Over the course of BlackBerry World last week, Xobni, a popular e-mail inbox management app (coming soon to Android and iPhone), updated to version 2.0.28 with a giant heaping fistful of new features. For starters, free users can now enjoy limited daily universal searches (a feature previously held back for premium customers). There are also some security updates, such as locking the account after 5 failed log-in attempts. The biggest update in this patch is that now edits made in the native BlackBerry address book will be accurately reflected in Xobni. This is great, since my biggest apprehension with the app was that I would have to use one over the other, but in tandem, the two could be very useful.
Xobni works on Outlook too, and like the mobile client, stores your full archive of correspondence (including calls, SMS messages, and instant messaging), social network activities, and ranks your contacts according to importance. Contacts are stored in the cloud to sync with the desktop, making it a great one-stop shop for those that e-mail heavily. In BlackBerry OS 6, Xobni ties in nicely with Universal Search, so you can find your rich contacts just by typing names or e-mail addresses from the home screen.
I’m a big fan of Xobni, but I have a feeling that a lot of these features will be baked right into the BlackBerry operating at some point since RIM acquired Gist and Tungle. If you’re already a regular user, head over here for the full changelog for Xobni on BlackBerry, or if you’re new, go ahead and get downloading the free version in App World.