BB Geeks » BlackBerry Applications

Attach private messages to group emails with Bccthis

Joe — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:30:48 +0000

If you use a BlackBerry, I’m sure that at one point or another you’ve sent group emails. Many of you probably send them regularly. I’m on a few group emails, and I know there have been times when I’ve wanted to type an addendum to a group reply, but only for one or two of the group members. Usually this entails sending a whole new email. A new BlackBerry application, Bccthis, can make those exclusive comments a bit easier to send. It was previously an Outlook plugin, which I wouldn’t have known, being a Mac user and all. Now it’s available for the BlackBerry, so you can make all the behind-their-back comments you want.

The app works just as it should. After you compose the email, you can open up a new compose window to write your private message, checking the names of the people you want to see it. It sure sounds like a forum for mean and biting comments, but it also has practical uses. I know many times that I’d like to provide extra instruction to one recipient, but don’t want the whole list to receive it. Bccthis helps with that.

Bcc this is free at App World, so it’s worth a shot. It says it’s only compatible with the 8350i, the 8520, and 8530, but I’m pretty sure it’s compatible with most BlackBerry models.

Berry Reporter actually looked at another reply application, Reply-All Confirmer, which does exactly what the name implies. If you have more than one recipient on your email it will prompt you for confirmation. It could help prevent you from sending an email to the wrong person. That one will cost you, though. $2.99 at App World.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Attach private messages to group emails with Bccthis

Keep your inbox automated and tidy with BerryMail

Joe — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:30:35 +0000

Keep your inbox automated and tidy with BerryMail
Yesterday we talked about Xobni, an application that gives you more control over your address book. Today we take a look at BerryMail which, while not quite as comprehensive as Xobni, still give you more control over your email inbox. If you have BIS you can control the flow of your inbox with filters, but BerryMail seems to do this a bit better. It certainly gives you more options, allowing you to set email rules based on a number of different criteria, and allowing you to perform far more actions once the application identifies said emails. It’s from the same company, by the way, as BerryBuzz, which just got an update.

The first step is to set the criteria for a rule. You can do this based on the sender’s address, the email subject, an attachment, or even text from the email body. You can even set rules for an entire email account, which can help with spam-filled addresses.

Next, you set the action. This means deleting the message, automatically marking it as open, setting a high- or low-priority flag, or even preventing the LED from flashing. I especially like this last one. I get a number of newsletters and other recurring daily and weekly emails, and would like my BlackBerry to not flash when I receive these. It’s quite disappointing to see the red light flash, only to see a Live Nation update.

If you’re looking to add more filters to your BlackBerry email, you can get BerryMail for just $2.95 until March 21. It goes up a dollar at that point. You can also download a free 7-day trial (OTA).

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Keep your inbox automated and tidy with BerryMail

Supercharge your BlackBerry address book with Xobni

Joe — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:30:27 +0000

Remember last week when I talked about Swoosh Contact and wished it came with more features for that price? Turns out I should have waited a week or so. Via CrackBerry, we learn of an address book application called Xobni. It does the same thing as Swoosh Contact, ranking your contacts by your communication frequency. But it does even more — it even rebuilds your entire address book into a more complete directory.

To create this new, supercharged address book, Xobni pulls information from every crevice of your BlackBerry. This incldues your email, calendar, phone log, SMS, plus other apps like LinkedIn and Facebook. You can then access those contacts easily from the Xobni screen. Even better, you can flick the trackball (or trackpad, I suppose) upward in the compose message screen to pull up your contacts, from which you can select as an email recipient.

Check out the above video for the full skinny on Xobni. If you’re still interested, you can check out the free version, which acts as an Outlook add-on. The basic BlackBerry version costs $9.99. That’s a one-time fee. If you want Xobni to pull information from your BlackBerry plus Outlook, you can check out Xobni One. The cost information is on the website.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Supercharge your BlackBerry address book with Xobni

Fandango introduces digital barcode movie tickets

Joe — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:30:22 +0000

It wasn’t long ago that Fandango release a BlackBerry app. It covered the basics, allowing you to browse movies and purchase tickets for pickup at the theater. With more and more theaters having digital kiosks for purchase and pick-up, this was an excellent feature. The next step, then, was to turn your BlackBerry into your actual ticket. Fandango is all over that, rolling out the first phase this week. You can still purchase your tickets through the Fandango app, but if you go to one of the select theaters across the country, you can just show your Berry to the ticket attendant, who will scan it with a special machine. Then you’re in, and with no paper to speak of.

First, you’ll have to download the Fandango BlackBerry app. Once you have that installed, find a movie at one of the following theaters:

New York: City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3, Angelika Film Center, East 86th Street Cinemas, Village East Cinema, Beekman Theatre, The Paris Theatre.
New Jersey: Manville 12 Plex.
Houston: Angelika Film Center.
Dallas/Plano: Angelika Dallas; Angelika Plano.
San Diego: La Mesa Grossmont Center, Clairemont Town Square Stadium.
Bakersfield: Valley Plaza 16.
Sonoma County: Rohnert Park 16.
Hawaii: Ward Stadium, Kahala Theater, Kapolei 16, Mililani Stadium.

