Depending on what version of BlackBerry 7.1 you have will dictate whether you already have the Application Resource Monitor pre-loaded on your device. Back in June this year RIM announced that the app would be included in future software builds, but with OS versions being so reliant on carriers, many of you will be without it. The app is now available to download from BlackBerry App World for free and may well aid you if you are having issues with battery life on your BlackBerry.

As the name of the app suggests it runs in the background and will automatically scan third party apps and then alert you of any running on your device that may be using up some additional power. You have the option to turn the app on and off and it works a real treat. I have been using it for a while and was quite surprised when it alerted me to an application I have been running on my BlackBerry for years.

The Application Resource Monitor is only available for devices running BlackBerry 7.1 at this time although it would be nice to see some support in the future for BlackBerry 6 users. If your BlackBerry will support the app it is well worth a download. You may interested to see how much battery life is being wasted unintentionally.

Features of the app include:

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RIM has announced that they are adding an Application Resource Monitor to OS 7.1. Much like other system features that are integrated into the OS, the new monitor keeps track of "system resource abuse" that could negatively influence battery life and automatically shut them down.

BlackBerry Application Resource Monitor monitors applications when they are in the background (with the screen on or off) and when in the foreground when the screen is off. When the app is in one of these two states, it looks for excessive background wakeups (any sort of timers firing including rapid/constant repaints) and high CPU utilization. 

Overall a pretty cool feature that should help lots of users pick up some extra battery life. You can read more about the features of the Application Resource Monitor over at the BlackBerry Developer Blog. Look for it in upcoming releases of OS 7.1.