BlackBerry App Roundup for February 6th, 2009!

by James Falconer on 6 Feb 2009 07:36 AM

Happy February everyone! Weather is getting nicer (at least around here), and to go with that, a whole whackload of new apps to tell you about this week... I'm going to start off the roundup with a bunch of great new games that are now available for the BlackBerry Storm... Then finish up with a couple of cool golf apps to encourage Spring to hit us sooner than later. Lets get started. Covered in this edition of the BlackBerry App Roundup are:

New BlackBerry Software: Sid Meier's Civilization IV: War of Two Cities, Sid Meier's Pirates!, Texas Hold'em with Phil Helmuth, PBA Bowling, Quicker SMS, Antair Auto-Responder, Diamond Breaker!

Free BlackBerry Software: iStockManager Brokerage Services for TD Ameritrade Users

Cool Stuff: SpeedPutt, YouCaddy GPS

New BlackBerry Software

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: War of Two Cities

The first 4 apps here in this weeks' roundup all have new versions compatible with the BlackBerry Storm. How cool is that!?

First off comes Civ IV: War of Two Cities. In this latest edition of the classic franchise, defend and develop your home city while at war with a nighboring city. Your armies and people will fight and battle to the end... Who will win? Plan and strategize your way to victory.

Pick up Civ IV: War of Two Cities for $9.99 at ShopCrackBerry.com >

Pirates! for BlackBerry Sid Meier's Pirates!

How cool is this? I can remember playing Pirates! for my old Commodore 64 when I was a kid. In Pirates! sail your ship in search of buried treasure, fight enemy pirate ships, and engage in exciting sword battles against enemy captains. This game is really fun, and judging by the screenshots I've seen the game stays true to the original.

Get Pirates! for $9.99 at ShopCrackBerry.com >

Phil Helmuth's Texas Hold'em Texas Hold'em with Phil Helmuth

Phil Helmuth is probably one of the most despised poker players in the world today. His brash attitude and cocky table-manner makes for good TV... and tournament wins! Now, you can play Phil's own Texas Hold'em game optimized for play on the BlackBerry. Play head-to-head, tables, or in tournaments. There are 6 levels of gameplay. Move your way through the game to battle Phil himself. Can you beat him?

Buy Texas Hold'em with Phil Helmuth for $9.99 at ShopCrackBerry.com >

PBA Bowling for the BlackBerry PBA Bowling

PBA Bowling is a must-have for anyone that follows the Denny's PBA Tour. The game features single game play, tournaments and a tricky spare challenge. Choose from all of the best current touring pros, from Norm Duke, to Walter Ray Williams Jr. to Parker Bohn III. Customize your ball by weight, graphics, and more... And play on all 5 of the PBA oiling patterns: The Shark, Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion and Viper.

Try PBA Bowling for $9.99 at ShopCrackBerry.com >

Antair Auto-Responder for BlackBerry Antair Auto-Responder

Antair Auto-Responder lets you setup custom automatic email replies to messages hitting your inbox. Expecting email or in a meeting? Setup Antair to auto-respond to their email letting them know you've received their email, or that you're tied up at the moment. Kind of handy if you ask me. Multiple responses can be setup for different contacts, so that you can personalize each auto-response as you see fit... And this one integrates nicely with your BlackBerry contacts. There is a 7-day trial available if you'd like to try before you buy.

Get Antair Auto-Responder for $29.95 at ShopCrackBerry.com >

Diamond Breaker! for BlackBerry Diamond Breaker!

One more game to finish up the new apps this week. Diamond Breaker! is a logic game that takes full advantage of the Storm's orientation sensor. Remove as many diamonds of the same color as you can. Rotate your Storm 90 degrees at a time to make some of the diamonds fall and 'shake things up' so to speak. This game makes great use of the Storm, and for the price, it's worth a shot. Oh, and it's available for the BlackBerry Storm only (requires OS 4.7, of course!).

Pick up Diamond Breaker! for $2.99 at ShopCrackBerry.com >

Quicker SMS for BlackBerry Quicker SMS

Quicker SMS allows you to send SMS messages from your PC. If you'd rather punch out those longer text messages on your normal keyboard instead of your Berry's QWERTY keyboard... then this one is for you. Send and receive SMS messages from your PC, send timed messages, send group messages from your address book with one click.... plus a lot more. A lot of features built in to this simple SMS efficiency app.

Pick up Quicker SMS for FREE at ShopCrackBerry.com >

Free BlackBerry Software

iStockManager for TD Ameritrade Users iStockManager Brokerage Services for TD Ameritrade Users

iStockManager has teamed up with TD Ameritrade to produce a very powerful trading application... Probably one of the most powerful available for the BlackBerry. It gives safe and secure access to your TD Ameritrade account, allowing you to make trades, check stocks, and a whole lot more. Get streaming information as it happens, check real time balances and positions... the list of features goes on and on. If you use TD Ameritrade, pick this one up.

