Author: Steve HalzinskiPage 2 of 2

Snikkr LBS app now available for public beta

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Steve Halzinski
on July 8, 2009, at 8:22 AM
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17 Comments

When we last wrote about Snikkr, they were in a closed alpha testing phase and they’ve now gone public beta. The company is looking for a few thousand more beta users in the next six weeks, so if you have a relatively current BlackBerry (OS 4.5+), they would appreciate your feedback.

Snikkr for BlackBerry combines productivity, location and social networking features. The application is a mashup of Loopt, Latitude, Google Mobile Maps, Glympse, uLocate and Where, among others.

The company says their application helps with “social productivity.” The feature set make your social interactions and group events, from lunch to meetings to travel, more productive easier to manage.

Snikkr Mobile is now in open beta release. Register to get in the public beta.

RIM developing an Enhanced Gmail Plugin for BlackBerry

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Steve Halzinski
on July 6, 2009, at 10:20 AM
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20 Comments

blackberry_gmail

To date, the Gmail experience on BlackBerry hasn’t met the standards that most users expect. According to a few screenshots leaked on BlackBerryForum(de), RIM is going to be improving the experience with an upcoming Enhanced Gmail Plugin. As you can see above, it includes:

* See your Gmail based emails in Conversation View for simple topic management
* Add and remove labels and stars to emails to keep inbox organized
* Archive and report as spam actions for mailbox management on the go
* Search your entire Gmail inbox

You’ll need BIS 2.7 for the plugin, and feel free to try and get in the beta program. If you do get in the beta program, let us know what you think.

[Via]

New music player for BlackBerry Unsynced aims to outperform Apple

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Steve Halzinski
on June 26, 2009, at 10:19 AM
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18 Comments

unsynced

A little less than a year ago, Jim Balsillie was given a lot of criticism for saying that the BlackBerry platform will beat out Apple when it comes to media. There hasn’t been much development on the native music player and while it serves the basic purpose, there’s a lot that could be improved.

This is where BlackBerry has the advantage over iPhone. Apple would never let another company try and compete with their native applications such as the browser, but RIM welcomes third party software. The latest BlackBerry media solution is from Unsynced, an all-in-one music experience for BlackBerry that the company promises will one day make all of your Apple friends jealous.

Some of the features of Unsycned include:

  • Painstaking care has been taken to ensure Unsynced Music is efficient and predictable.
  • The Unsync button will capture song information. Unsynced does a search on their end and e-mail you the most relevant results so that you won’t forget to “purchase” it when you get home.
  • Use any PC to drag and drop music into folders on your BlackBerry using Mass Storage Mode. Listen to your newly added songs through Browse Files, or quickly create new playlists through Create/Modify Playlists, giving you the freedom to add to your music experience not just at home, but wherever you go.
  • Progress indicators for those long podcasts.
  • Customizable color themes to match your style.
  • Send song info to friends to share your tastes.

Download Unsynced Music for your Bold or 8900.

Or visit m.unsynced.com from your BlackBerry browser.

{Currently only available for the Bold and 8900. More devices to come soon]
More screenshots after the jump

VoIP calling for BlackBerry without 3G or WiFi from Nimbuzz

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Steve Halzinski
on June 24, 2009, at 10:37 AM
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29 Comments

nimbuzz

I haven’t used Nimbuzz before but I’ve been desperate for a good VoIP solution for BlackBerry. While Skype promised to give us an app back in May, they haven’t lived up to this promise. There are a few decent alternatives out there such as iSkoot, which has worked somewhat well for me so far.

Nimbuzz has partnered with Voxbone to provide a unique VoIP solution for BlackBerry. When you launch Nimbuzz, the new “blade” pops out alongside Nimbuzz’s toolset of aggregated IM services, mobile VoIP, social networking, tweets, and file-and-photo sharing.

According to the company, even if you’re out of 3G or Wi-Fi range, you still can make mobile VoIP calls on your BlackBerry.

The company is offering a pretty awesome service in that you don’t have to know the number, carry a card or even realize you’ve stepped beyond Internet reach. The Nimbuzz app, adding 750,000 sign-ups per month and operating in 200 countries, notices for you. It automatically steps in and requests permission to dial the right access number for you, which it knows, and routes the call over the Internet. Voxbone provides numbers and origination services, grabbing the call for Nimbuzz and converting it to IP.

Could this be the VoIP solution we’ve been waiting for? Comment your thoughts about this application.

Download Nimbuzz by heading over to their site and getting an SMS download link.

[ED NOTE: Tried on the BlackBerry Storm and it's not compatible. Looking to try it on a Curve 8900 in a moment but wanted to give you a heads up about the application.]

Quest Web Parts for SharePoint streamlines customization and development

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Steve Halzinski
on June 23, 2009, at 9:03 AM
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7 Comments

sharepoint

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is an essential part of many organizations. The server provides essential business tools such as content management and enterprise search, accelerated shared business processes, and generally better information sharing.

Quest Software, have announced that the latest version of Quest Web Parts for SharePoint. Quest Web Parts is a suite of tools to help build and customize more robust Sharepoint sites, applications, menus and dashboards through configuration rather than code.

Quest Web Parts for SharePoint takes many of the mundane and repetitive tasks associated with SharePoint’s web part configuration. With these tools, you save time and costs by accelerating the process. In addition, the latest version also includes a new DiscussionView web part that improves the ability to easily follow and track discussions, as well as dramatically improved charting functionality.

If you’re at The SharePoint Technology Conference, check them out at booth 109.

Otherwise, you can visit their website for more details and pricing.

Visible Vote updated with Facebook integration and more

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Steve Halzinski
on June 22, 2009, at 11:53 AM
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3 Comments

visible vote

Visible Vote for BlackBerry has been updated and it’s also now available in App World. New features include:

1. Job Approval Ratings for each Legislator that represents you plus the President.
2. Facebook Comment Integration – You can now leave comments on each bill and legislator for your Facebook Friends to read.
3. Bills now have a filter function to better find bills that matter to you.
4. Each Bill now has buttons that will take you to the actual bill and media sources with articles on each bill.
5. Download your Legislators full voting records without having to vote.

Download Visible Vote for your BlackBerry for free.

The old features still remain the same and have been a little cleaned up:

1. Send a Letter to your Legislators through your Blackberry.
2. Vote on the same Bills as your legislators and tell them how to Vote on those bills from the program.
3. After Legislators vote it will cross compare your vote to theirs and give you an agreement percentage.
4. Sends a letter every week with the constituents vote tallies.

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