Must Have Symbian Mobile Apps on your Cellphone

VITO AudioNotes

One of the coolest pieces of software out there for your phone, VITO AudioNotes allows you to record audio (in WAV or MP3 format) from your phone’s microphone.

What this means is that you don’t have to scramble for pen and paper whenever someone dictates something to you. What’s more, it can record incoming and outgoing calls automatically— perfect for those sting operations! At its highest recording quality of 96 Kbps, a 10-second WAV file takes up approximately 1 MB of space, while an MP3 of similar length takes up 135 KB—very nifty. While recording notes, you can also adjust the sensitivity of the mic with the Mic. Auto Gain option.

The automatic call record function does just that—on a Windows Mobile device, selecting this option will record all calls even when the program is not running in the background. Once recorded, the calls and notes can be saved on either the phone memory or the memory card.

Another interesting function of the software is that it allows you to append new recordings to previously-recorded notes or calls; for example, if you have a recording of an outgoing call, you can append your own summary of the call to the end of it and save it all as one recording.

Platform: Symbian S60, Windows Mobile

OfficeSuite 4

OfficeSuite works on any Symbian Series 60 phone and allows you to make and edit Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents right on the phone. Though you won’t be able to make Pivot Tables or define custom style sheets, it should get the job done for a file that has to be sent urgently. When you make a new document, it will allow you to save it on the phone or on external memory. Office- Suite gives you nearly all the f o r m a t t i n g tools you get with MS Office, including the red underlines for misspelled words. When you make a workbook, you can hide, freeze, or insert rows and columns, and you can use functions too.

AI RoboForm

This interestingly-named software is a password manager and automatic form filler with some serious artificial

intelligence. Why is it in this list, you ask? Simple: you don’t want to be carrying slips of paper with passwords written all over them while travelling; AI RoboForm is a much better alternative.

After installing the program, you’ll be asked to enter your details on an exhaustive Web form, which is stored onthe computer. Thereon, it’s all smooth sailing. When you need to fill out a form on theWeb—when registering on a Web site, for example—just click “Fill Forms” and all the fields will be automatically filled with the necessary information.

The real beauty of the software is that it is encrypts all your passwords with 3-DES technology, so there is no way your passwords will be compromised. The software works even on AJAXbased pop-up login windows (like those on Facebook).

It can also generate random, secure passwords for use on Web sites, which it automatically saves for later use. There is also an option to print all the passwords stored with AI RoboForm, but that defeats the purpose of using the software! You can also password-protect your identity in AI RoboForm to prevent others from logging into your account on Web sites.

Platform: Windows (All)

Free SMTP Server

Picture this: you’re on the move, and you need to send an important e-mail to a client. Your office mail server is down, or taking excessively long to send e-mails. Haven’t many of us been through this situation? Fret not; you can now use software for exactly this situation. Free SMTP Server creates an SMTP server right on your PC. It can be used with any mail client— all you need to do is change the outgoing SMTP server to localhost in the mail client.

When it’s launched, the program will automatically detect the DNS server and port number through which to send e-mail. If you want the mail to go through a specific DNS server address or port, you can configure that, too.

Be aware that that some ISPs close the SMTP port 25, forcing you to use only their SMTP server, so make sure the port is unblocked before using the program. The only drawback of the software is that if any other service is already using the specified SMTP port, it gives you an error instead of adding the request to the queue. Free SMTP Server has no frills, but that’s what makes it so fast and efficient.

Platform: Windows (All)

Virtual Network Computing

Let’s face it—in spite of having all the cool tools to help you when you’re on the road, there’s nothing better than accessing your computer at the end of the day. Ultr@VNC is a virtual network computing (VNC) program that allows you to do just that from absolutely anywhere. The Ultr@VNC software consists of two

parts— VNC Server and VNC Viewer. You need to install VNC Server on the host computer (at home, for example), and use VNC Viewer to browse the contents of the host machine over the Internet. The greatest advantage of using Ultr@VNC is that it has an option called JavaViewer, which allows you to access a remote host even without having the VNC Viewer installed.

All you have to do is use a Web browser with Java installed and connect to http://[ip_address]: 5800, where ip_address is your home PC’s IP address.

MojoPac

The biggest problem while using a computer that’s not yours is that you don’t know if it’s infected, or if your activities are being logged. Of course, there are ways to find out, but you’d rather be doing something more important with your time.

Enter stage left, MojoPac. The idea behind the software is simple: it installs itself on any portable media device, from MP3 players to USB sticks, and creates a virtual environment for you to install and run applications. While most virtualisation software require you to purchase a separate licence for Windows to install on your portable media, MojoPac uses essential files from the machine that it is connected to—the host machine—to run a protected environment.

When in this virtualised mode, MojoPac places a toolbar at the top of the Desktop, which allows you to switch back to the host when required. The computing tasks you carry out in the virtualised mode stay there, and no traces of those are replicated on the host machine.

However , In the virtualised mode, you don’t have access to the drives on the host machine, and any file transfer you want to do between your MojoPac USB stick to the host machine has to be done outside of MojoPac. The software works fine with USB 2.0 devices, but on older devices it can get sluggish; and finally, MojoPac runs only on Windows XP host machines. In spite of its few drawbacks, MojoPac is a wonderful tool for professionals on the move who don’t carry a laptop.

Platform: Windows XP only

Blacklist

Have you ever been nagged by pesky telemarketers who won’t take No for an answer? Or how about those times when you want some peace and quiet and your phone just won’t stop ringing? Epocware Handy’s Blacklist could be your saviour. True to its name, the application blocks callers from calling you.

When you run Blacklist for the first time, a dialog box appears, which allows you to block callers. From here, you can choose if you want to block numbers from recent calls, private numbers, unknown numbers, and your contact list; if you want to enter the number manually, you have that option too.

The Settings menu allows you to automatically add rejected numbers to the blacklist and keep a log of all blocked numbers for up to 60 days. Unlike other monitoring software, Blacklist starts automatically with your phone. The only downside of the application that we found was that it did not display an alert every time it blocked a number, so you’d never know until you checked the logs.

Platform: Symbian S60

Handy Zip

E-mail attachments are normally sent as zipped files, and unfortunately, there are very few phones that natively support zipped files. Every mobile professional who checks e-mail on the phone dreads these, but if you have Handy Zip, you’ll be fine.

This little application allows you to access and create zipped archives on the phone. When you start the application, it searches for any zipped archives on the phone and displays them. Just click on the relevant archive to go into it.

When you want to create an archive, go to Select New Archive. Then, browse to the file or folder you want to archive and select it.The application allows you to choose betweenfive levels of compression—from None to Maximum.You can also choose to archive sub-folders\ and sort archives by name or size in ascending or descending order.