Popular Mobile Apps
by Purushottam Darshankar
Social networking-
If you are an intrepid Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Photobucket, YouTube or Friendster fan, wish to blog, share video or geotag photos, want BBC or CNN, iTV or NowPublic on your phone...make the ShoZu mobile app (http://m.shozu.com) your single-window social media hub.
Check out Fring (www.fring. com) too. It’s a dependable app for instant messaging (IM) and free calls across Skype, MSN Messenger, GoogleTalk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo! and AIM. As backup, you can also install Nimbuzz (www.nimbuzz. com). It’s a neat mobile messenger that allows you IM as well as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) across several services.
Google mobile app
www.google.com/mobile/default/app.html You’ve probably heard of all the apps from this stable—Gmail, Search, Maps, News, YouTube, Latitude and other Google gurgle. But did you know that some of these are directly accessible from your phone without any browser bumming? You can download the mobile Gmail to quickly check your mail on the go. You can also use Google Sync on several phones to synchronize your Google Contacts and Calendar with your hand-held. Latitude will let you broadcast your current location on a map to friends and family.
Nokia Beta Labs
http://betalabs.nokia.com/betas The Nokia Beta Labs’ landing page has several interesting Symbian S60 tools. The best of these include Wellness Diary, a personal journal that helps you record and track health parameters such as weight, eating habits, exercise, blood pressure, etc., and Sports Tracker, a phone-centric GPS-based activity log that automatically records workout distance, routes, speeds and time in your training diary. It even allows you to share the information with others via a website.
You may also want to try Handwriting Calculator, and Ovi Contacts applications from this stable. But remember, before you download these; check out if they are compatible with your handset.
Web browsers
The Opera Mini (www.opera.com/mini/) browser is fast and furious. It features several advanced and user-friendly features, including personalized skins, YouTube video playback, bookmark sync, page saving for offline browsing and user-defined shortcuts, etc.
If you have a Sony Ericsson handset, try the full-fat, albeit slower Ozone (www.o3mobi.com) Web browser. Though it runs on a very limited number of handsets, Ozone offers a more desktop-like browsing experience.
Internet radio and podcasts
One of the best things about listening to Internet radio over your phone is not having to use those constantly tangling earphone sets. Small and easy to install and run, Nokia Internet Radio (http://www.s60.com/life/application/displayDetails.do?appId=320) gives your phone access to hundreds of Internet radio stations over Wi-Fi as well as GPRS. You can pick the quality of your connection according to your ambient network.
Check out Spodtronic (http://www.spodtronic.com/en/specialpage.html?pid=3) too. Another free Internet radio app, it lines up a wide variety of audio entertainment for your phone—including podcasts and mood-based personalized radio. You can also get download-and-play-later podcasts from Nokia Podcasting at http://europe.nokia.com/get-support-and-software/product-support/podcasting.
Reading
If you are an avid reader and don’t mind your mobile phone’s small screen, Wattpad (www.wattpad.com/download) is a good option. Download the app and plunge into community-driven categories ranging from biographies to business, sci-fi to sports, tech to travel. You can also upload your stories, ruminations and essays to jokes, and share it with the Wattpad community.
For audio books, install the Nokia Audiobooks (http://betalabs.nokia.com/betas/view/nokia-audiobooks). For free audio books, go to Librivox.org. You can use the Nokia Audio Books Manager to convert and transfer them to your phone.
WidSets
www.widsets.com WidSets is a collection of around 4,000 widgets (mini apps), including games, fun, news, sports, weather, utilities, games, social content, videos and much more. So, instead of diving in and out of sites looking for interesting apps, you can check out this one-stop site and fire your searches. It’s currently compatible with over 300 phones—we wonder what will happen after WidSets metamorphoses into the Nokia App Store in June.
Dr Jukka apps
www.drjukka.com/index.html This is another stockpile of various Symbian S60 applications available in one place. Most people will be able to make good use of Y-Browser, an uncomplicated phone file manager and Y-Alarms, a multi-alarm utility. 50 Widgets comprises an expansive collection of games and puzzles.
Yahoo Go!
http://mobile.yahoo.com/go If Gmail is not your cup of tea, you can check out Yahoo! Go. This all-in-one download gives you real-time access to email, news, search, stock quotes, Flickr photos, maps, etc. You can build your own menu according to your interests. Depending on whether you are interested in MTV or eBay auctions, Hollywood gossip or bull runs in the market, you can add or delete what you want.
Not convinced? Visit the Yahoo! Go homepage on your PC before downloading it and take the app for a spin through an interactive demo.
Miscellaneous
Money Lite
www.flyingbirdsoft.com/freeware.html
This light app helps you track your expenses, deposits, transfers and other transactions.
FlipSilent
http://flipsilent.com
Stop fumbling for the Silent button. Flip your phone over to mute the ring or refuse a call. Needs an accelerometer and works on limited handsets.
Phling!
www.phling.com
Phling! connects you to all podcasts and pictures stored on your PC.
Pocket Express
http://pocketexpress.com
Get zippy access to news, sports, weather, stocks, travel, entertainment and other updates on your phone without deploying a browser.
Qik
www.qik.com
A video-streaming app that enables you to share your life in real time with family and friends from your mobile phone.
GyPSii
www.gypsii.com
It automatically captures geotagged pictures, video and audio on your phone and lets you share these with friends in real time.
Zyb
Terrified of losing the contact numbers on your phone? Zyb backs up and syncs and updates your contacts to the Internet automatically.
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