I'm in the process of personalizing my second Blackberry. My first was part of a contract deal I signed with Tmobile through a group of industrious Cistercian Monks. I nicknamed it the MonkBerry, and we had a fine few months together. It weaned me off of Helio and healed the wounds that I inflicted upon myself while waiting and hoping for the Ocean 2.
After about 4 months with my MonkBerry, someone broke into my car, stole my phone and then dented my fender. And now I am on my second berry with a bit more wisdom, plent more experience and a few favorite applications that make the BlackBerry more than just a leash held by your boss.
Google Apps: Worth your time. The email is better, the Maps are better, the reader is functional and the search works great (not that this hasn't been googles bread and butter...) This is a major suite of apps rolled into one and was the first one that I redownloaded once I got my new berry.
Facebook : This is one of the two "Addiction" apps that I have on my phone. Of course with the second one being twitter, they are essentially intertwined into one large social networking addiction. The first few generations of this app were pretty much useless, but now that you have some functionality beyond changing your status, this has become one of my favorite apps.
TwitterBerry: The second of my "Addiction Applications" is probably my most used. I use it to update both my Facebook status and it lists my last five updates on the right side of my blog. In addition to all of the great interconnectivity that Twitter affords, it is a strong stand alone site in it's own right. TwitterBerry provides a similar experience to the traditional full site that you won't get through texting your updates to 40404. You still have the same 140 character confines, but that has never been a problem... has it?
Epocrates: For the medically minded, and anyone who works as a Paramedic, RN or Physician, Epocrates is a great app that identifies drug monographs and health plan formularies, has a drug interaction checker as well as dosing calculators and even has a pill identifier. The freeware version is extensive, but you can also get access to more features for a nominal fee.
Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet has begun making phrasebooks fit for your mobile device. While more suited to the traveler than the medic in the field, it is still pretty useful. Now I just need something that will translate "Your head was on fire. Now that it has been put out, would you like some pain medication?" into the local languages. Any takers?
Pandora:This is the first of two of my favorite entertainment apps. Even with hundreds of Mp3s in an iPod, I still like the versatility of radio. Though my Berry lacks an FM tuner (something that the knock off phone market has managed to put into more products than melamine) I can still catch a variety of music and can even manipulate the type of music played.
I Heart Radio: Atlanta is a huge market for the seemingly ubiquitous Clear Channel Radio Corp, and nearly every station on the FM dial belongs to them or their competition, Cumulus. This app will allow you to stream Clear channel stations over the air without an FM tuner.
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