An Ottawa software firm, writing applications for the BlackBerry phone, made it to the top three in a global competition to find the best apps.

Research in Motion, which makes the BlackBerry, sponsors an annual contest and Vayyoo of Ottawa was one of three companies in North America to make it to the final round.

A second firm from Calgary called Poynt was named Wednesday night as the North American winner and took home an $85,000-prize. Vayyoo won $35,000 for its regional finish.

"We are very encouraged with the recognition and a $35K prize is great, but the recognition for this competency is much more exciting and rewarding," Vayyoo CEO and co-founder Shailesh Kaul told CTV Ottawa on Thursday.

Vayyoo's app for the BlackBerry allows a user to easily combine text, location, camera and all elements of the phone into one seamless process in order to share material.

Kaul says they are one of the leaders in multi-media for the mobile phone. They also write apps for the iPhone.

Poynt's winning app enables users to find businesses, retailers, restaurants and movies using GPS or cell-site location.

Other app winners provide sports scores, or turn a voice message into an email, or scan business cards into your contact list.

RIM is working hard to try to develop more apps and try to catch up to the leader: Apple, which has now topped seven billion app downloads for the iPhone and iPad.