BlackBerry App Roundup for July 24th, 2009!

Howdy folks! Hoping everyone out there in CrackBerry Nation had another great week. Lots of titles to talk about in this weeks' edition of the BlackBerry App Roundup, so lets get right down to it. Covered in the Roundup this week are the following titles:

In Case You Missed It: BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac!, Barnes & Noble eBook Reader and On-Device Store, TweetCaster Twitter Client, Flycast 2.0 Released, Nobex Radio Companion Updated

New This Week: DVD Catalyst, Mobile Security Alert, mySchedule NFL 2009, Empower SMS Viewer, LaterDude Pro

Apps on Sale: Storm Today Plus Theme, BlackBerry Executor Keychain, Tip Calculator, AutoStandby, Wild West Hangman

Cool at BlackBerry App World: Guitar Hero World Tour

Freebie of the Week: ProTranslateLite

Note: Don't forget, you can always search for titles featured in the App Roundup within App World... Some apps mentioned may be available there for your device.

In Case You Missed It...

Just in case you missed these titles, below are some apps that were covered in the CrackBerry Blogs this past week. Check 'em out!

BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac!

Finally, I can hear all of the Mac users out there yelling out a big *BOOYA!*. It's about GD time! RIM officially announced earlier in the week that BlackBerry Desktop Manager software for the Mac will become available in September. W00t! To stay abreast of the latest news, hit up blackberry.com/mac and register for updates. The Mac version should be able to do everything we've come to expect from the PC sibling, including backups and restores, multiple device support, the ability to add/remove apps, OS updates, plus syncing of iTunes playlists, calendars, contacts and more.

Barnes & Noble eBook Reader and On-Device Store 

Barnes & Noble announced a new on-device BlackBerry eBook Reader and Store. At launch, the store had over 700,000 titles in it, but it's worth noting that 500,000 of those were public domain. Also worth noting, B&N is giving away 5 free eBooks just for downloading the app. For downloading you will receive:

• Dracula
• Pride and Prejudice
• Little Women
• Merriam-Webster's Pocket Dictionary
• Benjamin Button

For more information or to download (and get your free eBooks), hit up Barnes & Noble.

TweetCaster Twitter Client

Many, many Twitter clients are available for the BlackBerry... But if you're tired of your current client, you may want to give this new offering a spin. Called 'TweetCaster', this new Twitter client from Handmark allows for multiple accounts, URL shortening, current trending topics list, GPS and more. Of course this one is free, all you need to do is hit up this page and send a Tweet. Easy.

Flycast 2.0 Released 

FlyCast 2.0 was officially released the other day, and it contains some pretty major enhancements including:

• Storm supports both landscape and portrait mode now
• New Twitter interface added. Tweet a song and it will post a link to the song on your Twitter feed that any user can click on to be taken directly to that station on FlyCast to hear it.
• Station caching, users can now cache stations direct to their media card for playback when coverage is not available at all times.
• Loading of your own music library through FlyCast

The only bummer here is if you really love the station caching built-in, you'll need to pay for the service after a 7-day trial runs its course. You can grab 5 hours for $9.95 or 20 hours for $19.95.

For more information hit up Flycast.fm.

Nobex Radio Companion Updated 

The ever popular Nobex Radio Companion went ahead with another update this past week. They've gone global with the premium service. Now, over 1000 worldwide stations have been added to the lineup, bringing the total number of stations available to over 2000. Not too shabby. Among the countries added in this update include France, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and Italy. The premium service is available for $19.95 /yr or $3.99/mth. For more info hit up www.nobexrc.com.

New This Week

DVD Catalyst

DVD Catalyst is a handy to use video conversion app that lets you watch your own movies and TV shows on your Berry. Convert DVDs into popular video formats that are small in size, yet keep the best file quality possible. Conversion of video files is easy, just one-click and you're on your way. Plus, there are tons of features built-in to this one including a batch feature, folder monitor, multi-DVD, closed captions, scene selection and a whole lot more. If help is needed, an 80+ page user guide is also included, and it covers all the bases.

Pick up DVD Catalyst for $19.95. A free trial is also available.

Mobile Security Alert

Feel like you need a little more personal protection? Mobile Security Alert is a small app that was designed with your personal defense in mind. If you ever find yourself being approached by an aggressor, simply grab your Berry and trigger the alarm with the press of a button. Handy if you enjoy outdoor sports and fitness...Just make sure you have a nifty case or holster to protect you're Berry while you're on the go! This one requires at least OS 4.0 and 2MB of free memory.

