Essential Apps for your BlackBerry PlayBook

The featured image is sourced from Flickr.
The recent update to the PlayBook OS has put the spotlight back on BlackBerry’s flagship tablet. The number of apps available through the App World has increased significantly as a result, and there is a huge variety on offer. From entertainment and music options to business and productivity apps, the choice can be bewildering at times. So which are the top essential apps? Let’s have a look at the ones you can’t afford to miss.
Security
First off, the truly ‘essential’ apps. Before you do anything, you should make sure that your PlayBook is going to be easily recovered if it gets lost or stolen. Thankfully, there are apps available to help you make sure your PlayBook is secure. One of the best security apps is BuddyGuard Pro. This app allows you to control your PlayBook through a series of commands, sent via SMS and email. You can lock your device, wipe all the data to protect your information, and even locate the PlayBook remotely. It’s a comprehensive safeguard against anyone trying to steal or hack into your device, and it’s available at a relatively low price.
Ascendo Datavault is another useful app along the same lines as BuddyGuard, with its focus more on protecting data. It uses the Advanced Encryption System (AES), which is one of the best encryption methods on the market today, so as long as you have a strong password, you know your data will be safe.
Entertainment
There are myriad entertainment apps for the PlayBook, all vying for your attention in some way – but there are a few stand-outs. If you’re a music lover, you might want to check out Slacker Radio, a free radio app. It gives you access to over 140 radio stations, all programmed by real music experts. For a free music app, you couldn’t ask for much more.
The Featured image is sourced from Flickr.
Likewise, BlackBerry PlayBook reviews have praised the device’s ability to handle HD video. If you want to take advantage of this feature, the Canadian Film Board’s app NFB Films gives you access to over 2,000 films, completely for free. You may not find the latest big cinema releases here, but there is a lot of content, including an HD channel.
Games-wise, classics like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope are present in the App World, but if you’re looking for something a bit different, why not try Papa’s Burgeria? It’s a clever little management game that places you in charge of a fast food outlet. It can be quite a challenge to juggle your time between flipping burgers, taking orders and decorating your establishment, all just to keep your customers happy.
Productivity
The Verge’s BlackBerry PlayBook review has made much of the inclusion of well-crafted email and calendar apps in the latest OS update. But these are not the only ways you can take advantage of the PlayBook’s business potential. There are some great third party productivity apps, such as Box for BlackBerry PlayBook, which allows you to have up to 5GB of cloud storage for free. You can upload various document types to the cloud, and then access them from Box.com. It’s fantastic for storing your files on the go, for when you want to access them from a different device.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive productivity suite on your PlayBook, on the other hand, there is a solution available: Documents To Go Premium. It has everything you could need for reading and editing office documents, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint files. And thanks to the improved keyboard interface of the PlayBook OS 2.0, it’s relatively easy to do so. Superb for the business person on the go (and let’s face it, who isn’t on the go these days?).