Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Mobile technology... the third party software application

I love technology, plain and simple. Whether or not I actually understand it, or can fully utilise, well that's a whole other question.

I love reading Stuff magazine (http://stuff.tv/) where I get my monthly dose of gadgets, technology, and of course mobile phones, or rather the increasingly popular smartphones.

I use a BlackBerry Bold and try to "really use" it's capabilities, but its the aftermarket, the third party, applications that really personalise your BlackBerry into something more than the standard smartphone. What follows is a list of a number of key third party applications that I use on my Bold, and which also make life a little more interesting.

twitter:

Starting off with the obligatory question "What are you doing?", you can post your response in a short (< 140 characters) but concise message. You can follow people (keeping the theme going @StuffTV) and people can follow you. Great site for social and business networking. Go to http://www.twitter.com/ and sign up. For BlackBerry users, go to http://www.orangatame.com/ and download the application so you can twitter to your heart's content from your handset.

BerryReview:

A great site for BlackBerry specific applications, updates, whispers, reviews, etc. They have a fabulous BerryReview Store where you can download free applications, or purchase software and hardware. A great feature is there reminders when your purchased software is eligible for an upgrade, usually free. Go to http://www.berryreview.com/ and for BlackBerry users, you can download an icon to your home screen to take to your BerryReview whenever you need to.

Handango:

Another great site for software for a large range of smartphones, whether BlackBerry, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, HTC, etc. Like Berry Review, you select the type of mobile you are using, and it will list the eligible software options for your consideration, ranging from free, up to premium priced software. A mobilised Handango application can be downloaded onto your handset, simply by visiting http://www.handango.com/ from your handset. This mobilised version has a great weather function, where you can enter 3 of your favourite places (and yes, works perfectly for Australian, Indian and Fijian locations).

Viigo:

A useful and very well respected RSS feeder/reader, Viigo brings all your interesting websites to one location. You have a large range of stored RSS sites (covering a vast range of topics) to choose from, or you can simply add your preferred ones to the Viigo list, simply by adding the correct url address. Go to http://www.berryreview.com/ on your handset, go to their OTA section, and simply download Viigo. Add BerryReview to your list of RSS sites, and off you go.

A few applications for your consideration, which can add to your smartphone (in my case, BlackBerry) experience.

My thoughts and twitters,

Thomas

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