Useful BlackBerry Bold applications

I've had a BlackBerry Bold (9000) since it was released on the Rogers wireless network in August 2008. Here are some tips, tricks and general hints about the applications that I've found useful on it:

1. WeatherEye Mobile for BlackBerry: The Weather Network's free (ad-supported) app can sit on the home screen to show the current temperature and conditions for your selected city when you glide over its icon! In the app, you can see short-term and long-term (through tomorrow) and long-term (5-day) forecasts.


2. BeejiveIM: this is my preferred Instant Messaging (IM) client since it's multi-protocol and not dependent on a web service. I also have many single-service free IM clients installed, but it's worth paying $20 for BeejiveIM to get the Jabber/XMPP support and the consolidated buddy list across services. The other clients are generally only available as Over-The-Air (OTA) downloads from your BlackBerry's mobile browser so that the carrier's service books can be checked:
   • Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger for BlackBerry (OTA)
   • AOL's AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) for BlackBerry (OTA)
   • AOL's ICQ for BlackBerry (OTA)
   • Yahoo! Messenger for BlackBerry (OTA)
   • Google Talk (OTA)


3. Social Networking:
   • Facebook - it's handy to be able to see a few recent friends' updates as well as update my own status. But the photo upload resizes your pics, so I recommend using e-mail to mobile@facebook.com (with PIN code confirmation by SMS) for better quality. In version 1.5, you can update your contact records with their profile photos!
   • TwitterBerry (OTA) - it's a quick way to tweet without using SMS (there are other clients out there but this met my needs)
   • MySpace (OTA) - I don't really use this, but I had to try it.
   • Flickr (OTA) - yes I have an account but rarely use it.


4. Google Mobile for BlackBerry: a whole suite of mobile apps and optimized web sites, such as Maps (see below), News, Docs, Reader, Sync, Mail, Picasa, etc. (lots more)


5. Maps and driving directions (with both aGPS and true GPS support):
   • Google Maps (this is practically a killer app, especially with Latitude so that you can share your location and see your friends' locations who are sharing with you)
   • MapQuest for Mobile has a friendly interface and accurate maps in my experience but is still in beta so isn't as fast (OTA)


6. Newsreaders (RSS feed clients):
   • CrackBerry.com edition of Viigo (OTA):
     • News: added my favourite RSS feeds (CBC BC, PGIMF, TechVibes, Engadget, The Business Insider, etc. plus some great built-in ones like Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed, dealnews, etc.
     • Local Interest: search for key phrases in Craigslist Vancouver
   • WSJ Mobile Reader: The Wall Street Journal is making the full text of subscriber content available free for a "limited time" so enjoy it while you can!
   
   
7. Streaming radio:
   • FlyCast for BlackBerry has a good list of channels to listen to
   • Nobex Radio Companion has a better selection of Canadian stations.


8. RepliGo Reader: after the 10-day trial period, this native PDF file viewer (not just online attachment preview) costs $20, so I haven't decided if I'll use it enough to buy it -- but the couple of files I tried it on worked very well.


9. Games: BBTetris (free falling bricks game)

Now you can browse and download a wide variety of free and paid applications from the BlackBerry App World on your phone.