LinkedIn for BlackBerry is here, See the video, check out the features, download the app.
If there is anything that the over 60 Million LinkedIn users have been begging for, it has been the release of the fabled LinkedIn for BlackBerry app. Well LinkedIn family, it’s finally here.. If you are not familiar with LinkedIn, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. Think of Facebook for professionals, consultants, and entrepreneurs, etc. If you’re in the world of business and you’re on Facebook but not on LinkedIn, it’s time to come and play in the big sand box. Instead of getting Farmville updates, you are networking, prospecting, and building a true professional identity.
With so many business users carrying BlackBerry as their weapon of choice, the development team over at LinkedIn knew that they had to create a better way for BlackBerry and other mobile users to interface with the LinkedIn site other than going to m.linkedIn.com/ . The LinkedIn BlackBerry app made its first appearance at CES 2010 with this video overview.
(Click here to view video on BlackBerry)
Chad Whitney, the product manager for mobile devices, offers up this overview of the features of the new LinkedIn for Blackberry app.
“LinkedIn for BlackBerry is a continuation of our efforts to help you leverage the power of your professional network anywhere, anytime. Now, you can walk into any interview, any customer engagement or client meeting with the ability to look up the details on over 60 million professionals worldwide, in real-time.
LinkedIn for BlackBerry includes a full, rich feature set designed to bring the most useful features of LinkedIn to your business smartphone. The application features six modules, each with a user experience designed from the ground up for BlackBerry devices:
- Network Updates. View and share crucial business intelligence and updates with your network. Perfect for those spare moments between meetings.
- Search. Search across over 60 million global professionals, and get the answer back in seconds. We’ve implemented a unified search across both your direct connections and the entire LinkedIn network.
- Connections. LinkedIn is your address book in the cloud. Get quick access to any of your connections to get their up-to-date profile information, and the ability to send them a message immediately.
- Invitations. Why wait to get back to your desk? Accept outstanding invitations immediately.
- Messages. Messaging is one of the reasons that BlackBerry owners love their devices, and we’ve worked hard to integrate your LinkedIn Inbox.
- Reconnect. You can’t leverage your network if you don’t build it. This module brings suggestions for new connections to you anytime. Now you can build your network from anywhere, in seconds.
BlackBerry: Going Native
We’ve worked hard to develop an application that takes advantage of the unique capabilities of the BlackBerry platform. Based on customer feedback from the announcement at the BlackBerry Developer Conference, we spent extra time implementing deep integration with BlackBerry Mail, Contacts & Calendar, the full experience of which is now available to BlackBerry devices with operating system 4.6 or later.
Native features of LinkedIn for BlackBerry include:
- Contacts. Integrate your LinkedIn connections with your BlackBerry address book, and view the profile of any contact directly on your BlackBerry.
- Messages. LinkedIn invitations and messages will now appear in your BlackBerry Inbox, just like any other email. You can also view the LinkedIn profile of the sender of any email you receive.
- Calendar. You can now view the LinkedIn profile of any attendee of a meeting on your BlackBerry calendar.
Now, right from the convenience of your primary BlackBerry applications, you can easily select “View LinkedIn Profileâ€, and view the full LinkedIn public profile for anyone. Whether it’s a meeting invitation, an email, or an address book contact, you can get the information you need about someone, anytime, anywhere.
The same experience is available from any email in the native BlackBerry Messaging application, and any meeting in the Calendar application. Why walk into your important business meetings without knowing who you are meeting with?â€
According to Chad, the LinkedIn for Blackberry application should be available for download from BlackBerry App World shortly. Currently the app only supports BlackBerry models: Tour 9630, Curve 8300,8500, 8900 series, and the Bold 9000 and 9700. If you are using a Curve 8300 series device, you must be using BlackBerry OS v4.3 or later. BlackBerry Storm support is still under development and we should hopefully see that soon. Some of the first reports have been very positive with users being able to integrate with ACT contacts on their BlackBerry. You can add an additional competitive edge by downloading the free LinkedIn for Microsoft Outlook add-on.
If you are not currently on LinkedIn you can sign-up for free at http://www.linkedin.com/. Also be sure to stop by and say hello to me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/andersoncurry .
Click here to Download LinkedIn for BlackBerry 1.0
