The BlackBerry third party software market has long been criticised for lacking in innovation and more important quality, but it seems as though things are gradually improving. With some nods to the iPhone and Android apps, here is a selection of some of the best new ones-

PhotoColor shows what can be done on a BlackBerry with a decent camera and is very similar to ColorSplash on the iPhone. Good value at $2.99, but Storm only- “Photo Color allows you to create amazingly looking pictures, which are created in two steps. First, an image is converted to black & white. In the second step, you can restore the original color of the image by simply touching the screen wherever you want – this way you can highlight an interesting part of the image while creating a stunning image.”

Sky mobile is an ideal tool for users of the service and brings the following features to the humble BlackBerry- Live TV – watch Sky Sports and Sky News live on your phone!, The entire 7-day Sky TV Guide to plan your nights viewing, Remote record – set your Sky+ box to record from your handset, Latest news updates and stories from Sky News and Sky Sports.

Photo Slide brings some personality and fun to your BlackBerry standby screen by enabling a scroll through of your favourite photos. Completely daft, but I do like the idea even though it costs $10. “Photo Slide embed your memorable pictures photos into an animated flip rolling stand by screen. Cool, Sweet & Useful.”

Analytics Tool is not for the masses because it is used to check Google Analytics stats on your BlackBerry. Great for webmasters and currently on sale for $5.99 until the end of the month- “Now, check out your Google Analytics statistics on your blackberry wherever you are. The Analytics tool application will provide you a simple user interface for the Google Analytics. This application gives you an overview over all your profiles in Google Analytics. Use this Analytics tool application to access all your data & statistics regarding your websites anywhere anytime.”