BBERRYNEWS

I’ve been talking to Foursquare recently (article to come) about their awesome location-based social platform. The company have put a lot of work into their BlackBerry client, and updates are continually rolling out to make the mobile experience on BlackBerry as robust as possible. Something you may have noticed about the BlackBerry app is that it doesn’t rely on traditional menu and setup screens. This is just one example of how Foursquare are building a BlackBerry app that focuses on smooth navigation and user experience. BlackBerry isn’t the easiest platform to develop for, so it’s clear the company is investing a lot of time and dollars into this free application.

One of the first things you’ll notice about the update is that the top menu bar has been updated and now lists Friends(F), Places(P), Tips and More. The Friends screen (top screenshot) now shows you small user profile icons along the left side, adding a more personal touch to the app. In the Places screen, venues have also been given avatars of sorts, with icons denoting what kind of venue you’re looking at. For example, a bar is a mug of beer, a restaurant has a knife and fork and a school has a grad hat.

As mentioned, the Tips section has been added to the top menu bar. From this section, you get a quick summary of tips left at venues in your area. Again, this really helps the local discovery process because you might find a tip about a cheap meal deal or a special you might want to take advantage of.

Once you click into a tip, you can discover a little more about who left the tip and the venue it was left at. Whenever I go to a new restaurant now, I always check the tips to see if a regular has left a good food recommendation. From this screen, you can add to your To Do list or select that you’ve already done it.

The latest Foursquare updates go a long way to making the app more visually rich, and adding a little more functionality when it comes to discovering what’s good in your neighborhood. If you’re headed to SXSW, be sure to get the latest update and check-in everywhere. I’ve heard the latest SXSW badges are really cool.

Foursquare have made the latest version available on App World, and you can still download it from their site. Like I said, the company have invested a lot of money in this application, making it compatible for a wide range of devices from the Pearl up to the Storm.

Now if only Foursquare would make the BlackBerryCool badge…

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2010