Free American Express Travel App Powered by TripIt

By Ray Nicolini

Via www.BerryReview.com

American Express Business Travel already has a BlackBerry apppowered by WorldMate.Jess let us know that American Express has also released a travel app for US card members consumers powered by TripIt. The app features include the ability to:

• Manage and store your itineraries, using your TripIt account
• Discover what’s around your gate
• Find the best seats on a plane
• Access travel directories
• Utilize other convenient travel tools

The app is available to all US card members who have at least one credit card with American Express. The also offer upgraded features for Platinum card members including:

• Get alerts about flight delays, cancellations, or gate changes
• View alternate flight availability
• Locate airport lounges Platinum Card members can access

You can find out more about the app by heading to www.amextravelapp.com/bb or simply download the app atthis link in App World.

How to Clear the BlackBerry App World Cache and View Updated App List

By Ray Nicolini

BlackBerry App World caches data on your device which will result in your App World not displaying the most recent content. In order to check something like the latest apps in the featured carousel, you’ll have to clear the cache. RIM has published an article in their knowledge base explaining how to clear the cache and it’s complicated. It’s the smartphone equivalent of the Konami Code.

The knowledge base article has a caveat that the process may remove any applications that have been archived to the media card so keep that in mind before you try this out.

There are two ways to clear the App World cache depending on which device you have. For BlackBerrys that use SureType or QWERTY keyboard, use the following:

1. Launch the BlackBerry App World application.
2. While pressing and holding the ALT key, type RST.

For Storm devices:

1. Launch the BlackBerry App World application.
2. Ensure the smartphone is being held in the landscape position.
3. Activate the onscreen keyboard.
4. Press and hold the “!?123″ button until it locks.
5. Type the following characters in sequence: 34(

Even after performing the code your BlackBerry “may become unresponsive for a few moments while the cache data is cleared.”

It’s small things like this that RIM needs to fix and hopefully App World updates address this issue. Smartphones are becoming ubiquitous and a big part of customer satisfaction is making them easy to use. You can’t expect a user to know how to enter a secret code to clear the cache. They need a menu item.

The App World cache clear isn’t the only code either. Viewing the source code for a website on a BlackBerry requires you to hold ALT and type RBVS while in the Browser application. While it’s probably not a feature that’s used very often, it’s surprising that these features are still hidden in codes even on BlackBerry 6.

Hertz RentACar Launches rental car booking app

Hertz has launched a rental car booking app for BlackBerry. The app can use GPS to find the closest Hertz location, shop from their lot’s availability and save favorite locations.

The developers say that the next version will feature Storm support, the ability to edit your current reservation(s), multi-language support, WiFi and cell tower positioning to get positioning data even indoors.

I’m surprised at how many apps omit Storm support from their flagship launch. You would figure developing an accompanying iPhone app would allow you to use the iphone art assets for your Storm port.

I am however, glad to see developers getting curious about the more robust assisted GPS data that RIM is implementing. Imagine how much better all the GPS driven apps will with accurate indoor GPS data.

Download the Hertz RentACar app from BlackBerry App World.

Foursquare for BlackBerry Beta v1.8.2 Now Available

Yesterday we saw some new screens of the latest beta of foursquare, and verison 1.8.2 is now officially available for download. The update brings a new look as well as some cool new features to the BlackBerry app - including a cool "copy venue info" feature. If you're a foursquare user you'll definitely want to check out the features. Updates include:

• Friends Page - Quickly see your own friends and discover new ones from your user profile page.
• Search - More prominent search. Now search is built into the top of the Places screen.
• "Me" Settings - Simplified user info & settings via the "Me" screen. You can now quickly manage friends, settings, and view your profile.
• My Check-in History - You can now view your check-in history from your "Me" screen.
• Connection - Improved connection support for a variety of carriers and corporate network configurations.
• UI - Updated UI including a unified look and feel.
• Small Tweaks & Fixes - foursquare is always listening to user feedback and making small fixes & tweaks along the way.

These new additions really do beef up the app and give it much more functionality. The foursquare team is always open to suggestions for how to improve the app, so be sure to send your comments along as they work towards a final release. Hit the jump for some shots of the new app.

• Download foursquare for BlackBerry v1.8.2 >>

Official BlackBerry Twitter Client Coming November 16 with Push?

There are a lot of options in the BlackBerry Twitter app market these days, but the killer feature of real-time, push tweets is still missing, which apparently only RIM will be able to provide in the near future. Rumours of an official twitter client being in the works have surfaced alongside a feature list and a November 16 launch target.

-Notification of number of new tweets on the home screen with icon, like text messages
-Main app opens friends timeline
-Ability to view followers
-Follow/unfollow functions
-Create direct messages, replies and new tweets
-Keyword search and saved results
-Tweet photos directly from camera or memory card
-View photos from other tweets
-View trending topics
-Address book integration

Existing software can offer core functions and do some neat stuff with GPS, RIM’s ability to really leverage the push tech that they’re famous for will easily make this the best BlackBerry twitter client out there. The software will eventually come preloaded on all devices according to tipsters, in addition to being available through App World. The address book integration is a nice touch, and follows closely in the Facebook app’s footsteps. I trust the option to view @ replies and direct messages in your messages folder will be enabled, just like the instant messaging clients, but we’ll have to wait and cross our fingers.

Free! TiVo BlackBerry Application! | BlackBerry Sites

Now you can schedule programs on your DVR from your BlackBerry smartphone with the TiVo for BlackBerry® smartphone application. It is available for all BlackBerry Devices and available for the U.S. and Canada.
TiVo for BlackBerry smart phones enables you to:
* Search by title, keyword, actor or director
* Get a Season Pass and schedule your DVR to record your favorite shows
* Explore daily picks and most popular shows
* Search, browse and discover new shows from wherever you happen to be

TiVo for BlackBerry OTA by going HERE!

A quick and simple User Guide can be found HERE!