BlackBerry App Roundup for April 9th, 2010: 25 Copies of FlightView to be Won!

Howdy folks, hope you've had another great week, I know I have! As per usual, there's lots of goodness included in this weeks' roundup, including our usual giveaway. Keep reading for all the details... Covered this week in the BlackBerry App Roundup are the following titles:

Giveaway of the Week: FlightView

Freebies of the Week: Thomson Reuters News Pro, Belladonna, iSki Swiss Lite

In Case You Missed It: Jam for BlackBerry, BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.5 Available in Beta Zone, LinkedIn 1.0.1 for BlackBerry, CrackBerry Theme Updated to Support Multiple Devices, AstraSync Updated

New This Week: BuzzOff, No Smoking, FrazRaz

Cool at BlackBerry App World: Tower of Hanoi

Note: Don't forget, you can always search for titles featured in the App Roundup within App World... Some apps mentioned may be available there for your device.

Giveaway of the Week:

FlightView

Frequent fliers will really appreciate this new app. Imagine you are on the way to the airport and wondering if your flight is on time and whether your rental car is reserved at the destination end.  Now you can get real time flight information online in real time and stay up to date with any flight status changes no matter where you are in North Amercia. You can even add information about your car rentals for example and integrate both the FlightView information and the rental car information directly in your calendar. Keep abreast of airport status across the nation to help manage your own flight changes. This version of FlightView tracks flights with at least one end point in North America. If you're running OS 4.5 or newer, you should be good to go with this one.

If you'd like to enter for your chance to win one of 25 free copies of FlightView, answer the following question in the comments:

Freebies of the Week:

Thomson Reuters News Pro

Are you the type that needs to stay on top of the world’s news? Now you can keep track of what is happening in the world with the Thomson Reuters News Pro app. Thomson Reuters is one of the leading sources of intelligent information for business people and professionals around the world, who need to stay abreast of events that occur. From the stock markets to the latest political events to serious weather events, you will have it all with this new app from Thompson Reuters News Pro.

Get the Latest Breaking News with Thomson Reuters News Pro.

Belladonna

Looking for an inspirational quote to give you a lift when you most need it or something to quote on a presentation to add something a little different for your audience? Belladonna might be the app for you with inspirational quotes on demand as well as automated twice a day delivery of quotes. You can even be notified with a musical alert! Belladonna can change your wallpaper as well every day at midnight to inspire you first thing in the morning. The control panel lets you control the display and you can pull up a new inspirational quote anytime with the dedicated display button. This is a free app and a must have. Belladonna runs on OS 5.0 or higher.

Get Belladonna in our store >

iSki Swiss Lite

If you are an avid skier, then iSki Swiss Lite is the application you need to stay on top of ski conditions at all Swiss ski resorts! Supported by all BlackBerry devices and OS releases, the iSki Swiss Lite provides you with the latest information for Swiss ski resorts from anywhere in the world.

Sort by name, region, snow conditions or the resort size and display information about the status of the ski area, the weather forecast, a panoramic skiing map, facilities that are open, length of ski runs, snow conditions and quality, look through live cam’s, find the status of open toboggan runs, cross country runs and winter hiking trails. All of this information at your fingertips and it is free! Avid skiers should not be without the iSki Swiss Lite on their BlackBerry!

Download the iSki Swiss Lite via App World >

In Case You Missed It:

Jam for BlackBerry

Jam for the BlackBerry is one of those applications that is well worth the money whether you get it now for $4.99 (on sale 'til APril 15th) or after at the full price of $9.99! It is actually a collection of small apps that have been built into one application that runs on OS 4.3 and above. Some of the main features that are included are LED and screen tweaks, video light, I charge cool, screen capture, in call notifications for various actions, alarms for charging, overheating and for target charge reached, locking screen rotation and detailed meters for the battery for your device storage, media card and memory. With so much in this app, there's almost something for everyone.

Check out Jam for Blackberry in our store >

BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.5 Available in Beta Zone

RIM recently sent off some emails with download links for BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.5. The changes (at least as far as we can tell) seem to be 'behind the scenes' if you will, no huge cosmetic changes at this time. However, some key updates have been made. First off, you can now decide how you want to display contacts and groups: in one line or two lines. Two line displays shows larger sections for BB Groups. Also there is a better styled interface available to launch and send a voice note to friends etc. RIM has also worked on the SMS contact integration issues and the beta testers are expected to provide their thoughts on these improvements. RIM is certainly aware that this area needs work and is adding focus to this area. There may be more changes to the BlackBerry Messenger and the beta testers may identify more issues, however most users will appreciate the improvements.

For more information, click here.

