Channel 9 - Entries tagged with Blackberry

Gwabbit, the Killer Outlook Add-in Comes to Blackberry

Sarah Perez — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:00:00 GMT

At the most recent DEMO conference, a new Outlook add-in called gwabbit was introduced and immediately, it became one of the biggest hits from the whole event. The reason? Gwabbit simplifies the process of adding contacts to Microsoft Outlook. Although Outlook itself includes support for the vCard format, there are a ton of times when you want to add someone to your contact list but don’t have their vCard on hand. Often, creating their contact card then involves tediously copying and pasting info from their email signature. With gwabbit, though, you no longer have to do this manual process – all you have to do is click to create a new contact.

The gwabbit plugin automatically identifies a user’s contact info in the body of an email and then, with a click of a button, it can transform that text into an Outlook contact. It’s incredibly fast and a HUGE timesaver.

Now gwabbit has introduced a companion to their Outlook plugin, with a new Contact Manager designed for BlackBerry users. This version of gwabbit does pretty much the same thing as its counterpart – it automatically searches for signatures in your emails and lets you add them to your BlackBerry address book with just one click. And if your BlackBerry is being synced back to Outlook, as most BlackBerry devices in a corporate environment are, those new contacts are synced as well.

Gwabbit for Outlook is available as a one-time download for $19.95 (free trial available) and the new BlackBerry version will be available by month-end via an annual subscription of $9.95.

Xberry Live! Brings Xbox To The Blackberry

Sarah Perez — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:59:00 GMT

The combination of a gaming platform (Xbox) and the phone used by a large number of business professionals worldwide (Blackberry) seems somewhat of an unlikely combination, but I suppose that, in recent years, the Blackberry has branched out to be more of a consumer device. The consumer adoption of Blackberry must be the explanation for the Blackberry app Xberry Live, which was recently profiled on the Crackberry website. This app lets you see which of your friends are online, what they’re playing, and what games they’ve recently played. The app will display your friends list but also lets you add anyone with an Xbox Live Gamer tag. Xberry Live is still in beta at the moment and works on Blackberry phones running OS version 4.2.1 and up including the 81xx, 83xx, 87xx, 88xx, and 9000 models. You can download the app directly from here: http://jxl.me/xberry/xberrylive.jad

Live Search For Blackberry To Get Even Easier

Sarah Perez — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:09:00 GMT

Microsoft and Research in Motion (RIM), makers of Blackberry smartphones, have just announced a deal that will make Live Search even easier to use on Blackberry devices. Already available as a software download, Live Search will now be found directly within the Blackberry’s built-in web browser as well as in RIM’s mobile portal. In addition to integration of the web search within the browser, the new partnership will also bring integration of Live Search in Blackberry Maps, too. From there, Blackberry users will be able to perform contextual, location-sensitive searches as well as look for nearby points of interest. These new changes are expected later this year.

Sneak Peek at Live Mesh for Mobile

Sarah Perez — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:52:00 GMT

At the Microsoft TechEd Australia 2008 conference keynote this morning, Dr. Neil and Amit Mital showed a quick preview of the Live Mesh application running on a Windows Palm Treo Pro. Long Zeng has the screenshots on his blog. In the demo, they showed how quickly a mobile photo could be synced to all the other devices on the Mesh. When will we see the mobile Mesh client app? “In the coming months,” they say.

In the meantime, it’s not like you have to do without – the Mobile Mesh web page is available at m.mesh.com from your mobile phone. It works OK on my Blackberry Pearl (for viewing at least) and you can view your files from an iPhone, too. However, a native mobile app for my Blackberry would be even better. Hopefully, the Live Mesh for Windows Mobile client will be the first step towards that goal.

Windows Live Messenger and Live Mail Come To Blackberry

Sarah Perez — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:13:00 GMT

Got a Blackberry? Then you will love this: Windows Live Messenger is now available for Blackberry smartphones. Now, I was able to sign into WLM on my Blackberry via a pre-installed “IM” app that let me sign into any one of a number of IM services, but there are some advantages to using the new WLM app. With the new app, you can join group chats, set your status message and see others’ statuses, save conversations, use an avatar and see others’ avatars, send and received pictures and files, and gain access to over 60 emoticons. Guess what? I’m switching to this!

