When you hear the name Electric Pocket, what's the first thing you think of? Applications like Flipside, Ringo Ringtone Manager or FindMe for Facebook right? Well, try this one on for size; PhoneFace.
PhoneFace takes attaching images to contacts one step further...well, maybe two steps. You're able to assign images found on your Berry, your Micro SD or even images from your contact's Facebook account. You can then browse through the images and find the contact you want. Navigation is similar to the smooth album cover flow that you would experience with Flipside. I was never big on Facebook, didn't even have an account until I reviewed the FindMe application. When I first learned about PhoneFace and its Facebook integration, I could almost hear Al Pacino in my head saying, "Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in."
Do you have trouble with matching names to faces and want to train your brain? Or do you want to call up your friend and laugh at their profile pic, reminding them of that time at that place where they did that thing and you know who found out? *ahem* Sorry. If you just want to see what it's all about, join me after the jump.
The friendly face of speed-dial
Hey! It's nice to see you. It would also be nice to see you when I'm trying to contact you. The native BlackBerry address book, as we all know, will display an assigned image when you view a contact's details. I would change up the images from time to time, as I got bored looking at the same ugly mugs. This was usually a slight hassle, as I would browse album after album from my friends on Facebook and choose an image.
side-scroll through your contacts, even the adorable ones
Now, PhoneFace may not increase your efficiency, but it is an application that will prove as addictive as Facebook. The images used can be stored on, and viewed from, your SD card. This helps you save your precious internal memory for other purposes (hmm that's efficient).
Let's add a contact into PhoneFace. From within the application, select add new contact. You are then redirected to your native address book. After picking someone to add, the next screen prompts you to add a photo. The application gives you a variety of options; you can use the camera directly, look for Facebook picture (we'll explore this later on), use PhoneFace pictures or pictures stored on your Berry or memory card. You could also choose none of the above and PhoneFace will give you a generic image. Each entry will display the contact's name and assigned image. The images can be swapped at any time as well, so you're not stuck with the same embarrassing picture of your Uncle in a speedo. Contact can be deleted from PhoneFace as well. Don't worry, they won't be deleted from your native address book.
pick where you will find the perfect picture
phonefacecontactoptions captions: call, text or email
Once you have selected an entry to contact, click the trackball. All of the dialing, texting or email options will appear. The bottom of the screen displays the selected phone number or email address for the contact.
Facebook Fun
My favourite part. If you have a Facebook account, you can sync it with PhoneFace on your Berry. PhoneFace on Facebook, will generate a unique ID number that must be entered into PhoneFace on your BlackBerry. When all is said and done, PhoneFace will now grab your friend's profile pictures and pull it into your Berry. It's always best to share, kids, so PhoneFace on Facebook will create an address book containing your contact's details. It won't keep track of contacts not found in your Facebook friends list though.
your address book on facebook
PhoneFace...in your face!!
PhoneFace quickly grew on me. I mainly use it for my personal contacts - haven't added any clients yet. Some of them don't have their images on their websites. I would either use their company logo for their image or quickly tell them "say cheese Mr. CEO". Since PhoneFace uses nearly full screen images, some of the pictures that I had on my Berry became a little grainy as they were blown up. The pictures from Facebook display beautifully. I added PhoneFace to one of my convenience keys for easier access. The application runs very smoothly, no lags experienced. As I mentioned before, you have the option of using PhoneFace's sample images for your contacts. Well maybe you can, not me. For some reason I have no sample images to be found.
With PhoneFace, you also have various options, including adding PhoneFace to most menus and auto-updating Facebook photos.
auto-update facebook pics? Neato!!
Conclusion
PhoneFace is a keeper folks! Despite not having any sample images to choose from, being able to use the camera, existing images and Facebook profile pics is good enough for me. It adds a fun factor to your address book. The images could also be used as a conversation starter (what is that on your head?!). PhoneFace sports stability, smooth operation and graphics and flawless Facebook syncing. If you have a BlackBerry with a trackball, PhoneFace will work for you. PhoneFace has a free 7 day trial period and, once it has won you over, you can pick it up from the CrackBerry store for $9.95.
Pros
- browse contacts using pictures
- Facebook synchronization
- smooth navigation
Cons
- couldn't access sample images
- some images may appear grainy
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