Spotlighting the finest apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook!
Every once and a while we like to do something special. And this is something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time now. Ever since Research In Motion released the BlackBerry PlayBook we’ve begun to meet a lot of new Developers, as well as many that build WebOS, iOS, Android, Mac, Flash, Flex, ColdFusion and more.
So we thought we’d love to share which applications have stayed on our PlayBooks, as well as some that we just plain wanted to blab about. Stay tuned for our next post in this series highlighting some that will be coming soon!
FREE Applications & Games
• Poynt for BlackBerry PlayBook by Poynt Corporation
The one app do-it-all launched day & date with the PlayBook tablet. Find People, Businesses, Movies, Restaurants, Gas, your 5 day Forecast and more! We’ve seen 3 or 4 healthy updates already. One of which included BlackBerry Pairing, a free service that let’s you batch Phone Calls, Directions, a Map, & Add contacts to your Address Book. Poynt has truly never been so crisp. Get summer’s biggest film trailers in HD or link straight to the website. This is an app for the entire family. No PlayBook would be safe without one.
Get it FREE here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/38577
• Bezerk Ball by Bezerk Studios
In a word, AWESOME! Bezerk Ball by Bezerk Studios a fresh group with a love for fun retro 80′s gameplay. Not to mention uber nerd phrases you’ll be tweeting after the first Power Smash!! It just blows my mind that a game can be this much fun and also be free. I’d feel bad spending only $0.99 on this! You choose one of the awesome “nerd smashing” characters and then can buy upgrade weapons, items and power-up your beating power. You smack this “well deserving” nerd from the jump and then try to keep him soaring through the air as you time extra smacks and obstacle explosions so to say. Don’t take my word, go download it and give it just one smack, one POWER SMASH!!
Get it FREE here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/36055
• BlackBerry News App for PlayBook by Research In Motion Limited
If you have a PlayBook like most of us here, my guess is you follow blogs quite a bit.. like ours. And this is one awesome treat from RIM that just can’t be passed up. You can add RSS Feeds by one of two ways. Either by Search in the top right corner or by using the News Library which Research In Motion has put together some highly recommended blogs and RSS Feeds to add. They even have a BlackBerry recommended list! For some reason ours does not yet show in that list. But we’re hoping to change that soon! You can even add entire News Categories such as Business news, Travel, Technology, Health & Lifestyle. There’s so much to choose from, including all your favorite feeds. The only big complaint users may have is the lack of Google Reader support. Meaning you can’t just add your Google Reader feeds by signing into your account. You’ll just have to add them manually. Once you do, we promise you’ll be in love!
The layout is like a real newspaper collage. (As seen above). With every new post added to your favorite RSS Feeds, BlackBerry News will update the layout. Click on something you want to continue reading and you can even launch links to open in your Browser. Such as this post here. And then follow the links below each post to launch any of these apps in BlackBerry App World. Very good stuff.
Follow our RSS Feed here: http://www.berryfication.com/feed/
Get it FREE here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/44610
• Scrapbook by Research in Motion Limited
This is my personal favorite application for the BlackBerry PlayBook. When RIM acquired TAT they knew exactly what they were doing. They’ve built a dream team. Scrapbook is our first taste of apps at this degree of excellence. I understand why it’s free but the value of an app like this is priceless. If you’ve ever wanted to make a scrapbook but aren’t into art enough, don’t have the money to buy all the little bits or just keep putting it off, the Scrapbook app is your key. The User Interface is very attractive. And it’s extremely user friendly.
Create a new scrapbook, from there you can pull images from your PlayBook. If there’s anything on your phone you would like to use first you will have to move them over using the Blackberry Bridge application, then they will appear here. Some images you may have saved from the PlayBook browser and PlayBook 3rd party apps may not show. If this is an issue you can open them in a Files app like the one below and rename them adding .png or .jpg at the end. Then you will see them in the Scrapbook app. Now just pull in any pics you want, resize by pinch, rotate, ect. Pull in stickers, a few of which you can write your own text onto. Now go to town. Once your finished the PlayBook will save the image and give you an option to upload it to Facebook right away or simply keep it in your Pictures. A great app we’ll be using for a very long time. Updates welcome.
Get it FREE here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/42721
• The CB App by ShaoSoft
You had to know we couldn’t pass this one up! It’s CrackBerry optimized for the BlackBerry PlayBook! Any BlackBerry fan knows CrackBerry. And now, thanks to the very talented ShaoSoft, you can visit CB on the PlayBook with easy access to Blogs, Leave Comments, Watch YouTube videos, View Scrolling Feeds, Quick shortcuts and more!
While this app may not be completely finished yet, it’s still the best thing close to the real thing we’ve seen on the PlayBook yet. The moment you launch it you’ll feel the liveliness of CrackBerry itself. We’d love to reach a point where we too have these kinds of luxuries for our readers. CB is still paving the way while remaining leaps & bounds a head of the other guys. Oh and of course this app is FREE, which makes it even harder to resist.
