Year after year, I can honestly say I install more than my fair share with applications. Between beta testing, reviews and my own curiosity, I’m surprised that any of my BlackBerry smartphones haven’t screamed “Enough!”. With that in mind, I try to keep my BlackBerry smartphone as clean as possible. If I don’t use an application frequently, it’s uninstalled. For the few I do hold onto, I don’t actually realize how much I use them as it becomes simply second nature to me. Many apps have come and gone, but a select few I still keep close at hand. Check out my most-used apps of 2011.

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Father’s Day is fast approaching folks and if you’re anything like me, you’re probably scrambling for ideas on what to get for your husband or father. All of us here at CrackBerry.com want to help ease some of the stress in finding that perfect gift so we decided to put together some suggestions of the must-have/want items. In the guide below you will find many options that have been pulled from the forums as well as suggestions from fellow BlackBerry users.

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Award winning contact management app Xobni for BlackBerry just got a HUGE update! The team has been hard at work over the last couple of months, compiling feedback and suggestions and evolving their app to the next level. Not only are there some expected bug fixes, but they also added in new features, functionality, and UI updates for both the free and paid versions. Check out the full change log after the break (it's long!) and to download hit one of the links below.

For more information and to download Xobni from the CrackBerry store
For more information and to download Xobni from BlackBerry App World

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One of the Crack Team's favorite apps just got favoriter (not quite a word but it sounded good in my head). Xobni for Gmail has started a private beta, and just like the Outlook version, if you're a Gmail user you'll now be able to keep your email contacts in sync with your BlackBerry. The Xobni for Gmail plugin works with Chrome and Firefox and easily keeps all your contacts plugged into Xobni and up to date. You'll now have all of your Gmail contacts at your fingertips when composing emails from your BlackBerry.

"Initially, Xobni focused on providing a search and contact add-in for Outlook. Today we're much more," said Jeff Bonforte, Xobni CEO. "Our users have been telling us they needed Xobni for all their many inboxes and devices. We wanted to be there too, so we built a cloud infrastructure that unifies your contacts, enhances them with third party content, and makes them accessible from multiple touch points." 

Xobni also plans to launch their mobile application on both Android and iPhone in the coming months so if you're a multiple device user you can stay in sync across the board. Read more at the Xobni blog.

To get in on the Gmail beta, head over to xobni.com/gmailbeta to sign up. Keep reading for the full press release.

More information/download of Xobni for BlackBerry

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Long time favorite and CrackBerry App Awards winner Xobni is today's deal of the day. Today only you can pick up the app for just $0.99. Xobni creates your own "super address book" on your device, gathering all the contact information from people automatically. Never be lost when trying to find and address or phone number again.

Features:

• Automatically created profiles for every person with whom you've ever communicated.
  
• Ranked by importance - The people you email the most are at the top.
  
• Lightning fast search by name or company name exposes each person's profile. Complete with photos, contact info, recent emails, calls, texts, info from LinkedIn/Facebook and more.
  
• Instant access to all your Xobni Contacts in the BlackBerry compose screen. 
  

This offer is only good until midnight tonight so don't miss out. Xobni even syncs with Outlook using Xobni One so you can always have your contacts at the ready.

More information/download of Xobni Super Address Book

Xobni for BlackBerry has been updated to v2.0.11, the full chnage log is listed below but the biggest news here is likely the addition of a free version to the Xobni line up. Yes, Xobni will now come in a free and Pro version for those of you out there who would like to have some of the key features of Xobni but not all. Check out the change log that also indicates the free vs. pro version differences.

• Universal Search – Universal Search integration for OS 6.x devices, Xobni results will show up in your native BlackBerry search! (Pro only)
• Contact Sharing – Share full contact details, emails/phone numbers via email or SMS (OS 6.x). Xobni users will see a notification dialog in Xobni.
• Export To Adress Book – Now users can export contact details from Xobni to the native BlackBerry Address Book (Pro only).
• Search by Company/Title – Leveraging the social and Outlook contact details from Xobni, search for Company or Title (Pro only).
• Free Version! - Xobni for BlackBerry can now be downloaded for free, which will include Xobni Pro upgrades with a few feature limitations (up to 3 compose screen lookups per day)

If you've been holding off on Xobni due to its cost well that's not longer a concern with the free version version available. Give it a go, you'll see why most of the CrackBerry staff swear by it over the default address book.

