"It's like Adobe® Reader® for your BlackBerry!"
PDF stands for Portable Document Format. This file format, created by Adobe Systems, dates back to 1993. So after 16 years, it's safe to say we've all stumbled across at least a couple (thousand) PDFs. Look at the name again, the P in particular, P for portable. With devices such as our BlackBerrys, portable information has become part of our everyday lives. When we were given applications such as Word To Go, a new world opened up for me. I was equally excited with Sheet and Slideshow. A solution for PDFs seemed to elude me, I simply wasn't able to view them just right.
RepliGo Reader allows you to view native PDF files, in desktop-like style, which are stored on your Berry or Media Card. Rewind back to WES 2008, and head to booth #601. For those who attended WES 2008 (lucky buggers), you may have caught a glimpse of RepliGo Reader. If you haven't seen the application yet, now's the time; RepliGo Reader is currently in version 1.1. This version boasts a few new features, let's have a look.
A brief look behind RepliGo Reader
RepliGo Reader is brought to you by Cerience Corporation, a BlackBerry Alliance Member. Since being founded in 2000, they have provided BlackBerry users with mobile document solutions, both for enterprises and consumers. RepliGo Reader is but a portion of their amazing RepliGo platform.
The View
RepliGo Reader currently supports the Storm, Bold, Curve (83xx and 89xx series), Pearl (81xx and 82xx series), the 88xx series and 8700 series and the 88xx series.
Why have PDFs on the go? Countless reasons come to mind. There are PDFs for almost everything, travel brochures, company overviews, and more. Download the PDFs now and read them later.
Before we get into the application, I have to point out that the RepliGo icon looks very similar to the icons for Word, Slideshow and Sheet To Go. I moved RepliGo over to the Applications folder, so it will feel right at home.
just one of the gang
The quality of the PDFs I've viewed is amazing, the clarity and vivid colours immediately stood out. Some PDFs did take a minute to load and optimize, but the results are worth the wait. What you first see is the Page View, where the PDF is shown in its original, Whole Page, form. The quality can't really be seen in this view, but you have a few options. RepliGo has multiple zooming levels, from the Page View, Page Width, all the way up to 300%. Another zooming option let's you zoom in on a specific section of the PDF. Use the trackball to scroll through highlighted sections in Page View, once you find a section of interest, then go through the previously mentioned zoom options.
oooo...pretty...
You can also switch from Page View to Reading View. In Reading View, RepliGo's page recognition technology trims the page's content down into a single column, for easy reading and less zooming.
RepliGo Reader helps you find specific text within the PDF. In the menu, choose Find and in the Pop Up, type in what you want to find, choosing to match case or the whole
word only. The search results will be highlighted in green, and you can choose skip to the next result if there are multiple entries found. If you have large PDFs in hand, they may contain bookmarks, which RepliGo can help you use to navigate through the document.
use the Find feature to jump to any relevant information
While impressed with RepliGo Reader on my Bold, I have seen it being used on a Storm or two. All I can say is wow, well, that and hurry up and roll out Storms for the rest of us!
Conclusion
With only the time taken to load and optimize PDFs as the only downfall, I highly recommend giving RepliGo Reader a look. It offers more zoom options and more font support than other applications out there. I was glad to see the ability to switch from Page View and Reader view, giving you access to easy to read content. I'm definitely hanging onto this application. Cerience offers a free 10 day trial for RepliGo Reader and, once you are sold, pick up the application for $19.95.
For more information on RepliGo Reader, check out www.cerience.com.
Pros
-
download and store PDFs for viewing at anytime
- multiple view, zoom and search options
Cons
-
PDFs take time to load and optimize
Article | 31 min ago T-Mobile BlackBerry Q10 pricing gets detailed
Article | 1 hour ago It's racing time with 4x4 Offroad Racing for BlackBerry 10
Article | 3 hours ago BlackBerry UK are giving away both a Z10 and Q10 via Twitter
Article | 18 hours ago Netflix CEO hasn't touched a BlackBerry 10 device
Article | 18 hours ago BlackBerry Live 2013 Recap: BBM Channels, cross-platform BBM, BlackBerry Q5 and CrackBerry Live shows galore!
louiedawg Feb 4, 2009 at 7:02 pm
$20 for pdf's? seriously?
