Uber popular BlackBerry application Poynt received a nice update today. The new version sits at v1.8.5, and brings support for some of the newer BlackBerry smartphones -- Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 -- as well as larger icons for touchscreen devices, a TeleNav library update, and for for users in the UK a new section for petrol prices. The new petrol search feature allows users to find the closest or cheapest petrol stations in their local area. Additionally, Poynt users will be able to quickly update current petrol prices where prices have fluctuated. Pretty cool!

You can grab the new version of Poynt in BlackBerry App World at the link below. As always, the app is completely free, and once you have it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Full press release regarding the new petrol search feature for UK users is after the break.

More information/download Poynt for BlackBerry

Continue reading article

If you're a BlackBerry developer you may be interested in knowing that Research In Motion officially launched the Wi-Fi geolocation service a little over a week ago. Using Wi-Fi Access Point data that has been collected anonymously from your BlackBerry, this technology can provide location based sharing apps (such as foursquare or Twitter) a quick and accurate location fix.

Wi-Fi geolocation is faster and more convenient than GPS-based and Cell-site based location as well as uses less bandwidth, though the accuracy falls somewhere between that of GPS and Cell-site. APIs are available for devices running BlackBerry 6 OS and and higher, though service provisioning may take up to 3 more weeks. For complete details, head on over to the source link below. Thanks for sending this in Ray!

Source: BlackBerry Developer's Blog

Zagat is an application that lets you search, view, rate, map, and make reservations for restaurants across the nation. It is a great app to have while traveling, but it also good just to search restaurants you may not know about in your area. New features in this update include:

• Support for the newest BlackBerry devices
• Location-based search- Get ratings on restaurants that are nearby
• Reservations- Make restaurant reservations right from the app
• Map view- View Zagat-Rated restaurants on a map, for your location or within a search

You can pick up Zagat for BlackBerry for $1.99 per month, or $9.99 per year. However, they do offer a 14 day free trial, so you can give it a try with no commitment. It is available for all BlackBerry devices running 4.5+.

More information and download of Zagat

Good news for you Foursquare users out there. Foursquare for BlackBerry was just updated, now supporting photos. You are now able to check-in to a venue and add a photo, as well as submit a photo to the venue you are checking in to. They also announced that they will be adding the ability to comment on check-ins via BlackBerry. This feature should be available within the next week or so. Thanks @MrCippy !!

Download the latest version of Foursquare for BlackBerry

Source: Foursquare

Gowalla has been going head to head with Foursquare for a long while now in the race to be check in leader. Gowalla though, has announced their updated mobile application for BlackBerry. Previously, the Gowalla application wasn't exactly as robust as that of Foursquares but v1.0 changes a lot of that.

• Trips
• Items
• Take and post photos
• Ability to post threaded comments 

The above is a list of new items added to the application. As well. UI enhancements have been made. Since the application was previously beta, Gowall has now put the official stamp on this one and released it to everyone.

• Click Here To Download Gowalla v1.0 To Your BlackBerry Via OTA>>

Source: Gowalla Blog

Review of Foursquare application for BlackBerry Smartphones

It's a Friday night, you're out and about, you're at some swanky restaurant, or grabbing some drinks at a bar, or you're shopping at the mall. You want to know if you're other friends are around so you can meet up, what do you do? Well, you take out your BlackBerry and load FourSquare, check-in and see who else is around.

So what's FourSquare all about? It seems to be an app that lots of people have been talking about lately. It's a location based app that allows you to check-in to businesses, restaurants, shops, and places of interests. It's also a great way to find out where your friends are, see the places they've been and check those places out too. As well as that, while checking-in to different venues you collect points and badges depending on how often you check-in. The more check-ins in one day there more points you'll get. After your first check-in you get your Newbie badge, check-in at ten venues gets you an adventurer badge, twenty-five check-ins earns you the Explorer badge, there's even a Local badge if you've checked-in at a venue three or more times in a week. There are a whole host of other badges to unlock which I won't know of until I unlock myself. If you regularly check-in at one venue then you can gain the Mayorship of that venue which means that you're the person that has checked-in the most at the particularly venue. But you can also be ousted as Mayor if someone else then checks-in more than you. There are some people who do guard their Mayorship closely and will try to maintain this Mayorship and it's also something that makes FourSquare fun to use.

Read Full Review

Review of Poynt for BlackBerry Smartphones

Poynt is definitely an essential when it comes to your BlackBerry. This app truly connects you to the world around you. You can use Poynt to find movies, restaurants, people, businesses and gas prices. Poynt uses your GPS location and puts the desired venues you are looking for in an easy to read list including the distance from your current location. As you select the certain venue it will pull up a menu that enables you to call the location directly or even map out the route. The many features of this app makes it one of the best utility apps offered by BlackBerry. If I haven't convinced you to download this app yet, keep reading!

Read Full Review

We've known for a while that Gowalla was ramping up their efforts for the BlackBerry platform. Although, that information was based strictly on it being an eventual web app. Looks like things have changed in that area. Considering the war that is waging between Gowalla and Foursquare a dedicated BlackBerry app is certainly needed if they want to capture BlackBerry users. The Gowalla BlackBerry beta is now available for download via the Gowalla website. If location based services are your thing, check it out.

