to your feed. Like the punchline of the site is, "See what happens."

Here's how it works. First, you register on the website with a username and password. If you want to you can tie your Facebook account to Qik for easy uploading of your videos. Pretty neat. You then download the application to your phone, start it and hit "Stream" and you're suddenly live on the Qik website.

Is that awesome or what?

A quick test I did last night seems to indicate that there is about a 5 second delay from recording to website broadcast but that's not bad. It's a live webcam on your phone.

So, what are the potential applications? I can see a few interesting things, like capturing noteworthy events as they happen, whatever they might be, recording on the go. Either way, it's a pretty cool application.

Check out my feed at http://www.qik.com/2tall although I'm not sure when there will ever be anything there.

Jaunty Notifications for Thunderbird

So far, Jaunty is working pretty good and I haven't run into any potential problems yet. I'm still investigating to see if some of the problems I had with 8.10 have been resolved or not and the verdict is still out on that.

However, one cool thing I really like with Jaunty is the new notification system that's been implemented system-wide (with proper support from the software, of course). Essentially , system notifications all appear in the same manner now and apps can apparently be integrated into this system fairly easily.

I found that Pidgin works great with this system and so does wi-fi and ethernet connections. However, I found that since I just Thunderbird and not Evolution for my email, Thunderbird wasn't quite responding with the same notifications.

However, it didn't take me long to find that someone already began work on a plugin for Thunderbird that adds this functionality and I got it to work fairly easily.

The plugin can be downloaded here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/11530

And once installed, it looks like this:


It's pretty neat and although not a major functionality improvement, it adds a more sophisticated look to Ubuntu.

One note of importance: for this plugin to work properly in Thunderbird, you will have to turn off "Show an alert" when new mail arrives. That's the default notification with Thunderbird and is not needed anymore.

More information, including issues others have been having, can be found at the links below.

More Jaunty experiences coming soon!

Sources:

• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/11530
• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/thunderbird/+bug/334344/comments/5