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There are a couple of new toys to play with on the BlackBerry Bold 9790, app-wise. For example, Wikitude comes preloaded. Augmented reality browsers have been around for a while, and appear to be the kind of thing users either love or hate. But the cool thing about this version is that it integrates with BBM so you can also see if your Messenger friends are in the vicinity by just waving your phone in various directions like a lunatic.
Unfortunately, we have few friends, and even fewer with compatible handsets in the area, so we couldn't test it out to the full.
There are also various other bits and bobs such as BlackBerry Protect (what it says on the tin), Documents to Go (the full version- yay!) and Smart Tags (which we still can't work out, other than knowing it has something to do with the NFC chip).
There's a compass on the BlackBerry Bold 9790, which will become crucial if you're orienteering in the middle or the Amazon and need to know which way north is. And to help you find your way out of the rainforest, BlackBerry Maps is also onboard. Thank. The. Lord.
We say that with all sarcasm of course, because Maps - as we have said before - has to be one of the blandest, most boring and underinvested bits of computer code known to man. Any serious mapper will just ignore it and download Google Maps straight away in its place. Luckily GPS gets a lock pretty quickly, so you won't be hanging around too long once you're set up.
Unfortunately for those of us with lower IQs, there isn't much on the BlackBerry Bold 9790 in terms of games. Obviously BrickBreaker is there (it probably will be until RIM crumbles), and Word Mole is also onboard, but that's it. We wouldn't have said no to a nice Solitaire or Chess to while away long commutes.
But at least BlackBerry App World is there to top the BlackBerry Bold 9790 up with some bespoke timewasting.
The App World still lags behind the Apple App Store and Android Market, though. Quality apps seem to cost a lot more than they do in their competitors' stores, and the free apps look, in the majority, like something created by Matthew Broderick in War Games (great film - what do you mean you haven't seen it?).
Although App World comes preloaded on the device, you're not in Apple's walled garden and, as such, can still download apps from a plethora or other stores online. Shop around!