• Click Here To Download The Gowalla Beta Direct To Your BlackBerry>>

One of the biggest trends lately has been foursquare. Part social network part game, foursquare has taken off as of late and many BlackBerry users are getting in on the action. While obvisouly not for everyone, foursquare can be loads of fun as you try to earn points, badges and mayorships and helps you keep up with your friends while you're out and about. The current app is still in beta and not totally perfect, but it does work very well and the foursquare team seems to be hacking away at some good updates. If you're a current forusquare player or just looking to get into the game, the free app is definitely worth checking out. Take a look at the video above for a walkthrough of the current features of the foursquare app for BlackBerry.

• More information and download of foursquare for BlackBerry >>

We got the above sneak peek of Root Mobile from CES this year and launch was promised to be soon. Here we are, just a few short weeks later and Root Mobile has now gone live and is certainly ready to track the coverage offered by your carrier.

“No one carrier is best everywhere, but everyone can find the carrier and phone that are best for them,” said Root Wireless CEO Paul Griff.  “It’s encouraging that thousands of smartphone enthusiasts have pre-registered to help map wireless network performance and we expect that, as the effort is more widely understood, the data provided by crowdsourcing consumers’ phones will provoke fundamental changes in the way that people evaluate and purchase their wireless service.”

Intially, Root Mobile was US only but that has since changed. US and Canadian carriers are now both supported. So, if you've ever questioned your carriers' true coverage areas, Root Mobile can help you put your coverage in comparison to others around you. The application can be downloaded, run in the background and then you can view the data as you see fit. All devices with GPS are supported with the exception of Storms running OS 4.7, so give it a shot and help out.

• Download The Mobile Application From The Root Mobile Website>>

If you are a badge carrying Foursquare user this should bring a smile to your face. Foursquare for BlackBerry is now sitting at version 1.5 for users to download. The addition of the ability to add friends and tips has been put into version 1.5. Both items have been requested for a while now so nice to see that Foursquare is adding these things to the mix. Alas, the dark cloud surrounding this update is in what it didn't bring with it. That being a BlackBerry Storm dedicated version, while most users can make do with the current version, it would be nice to see a release that was meant for the touchscreen UI on Storm series devices. 

• Download The Latest Version Of Foursquare For BlackBerry Via The Foursquare Website >>

FindMeHere is a simple app with a direct purpose. It finds your location using your GPS and Google maps and allows you to copy and paste that location to where ever you may need it. Be it email, SMS, BlackBerry messenger or where ever else you can think of on your BlackBerry. Great for those times when you need to let people know where you are. 

Maybe you are meeting friends at a bar and they're unsure of where it is, fire up FindMeHere and send them your location instantly. Simple application with a simple purpose. That I like. FindMeHere sells for only $.99/cents in the CrackBerry app store but the good folks from BerryCodes have given us 50 copies to give away to our readers. Just give us an example of how  or where you could use FindMeHere and you're entered in to win one of 50 copies. Good luck folks!

[Enter once folks, duplicate entries will be ignored. We'll draw up the winners in a few days]

Loopt has just released their most recent update to the popular location based service. The new update offers the ability to add "Tips" about the locations you share with the Loopt community. Leaving tips for others is a simple process, you just go to the Discover tab and select the place that you want to leave a tip for and enter the information which you can also then share on Twitter.

In addition to tips being added, Loopt has also included addressbook integration. So now you can launch Loopt directly from your contacts list which allows for faster access and easier lookup of all your friends. You will also notice maps now has it's own tab, a feature which has been requested for a while now.

This latest update of Loopt for BlackBerry is available to U.S. users on the BlackBerry Curve 8520, 8530, 8900, BlackBerry Bold 9000, 9700, BlackBerry Tour 9630 and BlackBerry Storm 9530 & 9550. The previous version of Loopt is still available for legacy devices such as the 8330. To see if your device is supported and get Loopt, visit www.loopt.com using your BlackBerry browser.

 

Currently in early beta stages, Dynamic Legend is a location based clipboard that allows users to create a "legend" on the web, and bring the information along on your BlackBerry. When searching on the web via a pc, we typically find information we'd like to have for later reference on the go. Instead of entering the info into memopad or emailing it to yourself, Dynamic Legend lets you create a legend from the web, and using the free BlackBerry app, quickly access it at your destination. This can be useful for any number ot things including destination meetings, house hunting, garage sales, festivals and more. When you need to access the previously entered information, just enter the key (provided when creating a legend) in the app on your device and the information will be instantly pulled up. You can even add context information such as time and place.

Dynamic Legend is still in beta, so there may be some bugs/issues with the app but it seems to be working well thus far. If you'd like to try it out,  head to dynamiclegend.com/load/legendviewer on your device to download the application. Then check out dynamiclegend.com to get going and start creating legends.

• More information about Dynamic Legend >>

Ah, Friday night…okay so it’s not actually Friday night, but work with me. You’ve had a tiring week, you’ve put in long hours and your diligence has paid off. You leave work quickly before you’re dragged back in. The city is hustling and bustling with newly freed life, desperate to get home. You finally flop on your couch and put your feet up, when your BlackBerry rings. Your best friend is calling, wanting to shake off the week with you; they ask the all important question you’ve been waiting to hear: “What do you want to do?” The elation from your face quickly disappears, as your puzzled sounding response is delivered.

“I dunno, what do you want to do?”

It’s funny that, with all of the numerous bars, restaurants and other events happening around you, you seem to draw a blank. In the midst of the erupting city life, you wonder if you actually do have a life. As buzzd promises to be your social city guide, I thought it was worth a look at. If your new in town, newly on the scene or just looking for something new to do, check out the buzzd mobile app. Your City. Real Time.

Read Full Review