Last night, RIM launched a distinctly different kind of app from their usual business/productivity fare. Avatar Builder lets you make a custom likeness of yourself to use in stuff like BlackBerry Messenger, or anywhere else you want some obnoxiously-exaggerated caricature of yourself online. Separate apps are available for male or female avatars, each with a full assortment of hair styles, accessories, clothes and facial elements. Once built, you can share your creation to Twitter, Facebook, send it to someone via e-mail, or store it locally on the device.
Maybe I’m just jaded because after the Wii started doing the cutesy avatar thing, Xbox Live copied it, then it was all over the web with irritating sparkly Flash ads. That being said, I really can’t imagine showing off these kinds of avatars to the online public. At least Google had a unique take on it with their Androidify app. I would hazard a guess that this is another product of RIM’s recent acquisition, The Astonishing Tribe, though there has been talk about RIM working with another design house called You i lately.
As tacky as the app may be to me, I’m sure there will be a younger audience that is pretty excited for this sort of thing. If you’re interested in downloading this and cartoonifying yourself, you can download the Guys Edition of the Avatar Builder in BlackBerry App World over here, or the Girls Edition over here.