When you see the ticket guy, he’ll scan, and you’re in. It is, by far, the easiest way to get into the movie. Now the only line you’ll have to wait on is the one to get into the theater.

The downside, of course, comes for people who save their ticket stubs. I have a friend who has a stub from every movie she’s ever seen. Clearly, a scannable barcode just won’t work for her and others who share that passion. But for the rest of us who toss our tickets when we get home, this is an excellent, excellent development.

Via BlackBerryOS.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Fandango introduces digital barcode movie tickets

Manage your March Madness brackets with Yahoo! Tourney Pick ‘em

Joe — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:30:27 +0000

It’s just about that time of year again, when the sports-loving population checks out of work and tries, for a few Thursdays and Fridays, to follow the NCAA basketball tournament without their boss finding out. The boss knows, of course. But I’m sure that won’t stop most people from enjoying the five rounds of tournament action. For fans, the tourney centers on brackets, our blind predictions that are, for the most part, based on how each school fared while we were in college. Yahoo! has a bracket management application, and it’s available now for your BlackBerry

The mobile application works in the same manner as the desktop interface, so there won’t be much to figure out. You can create brackets and even enter into Yahoo’s $10,000 bracket contest. The best bracket takes home a $10,000 prize, and if you pick a perfect ballot you win a million. Fat chance of that, though. You know you’re going to pick the wrong 7-10 upset.

Once you make the picks, you can check out live scores — though since you’ll be watching from your computer at work you might not need that feature. You can also get new, analysis, and more from Yahoo’s writers. The selection show is on Sunday evening, and the tournament starts on Thursday.

You can download the Tourney Pick ‘Em application by going to m.yahoo.com/tourneypickem from your BlackBerry handset, or you can go to http://mobile.yahoo.com/tourneypickem for more information.

Hat tip BerryReview.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Manage your March Madness brackets with Yahoo! Tourney Pick ‘em

Win a copy of Tether, or even a new BlackBerry

Joe — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:30:32 +0000

If you tether your BlackBerry smartphone to your laptop for data usage, you might have heard of TetherBerry. Last year we wrote about the company, noting how they could help Mac users in particular. A few things have changed since then, most notably their name. They’re now just plain Tether, though they’re offering the same great tethering service. The company recently turned one year old, and they’re celebrating in grand fashion. They’ve given us 25 copies of the application, which we’re giving away to our readers. Plus, they’re also holding a contest where you can win one of three BlackBerry smartphones, or, if you’re so inclined, one of three Android handsets.

First, the 25 free copies of Tether. This is the same application that costs $49.95, though it is on discount for $30 until March 16. Even so, that’s an enormous giveaway on their part.

If you want one of the free copies of Tether, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. The contest will run through the weekend, and will close on Monday when our first post of the week goes up, so around 8:30 a.m. Eastern (it’ll be daylight time by then). Again, we have 25 copies to give away, so in the event we get more than 25 comments we’ll choose the winners at random (Cory has a pretty good system for that).

If you want a chance to win one of their smartphones, just head to http://tether.com/contest and fill out the entry form. Again, these are tremendous giveaways.

Tether does have reason to celebrate. In the first 10 months of their existence they signed up 60,000 users, which is impressive on its own. But, between January and March they added another 50,000 to that total. That’s superb. I’d want to celebrate, too.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Win a copy of Tether, or even a new BlackBerry

Better organize your BlackBerry contacts with SwooshContact

Joe — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:30:24 +0000

Your BlackBerry address book is boring. It just lists your contacts in alphabetical order, like every other address book on the planet. Wouldn’t it make sense to have different organization options? I’d like, for instance, to have my address book by default sort my contacts by the frequency with which I contact them. That would make things a little easier. If you’re among those who don’t think that is a trivial functionality, you can check out SwooshContact. It’s a new application that gives you greater control over your address book.

Every time you contact someone in your address book, SwooshContact takes note. Then, when you go to your address book and choose to sort by activity, your contacts will be listed in order of how frequently you call, email, or text them. You can keep it in this mode, allowing you quick access, or you can choose other sorting options. These include date, name, company, or rank.

On that last item, you can manually add ratings to your contacts. Since it’s based on a star system, I was thinking about doing it like my iTunes library. Five stars are reserved for the untouchables — in this case, the people I’ll be calling when I’m 60. The four stars are the solids, the people I call when I’m in town or otherwise want to invite somewhere. Then the three stars are the average ones. Anyone two starts and below gets cut.

My only gripe with SwooshContacts is the price. You can get it for $4.99. It seems a little steep for an application like these, especially when VersaTool runs at the same price.

