poynt

How Poynt used BlackBerry as a springboard to success

For all the talk of the barren wasteland that is Research In Motion's developer ecosystem, there actually have been successes.

Poynt, a location-based search app, is a breakout hit largely thanks to the early support it got from RIM. It was one of the first "super apps" named when RIM attempted to coin the term. Its early success at RIM allowed the company to foster stronger relationships with carriers and other handset vendors, allowing its app to be preloaded on more phones.

In early December, Poynt announced a deal to have its app loaded on all Samsung … Read more

Poynt for BlackBerry PlayBook to push calls to phones

Poynt is one of the developers making a play for the BlackBerry PlayBook, which launched this week. Poynt for PlayBook, available for free in BlackBerry App World beginning today, will soon be offering a unique "send to phone" feature that will let the tablet initiate phone calls and even turn-by-turn directions on a BlackBerry smartphone phone, Poynt told CNET in an exclusive interview.

An alternative to Google Search, Poynt will use a form of tethering to bypass restrictions that bar pairing non-RIM PlayBook apps with your phone via BlackBerry Bridge and Bluetooth. Instead, Poynt will use RIM's … Read more

Tap That App: Poynt leads to search listings on Android, iPhone, BlackBerry

We're all familiar with Yelp, Google, and Bing as go-to mobile apps for searching out restaurants, movies, and gas stations. Here's Poynt, another undersung app that squeezes the same operation into an equally-compelling package.

It's been awhile since we last took a look and it's high time we revisited the perfectly respectable app for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry smartphones.

Credible rival

Poynt for iPhone has the makings of a fine metasearch application that might become a serious contender for finding you people, businesses, restaurants, and movies. At its core, Poynt is an attractive aggregator of third-party services, including SuperPages.com (owners of YellowPages.com), CitySearch, OpenTable, and CinemaSource (with links to MovieTickets.com). Poynt uses the native Google Maps app on the iPhone to handle all mapping and directions.

Overall, Poynt's feature set is strong, with buttons for visiting the Web site where available, calling, mapping, searching nearby, streaming movie trailers, and viewing augmented reality if you have an iPhone … Read more

Poynt for iPhone: Like a Google, Flixster, Yelp mashup

Article corrected 3/3/2010 at 12:00 PT (SuperPages.com supports its own version of Yellow Pages) and updated stability issues at 2:00 pm PT.

The field of iPhone search apps is already crowded with Yelp, Urbanspoon, and Zagat for dining; Flixster's Movies app for showtimes; YellowPages for people; and Google Mobile App for just about everything else. Now here comes Poynt, a new free iPhone search app that mashes together elements of them all.

At its core, Poynt is an aggregator of third-party services encased in an attractive wrapper. SuperPages.com powers the business listings; CinemaSource feeds you entertainment info and facilitates ticket purchases via MovieTickets.com. Poynt taps SuperPages, CitySearch, and OpenTable to find you food, and Google Maps handles all mapping and directions on its native app. With the exception of Google Maps, which kicks you out, Poynt keeps you in its environment with an in-app browser.

Poynt's feature set is strong overall, with buttons for visiting the Web site where available, calling, mapping, searching nearby, streaming movie trailers, and viewing augmented reality if you have an iPhone 3GS. Instead of tapping to place a call, Poynt employs a calling gesture. As with voice search in Google Mobile app, lifting the phone to your ear triggers the action.… Read more