Since taking off for the holidays I’ve been experimenting with my Blackberry 8800 — seeing how much work and play I could get done from ski slopes, commuting, on the run, etc. — with my smart phone while avoiding the auto default to my trusty Dell Latitude D820.
The results: I don’t plan on dumping my laptop anytime soon, but there are some great applications that make the 8800 a highly effective mobile device for getting things done.
Top Applications
Far and away, e-mail, calendaring and address book are the top applications and BB’s integration with Microsoft Exchange is really powerful. This is why a lot of executives aren’t abandoning their BBs for iPhones. The e-mail, calendar and address book just work really well.
Facebook for Blackberry — this is a really simple, but elegant application that let’s you be active with your Facebook network while on the run. I think all major social networks need to extend their content and applications to mobile users so I found this application thought provoking. I use it a few times per day to update my networks and share photos.
NY Times for Blackberry — it’s tough to get a NY Times in some cities. It’s also tough to read the paper on a smart phone. However, NY Times now has a BB-specific application and it’s really good. I read the NY Times for two weeks exclusively using this application and really enjoyed it.
Google mobile search — seems to be improving on a weekly (if not daily) basis. I like the ability to personalize my mobile start page, as well. gmail also works quite nicely on my BB.
Aces Texas Hold’em — the one mobile game I’ve found that I really enjoy. Good entertainment on plane rides.
Top Disappointments
My favorite RSS reader — Bloglines — does not work well on the BB. The commands are a little buggy. This may require a switch to Google which seems more committed to mobile applications.
Video — not that great on the BB.
A lot of websites do not render well for mobile devices — they need to.
Mobile applications are still slightly too painful for mainstream use. They need to get easier and faster. Having said that, I think we will see major brands implementing applications like the Facebook and NY Times app’s above in 2008 to get into the mobile game. More complex and valuable applications will surely follow.
21 January 2008
| Mobile
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