ddarvish Feb 4, 2009 at 8:19 pm
haha. yeah. i think im going to wait till the app store is realease before i buy stuff. i have a feeling things will be better priced there!
cputoys Feb 4, 2009 at 8:56 pm
When registering Datavis Docs to go to get file creation and editing functionality, PDFs to Go comes along with it. The icon for it looks disturbingly similar. The datavis version is 1.002 (002). Is there a relationship here or just coincidence? When I used the 7100i there were no programs to be found that could natively read pdfs on the bb. Now look! Don't forget Beamreader is out there too!
husnimd Feb 4, 2009 at 10:30 pm
good point you have there. so i am wondering, between repligo and beamreader which is better?
cdf3 Feb 4, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I've had this app installed on my Blackbery for a few months now. It's a must have app for me. I also have BeamReader as well. This is a great price for Repligo Reader. It was previously sold for $29.99 before BeamReader was officially released. RepligoReader was the only PDF app that was able to open password protected PDF files.
Jonneh Feb 4, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Daaamn, 20 bucks? These app-creators really aren't looking out for the poor college students, huh?
squash Feb 5, 2009 at 1:15 am
You will only be able to open email attachments if your BB is version 4.5 or higher!
cuban_dudeca Feb 5, 2009 at 7:28 am
Crackberry should do a review of the different PDF viewers. Docs to Go has there's, beam reader, and now this one. Just curious as to what the differences are.
Ryan Blundell Feb 5, 2009 at 12:11 pm
...and you shall receive. Already in the works
RedNightHawk Feb 5, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Looking forward to this. The PDF reader that comes with Docs To Go Premium has a line in it's About screen saying portions are copyright Cerience. Cerience makes Repligo so I'm guessing DataViz is licencing it from them for their own use. I would think if Cerience makes both Repligo and has a hand in the Docs To Go version that they might be giving a lite version for the Docs to Go, but I haven't seen a comparison of features to see if anything is in one and not the other.
CureMS Feb 5, 2009 at 8:08 am
Adobe Reader is FREE!
Richard Hill Feb 5, 2009 at 8:33 am
Repligo is a must for berry users in business, maybe not so much for you college folks. I have one of their products and it allows me to open EVERYTHING and fax anything from my Storm. Awesome! Very cheap if your a business person....
Delegator Feb 5, 2009 at 8:51 am
The average iPhone app costs $1-2, and they want 10x that for a PDF reader. No thanks. Besides, Documents to Go is standard on the Storm.
digital_dave Feb 5, 2009 at 9:59 am
I have tried both RepliGo and BeamReader, RepliGo IMO is the better of the two currently.Both take time to render a page so neither of them can scroll smoothly between pages which is frustrating and is why I won't shell out the $19.95 for either of them soon.
sharkkiller Feb 5, 2009 at 11:49 am
how can you dowload some of these operating systems to better the storm? where do i go?
ShellyMiddleton Feb 5, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I have tried the PDF reader in Documents to Go and though it was okay, I wasn't ready to pay almost $50 for an upgrade to Premium so that I could get the PDF reader. I tried BeamReader and liked it but wished it read the bookmarks that are included in most large PDFs. I tried RepliGo and WOW! I felt I had hit the jackpot! The overall look of the PDFs are more natural and polished looking. You can go to the next page with just a swipe of the finger. It sees the bookmarks that are already built into a PDF. It has more choices for zooming in on your document. You can go directly to a page. Best yet is that it has a standard “Reading View”!
There are some things that could be improved with RepliGo. When going directly to a page, being able to type the page number in without having to scroll through all the numbers would be great, especially in documents with hundreds of pages. As far as I can tell, RepliGo has no way for you to insert your own bookmarks into the document – this is a definite need for me. I could be a little faster loading pages.
In my opinion, even with the needed improvements, RepliGo Reader is far better than the Docs to Go PDF reader or BeamReader.
