Meet my virtual secretary!

Having used the BlackBerry for my everyday work and personal needs, I’ve come acquainted with several apps which I constantly use and go back to. I’m not a corporate user nor someone you can say a “hardcore” user but I would like to share with you some of the FREE apps that made my life (and work) a lot easier for the past several months I’ve been using my BlackBerry. Read on.

BlackBerry App World – the mother of all apps. This is where I usually get (and update) all my FREE apps. No BlackBerry device is complete without it so grab a copy! The only drawback with this is that its not available in some countries including mine (the Philippines). I had to install the app manually (yes you can!) by googling a download link.

QuickPull Free – Since I live in a country where deadspots are everywhere and my BlackBerry constantly looks for a signal (thus draining battery), its great to have a software that lets me reboot my device without having to manually remove the battery out. QuickPull conveniently simulates a “battery pull” which frees up memory, refreshes the device and improves performance.

DriveSafe.ly – One of the best apps there is! Imagine having someone read your SMS and emails while you’re driving even if you’re alone in your car! Spooky? Not really. DriveSafe.ly reads out loud any new SMS or email your device receives. The Free version will read only the first 25 words of the email body but hey, it beats asking your wife to read for you everytime you get an email or SMS while driving!

UberTwitter – I tweet whenever I find or encounter something interesting and having a Twitter client on my mobile phone always comes handy! What’s great with UberTwitter is that it allows me to maintain multiple Twitter accounts, unlike Twitterberry. Though UberTwitter is still on Beta (Beta 6 coming out soon!), its a stable, robust app and fully customizable, from how it displays data on the screen to how you would like to be notified! Grab a copy now and while you’re at it, why not follow me on Twitter?

myBoxTone Insight – Living in a country where “unlimited data plans” are not that affordable yet, I always have to watch my data usage and this app lets me do that. Furthermore, it even allows me to set a daily or monthly usage limit allowing me to control my costs. myBoxTone Insight (weird name!) is still on beta but it works great and lives up to its claims.

Facebook – What good is a mobile device which won’t let you do social networking on the go? Whether someone adds you as a friend, drops you a note, tags you on a photo or posts on your Facebook wall, you get instant notification on Facebook for BlackBerry. The recent version is much more stable and snappy.

Dictionary.com – I’m a bookworm and I maintain several blogs, thus having access to a dictionary is essential for me and this app is the best (personal opinion here!) among dictionary apps I’ve found. Dictionary.com also provides Thesaurus and “voice over” pronunciations if say, you’re having a hard time reading a certain word.

Movies – I’m also a movie buff and having access to reviews and info on the latest movies is great, especially if I’m able to do that right on the small screen! Movies used to be called Flixster (when I first saw it on the iPod) but still has the same nifty features like user reviews, summaries, movie posters (yeah!) and even news on upcoming movies that go as far as 2011!

There you go! If you have nice suggestions for FREE BlackBerry apps, please feel free to share them here!

Happy holidays everyone! May your yuletide season be prosperous and joyful!