Get Mobile Security Alert for $3.99. A free trial is also available.

mySchedule NFL 2009

The 2009 NFL season is fast approaching. What better way to get primed than to review schedules, rosters and stats? The developers at Toysoft have just released their mySchedule NFL 2009 app, which includes an AFC and NFC team breakdown, all team rosters, player salaries, TV listings, DirecTV listings, plus a heck of a lot more. Make sure you're running OS 4.2 or newer, and have at least 900K of free memory before you load this one up.

mySchedule NFL 2009 is available for $3.95 until July 31st (regular $4.95). A free trial is also available.

Empower SMS Viewer

Want to 'dress up' your SMS messages a bit? With Empower SMS Viewer, you can add colors, smileys, backgrounds, links and a lot more. Compose your own custom rich SMS templates and smileys as well. There's seamless integration with the native SMS app here, and it should run fine on all Berry's running OS 4.2.1 or newer.

Empower SMS Viewer is available for $14.99. A free trial is also available.

LaterDude Pro

This latest offering from our pal Fabien Heuwieser is a nifty reminder system. LaterDude Pro reminds you to call, SMS or email someone. The app integrates very nicely into your OS, and there is no application to launch. Once installed, it's there, working for you whenever you need it. LaterDude Pro is accessible from anywhere, but within your call log, messages/email, SMS and address book you can grab information and import it into the fields used in LaterDude.

For example, if you wanted to set a reminder to contact me about this roundup, open your address book, scroll down to my name, press menu > remind me later! and set up a reminder. Easy.

You can pick up LaterDude Pro for $2.95. A free trial is also available.

BlackBerry Apps on Sale:

Storm Today Plus Theme

Turn your Blackberry into a Chic Berry with the STORM Today Plus Theme!
On sale for $3.99
until July 25th

BlackBerry Executor Keychain

bbExecutor has 8 Classic assault sounds - from phasers and machine guns to bombs and explosions!
On sale for $0.99
until July 31st

Tip Calculator

This is the tip calculator that you have been waiting for. Easy to use, very powerful, and it looks great!
On sale for $2.99
until July 26th

AutoStandby

Automatically enter standby mode on idle, which saves a significant amount of battery life and locks the keypad with only a single button to restore!
On sale for $3.95
until July 31st

Wild West Hangman

Wild West Hangman combines the original pen and paper game, with modern trivia questions, to make a game that is both fun and challenging for all ages.
On sale for $1.99
until August 19th

Cool at BlackBerry App World:

Guitar Hero World Tour 

It's time to grab your axe, or in this case, your BlackBerry. In this mobile version of the ultra-popular series, you can play the drums or guitar to 15 all-new tracks. Hit up multiplayer battles against live opponents, and register online at www.guitarheromobile.com to create your persona, check your rank, achievements and a whole lot more.

The initial track list that comes with the game includes:

• Lenny Kravitz - "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Up Around the Bend"
• Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"
• Blondie - "One Way or Another"
• Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama (live)"
• Sublime - "Santeria"
• No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
• Rise Against - "Re-Education Through Labor"
• Oasis - "Some Might Say"
• Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band - "Hollywood Nights"
• Interpol - "Obstacle 1"
• Ted Nugent - "Stranglehold"
• Black Label Society - "Stillborn"
• Motorhead - "Overkill"

New tracks are added monthly... very cool, considering 15 tracks could get very old, very fast if you play it a lot. Look for this one in App World or at Bplay for $9.99.

Freebie of the Week:

ProTranslateLite

Need a user-friendly translator for use on the go? The folks at Prolog Bangladesh recently put together ProTranslateLite, and it's now available in our store. The app uses Google's API to translate text to English, Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, German, Dutch, Greek, Italian, Spanish and many other languages. Use it to translate incoming messages in other languages... or take some text, translate it to the desired language and send it off! I should note that ads are supported in this build, which of course is the reason this app is absolutely free.

Hit up ShopCrackBerry for more details and download instructions.

Until Next Week..

Have news on BlackBerry Apps? New BlackBerry Apps, Upgraded BlackBerry Apps, Free BlackBerry Apps... it's all good! If you have any software news tips send them in to me at softwareroundup@crackberry.com. I can't do it without your help!

Of course, we also have many more New BlackBerry Apps, Updated BlackBerry Apps and Free BlackBerry Apps available at ShopCrackBerry.com. Be sure to visit our software store for more great deals on BlackBerry Applications!