Last year at the BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco, Adam Nash, Vice President of Search & Platform Products at LinkedIn, announced that LinkedIn for BlackBerry was in the works and even provided a few screenshots. Since most business professionals use BlackBerry as their mobile platform, this announcement was highly anticipated by BlackBerry users. Tonight, the business social network finally launched the official LinkedIn for BlackBerry app and it is now available for download online and at the BlackBerry App World store. According to the LinkedIn blog, the app supports only the BlackBerry Tour, Curve, and Bold devices that are running BlackBerry OS v4.3 or later.
As a BlackBerry user and a LinkedIn member, I was excited to get my hands on this app and I’m sure this will be a very popular app in the professional arena. Although the LinkedIn for BlackBerry app is not as feature-rich as the iPhone app, it does just about everything you need it to do and a little extra. The app features six key modules: Network Updates, Search, Connections, Invitations, Messages, and Reconnect.
1. Network Updates: View and share business intelligence as well as updates with your social network.
2. Search: Search millions of professionals over the LinkedIn network and gather the information you need quickly.
3. Connections: Access to any of your LinkedIn connections, their up-to-date profile information, and the option to send them a message.
4. Invitations: The ability to view and accept invitations.
5. Messages: LinkedIn Inbox integrates with BlackBerry messages.
6. Reconnect: Provides a list of suggestions for new connections.
The LinkedIn for BlackBerry app also takes advantage of the capabilities of the BlackBerry platform and integrates the app with three of the BlackBerry native apps: Contacts, Messages, and Calendar.
1. Contacts: Link your your LinkedIn connections with your BlackBerry contacts.
2. Messages: LinkedIn invitations and messages appear in your BlackBerry Inbox just as if they were emails.
3. Calendar: View the LinkedIn profile of any attendee of an event or meeting on your BlackBerry calendar.
The mobile team at LinkedIn has made the BlackBerry platform a top priority and they plan on making regular enhancements as well as additions to the app throughout the year. If you would like to suggest new features and improvements feel free to join the LinkedIn for BlackBerry group or simply send feedback via your LinkedIn for BlackBerry app.