Recently, we asked our Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine bloggers a question:
“What is the most creative thing you have done with your Windows Mobile device?”
We received a number of very interesting responses, and have included some of them in this article.
[Our blogs can be found at: SmartphoneMag.com/blogs]

Save money on hotels -- make reservations online

David Shier (posted on 10/2/07)

Here's a little story about how I saved money on a hotel room without the help of PriceLine.com.

Before hotel chains had their own Web sites, it was common to be able to walk into the lobby of a hotel and ask if they had rooms available for that night, and if so, ask if they could give you a good deal since they needed to fill the rooms. Now, it seems that they only give discounts to online reservations in order to encourage customers to book their own rooms.

I discovered this change the hard way when I walked into a major chain hotel just before 6:00 p.m. one day looking for a room. I was visiting a customer's office that day and realized that I might have to come back in the morning. While I was at the customer's office, I looked up the nearest hotel online for which I had a “frequent guest club” membership and checked the price. Unfortunately, when I got to the hotel, I discovered that they would not give me the online price at the front desk.

Make hotel reservations online, wherever you are, and save money.

Fortunately, I had my phone-enabled Windows Mobile device with me. I told the clerk I would check on my options before getting the room at the higher price he was offering. I then stepped a couple of feet away from the desk and used Pocket Internet Explorer to go to the hotel Web site. Since I was using GPRS, it loaded a bit slowly, but I took the time to navigate the page and found the special online price was still being offered. I then booked the room online. After I got the confirmation number on the screen, I walked back to the desk and told the clerk that my reservation should now be in the system.

Sometimes computer networks really do work the way we expect them to, and my reservation was there instantly on his screen! The clerk thought that this was really cool and even gave me a room upgrade just because he was so impressed.

I do have one word of caution about doing this: I have discovered that some hotel Web sites now have mobile versions that are different enough from the desktop version that they don't always offer the same lowest rates! This really surprised me, so it's worth checking the sites for your favorite hotels, airlines, and rental car companies in advance. If you find that they don't provide the lowest rates on their mobile sites, then you might want to use a registry editor utility such as Tweaks2k2 (tweaks2k2.com) to “fool” the Web sites into thinking that you are using a desktop version of Internet Explorer to access their site.

Solar powered, always connected bicycle

Mike Riley (posted on 9/30/07)

I am not only a mobile enthusiast, I'm a fan of the Green IT movement and the owner of an Infinity recumbent bicycle, which I've ridden for 20+ years to work, home, and play destinations. The convergence of these passions has resulted in the “mobile device” shown here.

My infinity recumbent bicycle with rear-mounted solar panels to power my Windows Mobile device