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Saturday, March 17, 2012

App Review: Docs to Go in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

Review: Docs to Go in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 IMG_00000341With the new official BlackBerry Bluetooth keyboard coming out soon, there is now more focus on the PlayBook’s productivity apps. Naturally, we’re talking about the Docs to Go suite, the PlayBook’s native offering for viewing, editing and creating documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

This bundled piece of software was updated with the release of OS 2.0 to include a significant number of new features for PowerPoint files, Word files, and Excel files.

For the Docs to Go application, you can now create bullets and numbered lists. For the PowerPoint application, we have additional support for charts, text editing and show/hide slides during a presentation. For the Excel application, you can now edit and view embedded charts, use a formula wizard for the most common formulae, and the ability to copy, paste and resize cells.

That’s not all either. The Docs to Go suite now has Bluetooth keyboard support, find and replace functionality for Word and Excel files, support for Blackberry balance, and support for using a Blackberry smartphone as a remote.

You do have numerous formatting options in the Word to Go app. You can make all kinds of lists, change the highlighting and font color, add indents, pinch-to-zoom, undo things, change the justification, do a word count and use all sorts of other features. The pinch-to-zoom works, even though it’s a bit slow. It will even “auto-save” your files just in case you close the app by accident.

But let’s talk about what you can’t do with it. You can’t embed pictures (nor can you see any pictures already in a Word file). You can’t create two columns of text, or draw any boxes, or use Greek letters, or create headers, or change the page orientation, or add a watermark, or the page color. But that’s not bad at all! I don’t think too many people will lose sleep over a few of these omission, especially when it’s free. It’s got all the bare bones features that you’ll need in a documents suite.

In the Excel to Go app, you’re on a little tighter leash. You can set up formulae, edit cells, do basic formatting, search for words/numbers, and….that’s about it. But it does the job well. If you’re looking for text formatting, the Word to Go app will be to your liking. It’s pretty much only good for viewing spreadsheets and basic spreadsheet editing. But then again, the vast majority of people shouldn’t need more than that. If anything, not being able to create a chart or graph is a little depressing, but at least you can view one now.

In the PowerPoint to Go app, you’re limited to viewing PowerPoint presentations and editing text. Exciting, isn’t it?
Overall, this is a huge update to productivity, for sure. But then again, it’s not exactly demolishing the competition. What may tip the scale in the PlayBook’s favor is that the Docs to Go is free. Nobody wants to pay extra for a decent document suite on a productivity tablet, and RIM knows that. Yet, if there is a better document suite out there on another platform, people will pay for it. At the end of the day, Docs to Go does work well, is solid as a rock, and supports all the newest formats.

But I can’t stop thinking that although enjoying yourself is hard enough when you’re working, it’s quite a different ball game if you’re using one hand to hold the tablet, or typing on a touchscreen keyboard taking up half the screen you’re typing on. With the new physical Bluetooth keyboard accessory, this document suite might even become something that you actually won’t mind using.

App NSFW: Download the BBM Connected Hot Babes Wallpapers App for BlackBerry

NSFW: Download the BBM Connected Hot Babes Wallpapers App for BlackBerry blackberry-sexy-babes-wallpaperTrustBe let us know about their 1000+ Hot Sexy Babes Wallpapers app for BlackBerry. What sets this Babes wallpaper app apart from the rest is that it is BBM connected. Therefore, you can share any wallpapers you find with friends. You can even easily set your wallpaper from within the app. You can pick up the 1000+ Hot Sexy Babes Wallpaper app for $0.99 in the N4BB App Store here.

App Get 4 Stylish Clocks for Your BlackBerry PlayBook

Get 4 Stylish Clocks for Your BlackBerry PlayBook IMG_00000100BBThemes let us know about their latest app for the BlackBerry PlayBook called Stylish Clocks. Set four high quality stylish clocks for your BlackBerry PlayBook. Sylish Clocks also incoporates a animated colourful background which elegantly scrolls as time passes away.

Once you pick you desired clock, it will remember your selection for the next time you open the app. Stylish Clocks is available now for only $0.99 in BlackBerry App World here.

App Review: Podcast App in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

Review: Podcast App in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 IMG_00000338I’ve been contemplating whether it’s been worthwhile to mention the updates to the Podcast app. It’s been painted lime green and you can now search for podcasts using the RSS url, and that’s about all that’s changed. I hear can the slow-clap starting now…

But I feel it might be worthwhile talking about it a little more. The frugal side of me enjoys using this app quite a bit. It’s more or less like the video store, except everything is free! You see, now we’re talking! There are video and audio podcasts which you can subscribe to and download much like apps in App World. Again, like the BlackBerry App World, it’s a slightly laggy when scrolling and navigating around, which is definitely something RIM needs to improve for a few of these native apps. With the rumored ubiquitous implementation of the Cascades UI engine in all the other native apps in OS 3.0, it seems like improving the experience is on RIM’s To-Do List. If the experience within the app is great, people are simply more likely to use it. There are many podcasts to choose from and I’ve never been disappointed with the selection before (about 4,500 channels). Downloads happen quick and you can play them right from the Podcasts app.

There are Featured, Categories, Downloads and My Podcasts tabs, allowing for easy navigation. The search bar at the top right works well in helping you find a channel quick. If you’re out-side the range of Wi-Fi, your downloads will show up as “Failed”. Pressing the red “X” deletes the podcast.

Of course it’s not the blockbuster content from a Video Store, or better than satellite radio, but it’s a nice offering which I use quite a bit. However, other platforms have podcast apps that are about on par, since there’s been no true innovation going on here. Overall, despite being a solid podcast app which I enjoy very much, OS 2.0 really didn’t bring too much to the table in terms of updates. But it does look better and work well, which is two thumbs up in my opinion.

App Winners of the 2 BlackBerry PlayBooks are…

Winners of the 2 BlackBerry PlayBooks are… playbook-os-2-black

We’ve randomly selected the two following winners for a 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook:

@Happy2BAlex

@Tomboybc

We want to thank each and every one of you who participated. Be sure to check out Negri Electronics for all your high end unlocked wireless device needs! Keep it locked to N4BB for more great giveaways.

App RIM Product Expert Explains Roadmap to BlackBerry Mobile Fusion

RIM Product Expert Explains Roadmap to BlackBerry Mobile Fusion rim_headquartersToday, RIM’s Vice President of Enterprise Product Management, Alan Panezic, posted about the roadmap to BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and it offers a mix of enterprise security, manageability and reliability features that RIM is known for. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is a mobile device management solution that will provide a single place to manage all your future BlackBerry 10 devices and your BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, as well as Android and iOS devices. This is definitely something enterprise users should look forward to, since they can manage all the devices in a single, unified platform as well as applying corporate policies and configurations directly from said platform. Check out Alan Panezic’s post for more info.