What's on my Blackberry

I get a lot of questions from people I know about Blackberries and what you can use to do this or that, partially because I manage a cell phone retail store and partially because I tout the Blackberry as the greatest device ever invented. So I decided to put up this post for their benefit and anyone else who may learn anything from it. I use an 8330 Curve with OS 4.5 on US Cellular.

The first thing I tell any new Blackberry user to do is to download the Berrystore app. This little app has a listing of a lot of the must-have free apps (as well as others that are not must-have), and you can download them directly from the berrystore app without having to go to each site. Just open your browser on your BB and go to www.berrystore.com. Some of the apps listed in there as "free" are actually trials, but I'll list some of the best free ones here. I'll add additional posts for options in different categories of apps and what I do and don't like about each one. Here is what I have on my Blackberry right now:

Viigo
The best mobile RSS feed reader out there, hands down. Choose from hundreds of sites in every category, create your own search channel to get just the info you want, sync your Google Reader, My Yahoo!, or Bloglines subscriptions, get weather, sports info including live scores from the NFL, NCAA, and more, local interest items like Craigslist, stocks and finance, entertainment news, and soon (can't wait) podcasts. This is one of my most used apps.

Opera Mini
This is a really great alternative web browser to the native BB browser(which is not horrible) for a couple of reasons. First, there are sites that don't render correctly in the BB browser that will in Opera. One example is the Blackboard site for our local University. With the BB browser you can get to the site, but it won't let you sing in to the site. With Opera it works just like it should. Second, Opera is smokin' fast compared to the BB browser, because it renders sites at the server end and then sends the results. I recently tried out the much touted Skyfire browser on a friend's Windows Mobile device, and there was no comparison to Opera Mini. Opera's startpage is also an improvement, with 10 "Speed Dial" bookmarks, rss feed aggregator, recent history links, saved pages, and a search bar with options to search with Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, and Ebay built in (and you can customize it with more search options), in addition to the normal address bar.

Google Mobile App
Really this is just a Google search bar with shortcuts to a bunch of other Google apps, some of which you should install but you can access with their own icons. The rest are Reader, Notebook, News, Calender, Docs, and Photos (Picasa). I should probably delete this app, but I haven't and I occasionally access things through it. You can use it to download other Google Mobile apps that you should have, like...

Google Maps
This one is indispensable. It is better all around than the native BB maps that comes built in. It will track your position through cell tower triangulation if GPS is unavailable for some reason (like being inside) and provides the excellent search features you would expect from Google. I am waiting for Google to add turn-by-turn voice navigation, but it is a non-negotiable app to have even without this.

Gmail Mobile App
You don't need this to get your Gmail, obviously. You will undoubtedly have it pushed to your Berry just like any other email. The point of having this app, to me, is when you need to search for something in your Gmail. You can see your labels, starred items, etc. just like in your browser. So at times it can be very helpful, even if you probably won't use it on a regular basis.

Google Sync
Another awesome mobile app from Google. This will sync your calendar and contacts with your Google Calendars and Gmail contacts (recently added feature). This essentially gives anyone on BIS the same feature set as BES without business-specific exchanged items. If you're a heavy Google user (and I am), the Blackberry/Google combo is really coming a long way fast in offering an incredible suite of tools to synchronize wirelessly a lot of information (not to mention backing it up in case of having to wipe your Berry or if it is lost or stolen).

Vlingo
This is a really good voice service with a rich feature set including voice dialing (better than the built in voice dialing), sending text and email messages with voice, opening apps, and even updating your Facebook an Twitter status. It learns your voice the more you use it, so it gets better with age. You can also do quick web searches with your voice, or add a new task or memo. I don't use this all the time, but I could probably make good use of it if I thought about it regularly.

Twitterberry
Mobile app for Twitter. Has all the features you need. If you are a Twitterer like me, this is a must have.

QuickText
Speed dial for texting.

Qik
Stream live video online using your Berry's video camera. (This is not in the Berrystore app)

3rd partyapps that came on the device that I use:
Facebook mobile app - newer version coming out in 2009.
Gtalk - gmail chat, IM

And of course you need a cool looking Theme. There are thousands out there for every taste, and I recommend looking through www.pimpmyberry.com, but there are many others. If you use Opera Mini, keep in mind that some themes don't allow you to see their browser menu, so you'll want to find one that is "opera friendly".

Enjoy your 'Berry!