Productivity
SugarSync Mobile for BlackBerry
- CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars
If you plan to access photos and files stored on your computer from your BlackBerry, you'll want SugarSync. This remote access and cross-platform syncing solution has come to distinguish itself for solid photo and file-sharing, and it's not exclusive to BlackBerry--you'll be able to share any file among your BlackBerry and Windows or Mac computers. A free 45-day trial gives you time to decide how much storage you'd like to purchase from the premium service, which offers higher value than some competitors.
Opera Mini
- CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars
While not all people actively dislike BlackBerry's default browser, few people genuinely prefer it. Opera Mini, on the other hand, has studly looks and a greater resemblance to desktop surfing--including an optional zoomed-out desktop view, search bar, and an autocomplete URL field. Stability stumbles have been reported for Opera Mini on BlackBerry, but in most cases, this freeware alternative is a must-have, particularly if you're connected to a Wi-Fi hot spot.
Google Mobile App for BlackBerry
- CNET editors' rating: 5.0 stars
Google Mobile App may be the starting point for searching with Google, but it's also the maitre d' that invites you to download Gmail and Google Maps, and which can whisk you to the mobile versions of other Google applications, such as Google Reader, Picasa, and Google Docs. Autocompleted search suggestions, the capability to scroll through search history, to edit a misspelled search term, and to begin a new search are vast improvements over Google's original BlackBerry application. We would welcome more native versions of Google Web apps, since most open by default in BlackBerry's bare-bones browser with its questionable readability.
Documents To Go Premium Edition
New BlackBerry phones, such as the Bold, come with the document-viewer Documents To Go preloaded. Yet the premium version goes well beyond the view-only capabilities and lets you faithfully edit and create Microsoft Office documents. Without it, viewing documents is a bland, sometimes impossible affair, and remote access programs, such as SugarSync, become nearly useless.
Vlingo
- CNET editors' rating: 4.5 stars
The stellar voice-transcription app Vlingo does it all--when you speak a command, it will search Google or Yahoo, place a call, and update your Facebook and Twitter status. You can also launch apps, write notes to yourself and verbally compose a text or e-mail message.
The set-up is a little laborious, and Vlingo does have a learning curve, but the step-by-step instructions help you program a fast access key that works like a record button, and the help file is a good, easily access reminder of what you can say and do. Vlingo's transcription may be on the slower side, especially if your connection is weak, but the app makes up for it by creating a voice recognition profile that improves with use, and by letting you preview text before you send anything to the public. Not to mention, it's got one of the best voice-to-text service we've seen.
