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Have you ever wished you could just take the information embedded in an email and set up a new contact page with it? It sounds like something the BlackBerry should do, considering how email- and contact-focused it is. A few third-party developers have come up with solutions, which have been chronicled recently on the excellent mobile blog jkOnTheRun. They are Gwabbit and Anagram, and they both make updating your BlackBerry address book just a little bit easier.

Gwabbit

Of the two, Gwabbit is the most comprehensive. It’s a truly passive application which uses “patent pending semantic technology” to parse your emails and extract the relevant contact information. It then stores said information in your address book for easy retrieval. Above is their clever graphic noting how much time you can save by automating the task vs. poring through your inbox to find contact information. It might be a bit of an exaggeration, but clearly automation will speed up the process.

The only downside is the pricing scheme. Instead of the one-time $19.95 license they offer for desktop Outlook users, Gwabbit is charging a $9.95 yearly licensing fee. You can try it free for 14 days, which allows you to save up to 20 contacts. If you’re ready to buy it you can get Gwabbit from BlackBerry App World.

Anagram

Anagram offers a similar service to Gwabbit, but with a few major differences. Yes, it performs the same function, which is to take information from messages and place it in an address book entry. However, where the services differ is how they go about the task. Anagram relies on users to highlight relevant information, which Anagram then captures and saves to your address book. So there’s an extra step involved with Anagram. But you can be assured the information is correct, since you’re finding it yourself.

The other major difference is the price. Anagram is free. So not only do you control what information goes into your address book, you can do it free of charge. Just head to their website and give it a try. In fact, because Anagram is free and Gwabbit is available on a trial basis, you can give both a whirl and see which one works best for you.

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