Conversion softwares are incredibly useful on your phone and Paragon Software’s Handy Converter is a versatile and affordable tool. Capable of handling currency, temperature, length, weight, area, volume, speed, power, clothes size and even torque, it can convert practically anything. As for currency, it will connect to the internet and download latest rates to keep the conversion as accurate as possible.
It only costs $9.95 which is a pretty good deal for the functionality you get. Granted there are other free converter softwares available but none has as sleek, easy to use interface, and currency rate download is more useful than you think.
[Download Handy Converter for Windows Mobile, and other devices]
*tested on T-Mobile Shadow running Windows Mobile Standard 6.0
Tower Defense games are everywhere, from your computer to your PS3 console. Resco Defender is a well-executed handheld version available for both PocketPC and Smartphone devices. The objective of the game is to prevent monsters from reaching your castle wall by building defensive structures to kill them. There are basic attack towers, advanced towers, rocket towers, freeze towers, glue towers, teleport towers and magic towers, each with different abilities and damage.
The game is simple to understand, but it is quite addictive. You will spend a lot of time customizing your play field, to maximize monster deaths. With each monster destroyed, you earn gold which you use to build new towers and upgrade existing ones. At about $15, this is a good purchase if you like tower defense games and would like to play on the go. The repetitive nature is perfectly suited for short-burst handheld gaming.
[Download trial and buy full version game from resco.net]
Back when print newspaper was relevant in daily lives, people used to do the games such as crossword and wordsearch. Pockster brings those games in addition to Crypto and Sudoku in an unappealing package that is overpriced for its own good.
It includes 50 crossword puzzles, 50 wordsearch grids, 50 crypto puzzles and 75 sudoku games for a total price of $19.99 (yes, that’s $19.99). To put it in perspective, you could get a puzzle title on the Nintendo DS (such as Brain Age 2 which comes with 17 minigames, and 100 sudoku puzzles).
How does this game stand on its own? Not so well. The interface isn’t ideal on a smartphone, the graphics look incredibly dated and the puzzles aren’t as interesting as they could be.
There are much better options if you want puzzle games on your phone than this overpriced package of mediocre games. But if you’d still like to give it a try, visit their website.
Windows Mobile’s default alarm settings are anemic, and Efficasoft’s AlarmU seeks to change that while maintaining an easy-to-use interface. You can have multiple alarms at different intervals (such as every Tuesday) instead of what Windows Mobile offers you (either everyday or every weekday).
Another feature of Efficasoft AlarmU is Schedule which can put your phone in Flight Mode (disabling all radios so you won’t get disturbed during the night with a phone call) and you can also automate phone restart which may help you deal with memory issues.
Overall, this easy-to-use application is what Windows Mobile OS should have built-in, but until that happens, $5.95 will get you added functionality.
[Download Efficasoft AlarmU here]
DeveloperOne’s Agenda One is a complete contact and calendar replacement for your Windows Mobile devices. Agenda One seeks to replace Contact, Calendar and Tasks that come with the phone by offering a much more flexible and customizable experience. You can now use templates to make those screens as you’d like and you can create appointments while looking at contacts (just like in Outlook).
From one view, it is easy to navigate to another (such as going from daily agenda view to contacts). Another additional feature is search, which is curiously absent from built-in applications of Windows Mobile.
Overall for users who are unhappy with limited options in built-in applications, this is one of the best ways to add additional functionality. This robust suite, costing just $24.95, is great deal if you use your mobile to schedule lots of appointments and tasks, and were always disappointed by the limited options.
As always, there is a free demo available, so give it a try before you buy it.
[Download free demo and buy full version from DeveloperOne]
MSN Direct has been available for certain devices such as watches and GPS navigators, but it has never found a proper place on a mobile phone. Microsoft is remedying this by launch MSN Direct for Windows Mobile, a home screen plugin and application for Windows Mobile devices (WM5 and over, smartphone devices only so far). At the moment, weather, news and stocks channel are available. Instead of relying on FM transmissions, MSN Direct for Windows Mobile wisely relies on the phone’s data connection such as wi-fi or 3G, allowing you to receive updates in any cities whether you are covered by regular MSN Direct or not.
The interface looks very pleasant, and it integrates well to existing home screens. Pressing left and right while highlighting the plugin will let you scroll between weather, news and stock. Press ok to get more detailed information. There are plenty of third-party options available, but they are not easy to install nor to configure. This new MSN Direct for Windows Mobile is a must install for all users, especially given the fact that it is free.