LinkedIn 1.0.1 for BlackBerry

Linkedin 1.0.1 is a bug fix release that addresses a number of issues various BlackBerry users may have noticed. For example if you had difficulty logging in over BIS or Wi-FI, this release should address these problems. Some users experienced “Unable to Connect” messages or “Invalid Email or password” messages. This new release addresses these issues so that users do not waste time trying to log into LinkedIn. If you are using an older version of the app, remember that once you install the new release you will need to restart your device for the new app to take effect. Last I checked, this new version was now available in App World. To download OTA, hit up http://m.linkedin.com/blackberry/download

CrackBerry Theme Updated to Support Multiple Devices

The CrackBerry Theme has been, oh, I don't know, just a TAD popular since michaelwpg released it. Due to the popularity, he has added support for most Berry devices. Hit up the download links below to get your copy.

• 9700/8900/9630 >
• Bold 9000 >
• 83xx >
• 85xx for OS 4.6.1 >
• 85xx for OS 5 >
• Storm 95xx >

If you'd rather just go with the CrackBerry wallpaper, you can get that right here.

AstraSync Updated

AstraSync has been upgraded with a new version with some new features. Features such as various performance improvements, auto discover, email draft and auto save as well as sync pausing. The performance improvements include the capability to throttle back background operations to improve the performance of foreground activities. You can also create new contacts in the contact app from email recipients. And one feature that many users will appreciate are that the shortcut keys are now supported on all screens. AstraSycnc supports most Blackberry devices except for 7000, 8100 and 8700 devices.

Get a copy of AstraSync in our store >

New This Week

BuzzOff

Still get calls that you do not want, even though you're on the National Do not Call list? Now with BuzzOff you can block any phone number, block private or unknown callers and even stop them from leaving a voice mail. This is the first app that will stop a caller from leaving a voice mail. Users can customize the callers you want to block using the Call log, messages and/or your address book. Also avoid interruptions by blocking the sound as well when a caller is blocked. Even use the wild card feature to block all 1-800 callers or other marketing callers from 1-866 etc.

Another neat feature for busy people is the ability to block all calls for a period of 30 minutes to 8 hours with the exception of those people you really want to talk to, while you prepare for meetings or even attend meetings. You can keep your phone on and only talk to people that are important enough to interrupt you in a meeting. There are numerous other easy to use features which many may be interested in.

Get more info on BuzzOff >

No Smoking

Everyone needs some motivation, regardless of what they are doing and that includes people who are trying to quit smoking. The No Smoking app uses a combination of managing your smoking level over time and providing you with statistics about how much money you save, taxes and nicotine that you are reducing. The app starts in learn mode where it learns your smoking profile over a few days depending on how much you smoke in a day. Once it has this information, it will switch over to a new mode called Quit, to gradually reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke every day. Many people do not even realize that they are smoking less until they look at the stats that this new app provides. Smokers who are not ready to quit, but want to get some control over their habit can use this app to help them maintain control and avoid increasing. In fact some will find that they actually decrease smoking when they had no plans to do so.

Future updates to this app will be free to any customer who has purchased an earlier version. It currently runs on OS 4.2 or higher.

More info in our store >

FrazRaz

We can all use a little help when it comes to picking winners in horse races or any other type of race. There are always favorites, but if you pick the wrong one, you are out all of your money unless you have FrazRaz!

FrazRaz helps you with your betting strategy to ensure that you make a profit almost every time by taking into account the odds of each racer, and proportioning the betting across the 2 or 3 racers you feel have a chance of winning. By proportioning the stake money across the potential winners based on the published odds, you will win the same amount regardless of which of your favorites wins. Although not fool proof, anything we can do to increase our chances of making a little money is welcome. FrazRaz works on horses or greyhounds or any race where there are multiple runners. Choose up to 4 potential winners, enter the odds and presto you have the amount you should bet on each to ensure that you have a winning hand. This app works on OS 5.0 or higher.

Start winning today with FrazRaz >

Cool at BlackBerry App World:

Tower of Hanoi

This is a really neat game that tests your logic skills to see if you can move the discs from the left hand peg to the right hand peg with the smallest number of moves. There is a minimum number of moves that can be achieved if you manage the correct combination, however most people take some time before they can beat the clock. Start with 3 disc’s and then increase the level of difficulty by increasing the number of discs. Remember that you can only move one disc at a time, when you move a disc it can only be placed on top of a larger disc or on an empty pole! Good luck!

Can you beat the Tower of Hanoi?

Until Next Week..

Have news on BlackBerry Apps? New BlackBerry Apps, Updated BlackBerry Apps, Free BlackBerry Apps... it's all good! If you have any software news tips send them in to me at [email protected]. I can't do it without your help!

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