Get it FREE here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/46853
• Slacker Radio for BlackBerry PlayBook by Slacker Inc.
We can’t leave this out. Even though it comes with the PlayBook maybe some users haven’t really had a chance to give it a full tour yet. And we’re telling you, DO IT! Slacker Inc really knocked this one out the park when they had it ready for launch day. Slacker Radio for BlackBerry PlayBook is a a fresh breathing organism of the slickest tunes. Connect your Slacker FREE, Plus or Premium accounts in just seconds.
If you have a Jawbone Jambox, then you’ll be in a beautiful place. Unfortunately RIM didn’t make the PlayBook compatible with the same Bluetooth that powers the Jambox but you can easily connect with the wire. Careful though you won’t want to dance around holding either (PlayBook or Jambox).
Slacker Features, Unlimited FREE Music, 140+ Genre’s, Tabbed Info [view Bio's, Lyrics, Reviews], High quality sound, Music plays while your in any application or area of the PlayBook structure, Custom Stations, View Album Art and Photos, Rate Favorites, or Ban non-favorites. FREE Slacker Radio is FREE, Slacker Radio PLUS is $3.99 per month and Slacker PREMIUM is $9.99 per month.
Get it FREE here: https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/41140
• ScoreMobile Tablet by Score Media Ventures
Sports are a serious key ingredient in many BlackBerry PlayBook users lives, and Score Media Ventures knows that. They recently added BBM Integration to their hugely popular ScoreMobile for BlackBerry here. But first they released their ScoreMobile Tablet version, built from the ground up to run on the BlackBerry PlayBook.
The user interface in ScoreMobile Tablet is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. On a tablet, this is how it needs to be done! If your paying attention, this is the style of Development that we’d love to see Berryfication.com achieve on tablets one day very soon. There’s so much to this app it’s unbelievable!
First off ScoreMobile follows such professional sports as the NFL, NBA, MLB, EPL, NHL, & PGA. Full support for both Landscape and Portrait orientations. Features; Live TV Companion, Live Blogs, Users can personalize favorite teams, and Data refresh intervals, View Twitter streams, View My Teams (user defined favorite teams and games). Game start times are set to your Time Zone! Log in to your Twitter & Facebook accounts to share news & scores across your social networks. This is one of the most functional, world class products out there. You’d be selling yourself short if you missed it.
Get it FREE here: https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/49474
PREMIUM Applications & Games
• Files & Folders by Innovatology
Now this, after I’ve tried/bought all the other files applications for the BlackBerry PlayBook has got to be my favorite. While it may be missing a few features you can get from others, this product has received steady updates that have wowed me each time. Oh and the UI is stunning. The best I’ve seen in any files application, bar-none. Features: Open Files with Associated App. Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename and Delete. Show Folders as List or Icon View. Preview Images and Text Files. And View Images in the New Built-in Slideshow!
If you look at the image above, you can see in the top menu banner, (from left to right) PlayBook, Dropbox, Bridge, Google Docs.. then further over is Help, Settings and Close. The image preview looks edible. I can’t say enough about this one. A File Explorer Manager with Dropbox support. Check out the Trial or jump the gun at the link below.
As of today August 4th, 2011 Files & Folders now comes with Google Docs integration as well! I’ve had a little while to play with this new feature and it’s pretty amazing. Even after already being a beautiful product Innovatology is still improving and adding features. Wow.
FREE TRIAL or Buy it here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/49236
• Blaq for PlayBook by Kisai Labs
Your simply the best! Better than all the rest! Ba-dum-bump-ba-dah Ba-da-bump! Blaq developer Ryan Hamrick and the newly refreshed Jerome Carty connected to form Kisai Labs (previously BBerryGo with Jerome). These are 2 of the most approachable guys in BlackBerry development as well as highly connected industry leaders. The process at which they beta test this program is genius. They’ve added every feature users have asked for within reason. Graphics are executed by Ryan and have a visual brilliance that makes my eyes grin. Upload picture with TwitPic integration, Shrink urls with bl4q.me, REAL TIME Userstream, Web and Image support within the client, embed.ly integration giving users access to 211 services inside Blaq such as YouTube, Tumblr, yfrog, Slacker Radio, last.fm, Photobucket, Dribble and more! See them all here http://embed.ly/providers.
Like any Twitter client, Blaq still has some bugs. They are minimal and testers are constantly improving this client with the help of the Developers. Did I mention multiple Twitter accounts!? Check it out below.
Buy it here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/44453
• TouchUp Pro – Photo Editor by esDot Development Studio
It’s no doubt a fact that most people are going to be taking lots of photographs with your 5 megapixel rear facing and 3 megapixel front facing up to 1080p HD Camera’s. Once you pop a couple off, you’ll be hooked. The PlayBook takes the perfect images at parties, family, sports & outdoor events. But now that you have 40 new pictures how are you going to take the red eye out? Crop the picture, even remove blemishes! With TouchUp Pro by esDot Development Studios you can do all that and more!
