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Contents
- Mobile Toolkit
- Road Gear
- The 12 Best Mobile Apps
Today's cell phones are miniature PC's, offering many of the capabilities you'd expect from a proper desktop or laptop computer.Having your handheld always with you (they don't call 'em CrackBerrys for nothin') means you can get directions, read the news, watch videos, and more wherever and whenever—that is, if you have the right software installed. Although your wireless carrier may offer its own applications, if you've got Internet access on your phone you can power up your handheld with a slew of third-party apps. These are 12 of the best mobile applications available. Wther you're a music freak, a news addict, or an IM gunslinger, you'll find something here to suit your fancy.
SlingPlayer Mobile
$29.99 direct
If you have a Slingbox, SlingPlayer Mobile lets you tap into it to watch TV from your cell phone. It even works with TiVo.
Resco Pocket Radio for Smartphone 1.7
$19.95 direct
Sick of your own music? Listen to hundreds of Internet stations on your smartphone for a one-time fee. This musical app also has nine customizable presets and built-in stereo recording.
ChatterEmail 3.0+
$39.95 direct
Palm OS VersaMail is an okay e-mail client, but this workhorse buries it with reliable push e-mail, a clean interface, and support for IMAP, POP, Exchange, and webmail accounts.
Opera Mini 4.0 (beta)
Free
Chuck your cell phone's wimpy browser and replace it with this much faster one. Features intelligent zoom and comprehensive bookmark management. For basic Web browsing, it's a no-brainer.
WebCamera Plus 1.05
$19.90 direct
It won't set the world on fire, but this little app turns your smartphone into a webcam for your laptop, with a surprisingly decent frame rate at lower resolutions (but no sound support).
Google Maps for Mobile
Free
Get detailed road and satellite maps, directions, and even real-time traffic info with this killer app. It runs on Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and feature phones, and it can even track your location on screen if your handheld has a built-in GPS chip.
TCPMP 0.71
Free
It's getting harder to find on the Web, but this free app, which is no longer supported, gives Palm OS and Symbian handhelds a powerful, format-agnostic video player.
SimulSays (beta)
Free
Ditch your "stuck in the eighties" voice mail system and go visual with SimulSays, which lets you view and listen to messages in any order, delete them, and archive them indefinitely without dialing in. Available on BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile.
Mundu IM V4
$11 direct
This inexpensive IM aggregator works with AIM, Google, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, and Yahoo! Messenger accounts. The Palm OS version rocks, but steer clear of the nowhere-near-finished Windows Mobile version.
Handmark PocketExpress 3.2
$9.95/month direct (Elite Edition)
Aggregates news, sports, weather, travel information, and more into an icon-driven interface and includes a travel concierge that works like GM's OnStar, but for pedestrians. The Palm OS version is sublime; the Windows Mobile version needs work.
StyleTap Platform 1.0
$49.95 direct
Anyone moving from Palm OS to Windows Mobile might feel cheated in some ways. But this powerful emulator eases the pain, letting you run your favorite Palm OS apps on your new phone. The best part? It runs smoothly and quickly, even with many games.
DataViz Documents To Go 10 Premium Edition
From $29.99 direct,depending on platform
Not yet rated
Still the best solution available for editing Microsoft Office documents on smartphones (Version 9 earned our Editors' Choice award). This update adds Office 2007 support as well as enhanced formatting options.
| Part I: Road Gear Part II: The 12 Best Mobile Apps |