Software Reviews

All of us use our Windows Mobile devices (er, Windows phones) differently. And this is one of the strengths of the platform. Some of us use it solely as a messaging device. Phone, e-mail, text and chat are all things that Windows Mobile (with some help from third party applications) excel at. Multimedia is an area in which our Windows Phones don’t necessarily beat everyone else, but with a few additions in the software department it can compete with any other device on the market.

One of the things that I am always doing with my phone is taking notes. I tend to forget things like what my wife likes on a particular sandwich and simple things like that. Being able to jot down quick thoughts in a low drag environment is incredibly valuable to me. The Notes application that is built in to Windows Mobile has the ability to save notes in a variety of different formats. Sound, text and handwriting or drawing can all be used to create and save notes. My problem is that I’ve just never liked the feel of the Notes interface.

My search for the complete note taking application begins with VsNotepad 2 by Vetasoft. Check out the breakdown after the jump.

We’ve all experienced phone calls that we didn’t enjoy. Whether it’s a telemarketer, a boss on a weekend, a buddy during an important business meeting, or someone else that you just really didn’t want to talk to; unwanted phone calls can be cause for major frustration. Fortunately, there is a way to filter out some of these unwanted calls (and even text messages) to minimize frustration and time wasted trying to get off the phone.

MagiCall by Mobiion Software allows you to specify what calls you do or do not want to take. MagiCall can be thought of as a Spam filter for your phone. Complex, intricate rules can be applied to fine-tune the configuration to your specific needs.

If you have a problem with unwanted callers, or if you just need the ability to micro-manage the way your calls are handled; jump on through.

I discovered Glympse by using the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which goes to show you just how powerful that piece of software is going to be.

In short, Glympse is a free, easy to use, no strings attached application that allows certain contacts you select to track your location/travels in timed increments.  Think of it this way: say you are taking a road trip to visit some friends and you think you'll be there by 4:30pm.  Well, with Glympse your friends can see exactly where you are on that trip without bothering you (i.e.getting that call while driving "How much longer do you think?").

I gave this app a quick spin and came away impressed.  It's both visually appealing, simple, effective and kind of fun to use. Best part is there is no signing up, enrolling or hoops to jump through.  All the other person needs is an email/sms account and access to the internet to click a hyperlink.

Take a look after the jump to see it in action and how it works.

SPB Software has announced an update to its excellent Windows Mobile application, Mobile Shell. We saw major renovations to Mobile Shell with the release of version 3.0 earlier this year, and the updated version, 3.5, doesn't break suit.

SPB Mobile Shell is a user interface for Windows Mobile Professional (touchscreen phones) that implements touch navigation, widgets, and multiple pages to put more functionality at your fingertips.

Follow the break for highlights of the updated version along with some screenshots.

MyHome is one of the many Home Screen replacements that developers have come up with to make Windows Mobile more user friendly. (Read my original review here.) While the software doesn’t get the face time of things like the various flavors of HTC's TouchFLO or even SPB Mobile Shell, it did have some very cool features like haptic feedback. There were however, some areas where MyHome fell way short of the mark. The biggest downfall was the complete failure to support landscape devices. This is particularly hard to swallow with the popularity of HTC’s Touch Pro devices and others that have a similar form factor.

To see what steps SHBT has made from version 1 to 2, follow the break.

Thumb Software has developed a handy Windows Mobile application that will help those of us who need a list simply to make it out of the grocery store without forgetting anything. Thumb Shopper is a checklist application that allows you to create your grocery list on your Windows Mobile professional phone and check them off as you toss them in your shopping cart.

I was interested to see if Thumb Shopper was easier to use than the age old standard, paper and pen. Follow the break to see how this checklist app measures up.

One of the things that I like about technology is that it is often the simplest solution to the simplest of problems that affect our lives the most. A perfect example of this is RSS feeds. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a method of delivering or receiving a series of articles in a central location. For example, I read an odd assortment of computer, gadget and sports news every day. Instead of visiting each site multiple times throughout the day, I can make use of the provided RSS feeds and a feed aggregator (I personally use Google Reader) to read all of the news in a central location.

Because of its simplicity, RSS works extremely well with mobile devices. A quick search on this site will return reviews of several RSS readers that offer differing features for various prices (this is one reason why we love Windows Mobile as a platform). One product that has caught my attention recently is GoNews Touch by SBSH.

As Twitter garners more and more of a following, it becomes crucial to be able to follow and manage tweets while mobile. Up to this point some of our favorite Windows Mobile clients have been Twikini and PockeTwit. A new contestant is making a play for this segment. Panoramic Software of Phone Genius fame recently launched moTweets, a Twitter application for Windows Mobile Professional devices.

We’ve put moTweets through its paces; the verdict follows.