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We love the BlackBerry email software, though it’s not without flaws. Every once in a while we see a bit of third party software and think, “That should be a standard BlackBerry feature.” Sometimes it gets integrated, but most times it doesn’t. Back in May we looked at two applications which automatically add contact information from an email to your address book. Great idea, right? The applications, gwabbit and Anagram (now Copy2Contact), were quite different in functionality and price. That has changed over the last few weeks, though. Strangely, Copy2Contact has added a yearly license fee, while gwabbit has added a free version.

The main difference between gwabbit and Copy2Contact is that with Copy2Contact, you have to highlight the information in order to create a contact, whereas gwabbit does it automatically. It parses the email for the appropriate contact information and then adds it to your address book. Clearly, gwabbit wins in convenience, but because Copy2Contact (then Anagram) was free, it had a distinct advantage.

Last week, however, we learned that Copy2Contact upgraded their software, and were themselves charging a $9.95 yearly fee. It has a number of features that gwabbit does not, but you still have to highlight and select the contact information. This week, gwabbit updated its application, and it might be just what you’re looking for.

The new version of gwabbit is free, and it has all the same features as the premium version. Sounds too good to be true, right? In a way, it is. The catch is that whenever you add a new contact with gwabbit, it sends an email to your new friend. That, understandably, might annoy the “gwabee.” Once you receive your first notification from gwabbit you can opt out of future alerts, but you still get that first one. And that first one will likely be an annoyance.

This is where I turn it over to my fellow BlackBerry geeks. Gwabbit is obviously a useful program. It lets you keep your address book up to date without lifting a finger. But, it comes at a cost to your new contacts. Is your free convenience worth the annoyance to other people? Let’s hear your opinions in the comments. Judging by previous debates, I’m sure we’ll have some varying answers.

For those interested, you can get the free gwabbit from App World.

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