Get iStockManager for TD Ameritrade Users for FREE at ShopCrackBerry.com >

Cool Stuff

SpeedPutt for BlackBerry SpeedPutt

SpeedPutt is a putting assistance app that helps you make more putts, and therefore lower your scores. It uses the accelerometer in your Storm alongside a proprietary algorithm to calculate and recommend an aim line. All you need to do is estimate the distance from the ball to the cup, place your device on the green, and then SpeedPutt will show you the aim line. I have to assume this won't work with double and triple breaking putts, but still, this is pretty cool. I think I may have to get this one and use it to chart the greens at my local course. Look out low scores, here I come! :)

Pick up SpeedPutt for $9.99 at ShopCrackBerry.com >

YouCaddy GPS for BlackBerry YouCaddy GPS

One last golf app to go in the cool apps this week. With YouCaddy GPS, it's like having a tour caddy giving you distances all day long on the course! Let me tell you, I've used GPS devices on the course, and it does make a big difference! The app comes complete with just more than GPS and searchable course maps. Track your score, upload your scores for tracking and analysis, even get discounts and reduced green fees! Of course, it goes without saying you can search more than 16,000 courses in the US to pull up handy yardage information exactly when you need it.

Pick up YouCaddy GPS for $49.95 at ShopCrackBerry.com >

Until Next Week..

Have news on BlackBerry software? New software, upgraded software,
freesoftware... it's all good! If you have any software news tips send
themin to me at softwareroundup@crackberry.com. I can't do it without your help!

Of course, we also have many more New BlackBerry Software, Updated BlackBerry Software and Free BlackBerry software titles available at ShopCrackBerry.com. Be sure to visit our software store for more great deals on BlackBerry Software!

Filed Under: BlackBerry Apps;

23 Comments

Posted by NEEVZ Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

I'm diggin' the Storm love here, James! Great Roundup, as usual. Can't wait until we see some more cool (inexpensive or free) apps and games for the Storm.

Posted by TheMediaProphet Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

Still can't wait for Fennec or Shazam on the Storm. Thanks for the article.

Posted by Navan Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

Love the idea we'll see if it works!

Posted by Kiggold Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

I am VERY disappointed with QuickerSMS because it is NOT FREEWARE!! It is designed to look free but to unlock all the feature you must pay for it! I am very upset with crackberry for putting something in the free software catageory which is actually trialware :(

Posted by Kevin Michaluk Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

Hey, Just saw this. Sorry about that. Just a little oversight by James... thought it was freeware. Mistakes happen. I fixed the post so it's all good now. Thanks for the understanding!

Posted by James Falconer Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

My apologies Kiggold (and all) I should have caught that! Kevin has fixed 'er up though.

Thanks!

Posted by Xopher Saturday, Feb 07, 2009 1198 days ago

There is nothing in this software review, or in the software store that tells you how much the software is to register it. Everything still says it is FREE.

From what I have seen so far, I'll stayaway from this piece of software.

Posted by Kiggold Sunday, Feb 08, 2009 1198 days ago

I am glad that this little error waas quickly realized and fixed :-)

I am also very interested in the software, because I spend a great deal of my dad at my computer and being able to send and recieve SMS from my blackberry would be a plus :-)

Posted by Xopher Monday, Feb 09, 2009 1196 days ago

It may have been moved from the free apps category, but there still isn't a price listed anywhere. The download page still shows it as a free download.

So how much is it????

Posted by Jonneh Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

I'm even MORE upset with QuickerSMS, because I just installed it and then I looked at my phone and all the sudden it says "Wiping __%" with the percentage going up. I shrugged it off thinking "Well, I have a backup from a couple weeks back. Guess I'll just have to do that?" and left my phone for about 30 minutes. I just came back to my phone and it is still sitting here at a white screen with a clock, and now it says something like "Scrubbing Internal Device Memory..."

What the hell have I done to my phone??

Posted by Kevin Michaluk Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

You never mentioned what type of device you have or what OS it's running. Not sure what happened in this case, but will point you to the two solutions:

a) Contact Developer of the App - geyijun@gmail.com

b) To fix your BlackBerry (assuming the app bricked it for some reason), follow these instructions to reload the OS onto your device:

Posted by Jonneh Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

Thanks for the reply :)
AT&T Bold OS .216 EastAsia
The phone, fortunately, hasn't been bricked, thankfully. Just wiped for some really odd, unknown reason (to me).

