Disqus
Xobni’s much-vaunted Outlook plug-in is making the jump to mobile, starting with BlackBerry. If you haven’t seen our early look in November, Xobni dynamically updates your address book by scanning incoming signatures and CC’s on e-mails. Not only are new contacts generated, but existing ones have their information updated automatically as needed. Like webOS Synergy, it pulls in extra contact information and ID pictures through LinkedIn and Facebook integration.
Although that might seem like a system like this would bloat your your address book, Xobni imposes a ranking system to determine who you spend the most of your time talking to. That algorithm also works by second-degree, allowing you to see the relationships your contacts have with others. Although it overrides the bulk of the BlackBerry’s native address book, it plugs into the Calendar app so that you can shoot over your availability for meetings within a certain time frame with just a few clicks. There’s also some neat messages integration that pulls your Xobni address book with a quick upward flick, so you can look up contacts at the drop of a hat. Within Xobni itself, you can see a full history with each of your respective contacts for quick reference. You can also make one-click calls to multiple phone numbers through Xobni too, if you’re feeling more personal.
Xobni’s being packaged in a couple of ways: Xobni Mobile is a standalone app that’s $9.99 straight-up. Xobni One syncs up your contacts across Outlook and your BlackBerry, but that will be $6.99 plus a $3.99 monthly fee. If you’d rather go for an annual subscription, you can nab both Mobile and One for $39.95 for the year. For those packing a BlackBerry Tour 9630, Curve 8900, Bold 9000 or 9700, and Storm or Storm2. Head over to Xobni.com/BlackBerry for a closer look.
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
