How to Turn Your Smartphone / PDA into a Powerful Computer.

So, you are a happy owner of a smartphone or a PDA. Then you should know that the device you have is not just a phone, it is a real computer, which is by the way much faster than PCs were just 10-15 years ago. Any computer can do nothing if there is no software installed on it. Most mobile devices come with a similar set of pre-installed programs. There is always an Internet browser, an e-mail software, programs to read and edit MS Office documents. With those programs you already get quite a powerful tool in your pocket. However, that is by far not all. One can do much more with his/her device if one installs appropriate programs. In this article we will describe the most useful software for Windows Mobile, but many of those programs have also a Symbian OS version.

We will describe the following software groups:

* Backup of user data and system information
* Remote control - control your PC remotely from your mobile device
* Antivirus and security
* Office applications
* Mobile dictionaries
* Voice recording software
* Communications tools
* Entertainment
* System tools and maintenance
* Software for webmasters

Backup. We would say, backup is a must for any mobile device. Of course, all mobile phones can be synchronized with computer. But synchronization does not save all user data and does not save the system information at all. Backup programs make a complete backup of mobile device, including all user information, the system and all the programs installed. In the case of any trouble one can just run a self-extracting backup file and all the information on the phone will be restored completely. A very good backup program is Sprite Backup. Once you install it on you phone you get protected from data losses, just do not forget to backup your data regularly. In the case of upgrading to a newer model, one can also use the backup file to easily transfer all the information from the old phone.

Remote control. These very useful applications allow one to control one's computer remotely as if one is just sitting in front of it. Remote control works via a Web interface and can be done from any PC or even mobile device connected to the Internet. We recommend LogMeIn because it has a free option and works on all Windows Mobile devices. Of course, it is not so convenient to control a PC with the small screen of a PDA but in the case one has some urgent work to do and there is no access to a computer this can save the situation.

Antivirus programs. Most of us are not aware about mobile viruses but they do attack mobile phones. They can spread via IR beaming, Bluetooth, MMS messaging, malicious Web sites, infected software, and e-mail attachments. Many antivirus manufacturers produce mobile antivirus software. There is also good advice on Microsoft's Windows Mobile site.

Office applications. As we have mentioned above, all smartphones and PDAs have office applications pre-installed. However generally they cannot open pdf files. That can be solved by installing Picsel PDF Viewer - a free program for viewing pdf files.

Dictionaries. Mobile devices are very suitable to be used as dictionaries because such a dictionary is always at hand and does not occupy any extra space. Besides, searching for a word in such a dictionary is much faster than in the classical book dictionary. There are a lot of mobile dictionaries, just search the Web for the languages you need.

Voice recording. Mobile phone has all the hardware needed for the voice recording. Many phones have also voice recording software pre-installed. However, often this software is located among many other programs and takes some time to find, so one can miss the moment and start recording too late. Therefore, it may be helpful to use special recording software. A good free program is Power Dictaphone. We recommend also Resco Audio Recorder. This program is not free but it allows one-button recording at any moment regardless of what you are doing with the phone. This is very useful in the situations when recording needs to be started quickly (e.g., recording a phone conversation).

Communications software. Communications is the primary function of a mobile phone, every phone has already a lot of communications tools installed. However, mobile calls are generally quite costly, especially international calls. To reduce the call costs, one can use VoIP on mobile phones. We all know about Skype and other VoIP programs for PCs. But there are also such programs for mobile phones, so that one can make calls from mobile phone at the same low rates as from a personal computer. Skype offers a program for mobile phones, however it works on very few devices. But there are third party applications that work on virtually any phone and can establish a connection with the Skype network, so that one can use his/her Skype account to make calls from mobile phone. Another useful communications tool is SMS Scheduler. This program allows scheduling SMS sending for any time in the future. Apart from that, SMS Scheduler allows creating contact groups (a useful feature that is missing in Windows Mobile), so that a message can be sent with one button press to the whole group without the need to select recipients one by one.

Entertainment. There are of course heaps of various entertainment programs. The most widely used are media players which are pre-installed on all smartphones. However, those players mostly cannot play Real Player files. By installing Real One Player for Windows Mobile, one can play Real Player files and watch live broadcasts on mobile device.

System tools. If you happen to write text in different languages you may need to enter symbols that are not available in Windows Mobile. Installing an on-screen keyboard can solve this problem. Many such keyboards are, however, not stable and may just stop working after some time. We recommend Hikeyboard as a good and stable piece of software. Besides, Hikeyboard includes many different national layouts and allows one to easily switch between them.

System maintenance. These tools will help you keep your mobile device in good working condition and may be helpful for resolving some small software problems. However, one should use them with care as there is a possibility to loose important data or even to corrupt the system. pmClean finds all temporary and unnecessary files and can delete them and thus free the device's memory. PHM RegEdit is a program for editing Windows Mobile Registry (Windows Mobile does not have a built in Registry editor). Editing the registry may be helpful in solving some specific problems, however one should have some knowledge about the Windows Registry to do that, otherwise improper meddling with the Registry may result in a system corruption. Check Notifications program checks system notifications and can remove double or faulty ones. That may be helpful when there are problems with the notifications (not working alarms and reminders).

Software for webmasters. Sometimes it may happen that you have to change something urgently on your Web site but you have no access to a computer (imagine that you are lying on the beach or travelling somewhere in the mountains and your boss calls and wants you to urgently update information about some product on the Web site). There are a few programs which can save you from a spoiled vacation in such a situation (once I experienced a similar situation myself, so I know how helpful such programs can be). Easy HTML Editor is a Windows Mobile software for HTML file editing. Updated HTML files can be uploaded on the server using SoftX FTP Client or Orneta FTP. Of course, it can be quite tiresome to edit files with the small screen of a PDA, but in case there is no other way out one does not think of conveniences. (One can also connect to a PC using LogMeIn and do all the work remotely from the PDA, however the inconvenience of a small screen will be there in that case too).

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of programs for smartphones and PDAs. Here we tried to describe those, which are, in our view, most useful for a wide range of users. There are several mobile freeware web sites. Those who need some programs not described here can just search the Web.

Leonid Sinichkin is an IT specialist and programmer in the field of system and process automation. He is also an expert user of smartphones an PDAs. Visit http://www.skypemobile.info to learn more about software for mobile phones and to get direct download links. (Russian readers can visit http://www.skype-mobile.ru).