Our panel of expert judges comment on noteworthy third-party communications programs for the Pocket PC and Smartphones. The purpose of publishing these comments is to give insights into a variety of products—not to show how the judges voted. The winners and finalists can be found on our Web site (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/awards/main.asp). For the sake of brevity, we've included only one comment per product and edited them for clarity and brevity.—Rich Hall.
Pocket PC software
Phone and Fax
Jeyo Mobile Companion
http://www.jeyo.com
This program installs an SMS client on your Windows PC, allowing you to send, receive, and manage text messages from Outlook, through your Phone Edition device or Smartphone. It's a very useful capability, especially if you use SMS and spend a lot of time sitting in front of a PC. MMS is not currently supported—it would be a nice feature to add.
Remzi Semsettin Turer http://www.mail2web.com
GPRS Traffic keeps track of mobile traffic on your Windows Mobile GSM/GPRS phone.
GPRS Traffic
http://www.all-locations.com
This is the ultimate tool for keeping track of mobile traffic on Windows Mobile GSM/GPRS phones. Without it, I would completely lose control of my mobile phone bills. (Also available for Smartphone)
Andreas Erle http://www.worldofppc.com
Phone alarm reminds you of missed calls, and more.
PhoneAlarm
http://www.pocketmax.net
I love this Today screen plug-in. It not only continues to remind me of missed calls and unread SMS, it displays call signal strength and battery level. You can change the look of the program with free downloadable skins, and create up to seven profiles. For each profile, you can specify different sound levels, alarm sounds, which communication ports are active (Bluetooth, IR), or if the phone should be on or off. So, for example, you can specify to have the phone turned on during business hours and off in the evenings.
Remzi Semsettin Turer http://www.mail2web.com
Pocket Skype turns your Internet-connected Pocket PC into a phone.
Pocket Skype
http://www.skype.com/products/skype/pocketpc/
Skype is a great utility to have on your Pocket PC if you make a lot of long distance phone calls. You'll need a high-speed Internet connection to use Skype—Wi-Fi works best. Once installed, the program allows you to make free phone calls over the Internet to other Skype users. You can also subscribe to the "Skype Out" service and make calls to wired or wireless phones for a fraction of the normal long distance rates. Skype is also available for PCs running Windows, Linux, and the Mac OS.
David Shier http://www.BluetoothNews.com
Synchronization
Internet connection setup and phone synchronization utilities
It is impossible to summarize my views of these programs in a few sentences. However, I have published extensive reviews on the Smartphone and Pocket PC magazine forums. Please read the following:
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