[HorizonXP]

Pulsecode Engineering is pleased to announce Desktop Bridge will be released this week on App World. We have submitted the final version for App World testing, and hope to have it approved within the next few days, based on their previous track record.

We've kept mostly quiet about the app, except on twitter. If you've been following us (@PulsecodeEng), you'll know what this app is all about. The following is for the rest of you.

Desktop Bridge is an app for the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ that allows you to access all of your BlackBerry® Bridge applications on your desktop. You now have the ability to use BBM™, e-mail, contacts, calendars, and more, straight from your desktop. No longer do you have to reach for your BlackBerry® smartphone or PlayBook™ just to respond to BBMs™ or e-mails.

Simply open a web browser and go to the URL shown on your PlayBook's™ screen. On your PlayBook™, confirm the incoming connection. Then, back in your browser, accept the security certificate and enjoy access to all of your BlackBerry® Bridge apps and data, through an encrypted connection on your PC.

Quickly respond to incoming BBMs™, while staying focused on getting things done! All for $4.99!

For more information, please visit us at our website. You can also follow us on twitter @PulsecodeEng, or via hashtag #DesktopBridge.

Of course, you can post here with any requests, likes, dislikes, or concerns, and we'll be happy to respond to them. At Pulsecode Engineering, we're focused on giving you the best user experience possible, and we'd like you to give us the opportunity to do that.

Launch date set! May 29, 2012 at 09:00 EST.
 

[pkcable]

Looks very interesting. I will have to check this out once it becomes available on if it's a reasonable price.

[HorizonXP]

Looks very interesting. I will have to check this out once it becomes available on if it's a reasonable price.

Updated to add the price. Currently it is set to be priced at $4.99.

[russnash]

This does look interesting, will there be a trial available?

[HorizonXP]

This does look interesting, will there be a trial available?

To be honest, we hadn't considered putting a trial in place, just because the app's premise is quite simple and straightforward. That isn't to say it was easy to make!

We're not sure how to structure a trial. It would have to be time-limited, since we really can't reduce the features. That is, you can use the trial for 7 days, after which you need to purchase to continue. That's the only way I could see a trial working, and I'm not sure how beneficial that will really be. If there's more support here for something like that, it's something we could consider.

If your concern is how well it works, you can look out for videos that will be posted in the coming days. Hopefully that will help.

Worse comes to worse, if you purchase the app, find out it's not to your liking after engaging with us, we have no problem offering a refund.

Again, customer service is our #1 priority here. If that means losing your business, that's ok too. :-D

[Snuupy]

I can vouch for this app. It's great, gets things done, though it does require bridge to be active on your phone. Interface is great, works flawlessly. I especially like the SSL support, and makes it just that much more secure. Works on all major browsers, except IE (who uses it anyways? HTML5 is borkened on it).

Great way to get things done with your laptop/desktop, and you can be even more lazy! (who really wants to reach over to your phone to check a few messages?)

Awesome app, would recommend.

[HorizonXP]

Thanks Snuupy for the great feedback and positive review.

Everyone, we've updated the OP with a launch date and countdown. We're set to launch in just over 10 hours!

[diegonei]

I would still prefer to see a trial.

If it's so good, you got nothing to fear, right? Trials are a good way for the final user to gauge if they relly want that app and don't hurt the dev since people will most likely be impressed and decide to buy.

EDIT: Very nice video, but I stil advocate for a 3 days trial.

[HorizonXP]

Desktop Bridge is now in BlackBerry App World!

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZGaRTOsmn8?hd=1[/YT]

[HorizonXP]

I would still prefer to see a trial.

If it's so good, you got nothing to fear, right? Trials are a good way for the final user to gauge if they relly want that app and don't hurt the dev since people will most likely be impressed and decide to buy.

EDIT: Very nice video, but I stil advocate for a 3 days trial.

Hah, tough crowd to please!

If you drum up enough support in here to have that happen, I'll make sure it's in there for our version 1.5 GUI refresh release. That release is like 1-2 weeks away.

[jdgarrido]

Thanks for the nice app. Runs smooth and think i will use it daily. One thing that is missing that i would love to have is to also show you the native mail and the native calendar. Do you think you can add this on future updates.

[fbloise]

Do you have to be in the same network to use it?

Would love to use it at work but the PC uses a connection while the PB uses a completely different one.

[HorizonXP]

Thanks for the nice app. Runs smooth and think i will use it daily. One thing that is missing that i would love to have is to also show you the native mail and the native calendar. Do you think you can add this on future updates.

Unfortunately, access to the native mail and calendar is not a feature we're currently considering. Access to that data is quite restrictive, making it difficult to do. And to be honest, you're likely accessing web-based accounts there, which you should already have access to on your desktop. Desktop Bridge allows you to access your accounts that exist on your BlackBerry smartphone but not directly on your PlayBook, such as BES, or BBM.

Do you have to be in the same network to use it?

Would love to use it at work but the PC uses a connection while the PB uses a completely different one.

