What BlackBerry Apps Do You Use?

I applied the beta OS 5.0.0.411 to my BlackBerry yesterday and have been very happy with the performance. It seems to be bit snappier to respond than the previous 5.0.0.190 that I had been running since August.

Before taking the plunge and performing a clean wipe of the device, I took inventory of all the applications that I would be reinstalling on a yellow sticky. I thought perhaps it might be worth sharing this list.

BlackBerry App World installs

• Facebook
• Flickr
• Pandora
• Tivo Scheduler
• Poynt
• YouVersion Bible
• Shazam
• Geocache Navigator
• BlackBerry Messenger
• Dictionary.com
• Evernote
• UberTwitter
• GPS Tracker

OTA installs

• BB Weather
  
• Google Talk
• Google Voice
  
• Google Mobile App
• Google Maps
• Gmail
  
• Bolt Browser
  
• Camera To Go
• Capture It
• Opera Browser

Last Updated 3/23/2010

Windows Live Writer

I’ve begun investigating Windows Live Writer now that I have installed Windows Live Essentials on my laptop.  I’m not sure I needed a “better” tool to aid in blog posting.  In fact, the whole concept of needing a Windows application in the Web 2.0 world seems absurd. Nonetheless, a team of programmers wrote an application… I need to know why. 

Maybe it would help those of you who have not seen this to see a screenshot of the interface:

 

I can only wonder what special code is going to be inserted in this blog post that is somehow not compatible with browsers other than IE.   Here goes… pressing publish now

BlackBerry Curve OS Beta 5.0.0.190

Finally took the plunge and installed BlackBerry OS Beta 5.0.0.190 on my BlackBerry Curve 8900. Komando Kwan suggested that this OS is finally getting to a stable point where it may be acceptable to me. Here are a few benefits I've noted so far:

• Connects to WPA2-Enterprise protected Wi-Fi without requiring server certificate
• Much improved photo browsing/viewing application
• Font size down to 5 (original 4.6 OS only size 7) for screen fonts
• Camera has "Close-up" autofocus setting similar to Macro function
• Financial, Legal and Medical Terms added to SureType(TM) Wordlists

There have also been some set-backs that have made me consider reverting to OS 4.6

• No Facebook application available for OS 5.0 yet
• No BlackBerry App World yet
• Charging issue when using cradle "USB charging current is not sufficient..."
• My favorite "Tune_Entertainer" is missing from the Alarm Clock
• ...did I mention that Facebook doesn't work?

I am going to hold on to this OS for a while to see if I can sift out any additional benefits.

Facebook v1.6 for BlackBerry

After upgrading to FaceBook version 1.6 for BlackBerry, I was pleased to see some long awaited improvements:

• Feed Support - similar to your BlackBerry homepage, the "View Status Updates" now provides a agregate list of all status updates including thumbnail views of photos.
• Photo Album Scrolling - when you click on a photo thumbnail anywhere in the app it fetches the a full screen version and provides a iPhoto-like scrolling feature to quickly browse other photos if part of an album.
• Wall view - the ability to view your own wall as well as friends without sending you to the mobile Facebook site.

It might even compete with the version for iPhone. Download your own using BlackBerry App World.

HyperSpace

Today I got my first hands-on experience with Hyperspace (no it's not a Star Trek thing).

"HyperSpace lets you access the Web without having to wait for Windows to boot up. Power your computer and instantly surf the Internet, check e-mail or watch the YouTube video of the day. And when you want to switch off, just close the lid and off you go. But HyperSpace is much more than just instant-on."

I currently am running it on an aging Dell Latitude D610 and am able to connect to public Wi-Fi. The operating system definitely loads faster than a variety of other Lite Linux distros that I have tested in the past. This may be worth testing further... more later.

Geomate Jr

This new product caught my eye this evening by surprise. Looks like Groundspeak is offering an entry level GPS preloaded with 250,000 geocaches targeted (no pun intended) for kids. I would drive me crazy not to be able to update it with new caches, but this might be just what some families need to get started.

Geomate.jr: The Family-Friendly Geocaching Device
http://www.geocaching.com/geomate/

Panic Tracker

This particular map is even better for tracking the spread of disease. If you are looking for a reason to worry this would be a great start. ...I need to go wash my hands.

HealthMap Global Disease Alert Map

Swine Flu Tracking

Here's yet another creative use of Google Maps. I adjusted the centering coordinates in the URL to focus upon the best medical institution in the world. Hopefully the cure will be invented here!

H1N1 Swine Flu

Dell Mini 9

I am testing the new (not so new) Dell Mini 9 this week.