You may have heard of Mobile Checkbook. It is the number one personal accounting app on the BlackBerry plaform. What it allows you to do is record transactions as they happen, reconcile your balances at any time and schedule recurring transactions while on the go.

Version 4.0 of Mobile Checkbook, which was released by its developer, Mobatech (www.mobatech.com) in December 2009, has garnered many positive reviews (like this one from CrackBerry.com). Mobatech is also known for two other apps in the MobiHand catalog: Datepedia for BlackBerry and Mobile Bartender for BlackBerry.

Recently, we (MAB) had an opportunity to interview Greg Schwartz (GS), the Founder/CEO of Mobatech.

MAB: How long have you been an app developer?

GS: We have been developing mobile applications for more than 7 years at Mobatech. To date, our products have been purchased by consumers in more than 70 countries worldwide.

MAB: Which apps are you most proud of?

GS: Each Mobatech application is unique in its own way, but our flagship product, Mobile Checkbook, has helped thousands of users to avoid costly overdraft fees and be more financially responsible. With banks earning billions of dollars in overdraft fees each year, Mobile Checkbook offers consumers an easy-to-use solution to a growing problem. Mobile Checkbook is currently the #1 rated personal accounting solution for BlackBerry.

MAB: What makes your apps different from others?

GS: Mobatech applications are designed from the device up to leverage an underlying platform’s unique capabilities. We focus heavily on interface design to ensure that we’re providing consumers with a truly easy-to-use and enjoyable user experience. We also work hard to incorporate feedback from our users on regular basis so that our products are always evolving based on our customer’s needs.

About Mobile Checkbook for BlackBerry:

MAB: When was it developed?

GS: Our original version of Mobile Checkbook was developed in 2002 and first launched with Nextel in 2003.

MAB: How did you come up with the idea?

GS: As more and more people started becoming dependent on debit and check card usage, we noticed that these consumers did not have an easy-to-use solution for keeping track of their spending on the go. We set out to solve this problem with the goal of providing a solution that would leverage the one device that was always with consumers – their mobile phone.

MAB: What’s your vision for 2010?

GS: The sky is the limit for us in 2010. We’ll be delivering a number of exciting enhancements to our existing product line as well as releasing some new, innovative consumer applications across multiple platforms. BlackBerry will continue to be a priority for Mobatech but we’re also looking forward to upcoming product releases for Android and iPhone.

MAB: Would also appreciate any thoughts you would like to share about working with MobiHand.

GS: We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with MobiHand over the past couple of years.   MobiHand continues to deliver a best-in-class platform while innovating with both the needs of consumers and developers in mind.

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Note: Special pricing is available on Mobatech’s apps until February 28.  For example, Mobile Checkbook is available for the Special Price of $7.99 (regular price: $9.99).

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Road Mania, a BlackBerry game from Mobigloo, has been a noticeable chart climber in the MobiHand Network.

According to the description, Road Mania puts you in charge of keeping the traffic flowing on busy junctions and preventing crashes. Vehicles approach the crossroads from all directions. Your role is to either speed them by flicking them with your finger or make them stop by simply tapping on them. For every vehicle that makes it to the other side, you score a point. But if there’s a crash, the game ends.

Mobigloo has been on the radar for a while, initially garnering attention in 2006 as the Grand Prize Winner or Research in Motion’s first ever BlackBerry Developer Gaming Challenge. Next (now known as Next Dual Pack) was selected based on criteria including originality, quality of graphics and ease of play.

Recently, we (MAB) had an opportunity to interview Sylvain Dufour (SD), the CEO Mobigloo.com.

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This week, Calx Design unveiled its newest BlackBerry theme:  Calx – ‘Mord’ (Black Edition).  It is a limited edition, Dark version of their Mord theme and joins DarkRoom, Fugazi (Today), Fugazi (Zen), Real Icon 2 (Today), Real Icon 2 (Zen) and SWINE in the MobiHand catalog. Calx Design themes run $4.99.

MobiHand App-tivity Blog (MAB) had a chance to interview Dave Wilson (DW) of Calx Design. Here’s what he had to say:

MAB: How long have you been a theme developer?

DW: I put my first theme out in March 2009. I’ve always been a designer of some sort, mainly in 3D, album covers etc, but March was when I first tried my hand at themes.

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SBSH Mobile Software is a rapidly growing software firm with apps for Windows Mobile, Symbian Series 60, BlackBerry, iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Below are some examples of their Windows Mobile Pocket PC offerings.  All have Free Trials!