Along with the news about Windows Live Messenger, the other big news is Windows Live Mail’s arrival on Blackberry, too. The application will use the Blackberry’s “push” technology to deliver its messages and will set up a dedicated inbox just for Live Mail. You will also be able to see HTML email with the ability to view graphics, links, and contact photos in your email. To use either of these services, you only need to sign in once with your Windows Live ID information.

To download Windows Live Messenger for Blackberry, click here. (thanks LiveSide!)

Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger Come to Blackberry

Sarah Perez — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:39:00 GMT

It was announced that Microsoft and Research in Motion, makers of the Blackberry, have formed an agreement which will allow RIM to provide some Windows Live services on their Blackberry smartphones. Starting sometime this summer, new Blackberrys will start shipping that feature mobile versions of both Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail. Often when apps go mobile they lose a lot of features in the process, but that doesn't seem to be the case with either of these. Windows Live Hotmail, for example, will send email to phones via Blackberry's "push" technology, will have its own dedicated inbox, and will display email in full HTML, showing graphics, links, and even contact photos. Live Messenger will also be feature-rich, offering the ability to join group chats, set presence indicators and status messages, save conversations, display avatars, send and receive files and photos, and allow you to use more than 60 emoticons.

New Live Search Features for Windows Mobile and Blackberry

Sarah Perez — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:05:00 GMT

Along with the announcement about the new version of Windows Mobile, version 6.1, it was also announced that Live Search for Windows Mobile and Blackberry is going to be updated, too. The updates include mapping contacts, Virtual Earth integration, voice input, and weather.

The ability to map contacts means you can see the locations of those in your address book on a map so you are then able to easily get directions to that location.

The Virtual Earth integration will offer you the ability to make "map collections," or custom maps that you or your friends create. The maps are made on your PC prior to viewing them in Live Search.

For Blackberry users, the new version of Live Search will offer voice input, something that previously only Windows Mobile users had the ability to use. With voice input, you only need speak a command in order to find businesses or get directions via Live Search.

Additionally, weather will be added to Live Search, so you can see both the current conditions and the 4-day forecast.

Mobile RSS & More

Sarah Perez — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 08:29:00 GMT

Viigo Personal is a free application for Blackberry & Windows Mobile devices that goes beyond being just a mobile RSS reader. With the Viigo application, you can keep up-to-date with your favorite blogs, news, sports, entertainment, and markets from anywhere you go. The RSS reader lets you keep up with your feeds on the go of course, but the service also offers other features like local weather, headlines, local events, and more. The "local events" feature that lets you subscribe to events, like theater, special interest groups, and bands, for wherever you live. Another feature, "Channels," lets you set up channels to watch for information from the internet on various topics that are of interest to you. There is even a package-tracking feature that lets you track your packages from the main mail and package carriers. The combination of these features, make Viigo a great choice if you are looking for a mobile RSS reader download. Viigo also offers paid versions, Viigo Publisher, which helps you deploy and monetize mobile content, and Viigo Enterprise, which integrates with Blackberry Enterprise Server for deploying and managing content for your corporate BES users.

Live Search for Blackberry

Sarah Perez — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:01:00 GMT

OK, so you don't have a Windows Mobile device. Like many busy professionals, your mobile device of choice is a Blackberry. But now, that doesn't mean that you have to miss out on having Windows Live Search on your phone! With the recent introduction of Live Search for Blackberry (beta), you, too, can get the best of what Live Search Mobile has to offer - including local search, maps, directions, traffic conditions, and more, and all of it custom designed for BlackBerry. To get the download, visit wls.live.com on your Blackberry phone. On the page that displays, click on the "Download" link. If you don't have a Windows Mobile Device or Blackberry, you can use Live Search from your phone's browser at m.live.com.