[Poynt: Find this ap in your smart phone's ap center or by going to Poynt for iPhone, Poynt for BlackBerry, or Poynt for Android. (If you’re not a smart phone user but would like to watch an online demo of Poynt, click here.)]

Poynt is a great ap for getting to know your surroundings, discovering new businesses, and can even help with your typical "what to do/where to go" any-time-of-the-day needs. After the first initial installation of Poynt, you’ll be welcomed with the main screen asking “where can we point you today”, your Poynt searching options, your locations current temperature and weather conditions, and a link to share Poynt with friends. Let the fun begin.

My plan for the early part of today is lunch and a movie. Although I know specifically what I want to eat, and the time and location of the movie I'm going to see, I've gone to Poynt to help plan my eventful afternoon. It’s 57 with mostly cloudy skies, not too shabby for Midwestern October weather. What’s this??? I could send a link for  this ap to friends and family but then this blog would be pointless, instead I’ll direct them to read this via Facebook and Twitter.

Anyway, first order of business is to find the theater and time of the movie. Not a problem for Poynt! After choosing “Movies” I’m given five options, movies near me, theaters near me, top ten, movie genres, and movie title. I’ll stick with theaters near me which is great because the first two options are both AMC Showplaces in my local area. Now that I’ve selected the theater of interest, the BlackBerry menu appears with many options including movies playing, a phone number, maps, and a “search from here” option. I’ve opted to “movies playing” but I don’t like not being able to search for the movie by typing the title, instead I must go through the programmed list. (I’m impatient.) The upside to this is simply scrolling to the movie of my choice and instantly seeing the play times, I like that. If that isn’t enough for you, when selecting your particular movie, your phone’s menu appears with several great options like “buy ticket”, “view trailer”, “add to calendar”, “read review”, and more. Even though those are great options, I’m good with just getting the movie times.

I’ve got the movie time picked and some time to kill and now it’s time for lunch. Going back to Poynt’s main menu, I select “Restaurants”. I knew it would happen… sponsored listings. (Insert ‘Price Is Right’ losing music.) Olive Garden and Guiseppi’s are both fine places to dine, however neither are what I’m looking for.  I found the restaurant right down the street and selected it. The usual smart phone menu appears once again with some great options. “See details” is first and this takes you to another screen with complete hours of operation; other options include the restaurant’s phone number, a link to their website, and more. Kudos for the good selections of options. Mmm, movie time.

Let’s say I need to get gas after lunch before I go to the theater. No prob, Bob. (If you’re name isn’t Bob, I apologize.)  So yeah, I need gas. Back to the Poynt’s main menu once again. “Gas Prices” right there on the main screen, yes! Clicking on that leads to “Gas stations near me” and “Best Prices”. Because I’m cheap I choose “Best Prices”. You can sort through the best prices by the grade of gas your vehicle uses. I chose “Best Regular Price” and three sponsored listings appear first, one has nothing to do with cars, and the other two are repair shops. The gas prices are listed lowest to highest, each labeling the station and brand of gasoline. The first one is likely to be the location I would choose, because I’m cheap. Although I’m not driving there right now as I typed this (duh) it would have to be a 50/50 guess as to how accurate the price listing is. I’ll leave that for you to discover.

Other main menu options I didn’t highlight include “Businesses”, “Map It”, and “People”. Like the other menu options, these are self explanatory. Although I have tried using “People” andhaven’t had the greatest results, it is accurate when you do find the person you’re searching for. I found relative’s addresses, a few friends, but not my own.

Poynt seems to be a good ap for daily use if you’re in unfamiliar territory.

Next time I travel, this is something I will use a lot.

My rating for “Poynt” is four stars.