To Be An Avatar

This is a post I did over on Dcom when the avatar builder first came out...so, its a bit dated.

Ok, who’s played with the new BlackBerry Avatar Builder? I know several people who have already.

With BlackBerry Avatar Builder, you can create and customize an avatar to look just like you or anyone you want it to be… or so says BlackBerry App World anyway. I’m not so sure I agree.

The onboard features let you choose your eyes, hair and your go-to outfit. Then throw in a few accessories, such as your earrings or yoga mat. You can edit your avatar anytime to match your mood or style.

According to the App World, have fun with thousands of different looks, right at your fingertips.

I could not make the avatar look just like me and the clothing and accessory options were somewhat limited. A buddy of mine reminded me that the app just came out. Meaning, give it time. And then he asked if I wanted to beat up on BlackBerry’s OS 7 which isn’t quite ready for release yet. Very funny.

Yes, the app is new, but avatar apps have been around for a long time. Certainly we could have a few better choices at our fingertips on our smartphones. How about more eye choices? Maybe more mouths so we can really express ourselves. How about noses? I don’t recall seeing any noses under the facial features. That's a bit odd I think.  Some avatar apps let people choose real red hair, not a peachy tone. Then again, they also let you choose fishnets and bustiers if that’s your thing.

I got a laugh out of the preview screenshots shown in the App World. The Avatar Builder for Guys shows the avatars in their tidy-whitey briefs, but Avatar Builder for Girls does not. I guess BlackBerry feared an email onslaught from us girls.

As far as upgrades to the app, I’d love to see some quickly. Otherwise, I will have to open my .jpg avatar image and do my own upgrades. So if you haven’t taken the perfect BBM profile picture yet, be sure to check the app out. It’s free and you can find both the guys and girls version in the App World. The app saves your image as a .jpg, so you can use it other places besides BlackBerry Messenger... and add your own fishnets and bustier if you like.