Point your mobile phone’s browser to http://phone.msndirect.com or go there with regular browser and use ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center on Vista to install the application.
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T-Mobile Shadow features a 2 megapixel camera (without any flash): image quality is ok, not spectacular nor crappy like the old VGA cameraphones. Here are some samples of shots taken with my camera featuring both indoor and outdoor settings.
T-Mobile Shadow runs on Windows Mobile 6 Standard edition, which means the screen isn’t touch sensitive. Instead, hardware keys are used for navigation. Standard buttons are present: 2 select keys, Home key (that returns you to the home screen, obviously), back key, call and end call keys are on the front of the device. Left side has volume buttons, and right side of the device features camera button as well as configurable button - I set it to messaging when you press it, and recently used applications list when you hold it.
A different aspect of this device is scrollwheel. Unlike the iPod scrollwheel, this one is mechanical and allows you to quickly go down or up, perfect for going through a lot of emails or songs. It also functions as directional pad so you can press up, down, left and right if you don’t want to use the scrolling function. Overall it’s a great idea to give you the choice: new user may be confused at the beginning but will quickly realize both methods are suitable for different uses.
When you open the slider, you’ll be greeted with 20-key keyboard instead of a full QWERTY one, which means 2 letters must share 1 key. With predictable input and auto correction enabled, this isn’t too much of an issue but it is much easier to type special characters on a QWERTY keyboard. For example, with T-Mobile Shadow, you must go into the symbols menu for equal sign, parenthesis and even apostrophes…
Software interface wise, T-Mobile and HTC created a custom look and function that is much nicer than the boring standard interface of Windows Mobile 6 devices. The only issue is it takes too many key presses to go where you want to go, so I reverted back to the default view.
Recently I got rid of my T-Mobile Dash and switched to the all-new T-Mobile Shadow (a.k.a. HTC Juno). As it is a newer model, it features some considerable spec upgrades: both RAM and ROM have been doubled, and while the processor remains the same, this ensures that applications are more responsive, and more applications can be running at the same time. Camera has been upgraded to 2 mega-pixel camera, and the display is in portrait direction, changing to landscape only when you take pictures.
Form factor is much more attractive than Dash, and when you open the slider it reveals a 20-key keyboard that’s made popular by BlackBerry devices: this is about the only downgrade from Dash in terms of hardware as full QWERTY keyboard is much easier to type on. Lack of full keys mean some of the most used symbols such as ‘ and parenthesis are no longer easily retrievable.
T-Mobile Shadow comes in 2 colors which are definitely different from the usual silver and black devices: I opted for copper which looked more professional, and sage is also available. Even though the Shadow doesn’t target the business market, use of Windows Mobile 6 (Standard) means plenty of productivity software as well as Exchange push-email are guaranteed.
SPB Brain Evolution is a collection of loosely-affliated games that are supposed to evolve your brain by following through the daily training. Wheter you believe these claims or not, the game nonetheless gives us a few good games.
- Arithmetics: simple calculations
- Quadronica: create rectangles
- Memorics: memorize where different shapes are located
- Sudoku
- Numbers: create sums of several numbers
- Minesweeper
- Balltracker: guide a ball to the exit point through a maze
- Guess Who: use a series of clues to find the right shape
- Encyclopedia: memorize useless trivia
- Matches
Some of the games such as Minesweeper and Sudoku offer a great amount of replay value whereas others are simple one time diversion. Each game has 4 difficulties ranging from Easy to Maximum. The goal is to play each game and level up in order to unlock new ones. It is a pretty nifty idea (albeit lifted directly from Brain Age series) but the latter games aren’t compelling enough to struggle through the game.
 In the end, if you really need some sort of daily brain training on your Windows Mobile device, this is probably the best and the most compelling package out there. At $20 USD, it isn’t the best purchase you could make (especially considering there are free alternatives to most of the games in the package).
Rating: 50%
Conversion softwares are incredibly useful on your phone and Paragon Software’s Handy Converter is a versatile and affordable tool. Capable of handling currency, temperature, length, weight, area, volume, speed, power, clothes size and even torque, it can convert practically anything. As for currency, it will connect to the internet and download latest rates to keep the conversion as accurate as possible.
It only costs $9.95 which is a pretty good deal for the functionality you get. Granted there are other free converter softwares available but none has as sleek, easy to use interface, and currency rate download is more useful than you think.
