Poynt let me know that they have updated their free location-based BlackBerry application with the addition of restaurant search for customers in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom!

Poynt’s restaurant search feature rounds out the already robust business, movie and people search offering, while maintaining its ease of use and outstanding graphical user interface. The section features enhanced restaurant listings and enables users to easily find nearby restaurants, read reviews and book dining reservations. To enhance the user’s experience, icons are displayed when restaurant reviews or dining reservations are available for a restaurant listing.

Poynt is currently available for the BlackBerry Pearl, Pearl Flip, 8800 series, Curve series, Bold, Storm and Tour. To download it visit m.mypoynt.com from your BlackBerry Browser or go to MyPoynt.com for more info.

Full press release after the jump.

CONTINUE READING »

Poynt let me know that their free BlackBerry application is now available to the United Kingdom.

Poynt is available for users in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales with the following features:

• GPS – the GPS functionality has been optimized to provide faster accurate locates.
• Cell-site locates – Cell-site locates allow Poynt to quickly access a user’s general location while awaiting a GPS lock.
• Enhanced User Interface – Poynt’s UI was developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones to provide users with an immersive, easy-to-use and visually appealing experience.
• Mapping Integration – Poynt is fully integrated with both BlackBerry® Maps and Google Maps.
• Map Route – Poynt integrates with Gokivo™ Navigator to provide turn-by-turn voice navigation.
• Address Book Integration – Users can add frequently accessed listings to their BlackBerry® Contact List, providing convenience for future lookups.
• Share Search Results – Integration with BlackBerry® Email allows users to easily share listings with friends and colleagues.
• Movie Module – Users can plan their night at the movies by seeing what is playing near them, watching trailers, viewing showtimes and reading reviews, cast and synopsis details.
• Movie Theater Details – Users can get information on seating layouts, wheelchair accessibility and number of screens.
• Add to Calendar Option – Users have the ability to add movie search results to their BlackBerry® Calendar by date and showtime, as well as invite friends to join them.

Poynt is compatible with the BlackBerry Pearl series, Curve series, Bold and Storm series.

You can download it OTA by visiting m.mypoynt.com from your BlackBerry Browser, or check out the full press release after the jump for more info.

CONTINUE READING »

Poynt let me know that their free BlackBerry application has been updated with WhitePages integration for reverse phone number lookups and reverse address lookups.

Features:

• Intuitive interface and GPS compatibility provides quick & convenient all-in-one access to business listings, movie information and mapping / directions;
• Save time and money by locating businesses near location, plan route for multiple stops; Eliminate 411 directory fees;
• Minimize frustration – Easily find and contact businesses using built-in click-to-call, click-to-browse and click-to-map features, regardless of where you are;
• Minimize confusion – Share listing info with friends and colleagues to confirm meeting location;
• Voice Navigation System Integration – in addition to mapping through BlackBerry® Maps and Google Maps, Poynt users with access to Voice Navigation Services Gokivo, VZ Navigator and Telus Navigator can select those services as their preferred navigation solution to map route within Poynt, allowing you to take advantage of audible turn-by-turn directions and auto-rerouting.

Poynt is available for any BlackBerry on OS 4.2.1 and higher.

• Download/Info: Poynt

Poynt made an announcement that they have updated their application to version 1.0.1.68 with the following maintenance fixes:

• GPS fix for iden users on the NEXTEL network
• Fixed multiple instances of Poynt showing up in the task switcher
• Fixed some list behavior on the Storm.

NOTE: If you have Poynt installed on any other device besides the Storm, you MUST delete the previous version (0.9.7 or below) or you will receive a download failed error.

• Download/Info: Poynt
• How To: Install applications and themes via OTA with or without using data

Next week Poynt will enable a new auto-update feature, but for now they made an announcement that Poynt version 1.0.1.59 is available for all 8000 series devices, as well as the BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Storm.

Changes and improvements:

STORM:

• Fixed no results found errors popping up when a cell-site location was found.
• Improved touch list performance.
• Search speed and data improvements.
• Improved saved locations mechanism
• Allowed search radius as small as 5 km

BOLD/JAVELIN/CURVE/PEARL/FLIP:

• Improved UI, re-written from the ground up to increase performance.
• Inertial scrolling on result lists to enhance visual feedback.
• Fixed BB Maps crashing issues.
• Cell-Site GPS – Fast and reasonably accurate initial locates while your GPS chipset is warming up and scanning the sky for true satellite GPS locks.
• Improved GPS speeds. Note to Verizon Customers: Full GPS is still unavailable for these devices, but the new Cell-Site GPS feature is available. It is automatic, so no additional configuration is required.
• Improved network module. Poynt’s network heuristics provide a seamless and fast user experience in a variety of different network scenarios.
• Improved location lookup service (click on the search location bar at the top and select new search location).
• Non-intrusive auto-complete mechanism for typing in previous search terms.
• Add to Calendar feature for movie showtimes
• Improved data storage system to minimize memory footprint on the device.

…

NOTE: If you have Poynt installed on any other device besides the Storm, you MUST delete the previous version (0.9.7 or below) or you will receive a download failed error.

• Download OTA: Poynt
• How To: Install applications and themes via OTA with or without using data

Poynt is now available as a free download for the BlackBerry Storm.