Pony Boy Feb 6, 2009 at 1:12 am
I am waiting for an open sourced version
onyxflava Feb 6, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I just downloaded repligo about 2 days ago on a trial version and I am very pleased with it. I found it very user friendly and my PDF's loaded quicker then expected. The PDF's are pretty clear except for maybe some mostly text files. Scrolling is pretty smooth and page transitions were as well. This is much different compared to my experience with beamreader. With beam reader loading PDF's were extremely slow as well as scrolling. The program also caused my Storm to freeze up or reboot a couple of times. So I do plan to buy this software but I agree it would be nice if the price was lower. Oh well.
mrl09 Feb 7, 2009 at 1:13 am
sounds pretty cool
LovingBerryInChicago Feb 10, 2009 at 11:26 am
Late to the party, i just downloaded this one as i received a password protected pdf statement from my bank. unlike regular pdfs, my curve couldn't open this one as a result i had to try out this application.
i must say, whatever resistence i had to $20 app for pdf viewer just vanished after opening 1 password protected pdf on it. and its pretty fast too. i had tried dynoplex last week and thats a pain in ***
Jazzi-Rocks Feb 13, 2009 at 9:55 am
It looks awesome, especially with the quality of the PDF viewing. From the review and the comments, it looks like it is worth the price compared to Docs2Go and the free apps available. Great job!
~Jazzi~
fengcoolcom Feb 13, 2009 at 10:02 am
Best pdf app on Blackberry! Count me in!
SeattleReign Feb 13, 2009 at 10:12 am
I would say for people who really use their phone for business, this is a price worth paying. I'm in.
ltrtiger Feb 13, 2009 at 10:17 am
or so they say. Looks like a nice app from where I sit.
Karwin Feb 13, 2009 at 10:26 am
if I cant win one, maybe going to buy one. :)
jrowe81 Feb 13, 2009 at 10:34 am
I have been looking for a solid PDF reader, this one sounds perfect for me.
sk0tto Feb 13, 2009 at 10:40 am
I want a free copy!
cpetersen2791 Feb 13, 2009 at 10:43 am
very nice article!
sn05py Feb 13, 2009 at 10:59 am
With the prevalence of pdf's in this digital era, why this is not native on a Blackberry still confuses me. I am saved from my dilemma by great applications such as this that undeniably go beyond what would be installed OEM.
Rayug Feb 13, 2009 at 11:03 am
But $20?
j.stevens Feb 13, 2009 at 11:03 am
Is it a licensing issue that doesn't allow an app like this to fill in fields in a PDF form?
LarryM04 Feb 13, 2009 at 11:39 am
I have a set of blueprints that my architect sent to me, I wonder how well they will render on the Storm screen.
Keron.Brown Feb 13, 2009 at 11:47 am
But $20???
chele519 Feb 13, 2009 at 11:53 am
I'd love to win a copy of this.
jmhx2 Feb 13, 2009 at 12:05 pm
This app. sounds like it is definitely a "must have" for anyone who has ever had a PDF sent to them on their BB.
Falling Feb 13, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I am new to the work of Blackberry, but I use PDF docs in my job regularly. I have been trying to decide which PDF program to get. Looked over the available choices and enjoyed the video on Repligo. Right now I am definalty leaning towards Repligo. I am going to D/L the trial and see.
kdw201 Feb 13, 2009 at 12:20 pm
This looks really good, I could use this a lot.
Nick792 Feb 13, 2009 at 12:23 pm
This would be an extremely useful app to have on the BB. Sure its a little pricy, but hey if your going to get the use then go for it and just buy it. Of course wait to see if you've won it first Lol
clouseau#AC Feb 13, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Me, Me, Me...it's Mine, Mine, Mine!!!
(please)
sabindaman Feb 13, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I'm tempted to purchase it but hopefully I'll win a free copy
jesjammin Feb 13, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Winning is better than paying!
Spqr388 Feb 13, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Very cool. Did a great job demonstrating the software.
jeremyc#cb Feb 13, 2009 at 1:21 pm
...but $20. I may buy it if I don't win a copy.
blak8830 Feb 13, 2009 at 1:23 pm
cool
mm4l Feb 13, 2009 at 1:40 pm
If I had to pay $20 for every app for my storm, I would have been better off getting an iPhone. Seriosuly, can't someone come out with a $1 or $2 app for a storm?
ppeoucb Feb 13, 2009 at 1:40 pm
looks like a nice app, a bit too expensive for me.
dglx3d Feb 13, 2009 at 1:43 pm
...to be a cool app I could use.
