Seven great Windows Mobile freeware titles: CIO
With so many free third-party applications available for the Windows Mobile platform, it’s hard to pick just seven but that’s exactly what CIO did. Several of the chosen apps are no-brainers that we’ve covered before: Skype, MSN Direct (which we gave a video over of), and Opera Mini. There’s one or two that I either haven’t used or haven’t seen before: mDigger for RSS and podcasts comes to mind.I definitely would have added a free ebook reading application and possibly Google Maps for Mobile. Give the list a look and share your favorite “must-have” Windows Mobile freeware in the comments.(via Smartphone Thoughts)
As much as I like Google Maps, Windows Live Search for Mobile is considerably better with quick searching of Gas Prices in the area as well as speech recognition (that is actually pretty decent).
I end up using both Google Maps and Live Search since Live Search has the features GoodThings mentioned, but cannot work with my Advantage’s GPS, doesn’t support cell-tower-based location and has fewer traffic info areas.
What I’d really like is a freeware replacement for ActiveSync that actually works consistently and gives you more than an inch of control. I can’t leave it connected all day or it will only use the ActiveSync connection to get to the web even if that means ports and sites are blocked and it throws a fit if you work with any files on your desktop that it wants to synchronize. Try to connect at end of day/week only, and I sit here for an hour while it gets confused halfway through my inbox and sits on “Processing” for 10 minutes, then I’m forced to try and Stop the sync (which never works) and I end up pulling the plug and it has to copy everything over from the desktop, erasing any changes I’ve made on my phone since the last sync. Good thing it isn’t a Friday night…oh wait!
How in the world is this version 4.5? In fact, the sync’d file hissy fits only started with the latest version I started using when I switched from WM2003 to WM6, before it knew to just wait til the file was done and saved rather than throwing up warnings.
I have always loved the capabilities of Windows Mobile, but the execution is continuing to let me down.
Actually, you could probably substitute the name of almost any Microsoft product in that last sentence and it would be pretty accurate, and be exactly why Apple is consistently able to swoop in to a consumer market and steal Microsoft’s lunch money.
Having Exchange Activesync really freed me from the desktop Activesync horror. My calendar, to-do and mail gets synched over the air and I never really plug it in to desktop Activesync except when I need to install software or some such.
I’d have replaced Opera Mini with Opera mobile, the full app. Also, I’d have added µBook because that’s the best non-encrypted e-book reader I’ve seen yet. Though you have to pay for that to get rid of nag screens.
YOu can see some tips on how to get the best use out of Live Search if you access my site. I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t be able to use the GPS on the Advantage (I do have an extensive post on GPS you should look at).
Keith: I have been using WLS on my Advantage and having it use its GPS with no problems for nearly a year. What exactly is the issue there?
Perhaps my settings are wrong, but I believe they are the same between Google Maps and WLS on my Advantage, but only Google is able to recognize it.
I’ll check out Geek Raver’s site to see if his tips help.
cr0ft-
Unfortunately my company does not allow access to the Exchange servers from anything but company-assigned Blackberry’s, which only a select few get. I was asking that before I even bought the device.