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Reader Alert: This is Part Two of a Two Part story Read Part One of the story here Supercharging your Blackberry As mentioned, here are a half dozen apps from the Blackberry App World that are worth a download. If you have purchased a Blackberry in the last three years these should run on your system with no problem. Storm users need to double check. Vlingo If you could only pick a single app, this would be the one to pick. Once set up, it allows you to dictate text messages, emails and notes using only your voice! So, for example, after a meeting, take 15 minutes and record your meeting notes and it converts it quickly and accurately into text or email (or both). It also allows you to use your voice to set up calls, do Google searches, open applications, etc. It is an amazing deal that makes the smartphone doubly useful. Repligo Reader If you are allowed two apps on your phone, make this one the second. This software makes it easy to store and read PDF files. It doesn't just allow you to zoom in, it actually re-configures the PDF document so the text fits the screen exactly. If you want a bigger bolder font then simply choose it and the Reader just pushes the document down so that you never need to scrolls sideways back and forth to read a PDF. I personally have all investment manager, insurance or tax reports forwarded to my Blackberry email and catch up on reading when I have an extra 10 min to spare. This has again expanded immensely the usefulness of the phone for me. Poynt Forget Urban Spoon, this cool little Swiss Army knife of an app lets you use your phone's GPS to find the closest restaurant, movie theatre and businesses. You can see menus, make reservations, see movie trailers, call them, map a route or find a specific type of meal. It also allows you to do reverse look up of numbers, see the weather forecast and it will even predict interest rates. Well, the last one, not really but that would be cool, eh? Google App It has Mail, Maps, your Calendar, the Google Reader, etc. Its free, updated and slick, so just get it. Kobo This Chapters/Indigo book reader app works beautifully on your Blackberry. You can browse the free titles, paid titles and best sellers list. Realistically, unless you have a Torch its not going to be a perfect reading experience but again, its great when you have a few minutes to relax or get caught on a train or commute without anything to do. CompanionLink This funky app is actually part of the software package you can use to synchronize your current contact manager (ACT, Outlook, Goldmine, Lotus Notes etc) to your Blackberry. Contacts, tasks, calendar, appointments can by synced one way –either way or both ways so that any time you update your Blackberry information it will be moved to your desktop software as well. Further it can also be used to sync things in all sort of various ways, your Outlook contacts with Google, for example. I know this seems like a combination dense list and crazy ranting diatribe. It may be partially therapeutic for me but it springs from frustrations triggered by doing seminars and talking to so many current Blackberry owners who intend to ditch their BB to get an iphone or alternative for a feature that their existing Blackberry already offers, sometimes in a better-executed format. I fully understand – and am myself sometimes tempted by- the novelty, the cool-factor and over all 'slick-willy-ness' of the iphone slab and the Massive Marketing Machine known as Apple. As a gadget geek and amateur tech dweeb, I CRAVE seeing what is out there and what can be done. And ALL the companies (including RIM) have done an excellent job of making us think the phone itself is the point. But, in the end, I own a smartphone for one core reason: To enhance my ability to get my work and my life taken care of. So, whether a phone has 1,000 or a 1,000,000 apps available, has 500mgs or 1 gig of RAM, has a 5mg or an 8mg camera, it doesn't really matter to me as long as it enhances my ability to work and live. And in my less-than-humble opinion, based on features like the keyboard shortcuts and over a decade of refinement, the Blackberry does that best. Further Resources www.bbgeeks.com www.crackberry.com Twitter: @BlackBerryHelp

 

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