by Al Sacco

Free BlackBerry App Poynt Gets Enterprise/BES Friendly

Opinion
May 18, 2010
MobileSmall and Medium Business

Multiplied Media today released a new version of its Poynt BlackBerry local search app meant for easy enterprise distribution.

I’m a big fan of BlackBerry application Poynt, and I’ve been recommending it to my readers for years.

If you’re not familiar with Poynt, it’s an uber-search, GPS-enabled app that uses your device location to find just about anything around you, including restaurants and bars; movie theatres, locations and show times; shops and retailers; even the local gas station with the lowest prices.

And it’s one of the few available BlackBerry applications that I actually consider to be a true BlackBerry “Super App.” A BlackBerry super app is, according to the BlackBerry Partners Fund, and app that “delivers the most engaging experiences possible for BlackBerry users.”

Today, Multiplied Media, the company behind Poynt, announced a new enterprise version of Poynt. The features and functionality are the same as the existing version of Poynt, but it’s designed for easy, controlled enterprise distribution by BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) administrators.

And the new “BES build” also lets BlackBerry admins manage updates of Poynt to their users, according to Andrew Osis, CEO of Multiplied Media, so they’re never prompted to update on their own; Poynt updates can be controlled by BES admins, so users never have to worry about keeping the software up to date.

More specifically, the BES build of Poynt has disabled update notifications, which would normally pop up to alert users that a new version is available. And two BES-specific versions exist: an “ALX build for consumers, which can be pushed out or loaded via desktop manager; and a ALX build for enterprise, which uses MDS connections where strict IT policies are in place,” according to Poynt support literature.

BlackBerry users on BES can still download Poynt on their own, but the new version is designed to make it easier for organizations to push out the app to all, or specific groups, of corporate users.

You can visit Multiplied Media’s Poynt website for more information, though it’s Poynt for BES page currently appears to be unavailable.

AS

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