Howdy CrackBerry Nation! Hope everyone enjoyed our coverage of #CESlive this week and are getting ready for the weekend. It's time once again for the weekly App Roundup. Now, I spent my time wisely this week rustling up some new, cool, and helpful applications for all you BlackBerry addicts to try. Be sure to check them out and remember you can help by offering your suggestions at the end.

GPS Tracker: Retrace by Laura Zajac

Looking for a simple GPS tracker for all your activities? Retrace was suggested by a reader and it is meant for hiking, walking, biking, and other activities you wish to record. With it's simple yet effective interface, it displays distance, speed, elevation changes as well as presenting you with a map of your current location and a tab for your profile. It also works in imperial or metric units. For those who utilize other services, tracks may be exported to Strava, GPX, KML and GeoJSON. Available for BlackBerry 10, Retrace is $2.99 in BlackBerry World. 

More information/Purchase Retrace 

Fast Browser by Bumblebee Computing

PlayBook owners wishing to improve their browsing experience and speed should check out this third party application. Not only does it speed up the loading of webpages but provides additional features not found in the native browser. Included in the list is fast mode, which automatically disables JavaScript and Flash (though they can be toggled on for sites that require it), powerful tabs to launch up to six web sessiosn at once or startup homepages, ad-blocking filter, privacy mode, and a streamlined interface. For $1.99, Fast Browser is a decent alternative and the developer is responsive to issues in the forums.

More information/Purchase Fast Browser 

Copia eBook Reader by Copia Interactive

As an avid reader, nothing pleases me more than having my library with me at all times. Copia has been around for a bit, but I discovered it only recently and decided to see how it works. Dubbing itself as the bookstore that goes where you go, it offers a decent selection of free and paid titles for you to add to your online digital library as well as downloading to your internal memory. Not only is it an e-reader but is strives to give you a social reading experience as well. This means you may discuss what you have read with friends and other bibliophiles by joining groups and discussion boards from within the application. It is native, free to download for BlackBerry 10 handsets, and is cross-platform so you can enjoy on all your devices. 

More information/Download Copia

New York Snow Cataclysm by Benoit Muller

Considering the weather recently here in the Northeast I thought this game was appropriate. The object is to help save New York from the snow by tapping on the snowballs on the screen and having your worker evade the dangerous falling icicles. With only energy drinks and fruit to keep you going, gameplay is rather simple but it does offer two modes of play: infinite with an endless storm, or levels increasing in difficulty. While it is in 3D, it may not be the best game we've seen in terms of graphics, but when you're stuck inside because of snow it is a good time waster. It is compatible with all BlackBerry 10 devices as well as the PlayBook and you can fidn it at the link for $.99. Thanks Hak!

More information/Purchase New York Snow Cataclysm   

TrackMyStuff by KQSoft Inc.

Every now and then I come across a useful all purpose application. That's fine with me as I prefer not having to install a few apps when one will suffice. This one happens to be an expense tracker, including income and budgets, grocery and shipping list, household inventory list, and to-do list all-in-one. With a pleasant interface and organized layout, you can track receipts, make a grocery list, and balance your budget with generated reports without ever leaving the application. It offers a backup/restore option though password protection is being worked on for a future release. Available for BlackBerry 10, TrackMyStuff comes in a premium version for $2.99 and a lite version you can download for free.

​More information/Purchase TrackMyStuff 
More information/Download TrackMyStuff Lite

 

What You Might Have Missed

Watcher by 10Soft

Looking for a nice, simple application to customize a few features on your BlackBerry 10 device? Watcher's recent update made it headless on OS 10.2.1, and it offers an array of features including LED changer, wallpaper changer, message blocker, phone call blocker, and profile changer. You can't beat the price and the interface is smooth and easy to navigate. Be sure to grab this at the link for $2.99 for all devices running OS 10.2 and higher.

More information/Purchase Watcher

Until next week...

That's it for this week folks. For more apps and games be sure to head on over to the forums where you will find even more hidden gems to choose from whether it be for BlackBerry 10, BBOS or the BlackBerry PlayBook. Of course, you can always find the latest and greatest top editor's picks in the CrackBerry App Gallery. Are there any apps or games you would like to see? Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments. 

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