Hat tip to BlackBerry OS.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Better organize your BlackBerry contacts with SwooshContact

Get more out of your BlackBerry with VersaTool

Joe — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:30:12 +0000

As Apple will remind you, there is an app for nearly everything. If you look through the BBGeeks Store or App World you’ll find thousands of apps that can accomplish everything from making your BlackBerry glow to performing advanced calculations. This is mostly great, but like all good things it also comes with drawbacks. Your device has limited memory, so it can only store so many applications. Many of these apps cost money, and most people only have a limited amount of disposable income for software. The developers at VersatileMonkey know how you feel, and they’ve done something about it. Their new app, VersaTool, combines the functionality of multiple applications into one.

I use both convenience keys on my BlackBerry, and often find myself changing them depending on what I’m doing. VersaTool’s Really Convenient Keys allow me to assign a task to one click, two clicks, or a click and hold. It takes a few tries to get used to it, but after a day of having six tasks quickly accessible, it felt like a native function. And, if you find yourself not using the mute key much, or even the end key, you can assign actions to them, too.

I’m also a big fan of Just Take the Picture, which allows you to snap a picture while in any mode, even when the phone is locked. That could make life easier for this guy. It beats fumbling around to find your camera app.

You can check out the description for even more functions, like the unlimited number of alarms you can set. And the auto replier. And the pop-up menus.

You can get VersaTool for $4.99. It runs on BlackBerry models from OS 4.3 on up.

With a gracious hat tip to Bla1ze.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Get more out of your BlackBerry with VersaTool

MLB At Bat available for Storm users

Joe — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:30:14 +0000

Yesterday at 1 p.m. I let out a sigh of relief. For the first time in four months, I watched live baseball. Granted, it was a spring training game, and it’s not nearly the same pleasure as a regular season game. But it was baseball. If you had the same feeling, you’ll be happy to hear that MLB has released its At Bat application for the BlackBerry. That is, if you’re a Storm user. The rest of us are out of luck, at least for the time being.

You can do plenty with the app, like check standings and stats, but two features stand out. First is Gameday, MLB’s play-by-play application. They have this available via mobile web, but the Gameday application blows it out of the water. You get pitch speed and movement from MLB’s Pitch f/x system. The play descriptions make it the best play-by-play system out there.

The application also gets you access to live radio broadcasts for all 30 teams. Listening to a game on the radio might seem old fashioned, but that’s part of the draw. There are few pleasures in life that measure up to lazing on a warm summer’s day, cold beverage in hand, listening to Vin Scully call a Dodgers game. If you’re commuting while your favorite team plays, you can listen to the audio and follow along on Gameday.

If something spectacular happens while you’re listening or following along on Gameday, you can click over to video highlights. They update them often, and you have full access with the Gameday app.

It’s not free, unfortunately. You can get the MLB At Bat application at App World for $14.99. It works with any version of the Storm.. I’m hoping that they expand it to include full games, like the iPhone’s At Bat app. I don’t think I’d ever put down my BlackBerry if that were the case.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

MLB At Bat available for Storm users

Use your BlackBerry to track your finances with Mobile Checkbook

Joe — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:30:05 +0000

It might only be March 10, but I’m already dreading the unsavory date that lies just a month away. Sometime between now and then, I have to go through all of my 2009 records so I can optimally configure my tax return. Problem is, my finances are so disorganized that getting everything together becomes a task itself. Even if I had someone do my taxes for me — and they’re not complicated enough to warrant that — I would still have to figure out what in the world I did the previous year. This year, however, it might be a bit easier. I started using my BlackBerry to keep track of my finances, and I’ve found that it has enabled me to make a habit of it. Before, when I used a pen an paper, I’d always forget to write down my transactions when I got home. Now, though, it’s a reflex to reach for my Berry when I buy something or take cash out of the ATM.

I’ve gone through a few applications, searching for the best one. I used the ones listed in our personal finance BlackBerry apps, and I gave a real long look at ProOnGo Expense. More recently, though, I’ve been using Mobile Checkbook by Mobatech. It’s simple, yet it allows me record and view all of my financial activity. I have set up all of my accounts, including my checking, savings, and credit card accounts. I even created an additional savings account to represent my investments.

From there, management is easy. I just record transactions as they occur. I can schedule payments regularly each month, so Mobile Checkbook automatically makes the adjustments. For instance, I have my gym membership, my cell phone bill, and my rent on auto-pay. Because I might not remember these transactions, the recurring feature on Mobile Checkbook helps plenty. I’ve even adopted the habit of hitting up Mobile Checkbook when I make PayPal transfers.

The next step, I believe, is to have the application integrate with my accounts, so when I hit Transfer Funds, it actually makes the transfer, rather than just a recording of it. That requires an enormous level of security, though, so I don’t quite expect it anytime soon. But when I’m toting around Mobile Checkbook it’s the only improvement I can really think of. I don’t even miss the receipt capture feature in ProOnGo.

You can get Mobile Checkbook for $7.99 from now until March 31, when the price gets bumped up $2. It works on BlackBerry devices running OS 4.2 and above.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Use your BlackBerry to track your finances with Mobile Checkbook