I have to agree with sn05py though. There should be better native PDF support.
rockigirl Feb 13, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Sounds just like what I need but I'm a bit wary of the price.
bigboyhat35 Feb 13, 2009 at 1:45 pm
This would be a great app to have for the right price.
chasemjones Feb 13, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Price is a little high
hB1 Feb 13, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I just watched the YouTube video; this would really help me out with my job in the Army. I get ton of .PDF files sent to me through my personal e-mail on my BlackBerry.
gmanthey Feb 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm
This is a nice program. Im always being sent pdf files. This would be great for me. Nice interface with the storm.
bwn527 Feb 13, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Curious about the zoom options. Worth a try!
Venc Feb 13, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Man I need for school, good software.
Hope something cheaper comes up when the app stores opens up or that they charge cheaper.
Jennifer72 Feb 13, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I would love to have a free copy, With the economy the way it is buying applications is on the bottom of the needs list, so please pick me...Thanks
slewman Feb 13, 2009 at 2:18 pm
would love to be able to view my pdfs on the storm... i needs it!
gisdork Feb 13, 2009 at 2:35 pm
A little expensive, but if you need it...well you need it.
cyndiy777 Feb 13, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Pick me too!
Ron Brownz Feb 13, 2009 at 2:43 pm
this seems 2 be a good,solid, robust pdf reader for tha storm but considering tha fact that its can read pdf files out tha box,a stand-alone option that is pricey is not much of a deal.
clesli01 Feb 13, 2009 at 3:07 pm
pretty expensive to read documents i can print for free
smangels Feb 13, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Gotta have it
maxpugsby Feb 13, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Would love to have for free. $20.00 not so much.
quzer Feb 13, 2009 at 4:06 pm
maybe I'll get a copy for free :P
Jiggajames Feb 13, 2009 at 4:15 pm
but to some it would be worth it. must be a marketing strategy. =S
Zakkit26 Feb 13, 2009 at 5:32 pm
I downloaded the trial version about a week ago, and I love it. It is very easy to use and the quality is great. Now I am waiting to win one of the free copies so I dont have to pay for it.
sayitloudbap Feb 13, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I Hope it works well. I think apps for blackberries get so friggin expensive though.
captjdodge Feb 13, 2009 at 7:30 pm
It looks good, but it is a bit pricey for a pdf reader
marlowe8201 Feb 13, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Why cant you just use the PDF reader that comes with the phone?
Mister869 Feb 13, 2009 at 7:50 pm
This application looks awesome. Something missing from my day to day routine that has to change.
H3LLz4ng3L Feb 13, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Like the app, tried BeamReader nice too. Just can't justify the cost. Thanks for the giveaways.
drink_n_1 Feb 13, 2009 at 8:10 pm
I remember when everyone would have viewers for free...now you have to pay? Dang, verizon is already sucking up too much of my fun cash!
Quecksilber Feb 13, 2009 at 8:18 pm
It´s a nice programm, i would like to have!
luis.serrano Feb 13, 2009 at 8:26 pm
The best price is FREE, I hope I win this
smaccrea#cb Feb 13, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I too think this looks like a great program, but the cost is definitely a factor. Do you think the blackberry store apps are all going to run a bit more than the iphone apps based on different clientele? Or do you suspect they'll run about equal?
Well anyway, here's hoping my first post gets welcomed by a freebie!
8330Crackhead Feb 13, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Not everything out there is FREE....give them a little slack!!! Looks like a cool app.
ronz69 Feb 13, 2009 at 10:27 pm
A bit pricey for now. Can wait for a discount or an open-source one :D
chmb1 Feb 13, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Is this the same reader that included with Repligo Professional or is it a stand alone product?
bgabel Feb 14, 2009 at 12:21 am
pretty cool
ascoteton77 Feb 14, 2009 at 12:31 am
I converted all my comics to PDF...this would be perfect to take them on the road with me!
Optimus_Prime Feb 14, 2009 at 1:31 am
It will be great to win one of these. I then then read all my pdf file on the go and electronically compare to having print it out on paper and read in on my commute.
faste Feb 14, 2009 at 1:41 am
For twenty bucks it better read the pdf to me!!! hehehe It does seem like a really cool app. I cant get over that adobe makes a mobile app but not for blackberry and its free and iphone apps are so cheap. I guess I will wait for the price to come down or a cheaper version becomes available.
Giopand Feb 14, 2009 at 2:05 am
Pretty Damn Nice....
I would like to have this App so i can finally read pdf on my BB.
