The Poynt application for the Blackberry PlayBook is an application transferred from the Blackberry mobile handsets onto the PlayBook bigger screen. Poynt is a location-based entertainment search application that is very useful when planning a day or night out. Poynt uses your current location to search for your closest Restaurants, Businesses, Movies and Events.

Poynt’s home screen is the home page in which you navigate back to when you open a different menu or page. Therefore, Poynt’s home screen is very simple to use and to look at; it has the four main possible entertainment selections, ‘Businesses’, ‘Movies’, ‘Restaurants’ and ‘Events.’ These are shown as tab buttons in the center of the screen, however, they can also be accessed in the top right of the home screen. You can also tap on the weather to see a more in-depth weather report. In addition, in the top right are the settings, allowing you to change such options as measurement units, search radius and also giving you the ability to connect your Blackberry PlayBook to your Blackberry mobile device.

When you click on the first tab which is ‘Businesses’, a screen is brought up with a search bar showing as the eye-grabbing feature. When you search for a business title, it loads up a list of the businesses that have the same name as your searched business. The results are shown from closest in distance at the top to furthest away in distance at the bottom. Once you select the business that you want, it slides you along to another screen. This screen has on it details of the selected business and then tabs that contain a map, directions (in Bing), the ability to send the details shown to your phone and the ability to search from the selected location.

The next screen is the ‘Movies’ screen which is the screen i personally find most useful. On this screen you are welcomed with the ‘Top 10′ movies within your search radius, you can select to see them in grid view or list view on the top right. You’re also given a drop-down menu that allows you to change the order of the film based on either Box Office sales or Ratings. Within this screen, you are also given the option to view: ‘Movies Nearby’, ‘Theaters Nearby’, ‘Genres’ and ‘Movie Titles’ (the ability to search for a movie by name). Once you have selected a movie, you are given lots of information on the movie such as the movie length, the tomato rating, the actors and actresses of the film and the genre. In addition, you get to see an overview, which theaters near your location are playing the cinema, the credits of the film and finally, a review of the film.

Your third option on the home screen is ‘Restaurants’ and when this is clicked on, you are brought to a screen that looks similar to the others. On the ‘Restaurants’ screen, it opens with restaurants nearby, once again with the nearest restaurant at the top and the furthest at the bottom. You also have the option to select a restaurant by cuisine type, or search by name if you’re looking for a particular restaurant. Selecting a restaurant brings you to a page where you can select to: see details, view a map, find directions, reserve a table, once again send the details to your phone or finally the ability to search from the selected location again.

Your final tab on the home screen is the ‘Events’ tab which is a tab I’ve personally rarely used. However, I can see how it can be very useful. You are brought up a screen that is laid out the same as the other screens. You are shown the events nearby as the first option that opens up; once again, these are shown with nearest-by at the top and furthest away at the bottom. You also have the option to search venues by category, venues nearby, search venues by text entry or search performers by text entry. You are additionally given more in depth options to change in the top right of the screen next to the little ‘x’. With these options you can change the date, choose how the results are sorted and in which order they are sorted also. Once you have selected an event that interests you, you are given plenty of information to help you decide whether you wish to attend this event. The details you can see are: images, websites, performers, map, directions, and send to phone and search from here. There is also a browser link on the right that takes you to the event’s website.

What I love about this application is how in-depth every section is; every event and restaurant and film and business is given plenty of information and really help you to decide whether to visit them. Also, I like the plenty of filtering options as this helps me narrow down what I am looking for and there have been a couple of times where I have been the one out of my group of friends who has organized a whole evening on this app. I love how you can select the ‘Search from here’ option as it helps you plan out a day based on which entertainment venues you are visiting during that day. I also like the animations and transitions between the different screens, yet also how simple the application is to use.

If I could change this application myself, I would add the ability to add events to an in-built calendar application (as there is no native email application on the PlayBook yet). Also this calendar would be able to be used offline so that when out and about without WiFi, you can check where to go next. What I don’t like about the application is the drag down options menu; it doesn’t look anything like the rest of the application and ruins the synergy of the application.

In conclusion, I am a very big fan of this application as it is simple yet very effective and I have often found myself planning whole days out on it. I have no direct complaints about this application, just suggestions written aforesaid as to how to improve the usability of the application.

Price Free

Poynt for BlackBerry PlayBook Available in BlackBerry App World Here.