CIO writer and CB blogger Al Sacco lined up some great face to face time with RIM Executives at WES 2008 and during each interview consistently posed the simple question, What 3rd party apps are you running on your BlackBerry?
Weighing in with answers were Jeff McDowell, VP of Global Alliances; David Heit, Director of Software Product Management; and Mr. BlackBerry himself, RIM's President and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis. You'll want to check out the full article for every detail, but the following sums up the eight apps (many of them are free!) that these three RIM top dogs use most frequently and find most valuable. In no particular order, we have:
1. TeleNav - Top Notch GPS navigation software. A must-have for Heit.
2. Garmin GPS for BlackBerry - Also top notch, with over 6 million points of interest.
3. Pocket Express - All-around mobile companion.
4. WorldMate Live - If you travel as much as Heit and McDowell, you'll want this too.
5. Facebook for BlackBerry - Heit and Lazaridis both use it.
6. FlipSide Music Player - A favorite of Mike Lazaridis himself.
7. Viigo - McDowell and Lazaridis both use this popular app. Get it for Free.
8. Google Maps Mobile - All 3 Use It... "It's just a great implementation...I use it a Lot!"
There you have it, eight BlackBerry Software Titles used by RIM execs. No shocker on the app choices here - all of these are great apps. That being said, there is one interesting observation to make here (and a couple of points). More after the jump...
FlipSide Music Player - If RIM's co-CEO is using a 3rd party music player, that sort of confirms there is still work to be done when it comes to the native app. I wonder if we'll be seeing the native music player getting a more visual look like FlipSide or MiuTunes (I wonder if Mike has checked out MiuTunes yet?!) in the near future? one thing is for sure, with the hopefully-soon-to-be-released Bold packing such a stellar LCD display, it seems a shame to not be able to browse by cover art. If you've never tried FlipSide before, you can pick up a free trial in our ShopCrackBerry.com store.
Viigo - I hope you guys are using the CrackBerry.com Branded Version! If you haven't checked it out, you can get it here, and if you're eager to get the improved version that's coming soon, be sure to sign up for the Viigo Project Tango Beta.
Facebook - I just searched Facebook for Mike Lazaridis and found 5 results, but none of them appeared to be Mr. BlackBerry. Darn, I was hoping to add him! If you guys like Facebook, definitely check out the BlackBerry PIN Exchange for Facebook. Over 25,000 BlackBerry users are tracking and trading their PINs with this app and it's growing daily!
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Would have loved to see the app 'LaunchPads' there in the list ;-)
Doesn't it seem odd that Lazaridis uses a 3rd party music player instead of the built in version? Goes to show you that they have some work to do on their player.
I bet regardless of what radio technology Blackberry they use, none of them have locked down GPS. Doesn't that suck.... carriers playing favorites with RIM Execs.
Rogers in Canada doesn't lock down GPS at *all*.
No favorite playing here.
Do you think they pay for these applications?
No.
But if they had to pay out of their own pocket, would they still use them?
Good lord...
that guys head looks HUGE beside that Pearl!!!!!
Anyone's head is going to be big beside a Pearl. :)
I don't think Telus locks the gps, I've been using it with Blackberry Maps. Google Maps still hasn't been updated to use internal gps, I believe. I'm running the latest.
Why wouldn't they use Blackberry maps I wonder.
That guy is Fugly.
Seriously.