It's about time.
BlackBerry smartphone users will soon be able to download and employ a LinkedIn mobile application that will allow them to access the business-oriented social networking service while on the go, via an innovative and good-looking BlackBerry application.
The news is particularly significant because BlackBerry users, many of whom are businesspeople, represent a large percentage of LinkedIn's target user base. Facebook for BlackBerry, MySpace for BlackBerry and countless BlackBerry applications for popular micro-blogging service Twitter have been around for years. But BlackBerry owners were out of luck when it came to LinkedIn; the LinkedIn mobile website was their best option.
But today, LinkedIn's Adam Nash, VP of search and platform products, along with RIM's Software CTO David Yach, demonstrated the brand new LinkedIn for BlackBerry application in front of more than 1,000 attendees at RIM's second annual BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco.
The application offers all the basic LinkedIn functionality, including messaging and profile viewing. It also displays notification alerts on the BlackBerry home screen "ribbon." And it integrates with a variety of native BlackBerry applications such as the calendar, so you can, say, click on a meeting attendee's name and then view their LinkedIn profile.
Overall, the application looks very impressive, and I'm anxious to finally be able to manage my LinkedIn account via a BlackBerry app.
I've been asking for LinkedIn BlackBerry for years. I literally penned an open letter to both RIM and LinkedIn. LinkedIn informed me that it certainly heard my pleas--and the pleas of countless other frustrated BlackBerry users.
But I was honestly beginning to wonder if LinkedIn would ever make it to the BlackBerry platform.
It's unclear when exactly the application will become publicly available.