SBSH Calendar Touch
Powerful and innovative information manager. Features smart tools with touch-design that help you manage your agenda in one place.
$24.95

SBSH GoNews Touch
GoNews Touch is a newsreader application that aggregates the latest news from across the internet directly to your Windows Mobile smartphone.
$14.95

SBSH PocketWeather – Weather Reports In Your Pocket
This weather tracking utility for Windows Mobile includes both a Today plug-in and WeatherConsole utility, 10 day forecast, Custom Layouts, Earthquakes and more.
$14.95

SBSH PocketBreeze – Your Personal Information Manager
A powerful Today plug-in that replaces the built-in Calendar and Tasks on your Today screen.
$19.95

SBSH PhoneWeaver
An intuitive phone profiling application. Define manual profiles or automatic profiles based on time, agenda or power to control your phone sounds, radios, Wi-Fi and much more.
$14.95

SBSH iLauncher 3 – Best Selling Utilities Package
An all-in-one application that brings the most powerful tools to your Pocket PC smartphone in one package. Includes tab based today plug-in, safe mode, meters, task manager and more.
$14.95

Got a non-touchscreen Windows Mobile smartphone?

For those of you with non-touch, Windows Mobile smartphone, check out the Facade home screen replacement.

Facade brings all vital phone and agenda information to one front-end display that is accessible each time you power on your device. When SBSH announced the latest release on December 7, they also unveiled the Facade Skins Arena — an online catalog for free skins designed for use with Windows Mobile Smartphones and Facade.

Facade runs $14.95.

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Last week, Roboconn released BubbleChain, which essentially is a BlackBerry version of the popular iPhone and Facebook game app called ChainRXN. This FREE app joins many others in the family of BlackBerry games by Roboconn that are distributed through MobiHand.

MobiHand App-tivity Blog (MAB) had a chance to interview Robert Timm (RT), the president and lead developer at Roboconn. Here’s what he had to say:

MAB: Could you please provide some background on the RoboConn/Robert Timm family of products?

RT: I started writing BlackBerry games my freshman year of college with a friend. We were both learning to program in our introduction to Java course and took it upon ourselves to see what we could do with this new found knowledge. Since 2006 I have been fascinated with creating phone apps. The whole process of dreaming up, or recreating an idea, and giving it life is what excites me. Engineering is in my blood, and this is one of the best ways to date that I have been able to express myself and my ideas. Every app I write has new problems to solve and nothing pleases me more than occupying my mind with a problem and conjuring a solution.

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To coincide with the grand opening of the BlackBerry Theme Store, we are doing a series of stories on theme developers. Today’s is about BlackBerry Boutique and its founder, Michelle.

BlackBerry Boutique has several dozen themes in the MobiHand catalog. Her newest one is GlamBerry. Michelle remarked, “I was first inspired by the name ‘GlamBerry,’ and imagined it as a boutique-ish style theme. After all, when you think of shopping and boutiques, you think pink and black, stripes and polkadots. Put it all together and you have a glamorous BlackBerry!”

There is also a personalized version of GlamBerry available.

MobiHand App-tivity Blog (MAB) had a chance to interview Michelle. Here’s what she had to say

MAB: How long have you been a theme developer?

M: I have been a theme developer right at a year now. This December will be a year ago that I started selling on the MobiHand network.

MAB: Which themes are you most proud of?

M: I am most proud of 4 Seasons, HeeLs In The CiTy, The WiLd and Rose StiLetto. I just seem to like the statements that each of these themes make.

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To coincide with this week’s grand opening of the MobiHand BlackBerry Theme Store, there will be a series of stories on theme developers.

Meet Lunars Edge Design and its founder, Joseph Jerde.  Lunars Edge has several themes in the Top 10 Best Seller list with iBerry taking the number 1 slot.

They also did the CrackBerry Zen for Curve theme that is available for FREE.

MobiHand App-tivity Blog (MAB) had a chance to interview Joseph. Here’s what he had to say.

MAB: How long have you been a theme developer?

JJ: I’ve been making themes since early 2009. Before I started developing themes full time I ran a residential Painting business. The sole reason I got into theme developing was because the economy slowdown crashed my business and I had to do something to pay the bills, so I just started working around 18 hours a day making themes. Computer graphic art has always been a back burner hobby for me, I loved it, but I didn’t know if I would go anywhere with it, but I had to take a chance.

MAB: Which themes are you most proud of?

JJ: I would have to say iBerry, Windows 7, and iVista360 as far as overall, people like the unique knockoffs. My personal favorite is Antiquated for the Storm device. I love the old fashioned style and had a great time making that particular theme.

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Mytopia is a developer of multiplayer casual games that can play on numerous platforms (smartphones and social networks). According to Ohad Barzilay, general manager of Mytopia Inc., “The company aims to bring people to play the same games together regardless of what device they have or where they are.”

Along with apps for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms, Mytopia also has games that are available on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Hi5, Friendster etc. People playing from the Web can play together in real time with people from across all the mobile devices.

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