This app is a must-have for anyone who ever plans to take a photo on their PlayBook. And so far it gives you the most features including ” 1-Click Special Effects” and “Advanced Special Effects”. No matter what you choose, each option you decide to edit can be applied or discarded. And once you have something you love you can then choose to save it as a new image or overwrite the original. You can even set your own size at the end, both width & height. Which is nice for bloggers.
I do hope to see them continue to update and add features. So far they’ve got this one in the bag. And for BlackBerry photo editing clients, this is above the rim, no pun intended. Apps like this have never been very friendly with RIM devices, but TouchUp Pro plays great with the PlayBook!
• ColorUp Pro – Color Splash Editor by esDot Development Studios
esDot Development Studios also has another great photo editing tool called ColorUp Pro that takes the image dynamics to another level. Letting you black & white a photo, then brush in area’s you want to POP with color!
See ColorUp Pro or FREE TRIAL here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/49005
FREE TRIAL or Buy it here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/43136
• Pipeline Pro by Magnoware
This is not your mother’s RSS, Atom & Google Reader client! But it may be after she see’s how attractive the user interface is. For most users having either an RSS Feed or Google Reader compatible app has become as important as being able to take a screen shot. Pipeline Pro by Magnoware Systems does all this and keeps your attention. That’s not an easy task. You can share a post/article on Twitter, Facebook or Reddit, Pipeline will shrink the link and get you back to your articles in no time! Offline reading (save articles to read offline), Built in Weather App (with auto refresh), Both Landscape & Portrait screen resolutions. Add any RSS Feed and you can even choose to add it to your Google Reader account. Features for Google Reader feeds include Sharing to Twitter, Facebook, Email and Reddit. And Article Options such as Read in browser, Save for offline reading, Star the article, and Mark as read. Lots of winning here.
It’s not hard to tell the developers behind this application have a lot of experience working with intuitive web-enabled products. You’ve never seen anything like this on a BlackBerry before! Check out the 14 Trial of the Full featured version or grab the full deal for just $2.99 below.
FREE TRIAL here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/23985
Buy it here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/42449
• Antair Nightstand – Alarm Clock (NOW with News) by Antair Corporation
Sometime users have issues buying applications that BlackBerry already offers as native, and I agree because unless it’s better than RIM can do it, why bother? Well now’s a good time to bother, since the Antair Corporation released Antair Nightstand!
Features: SIX completely unique Themes, 11 Alarming sounds, Multiple reoccurring alarms, Play your own songs as alarms, Weather for select locations, NOW with optional News like World, Technology, Business can be laid across 2/3rds of the screen by the touch of a little newspaper icon! You can even adjust the Color-splash, and plenty of options and settings to tweak.
With it’s timeless and original Clock Themes, Weather, Updating News Stories and all the features users really want like playing their own music for Alarms.. It’s hard to say this app isn’t a must-have. It really is! And for another brilliant price-tag just $1.99, there’s no guilt leaving your pocketbook.
Buy it here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/24399
• Comb Over Charlie by CS54 INC
Finally a BlackBerry game that can actually compete with iOS Games! And it’s on the PlayBook tablet for just $0.99. Yeah this is Comb Over Charlie. He’s got to be the cutest thing since Nemo hit the big screen. With his comb-over and a load bazooka, this little water soaked filet is on the brink. Taking all foes head on. The cool mechanics of ..Charlie is what keeps you on your toes. Although the game pace is mostly calm, it’s the mechanics and screen full of baddies that makes this one a gem and must-have for any user with a slight need to play!
Features, 8 Full levels each with a big bad mama jamma at the end of each. Simple mechanics that keep your attention. High Scores, but no leaderboard yet. Power-ups, Mutipliers, and Progressive gameplay. The graphics are stunning with bright luscious screens. Play this in front of your Mom and she may just steal your PlayBook.
Buy it here: https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/38501
• Sling Golf by BoltCloud Corp.
Arcade fun meets strategic thinking. Sling Golf is an awesome time waiting to be had. Developer BoltCloud Corp has even just released v2.0 which added a bevy of treats! The new features included, 2 additional unique characters, 3 additional unique courses, and 10 new unlockable achievements! I think we all hope to see this momentum in the future.
This game is worth every penny it sells for, no question. But thanks to the developer they have a 30 day FREE Trial or separate Lite version which gives you just 1 course to get your feet wet. Each course has 9 holes. And you will have to beat the previous course each time to advance to the next. There’s a total of 6 courses total. 54 total holes, 5 unique characters each with their own special abilities and golf clubs. Plus 20 unlockable achievements to keep the gameplay exciting for a while to come! Check this one out below.
FREE Lite version here: https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/41743
Buy it here: https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/22457
That’s all I have for now. The idea is to share with you what many of us here at Berryfication think is the very best in games and apps for your BlackBerry PlayBook. 
We did plan on a Coming Soon section too, with developer approval. However some specific rules and time restraints caused us to save those for another post. But you never know, depending on the popularity of this post, we may make this weekly thing. For now be sure to watch BlackBerry App World for all your PlayBook needs!
