faster.better.smarter

Some of the posts in the near future will be old news. I hope you’ll forgive me but some cool things have popped up since I last posted. Anyway….

I was very excited when I woke up on one Wednesday morning about a month ago. The day I had been waiting for had finally arrived. Google had allowed calendar syncing directly with the Blackberry calendar. This development gets me one step closer to mot having to plug my Blackberry into my computer to synch my info. Fortunately the only remaining feature that I need is contact syncing and my contact data doesn’t change all that often.

Anyway, if you carry a blackberry and have been longing to sync your Google Calendar directly and over the air, head over to Google and download this great little app and start getting in sync. click on this link on your Blackberry browser: mobile.google.com and then select Google sync.

Hopefully contact sync won’t be far behind. Once I have over the air sync of contacts, I’ll have the perfect poor man’s Blackberry Enterprise Server. With Gmail’s super fast delivery to the Blackberry, it’s nearly the same level of service, seriously.

 Note: I just discovered that I never published this, so here you go.

One of my favorite web apps, Google Notebook, recently added a mobile version of its website. Google Notebook is great because it allows you to save web content and other text in an easily searchable personal website. There is a nice Firefox extension that allows to copy info directly into the site. The mobile version doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that the full version does, but it’s huge that you can now keep all of your notes (to-do lists and reference data) on your mobile phone.

To check it out go to http://www.google.com/notebook/m on your mobile device.

via Lifehacker

I have been neglecting my Facebook account lately. That is, until yesterday when facebook and RIM released a Facebook app for the blackberry. You can download it here. I really like it so far, though it could integrate a little more with blackberry’s applications. Enjoy!

I would have sworn that I had installed this and tried it out in the past, but maybe I’m thinking of something else. At any rate, Windows Live Search is available now and I think it’s a nice free product for the blackberry. Once you tell the app what city you are in, it will give you directions, maps, movie times and other information. It’s not quite as good as Google maps or Beyond 411, but it’s pretty good. Try it by visiting wls.live.com on your blackberry.

Windows Live Search via Blackberry Cool

I recently ran across Beamberry, which allows you to save various types of attachments that you receive via email, for later viewing and/or printing via bluetooth. My printer does not have bluetooth, but this is shaping up to be a great app for the blackberry.

There is an OTA download available, just visit http://beamberry.com/download on your blackberry browser.

I have tried a lot of software on my blackberry over the years, but the first thing I install when I get a new blackberry is Berry 411. It’s a great peice of software that allows you to do multiple types of searches with opening the browser and going to Google or Yahoo. It also allows you to do a search for a type of business and when you find it, you can call or add the contact info directly to your address book.

One of my favorite features is the option to add 9 custom plugins for search types, including the ability to create your own. I use the standard Weather, Shopping and IMDB plugins that I found on the site, but I created my own netflix mobile plugin that allows me to search directly from the app and then it opens the results in the blackberry browser. Then I can simply add the dvd to my queue. It’s great for searching while on the go.

I just checked out Blackberry Cool and discovered that my online Word Processor and Spreadsheet app of choice now has mobile access. No editing yet, but this is a great start. Check it out at docs.google.com/m. It looks great on my Blackberry Pearl.

Which is better, the iPhone or the BlackBerry?

As much as I enjoy Apple products, I LOVE my blackberry. I have played with the iPhone and I prefer the productivity features that I have set up on the Blackberry Pearl, over the elegance of the iPhone.