Motoring App Alert – Navigating through traffic with your BlackBerry

In this edition of AppAlert, we have compiled a list road safety and useful applications with relations to your car.

1. DriveSafe.ly – Free / Text’nDrive – Free

Drivesafe.ly and Text’nDrive are two ingenious applications that eliminate the temptation of reading your emails or SMS while driving; both the applications will read aloud your emails and SMS in real time while you focus on driving.

The best feature about the apps is that it enables you to reply by voice. The only difference between these two apps is the interface, so it boils down to a matter of your preference.

Drivesafe.ly

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3381?lang=en

Text’nDrive

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/7310?lang=en

2. Vlingo – Virtual Assistant – Free

Vlingo will be an app you will come to love, it literally turns your words into action. Simply press and hold on to the assigned button and speak to your BlackBerry, the app will then execute your search or command.

Another cool feature to note about this app is SafeReader, which reads your incoming emails or text messages aloud.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/720?lang=en

3. Honda Safety Driving – Free

This useful application automatically rejects incoming calls and sends an auto reply SMS to the caller or directs the caller to your voice mail. It is easy to set up, and you can activate or deactivate it with a few simple clicks.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/9013?lang=en

4. Not While Driving – Free

Are you constantly getting distracted with you mobile phone while driving? Not While Driving puts your phone into sleep mode while your car is in motion using your cell phone’s built in GPS. As soon as your car stops, your phone automatically returns to normal operating mode.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/11261?lang=en

5. Speaker On Car Kit – USD 4.99

This app uses your phone’s GPS technology to determine your driving status, and activates the loudspeaker automatically when you receive incoming calls.

Using this app is as simple as putting your BlackBerry in the car cradle and starting the ignition. Think of it as using a hands free set without the accessories.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/19547?lang=en

6. CRASH – Car Report Accident Search Help – Free

In the event of an accident, CRASH, provides your insurance details, as well as the other driver’s, quickly and efficiently on to your BlackBerry device. You can also record information about accidents, which can come in handy when dealing with insurance companies, body shops and garages etc.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/screenshots/27088?lang=en

7. Where is my car? – SGD$2.75

This easy-to-use application registers your current location when activated. Integrating the Maps application on your BlackBerry, it automatically traces a route back to your last location, whilst displaying the orientation and distance as well.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/20581?lang=en&curr=SGD

8. Car Finder – Free

Using your BlackBerry’s built-in GPS, this free application remembers the exact location where you parked your vehicle, and displays a compass to help direct you when returning to your car.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/screenshots/2313?lang=en

9. Parking Tracker – USD 1.99

With this app, you can save your location and backtrack with ease. The location of your car is displayed on a map along with your current location.

The interface is easy to navigate, and the added features allow you to take notes and parking lot numbers. There is a nifty alarm as well that reminds you of expiring parking time, potentially avoiding fines.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/22225?lang=en

10. Fuel Dashboard – Free

Fuel Dashboard provides ways to record gas fill-ups and show history and statistics about your car mileage. The dashboard serves as a unique information center with important statistics at a glance.

The basic version comes with following functionality: recording of new fill-ups, shows history of past fill-ups, shows basic statistics and provides information in a variety of metric units.

Download the app via the link below or use the QR code:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/29013?lang=en

Here are five ideas on how you can personalize your BlackBerry to show some Philippine pride and pay tribute to our national hero.  Simply visit the links or scan the QR codes below.

Enliven your BlackBerry with a Philippine theme

This distinctly Filipino theme puts the flag’s colors into one’s BlackBerry smartphone.  The battery and signal bar are replaced with stars, while the volume and the message indicator were changed to the Philippine sun.  Instead of the usual hourglass, BlackBerry users will see the waving Philippine flag as a waiting indicator. 

To get this theme, please visit http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/reviews/18936?lang=en

Get reacquainted with Rizal’s classics

When was the last time you picked up a copy of one of Rizal’s works?  BlackBerry users can rediscover his La Solidaridad essay La Indolencia delos Filipinos (http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/20250?la) or Noli Me Tangere (The Social Cancer) (http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/39492?lang=en), available on selected devices, by downloading these from BlackBerry App World and reading them using their smartphones at their leisure time.

Learn from the past

In 1890, Rizal republished Spanish lawyer Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (History of the Philippine Islands to call attention to the richness of pre-colonial Filipino culture. BlackBerry users don’t need to go far and can download an English version of de Morga’s works available on selected devices by visiting http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/20099?lang=en

Connect with your loved ones through BlackBerry Messenger (BBM)

Whether he’s in Barcelona, Spain finishing Amor Patrio (Love of Country) for home newspaper Diariong Tagalog, or in Tokyo, Japan, sending post cards to his brother Paciano, Rizal did not let the distance get in the way of his connection to his home country and family.  Filipinos today have the advantage of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), the unique messaging application that enables BlackBerry users to write with unlimited characters and reach out to loved ones even when overseas, at no extra cost to their data plan.  Unlike SMS, BBM travel as data so regardless of the number of BBM messages sent back and forth, it won’t result in outrageous phone bills.  

For more information, visit http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3729?lang=en

Discover a new local destination

Take advantage of the three day weekend to rediscover just why Rizal felt so intensely about his Patria Adorada (beloved country).  Whether you want to find flights to Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, where Rizal was exiled for four years, or to any other local destination,   BlackBerry Travel makes it easy to plan, book, manage, and share travel activities.  Find great hotel and flight options, and get all travel updates in one place. For more information please visit http://www.blackberry.com/ph/travel