More information/download of Xobni in the CrackBerry App Store

If you've been putting off your purchase of Xobni for BlackBerry due to the price tag, now is your chance to get it cheaper than ever. For the holiday season the price of Xobni for BlackBerry has dropped to just $1.99. You can pick up the "super address book" at this price for a limited time, so get on it before the promotion ends.

"We're really excited by all the positive reviews we've received from our users and the BlackBerry blogging community on our mobile app." says Michael Albers, Head of Mobile Product Development at Xobni "So, we're doing a holiday promotion to get even more people using the product and spreading the good word about what we think is the world's best and most comprehensive address book." 

Xobni for BlackBerry is available for most devices and has recently been updated to work with OS6 and the BlackBerry Torch. You can pick it up from BlackBerry App World or the CrackBerry App Store from the links below. A free trial is also available.

More information/download of Xobni in BlackBerry App World
More information/download of Xobni in the CrackBerry App Store

Our friends at Xobni let us know that they have made some great updates to Xobni for BlackBerry. The latest version brings along OS6/Torch support as well as some cool updates and minor bug fixes. Version 1.0.88.9 is hot off the presses and ready to roll. Features include:

OS 6 Support

• Touching the Xobni bar or flicking up works on compose, reply and forward actions now work on OS 6x devices
  
• Updated High-Definition icons
  
• Touch scrolling enhanced for optimized scrolling experience
  
• Editing is aware of virtual keyboard display and formats content shown on remaining screen
  
• Add picture for contacts via cameraMultiple interface updates (including improved setup guide, keyboard shortcuts to options, contact detail UI update)

Updates

• Key stability and performance improvements
• Improvements for activation & trial related issues
• Contact Extraction and contact edit improvements
• All user preferences are maintained during upgrades
• And much more!

Xobni for BlackBerry is available for download for just $9.99 from the CrackBerry App Store. 

• More information/download of Xobni for BlackBerry >>

If you've been holding off on purchasing Xobni for BlackBerry, now you can grab it directly from BlackBerry App World. If you haven't yet heard of Xobni, it creates a contact list based on addresses and information pulled from emails, giving you a big, fat contact list that is extremely easy to manage and convenient to use. Features of Xobni include:

• Automatically created profiles for every person with whom you've ever communicated.
  
• Ranked by importance - The people you email the most are at the top.
  
• Lightning fast search by name or company name exposes each person's profile. Complete with photos, contact info, recent emails, calls, texts, info from LinkedIn/Facebook and more.
  
• Instant access to all your Xobni Contacts in the BlackBerry compose screen.
  

Xobni is $9.99 and a free-trial is available. While the price tag may seem a bit high, the app pays for itself in no time and is one of the most used apps by the entire Crack team. Hit the link below for more.

• More information/download of Xobni for BlackBerry >>

The folks at Xobni have let us know their BlackBerry beta has been rolled out to the masses. Everyone is now welcome to download and check out the application. As we noted in our "What's on a CrackBerry BlackBerry?" article, mostly everyone asked had Xobni installed. If your contact list and inbox is a little messy then Xobni is a sure bet to help you clean up that mess. Since it organizes your contacts by frequency of communication, the most communicated with folks will always be at the top of your list, allowing easy access. The public beta has plenty of bug fixes included as well over the prvious beta:

• Search speed improvements
• Performance improvements for BlackBerry local data integration
• Performance improvements for scrolling in the search results
• Better integration with Blackberry Address book
• Trials and gift code activation
• Phone number source and email snippet from Xobni One/Outlook
• Xobni one status dialog and purchase flow
• LinkedIn Sign-in integration for additional data access (in Options)
• Icon fix for Storm
• Contact update improvements
• Better image integration with LinkedIn and Facebook
• Fixes for recent message, phone and SMS data scanning 

If you're looking for a better way to control your address book and contacts, give Xobni a shot today. The latest version is now available for download via the Xobni website via OTA.

