fone book, a phone directory application for the BlackBerry Storm from developer Blinding Rain has launched today. I’ve heard that fone book is a pretty good application, however, I can’t recommend it.
fone book can be purchased on BlackBerry App World for $2.99, however, there isn’t a free trial. Going by fone book’s documentation I can’t really tell what it does that Poynt, a great free BlackBerry application that was recently updated to include reverse address and reverse phone number lookup, doesn’t do.
I know that $2.99 is pretty cheap for a BlackBerry App, but, without a free trial and not being able to clearly see the benfits over what is already freely available, fone book probably won’t be something that I install on my BlackBerry Storm anytime soon.
I am really disapointed to see your comments Robb. If you would like to understand what the key differences are between Poynt and the fone book you could take a look at the review that is posted on BerryReview now [http://www.berryreview.com/2009/06/10/review-blinding-rain-fone-book-app-for-the-blackberry-storm/]
The main difference is the ability to manage the information once you have captured it. Easy adding to contacts and the single screen layout of the contact detail means that you don’t have to page through a number of separate stages. That is simply not the case with Poynt.
This is a plain and simple utility app that is mean to quickly find information and then let you act on it immediately. It is simple and easy and doesnt have a lot of “bells and whistles”. It is made to be that way. With complexity comes challagnes and we found that trying to add a self-locator with GPS or Cell Tower triangulaton just slowed the app and made for a real weak user experience.
You are right though, in the world of BlackBerry Apps, $2.99 is cheap but it is not free. And if what you need is an app that does one thing, does it very, very well and delivers on perofrmance, then $2.99 is real cheap.
Dan Hoff
@Dan,
I think you guys might of made a misstep by not providing a free trial, even if for only a few days. You or the guys over at BlackBerry Cool telling me that your app is great is one thing. Allowing me to see for myself is quite another.
In the Blackberry world it is pretty common place for premium apps to have a trial period.
If anyone does get fone book tell us how it compares to Poynt.
Sorry, I meant to say the review over at BerryReview…
I wouldn’t be too disappointed in Rob’s comments. He didn’t say your product sucked. He actually said that he heard it was pretty good and I respect that he wouldn’t endorse something that he hasn’t used himself.
Krellen hit the nail on the head with his comments. You guys need to offer a trial. Your competition is free and works pretty well from what I can tell.
I believe after playing with this app it is very simple and fast and it doesn’t take alot of memory use when searching like poynt does plus its much faster and doesn’t freeze on me.
I have the fortune of having done reviews for all three of main players in this space, the fone book, Poynt and SuperPages. My review is the one that is currently on BerryReview.
For me the standout of all three was fone book, by a mile. It has a very small device footprint and that makes is fast, agile and doesn’t interfere with any of my other applications.
I can’s say the same about either Poynt or SuperPages.
Of the three the easiest to use and the most affective in letting me use the information once I foound it, fone book excelled.
With the others, there were so many memory leaks and app interference that on one occasion, SuperPages actually turned off my phone and Poynt was constantly pinging the GPS, even when the app wasnt on.
No, for me, even having tested all 3, fone book is the best. So my advice to all of you is try it. After all, if you don’t like it, you get a full refund, so why worry about a “free trial” RIM already takes care of that with their refund policy, don’t they.
Frank C.