They don't necessarily have to be on the same network, but they need to be able to connect to each other. If you can't connect to the IP that your PlayBook uses, then unfortunately, the app will not work for you. This is something you should take up with your IT Administrator though, and see if they can help you get this working. It's an effective tool that will ultimately help you be more productive. The SSL-based encryption was incorporated because we felt the app would be useful in a corporate environment.

[HorizonXP]

Bad news everyone.

Just received an e-mail from App World denying the application. I will keep you guys updated on information as it comes available, but all I have right now is an e-mail. I've been up all night, so I'm too tired to decipher the legalese.

Pulsecode Engineering extends its apologies.

[wowreally]

yea this totally blows I should have bought it last night when I was at work but noooo i wanted to wait until i got home to use it on my machine now i'm screwed.

[Marcel38]

Hey,

I really don't believe this ... this is another situation where RIM totally f*&^s up.

Look, I really do not want to get negative, I have been quiet fo a while now on CB, mainly working on my own sites promoting PlayBook, so I'm honest here.

When I saw this app, I wanted to purchase it and make a cool blog post.
Yes, cool blogpost to help the RIM/PlayBook and etc blafanboyblabla.
SO, opened up the QR scanner, scanned the image and yes, there it was, the Desktop Bridge App

But I was not able to buy it, got an error sayin the requested application is no longer available...
Say what? No longer availble?

What the... nooo RIM, why is this not allowed? Why is it still in AppWorld then, And why is it approved in the first place, who is in charge of this?

This is so.... well, I'm going to stop, or I sound to negative and blabla, but come 'on RIM; don't make these dumb moves like u did in the past, please, I beg u...

[setyono]

+1 for trial
Another thing I'm interested in finding out is (aside from the obvious potential battery drain), is whether the screen on either the phone or on the tablet has to remain on during connection.

I had the SOTI pocket controller for my blackberry, which works great except for the fact that the screen of the phone has to remain on during all activities. Also, BBM groups are not supported.... well, to be fair, even playbook doesn't support bbm groups.

[aminrajabi]

I bought it early this morning right after I saw the tweet from N4BB. Glad that I did, cause it's a great app. I can see it being useful for a lot of people (especially in the business environment). One feature that would be great is somehow getting notifications on the desktop. Right now I can't tell if I have a new message until I go back to the browser.

I wonder what RIM's issue is with this.

[russnash]

Hey,

I really don't believe this ... this is another situation where RIM totally f*&^s up.

Look, I really do not want to get negative, I have been quiet fo a while now on CB, mainly working on my own sites promoting PlayBook, so I'm honest here.

When I saw this app, I wanted to purchase it and make a cool blog post.
Yes, cool blogpost to help the RIM/PlayBook and etc blafanboyblabla.
SO, opened up the QR scanner, scanned the image and yes, there it was, the Desktop Bridge App

But I was not able to buy it, got an error sayin the requested application is no longer available...
Say what? No longer availble?

What the... nooo RIM, why is this not allowed? Why is it still in AppWorld then, And why is it approved in the first place, who is in charge of this?

This is so.... well, I'm going to stop, or I sound to negative and blabla, but come 'on RIM; don't make these dumb moves like u did in the past, please, I beg u...

I had the same issue when I attempted to purchase this, it's more than likely just that it needs time to populate around App World. Give it a few hours and try again.

Russ.

EDIT: Whoops! Please ignore this, I missed the post about it being pulled.

[Shao128]

Since the app has now been pulled might as well point it out, that if you are one of the few still rooted you can still do what this app does using the steps here: Access Bridge (BBM, Messages, etc) from your PC

It's the same interface and all.

[aminrajabi]

+1 for trial
Another thing I'm interested in finding out is (aside from the obvious potential battery drain), is whether the screen on either the phone or on the tablet has to remain on during connection.

I had the SOTI pocket controller for my blackberry, which works great except for the fact that the screen of the phone has to remain on during all activities. Also, BBM groups are not supported.... well, to be fair, even playbook doesn't support bbm groups.

Screen does not have to be on. Great part of having apps running in the background with the QNX operating system. All you need to do is run the app and you can potentially still use your PB to do other tasks.

[xsacha]

Since the app has now been pulled might as well point it out, that if you are one of the few still rooted you can still do what this app does using the steps here: Access Bridge (BBM, Messages, etc) from your PC

It's the same interface and all.

These steps do NOT require root. Use port higher than 1024 and use devuser@ instead of root@.

Anyone can use this method but it is more complicated of course.

Alternatively could write a small app that does the port bind but it wouldn't have SSL security like this app.

[Shao128]

These steps do NOT require root. Use port higher than 1024 and use devuser@ instead of root@.

Anyone can use this method but it is more complicated of course.

Alternatively could write a small app that does the port bind but it wouldn't have SSL security like this app.

Good know! I just made the assumption it required root. Well at least this is a way people can still use this functionality.

[Snuupy]

Good know! I just made the assumption it required root. Well at least this is a way people can still use this functionality.

Can confirm here that root is not needed. Sad that desktop bridge isn't in app world.

[chrispipe]

is this not a feature that is being released soon in the 2.1 update for FREE? Wifi bridge? I assume it means we can do this. $5? That's a steep price for what this does, really. But to each their own.