It’s mid-January, and by now you’ve realized winter’s cold grip has you and it’s not letting go for another two months. But the fires of Team BlackBerry are still stoked despite facing colder weather and shorter days. We’ve got only one thing on our minds: getting our hands on a BlackBerry 10 device. Because BlackBerry fans have important dates coming up – and because we know your BlackBerry device sleeps next to you – let’s take a quick look at some countdown apps and some wake-up apps to help you stay on time.

Apps for waking up…

• World Clock – Multi Alarm by Ajani InfoTech Private Limited: This helpful app features clocks from around the world (very helpful for knowing the best times to send someone a BBM™ message), a countdown timer, and a stopwatch. I like having the multiple alarm feature for letting me know about recurring appointments without having to add them to my calendar or changing my wake-up alarm.

• puZZed – Puzzle Alarm Clock by Qbotron: At first glance, you might find the concept of this app to be just cruel. This app is designed to wake you up with an alarm, but instead of letting you turn off the alarm and fall back asleep, you must solve one of a variety of puzzles to shut off the alarm. Sure, there’s a snooze feature, but sooner or later you’re going to have to solve the puzzle. It’s crazy brilliant.

Apps for counting down…

• Event Counter Lite by Pace MobiTech: If it’s a quick and simple countdown you’re looking for, Event Counter Lite might be your easiest answer. It includes calendar integration so you can add an event to your calendar (like the BlackBerry 10 launch event, maybe?) then get excited counting down until the date and time arrives.

• Best Countdown Pro by MMMOOO: The folks at MMMOOO make a ton of great apps for BlackBerry devices, and Best Countdown Pro is a great addition. This app includes calendar integration, multi-event countdowns, the ability to set the countdown as a screensaver, and a multitude of clock/countdown user interfaces. It might be the most beautiful way to count down ever invented.

Regardless of how you’re building your excitement for BlackBerry 10 this winter, keeping track using these apps from the BlackBerry App World storefront can help make the anticipation a little more fun.