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3 Must-Have Apps

maries — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:29:12 +0000

There are tons of great free apps out there, and thanks to many sites that let you “try before you buy,” you can find some wonderful additions to your third-party appware. Here are three I can’t do without:

Voice Command by Microsoft: This is the ultimate in voice recognition software. No voice training is needed to have it recognize your vocal patterns. It will respond to various wordings for the same thing (e.g. “cellular,” “cell” and “mobile” are all recognized). The program is great for phoning contacts, but also opening programs.

Unless you subscribe to the Push-To-Talk (PTT) service, you probably have a button not in use. I paired that button with the freeware PTT Fix, and use the PTT button exclusively as my Voice Command button.

Current retail is approximately $40.

MemMaid by DinarSoft: MemMaid is a great registry cleaner and fully removes unused programs. You can perform a simple clean or “Reclaim RAM” operation, or you can remove specific programs, or get a sense of the overall efficiency of your phone. I tried many of the free apps out there, but found none better than MemMaid. In fact, when a later version came out, I forked out the (modest for current owners) upgrade fee as the newer version had a better user interface.

The price is about $20 for this app.

Pocket Informant by WebIS: I had tried many PIMs, both free and paid. But Pocket Informant had it all. You can make minor tweaks based on preference like color choices, but you can also add and remove fields within each record. Adding or removing a field doesn’t tie it to every record! You can add a picture for each contact or not. You can add a search bar, or simple and discreet ABC bars at the top.

You can color code your appointments, or select icons. The application comes with a variety of “views” for each of the parameters of day, week, month, year, and agenda. The task manager is robust and can be tethered to your today screen (though I don’t use it much). There is a journal and a note section, as well as a search function, all in a small icon tray at the bottom of your screen and out of the way.

Three apps. Three killer, must-have apps, to increase your productivity and your phone’s efficiency! Next we’ll talk about some programs to pair with these that can better assist you with your mobile life.

Hands-Free Laws

maries — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:38:47 +0000

California and Washington state are poised to enforce new laws going into effect July 1^st requiring drivers to use hands-free devices for cell phone usage while driving. The CA law goes a bit further, and prohibits drivers under the age of 18 from using cell phones at all, and requiring the hands-free devices for adults 18 and over.

Cell phone carriers are going into a frenzy sending reminders to their subscriber base and touting specials to ready the masses for the new laws. Independent sites also have sales in effect to lure users to prepare for compliance.

If you don’t drive a car that has built in Bluetooth ® and Sync settings, you’ll want to look at headsets. Headsets come corded or wireless. Wireless is best for range of motion and they can read devices up to several feet away, allowing the user to be untethered.

Another feature to consider are earbuds. Some companies make silicone gel ear inserts in a variety of sizes. I prefer these brands over others, because as a woman I have a smaller ear than most devices without the sizing option. Comfort is a huge factor to consider!

Additionally, you’ll need to look at other features such as talk time and standby time. Many hands-free devices have somewhere in the range of 7-8 hours of talk time as a standard, though a few offer more like 10. Along with this, consider how the device needs to be recharged. Does it come with a convertible car charger (one that offers several data plug options), or does it only come with one standard, and thus necessitating an additional adapter purchase for your particular brand?

How are you going to schlep all this gear around? Many come in neat little cases that you tuck away in the car. Others just come in the hard plastic shell they are packaged in, and you have to figure out where the various components go (and they do easily get lost, so having replacement parts are key).

If you live in one of these states, or just want to enhance your safety on the road, consider these tips and prepare now. The law goes into effect in less than 2 weeks, so if you are ordering online, be sure to allot time for your order to process and ship, with a few days to practice and get used to your device. Be sure to read your manual and understand how to partner your device to your phone before using.

Drive safely!

8525 Freebies

maries — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:35:53 +0000

Here are 5 of my favorite freebie sites for the 8525:

8525 software
Pros: All 8525, all the time! Many sites have freeware/shareware for multiple OSs, phones and platforms, but this site is exclusively devoted to the 8525.

Cons: There’s not a lot here. However, new files are added sporadically.

111 Free Software To Improve Windows Mobile
Pros: An incredible compilation of the best hacks, tweaks and freebies for devices run on WinMob. Best of all, it’s annotated, so you know exactly what the program does, rather than chasing a link that may or may not be of interest.

Cons: Not specific to the 8525, but that’s a minor nit.

Xda-developers
Pros: A treasure trove of apps, tweaks, freebies and hacks, all for and by the best techno-geek minds (said with mad love and appreciation for the skills!)

Cons: Not clearly organized (it’s a forum, so you have to comb literally tons of threads). Because many of these programs are beta or “unwarranted” you risk bricking your device, and cannot get a replacement if your device is still under warranty.

Tip: Most of the best finds offer step by step instructions for installation so as to avoid the dreaded “white screen.”

Freeware PPC
Pros: The “free” in freeware! You can find tons of great programs here, and new programs are added frequently (as well as updates to previously existing programs).

Cons: The site is cluttered and disorganized, and could offer better navigation. It’s also, (understandably) heavy on the ads, since it is a free site.

Pocket PC Freeware

Pros: If you hover your cursor over the link, you’ll see it’s a .mobi domain, how cool is that? Over 600 pages of freeware! Not many text ads, and great, relevant content, all annotated.

Cons: Due to the .mobi format, real estate is at a premium, thus navigation is pretty primitive. The home screen has broad categories (your usual suspects: utilities, games, themes, etc.), or you can just scroll page after page (remember there are over 600 of them!) to find something that may be of interest.

Bloggers Wanted

Justin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:15:02 +0000

This site is accepting applications for new authors. If you are interested, please read the author FAQ and contact WebbleYou Blog Network.

Windows Mobile 6 Update for 8525 Now Available

Justin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:12:23 +0000

AT&T recently announced an update to the 8525 that upgrades it to Windows Mobile 6. Here’s the direct download link for the EXE file, and here are instructions for installing the upgrade.