I thought the app was free at first so I don't really want it anyway now, but to think I just had to do a device restore and lost my 3rd party apps all for something I don't even want anymore..hahaha. Wow. Well, just goes to show - always back up your stuff, right? :)

Posted by Jonneh Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

Okay this is really strange. My device was wiped, and I did a restore (the closest I had was from Jan 28th :( so I lost everything since then). YET, "QuickerSMS" is on my phone! What the hell? Maybe I just don't understand enough about bb's yet, but how does that make sense? It's like by installing QuickerSMS, it decided to wipe my entire phone clean so I lose everything, and then nudge itself into my phone like the snotty little app that it appears to be. What the hell is this, a virus-like app? lol. My phone then froze as I was moving icons on the home screen around, and I was forced to restart it. But not before seeing "QuickerSMS" in my "Downloads" folder, the sneaky little bastard.

Posted by Jonneh Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

Well, my phone has been officially wiped. All of this is very weird because I've installed countless apps via DM before and have never had them default to "Wipe my device" or anything like that before, and no I did not click it myself. Definitely scuks because I happen to be a complete idiot and haven't recently backed up my 3rd party apps. Fortunately I do have regular bb device backups.. :( but those poor, wonderful 3rd party apps I had.. :(

Posted by SimpleBinary Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

Anyone know of a program like this that's compatible with the Storm?? Sounds like something that 'might' (but probably not) help my game a little...

Posted by ashworth Saturday, Feb 07, 2009 1198 days ago

Hey SimpleBinary,

I know my GPS Golf application (www.bbgpsgolf.com) is compatible with the Storm, as I use the 4.7 JDK to compile my application.

Posted by mmiles84 Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

Im very disappointed in this article for the simple fact that im sick and tired of all these apps that you have to pay for. The iPhone has 15000 apps and nearly 90% of them FREE!!!!!!!. I love my storm but until they give me something that will be comparable with the iPhone apps this phone will never last because when people looking for a new smart phone, they will find out quickly that in no way does it compare with the iPhone, and thats a shame because BlackBerry should be able to keep up with Apple.

Posted by pipotobe Friday, Feb 06, 2009 1199 days ago

You're truly unbelievable. The app store for the Bb's will open March 1st, March 1st ( do I need to say it again)?

Please compare Oranges with Oranges. When the App store will open we will be able to judge if these Apps are worth it or not.

By the way I have a storm and I'm definitely not a Iphone fanboy.

Posted by michael9190 Saturday, Feb 07, 2009 1199 days ago

i am very unhappy with QuickerSMS did not work well and is not free like it says

Posted by jabrah Saturday, Feb 07, 2009 1198 days ago

i installed Quickersms this morning, wish i knew that it would wipe my phone...

ahhh well, sh*t does happen from time to time....but i think that programmer needs to go back to the drawing board with that app...

Posted by NOKJAA Tuesday, Feb 10, 2009 1195 days ago

Same here...I wish I had queried this forum prior to installing said product...:-(! Unbelievable..This DAMN BUTT Product wiped …..No it scrubbed my Berry!!! WTF???? Pulled battery several times but to no avail......Stuff really hit the fan when I saw this; “…scrubbing internal device memory Blackberry”.
Do not and I REPEAT DO NOT install this product on your Bold (9000)!!! I would also strongly suggest that crackberry.com removes this product from her website! This causes in my humble opinion too many headaches for us Berry users out there. Luckily I had made a backup (which I always do) and after 90 minutes was up and running again.
PS: Pulling the battery and even waiting for 10minutes DOES NOT help!!! It continues to Wipe / Scrub your device. Just sit tight and wait till your device is clean.. . After that do a restore…

Posted by Joe Ge Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009 1194 days ago

Hi,
I am the author of Quicker SMS. I am very sorry for the trouble of wiping some types of phones. As I know, this is NOT caused only by Quicker SMS. This software works well on lots of BlackBerry phones, such as 7100V, 7290, 8100, 8310, 8320, 8800, etc,. Also, some other run it on 9000 and 9500.
Some guy also encounter wipe accident on his 9500, but he found it is not caused by Quicker SMS. After he replaced a new 9500 from his cellphone carrier, Quicker SMS works perfectly on his new phone.

So, I don't recommend Bold and Storm users install Quicker SMS before I find the cause of the wipe accident.

BTW: Why I label $0.00 on this web? Because many agents charge a lot of fees and I don't want to set a higher price for Quicker SMS, so you can buy cheaper software from my website.

Thanks for all your supports.

Posted by tenmon Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009 1194 days ago

i certainly agree that the apps are sorely lacking the range of the iphones lets get some real apps along the lines used by the iphone . im not fond of paying for stuff that doesnt do as well as the free apps for the iphone . i love my storm and would have been rather upset had this wipe problem happened to my storm i wont use this app you may be sure

BlackBerry App Roundup for February 6th, 2009!

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