• Click Here To Download Xobni For BlackBerry Today>>

In our "What's on A CrackBerry BlackBerry" article, Xobni was insanely popular among the staff here. And with good reason as well. If you all listen to the CrackBerry podcast you've likely heard Adam profess his love for that many times as well but also, heard him mention of a few bugs that still remain. No worries though, Xobni has sent out their latest beta version to some of the original beta testing using and it has looked at and improved upon many users feedback. Some of the changes and additions are as follows:

• Performance improvements for BlackBerrry local data integration
• Performance improvements for scrolling in the search results
• Better integration with Blackberry Address book
• Trials and gift code activation
• Phone number source and email snippet from Xobni One/Outlook
• Xobni one status dialog
• LinkedIn “Sign-in” integration for additional data access (in Options)

The update is said to be rolling out to the masses as soon as enough feedback has been generated from the beta testers. So far, in my using the application I can say it seems faster to access data and appears to have adjusted some of the slight lag seen when using the applicatiion. All in all, it was never really bothersome anyway in my opinion but, it does seem to of have been corrected with this release.

• Click Here To Learn More And Get Started With Xobni On BlackBerry>>

We all know that CrackBerry is the source of information for BlackBerry applications. There are so many out there. On CrackBerry, you can easily read up on new and updated apps, in depth reviews and even pick up applications from the CrackBerry App Store. While we do get to take a look at some incredibly interesting applications, one thing I get asked is, “What do you use?” My BlackBerry has seen plenty of applications cross its home screen. Some have stayed as they have been quite beneficial. Others, though they could be useful, simply didn’t work specifically for me. It’s not necessarily because they weren’t decent applications, but because of both space and need.

So with access to all of these applications, which ones made the cut? Which apps have found a home on our BlackBerrys? What’s on a CrackBerry BlackBerry? With a fondness for all apps on our devices, I asked the editors and writers what their top 3 installed apps were and why. Check out the responses after the jump.

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Part III of our five part WES 2010 BlackBerry Solution Showcase spotlight tour had us checking out some interesting companies. You'll recognize Audiovox's Accoustic Research division's Zentral Home Command line of products as they are what has become of the original Unify4Life products that originally surfaced at WES three years ago. RCA was their to show off their AirPower project which leaches the power in WiFi signals to re-charge a battery pack and Xobni walked us through their powerful solution for managing contacts. Lastly, Freeance Mobile showed us how they're using GPS and location to really help enterprises. Click the links in the paragraph above to learn more about each company! 

We haven't heard much about Xobni since its release in March, but it has received some updates in the past few weeks. The latest comes in the form of version 1.0.58.1 and brings some much anticipated features. Any Xobni users knows that sometimes the addresses in the contact list weren't always needed (ie your own address, newsgroups etc) and were just a pain. Well thanks to feedback from users, Xobni now lets you hide addresses in your contact list, as well as merge (for users that have multiple addresses and show up more than once) and even edit contacts. Editing a contact lets you change or add email addresses, phone numbers, pictures, title and company. Overall some much needed additions to the application. If you're a current Xobni user you can upgrade from bb.xobni.com. New users can check out more at xobni.com/blackberry.

• More information and download of Xobni for BlackBerry >>

The long-awaited Xobni Mobile for BlackBerry is now available. We've seen the service in action more times than we can count, and are happy to say it is finally available to the public. Xobni replaces your default address book and "automatically builds and maintains the fastest, most complete and smartest address book you've ever used". The app creates profiles based on your contacts that include email addresses and phone numbers as well as information for LinkedIn, Facebook and more. The contacts are automatically kept up to date and ranked in order of relevance. Features include:

• Email addresses for everyone with whom you communicate
• Automatic phone number extraction
• Access to contacts using Xobni within the email compose screen or in standalone application
• Prioritized contacts using Xobni Rank, which lists contacts by how often you communicate with them versus alphabetically
• Saving of Xobni profiles in the event of hard drive crash or lost phone
• Quick access to valuable information, including:
  • One-click access to Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, including photos
  • Recent SMS, phone calls and emails exchanged, and shared appointments
  • Shared network of people
  • Ability to send your calendar availability to all contacts

In my opinion Xobni is one of the few "absolutely must have" apps for BlackBerry. Xobni is available as a stand-alone BlackBerry app, and can also link to Microsoft Outlook via the Xobni One service. Xobni Mobile for BlackBerry can be purchased for a one-time fee of $9.99. Xobni Mobile with the Xobni One service is a $6.99 one-time fee, plus a $3.99 recurring monthly fee. You can also purchase one-year of Xobni Mobile on BlackBerry with Xobni One for $39.90/year. For more information and downloads head on over to xobni.com/mobile.

• More information and download of Xobni Mobile for BlackBerry >>