The Matrix Factor

Running late on my weekly review. Got so busy with loads of things last week that I didn't have any time to write up my weekly review. But like I say, it's better late than never, so here goes.

This week's (or rather, last week's) review is on Fixmo Tools for BlackBerry. This app is currently running in Beta and is free as the company wants better tester to test out their newest app.

It has just recently recevied an update from version 0.3.6 to 0.3.11.

As soon as you install the app you receive a message with details of the application/update, which I think is a nice touch.

So, what does the app do? Well it's a mobile utility app that comes with individual tools to help you tweek and increase functionality on your BlackBerry.

Let's run down each individual tool one by one.

Undelete

This tool does exactly what it says on the front. It lets you undelete those emails that you accidentally deleted then realised that you shouldn't have. It basically stores you're deleted messages and you can undelete them in the message menu. There are options to permanent remove messages if you really did mean to delete them. But it doesn't just go as far as undeleting messages. It also allows you to undelete pin messages, calendar events, tasks and memo.

I love this tool as there has been many a time that I have deleted messages then realising I shouldn't have done that.

Flame Retardant

This tool has been designed for the times when you're having an off day or not in the proper state of mind and you write bad emails that you will later regret. If you have this enabled you will be warned if your message contains anything offensive. Better yet you can customise these settings to suit you.

There are settings for: Offensive words - you can choose standard or set your own list; Repeated punctuation - exclamation!!! and question marks???; Words in all in CAPITALS - you can set 'in groups of...' from 2 to 9 words; and Unintended recipients.

I have this enable as I have found myself writing angry emails, occassionally and this makes you think twice and maybe calm down a little before re-hitting that send button.

Silencer

This tool is one of my favourites. It allows you to silence your calls during your busy calendar events. You can choose which events to silence for by the event lengths. There is also a quick silence option that will silence your phone for a duration of time that you set from 15 minutes to 4 hours. You can assign a convenience key for this so if you ever just want to quickly silence for your phone, hit up your shortcut. This is great as sometimes you can forget your phone is on silence and you forget to unsilence it and miss some important calls. I love this part of the app.

Forward/Reply With Edit

This is another tool I find very useful. As the tool's name says, it allows you to reply to an email or forward an email and allow for inline editing. The option for this is availabe in the message menu. It does mean I can't use my usual 'R' shortcut for reply. But I find it's a small inconvenience to be able to make inline edits.

Great tool.

Battery Watch

Basically a tool to watch your battery usage and alert you to issues. You can set what percentage your battery will be when your phone alerts you about this and gives you then option to turn of any connections in order to prolong your battery life a little more.

I find this very useful especially on longer days I am away from a charger.

Memory Monitor

Like Battery Watch but monitors your memory usage and alerts you to memory issues. It also allows you to clear your cache to free up some space.

There is a Help option that gives a description of each tool. There are also three icons that are greyed out and have Coming Soon! on them so watch this space for those. It can only be a good thing.

This is by far one of the most useful apps I've ever used on my BlackBerry. I use all the tools and like I said, I love the Silencer and inline editing tools a lot. But they are all very very good tools and it makes the app on a whole a 5 star app.

Check it out for yourself and download the app. Go to http://beta.fixmo.com/cb from your BlackBerry's web browser.

It's currently free and in beta. If you like it let them know.