Thanks.
fbrdonr89#CB Feb 14, 2009 at 2:29 am
Wouldn't mind winning it.
rmhead Feb 14, 2009 at 2:48 am
Seems nice if you read a lot of pdfs.
mlappin Feb 14, 2009 at 3:53 am
looks like it's worth a shot.
rgorzkajr Feb 14, 2009 at 6:16 am
this looks loke a nice piece of software. glad to see that the storm is gitting some good aps.
theswami#cb Feb 14, 2009 at 6:37 am
This looks like what I need for my PDFs when I am out of my office. I was about to buy D2G premium just for the PDF support.
juslovit Feb 14, 2009 at 7:15 am
cool, but why is this better than adobe reader?
wall2wallphotos Feb 14, 2009 at 7:32 am
Being fairly new to the whole Blackberry concept, and having purchased one several weeks back for the productivity benefits for my (very) small business, I am really happy to read that there is an ap out that will let me take my PDF's with me. In many cases, PDF's weigh a whole lot less than other formats, making them ideal for taking them along, so this is really good news for me. Thank you for this review! I will be checking into this ap for sure!
fsp Feb 14, 2009 at 8:44 am
seems better then the standard applications but 20 bucks is way too much
margarita2k7 Feb 14, 2009 at 9:00 am
Trial Version was great. Count me in please. Thanks.
NS Newfie Feb 14, 2009 at 11:54 am
Looks good! Especially with it makes things easier. Any more program reviews available for BB Bold?
SQ609 Feb 14, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I think $20 Is a little steep for an application on these little devices. I would love it being that I get a lot of e-mails with PDF attachments. But $20?... Come on now....
zoxxo Feb 14, 2009 at 12:24 pm
If they can optimize the speed between page loads, then I'm sold...
eth555 Feb 14, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Seems to pricey for a pdf reader!
KcKb Feb 14, 2009 at 2:58 pm
I tried the trial for Storm, worked great! Nice to be able to read PDF's at a reasonable cost.
davwpet Feb 14, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Just wanted to say this looks like a great product and I will be trying it out. Thanks for the OP to win a full copy.
skisol Feb 14, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Nice Video! I do believe I need to win a copy of this as it looks like a cool app that I would very much put to good use. Otherwise, probably won't buy it until it gets cheaper.
Stan Marriott Feb 14, 2009 at 5:08 pm
It seems strange to me that RIM didn't put in a useful pdf reader. In my area of work, pdf are very common. There are also a lot of pdf you can download from the net (such as handset manuals). With an OOB BBold, I can't save them and I can't even read them properly. Big hole in the RIM product offering.
I hope my employer (as my BBold is a work phone) get a volume amount of a package such as RepliGo.
inosaris Feb 14, 2009 at 7:18 pm
looks good...
cno53 Feb 14, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Perfect for my line of work. Would love to win one...either way RepliGo Reader will be on my curve 8900.
phelpsphan08 Feb 14, 2009 at 9:02 pm
But a little pricey
smoothplaner Feb 14, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I use pdf's in my business constantly....I've just upgraded to a BlackBerry and have felt practically naked, until I found the trial version of this program.....Love it.....
levad Feb 15, 2009 at 12:24 am
I downloaded the trial and thought the displayed fonts and graphics were very good, there is a slight delay between pages.
I'm haven't made the purchase yet because I'm looking around to see what other PDF readers there are. I also have tried Beamreader but currently RepliGo is the more polished app.
xwiredx Feb 15, 2009 at 7:16 am
Pricey, but looks really nice! I could definitely use that from time to time.
htc707 Feb 15, 2009 at 10:21 am
It sounds like a good program. I would be willing to pay the $20 for the software, but I don't have cases where I view PDF files that much. This would be a good item to consider though. =)
cowens677 Feb 15, 2009 at 7:59 pm
If you want to give me one!!!!
Aristotles Feb 16, 2009 at 1:32 am
RepliGo reader seems to be a bit expensive!
Outback Feb 16, 2009 at 1:44 am
Basically you get what you pay for. But that said I wouldn't say 'No' to winning a copy as I do have a need to read pdf's.
dcm24001 Feb 16, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Me, me, me please! Seriously, I think this is the best one of them all. WOuld be better if it were free though.
melacur99 Feb 25, 2009 at 12:05 pm
this is a great little program for your blackberry
htessmer04 Jul 27, 2009 at 1:45 am
For some reason in any view i cannot scroll. how am i supposed to view a whole page if i cannot scroll?