6 Essential Blackberry Apps for Business Travelers

The iPhone may have the corner on the apps market, but the good old Blackberry is still the go-to smartphone for most people in business.

There are few times when one's smartphone comes in more handy than when traveling for business. When you're on the road, your smartphone often serves as much more than just a phone -- it's your personal organizer, your source for e-mail, and your access to the internet and your business contacts, all in one.

That's why it's good news that Research in Motion is finally stepping up with a major overhaul to its Blackberry App World.

A few of the upcoming improvements: users will soon be able to pay for apps through carrier billing, and the store will be much easier to search.

Time to take advantage of this update! Let's check out a few of the best apps in the Blackberry App World, specifically designed with business travelers in mind.

1. Poynt: This app is a must for anyone who finds themselves in an unfamiliar destination. Poynt uses your Blackberry's location-sensing technology to pinpoint points of interest around you. You can search for restaurants, retail stores, gas stations -- anything you might need when you're on the road. Price: free

2. WorldMate Live: This app is the ultimate business travel organizer. It sets up and keeps track of your itinerary for you -- all you have to do is send your trip details (such as your flight and hotel confirmations) to a specific WorldMate email address, and the app imports your information without any manual input. Price: free, with membership

3. TeleNav GPS Navigator: You won't get lost again with this portable nav system. If you ever need to rent a car in a new place, you won't need to hassle with shelling out for the GPS -- just use this convenient app. Price: free trial for 14 days, afterwards $9.99 per month for a subscription

4. Exgis Expense and Mileage Tracker: This app makes business trip expensing simple. It tracks your expenses, locations, clients, and much more, as well as calculating total mileage for you based on beginning and ending readings. After you've input all your information, the app will also export all the data in to a spreadsheet for you. Exgis offers multiple variations of this expense-tracking app -- check them all out here. Price: $9.99

5. Navita Translator: If you ever find yourself struggling with a language barrier, bust out your phone and take advantage of this useful app. It is capable of "speaking" over 50 languages, and it can translate words that you input, text from emails and SMS, and more. Price: free