has aggregated a host of BlackBerry software on a new Web site. Everything from news to navigation is available for download in what looks like an attempt to remind people that they can do more with their BlackBerries than just check e-mail.
Lest you forget, the BlackBerry sitting in that holster on your hip is a powerful platform called a smartphone. While its base function is to provide you with round-the-clock access to your inbox, there's an entire ecosystem of software for BlackBerries that let them do a whole lot more.
This new Web site from RIM, called Built for BlackBerry, serves as a repository for applications all categorized for easy access and download. They are separated into six groups: News, Sports, Travel/Weather, Games/Entertainment, Lifestyle, and Navigation/Mapping. In each group there are a handful of applications. These are not browser bookmarks, but actual applications that are downloaded and installed on the BlackBerry home screen in the form of an icon. Users can then access the information or content they want by going to that icon on their BlackBerry. For some specific things, like travel updates, this can speed things up by allowing you to skip launching the browser and then finding your favorite travel site.
Not all the software is free, though. Some of it is shareware, and other applications let you download a 30-day trial for free, with the assumption that you'll pay at some point in the future to use the software.
