BlackBerry users, LinkedIn has finally arrived; The business social network has just launched LinkedIn for BlackBerry, version 1.0.
The new LinkedIn BlackBerry app, which you can download now online or very soon from the BlackBerry App World app, not only provides users with access to their connections, invitations, and messages, but provides deep integration with BlackBerry Mail, Contacts, and Calendar, allowing you to integrate contacts, get LinkedIn mail in your inbox, and a lot more.
Here are the details, along with a boatload of exclusive screenshots of LinkedIn for BlackBerry that we’ve obtained:
BlackBerry for LinkedIn: The Overview
LinkedIn’s new BlackBerry app is not as feature-rich as LinkedIn for iPhone, simply due to the limitations of the software and hardware. In fact, you’re going to need a BlackBerry, Tour, Curve, or Bold with BlackBerry OS v4.3 or later in order to run this bad boy.
Still, for a BlackBerry app, it does everything you’d want a LinkedIn app to do and then some. The app is divided into six key modules: Network Updates, Search, Connections, Invitations, Messages, and Reconnect.
Each of these features is self-explanatory, which is why I’m going to let the screenshots do most of the talking. Jump down below to learn about some of the app’s other features.
1. Network Updates: This module provides you access to your friends’ status updates and allows you to update your own.
2. Search: Search focuses around both finding your connections and searching any of LinkedIn’s 60 million+ members.
3. Connections: Browse and check out your connections; simple as that.
4. Invitations This one’s self-explanatory.
5. Messages: Not only do you get access to your messages, but it has a killer feature: integration with BlackBerry Mail. Whenever you receive a LinkedIn message, it’ll appear in your inbox just like any of your other messages.
6. Reconnect: The final module provides suggestions for new people to add to your connections.
LinkedIn Has a Few More Tricks Up Its Sleeve
In addition to the six modules, LinkedIn’s also gone ahead and integrated the app with three of BlackBerry’s native apps: Contacts, Messages, and Calendar.
1. Contacts: Take your LinkedIn connections and drop them directly into your BlackBerry contacts, giving you quick access to the LinkedIn profiles of your business associates.
2. Messages: LinkedIn messages appear directly in your BlackBerry Inbox as if they were emails.
3. Calendar If an attendee of an event on your calendar has a LinkedIn profile, you can quickly pull it up.
Clearly, the company took a lot of time and energy to make sure they got this app right. The integrations with native BlackBerry features seem to be its greatest strength, especially the BlackBerry Inbox integration. Business users who rely on LinkedIn to look up prospective leads, employees, or customers will now have a powerful tool in their hands.
BlackBerry users, what do you think of the app? Are you going to download it? Let us know in the comments.
More Screenshots
Reviews: LinkedIn
Tags: blackberry, business, linkedin, Linkedin for BlackBerry, Mobile 2.0, RIM