Features:

• Cellsite locates – Cellsite locates allow Poynt to quickly access a user’s general location while awaiting a GPS lock.
• GPS – the GPS functionality has been optimized to provide faster accurate locates. Poynt for the BlackBerry Storm smartphone also provides GPS access to users on the Verizon network.
• Enhanced User Interface – Poynt’s UI was developed specifically for the BlackBerry Storm to provide users with a true touch-screen experience.
• Mapping Integration – Poynt is fully integrated with both BlackBerry® Maps and Google Maps, with turn-by-turn directions provided through Google Maps.
• Address Book Integration – Users can add frequently accessed listings to their BlackBerry® Address Book, providing convenience for future lookups.
• Share Search Results – Integration with BlackBerry® Email allows users to easily share listings with friends and colleagues.
• Movie Module – Users can plan their night at the movies by seeing what is playing  near them, watching trailers, viewing showtimes, reading reviews, cast and  synopsis, and purchasing tickets.
• Theater Details – Users can get information on seating layouts, wheelchair  accessibility and number of screens.
• Add to Calendar Option – Users have the ability to add movie search results to their BlackBerry® Calendar by date and showtime, as well as invite friends to join them. Ticket purchase links are also included.

Talk about fully loaded. According to BlackBerry News, this version of Poynt is a rebuild which will be ported to other devices within the next few weeks.

• Download OTA: http://m.mypoynt.com/
• Info: http://mypoynt.com/index.cfm

PRESS RELEASE

BlackBerry Developer Conference – Santa Clara, CA, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ – The BlackBerry Partners Fund LP, a $150 million venture capital fund formed to focus on applications and services for the BlackBerry® and other mobile platforms, announced today that Poynt, Strands Social Player and Nobex Radio Companion are the Best in Show Grand Prize Winners of the BlackBerry Partners Fund(TM) Developer Challenge.

Poynt is a free local search tool that connects users to businesses, movie theatres, and retailers, whenever and wherever users need them. Poynt includes such features as target site browsing, interactive maps, driving directions, GPS compatibility, show times, movie trailers, and ticket purchase. With Poynt’s intuitive interface, users can find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

Strands Social Player, developed by Strands Inc., is a music player that lets you discover new music, connect with people, and share your tastes with friends. It automatically shows cover art, provides artist and song recommendations from over 6 million songs featuring free previews, and fully integrates with a social network of music enthusiasts.

Nobex Radio Companion, developed by Nobex Technologies, shows you what song is playing on any of 2700 radio stations and when you hear a song you like click “Get It!” and it will send you an email with a link to buy the song, so you can keep your music collection fresh. Over a hundred stations are now playable on your BlackBerry Smartphone.

As winners, the three companies will receive a $150,000 investment from the BlackBerry Partners Fund and are entered into the BlackBerry Partners Fund “Jump Start” program. Detailed information on the Jump Start program can be found at: http://www.blackberrypartnersfund.com/jumpstart.

“The BlackBerry Partners Fund is dedicated to identifying and supporting organizations that are bringing innovative applications to the BlackBerry and other mobile platforms, and the creation of the Developer Challenge is evidence of this commitment,” said Kevin Talbot, Co-Managing Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund. “We would like to congratulate Strands Inc., Multiplied Media and Nobex Technologies for demonstrating the outstanding technological vision and superior operational execution worthy of earning the top prize in the Developer Challenge.”

The BlackBerry Partners Fund Developer Challenge invited developers to create BlackBerry applications in five categories: Gaming, Multimedia, Personal Productivity and Lifestyle, Enterprise and Web. The grand prize winners were selected from 15 finalists. More information on the challenge and the finalists can be found at:

    www.blackberrypartnersfund.com/challenge.

    About BlackBerry Partners Fund

The BlackBerry Partners Fund is a $150 million venture capital fund formed to focus on applications and services for the BlackBerry platform and other mobile platforms including mobile commerce (payments, advertising, retailing and banking), vertical and horizontal enterprise applications, communications, social networking, location-based applications and services (navigation and mapping), media and entertainment, and lifestyle and personal productivity applications. The Fund considers all stages of development and is to be co-managed by JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners. For further information visit: www.blackberrypartnersfund.com.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.

September 29, 2008, 10:12 AM —  CIO.com —

BlackBerry users have no shortage of free applications for their smartphones. A Google search for the terms “Free BlackBerry Apps” turns up pages and pages of possibilities. But who wants to sift through all the garbage to find the good stuff? Lucky for you, we already weeded through the pile to identify the software that’s worth installing and using.

Over the past few months we’ve offered several lists of BlackBerry software downloads– free software, open source apps, RIM executives’ favorite downloads–and we don’t plan to stop anytime soon.

This week, we’ve got an innovative mobile news reader; a feature-packed, BlackBerry-specific instant messaging application; a great way to track your BlackBerry’s performance and usage metrics; a unique local search utility; and a piece of software that can provide all the hockey-related news and information one could desire.

Applications mentioned in article:

• Associated Press Mobile News Network
• AIM Instant Messenger
• myBoxTone Insight
• Poynt
• The Hockey News Mobile

Read the whole article at ITWorld.com.

CALGARY, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Multiplied Media Corporation is pleased to announce the release of a special version of Poynt designed specifically for the BlackBerry Bold to take full advantage of the video streaming capabilities native to the recently released smartphone.

Consumers have come to rely on the convenience that Poynt provides in finding local business and movie information. Now, owners of the BlackBerry Bold are able to utilize Poynt to view streaming movie trailers on their device. The new version is available to owners of the BlackBerry Bold in Canada and will be supported when the smartphones are released on the AT&T network in the United States.

“We don’t believe that the consumer should be tied to their desktop to quickly get the information they need to plan their shopping, dining and entrtainement needs,” said John Lowe, CEO, Multiplied Media. “The release of the BlackBerry Bold has allowed us to add video streaming functionality to Poynt which provides a more robust experience for the consumer, no matter where they happen to be.”

Read the whole article at DigitalMediaNet.com.