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With society pushing us to be online and available in our every waking moment, it is hardly surprising that there are a plethora of instant messaging programs available for PDAs and mobile phones. IM+ offers connection to a wide range of networks without becoming too bloated or over-complex. The first thing we noticed after installing IM+ was the simplicity of its user interface. As soon as the program opens, you can get to work configuring your accounts. IM+ lets you access the popular MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, AOL (AIM), Jabber and Google Talk networks, meaning that whoever you need to stay in touch with, IM+ will be able to help you out.

On Windows applications featuring such a range of connectivity, it’s normal to see a complex list of options when the configuration process starts. IM+ simplifies the process of setting up your accounts, and beyond message alerts, contains practically no options to configure. This may put off more advanced users who enjoy tinkering with their accounts but we thought it was a good move on the part of Shape Services (IM+’s creators). The only problem we noticed when setting up our account details was that the ‘backspace’ key on our device’s touch screen keyboard didn’t work. This is of course a small issue, but it slowed us down when we made a mistake.

The contact list display (or ‘Roster’) in IM+ should be immediately recognisable to anyone who’s used an instant messenger service before. Giving you the choice of whether to view all your contacts or just those online, IM+ also sorts your contacts by groups if requested. Selecting an online contact immediately initiates a chat with them, while the holding your stylus on the contact will provide some limited options referring to that contact, such as ‘rename’, ‘delete’ and ‘info’. We were disappointed that ‘info’ didn’t try to display a contact’s full profile rather than just their email address. We thought that a more full extract of the contact’s online profile would have been useful, at least including their birthday, homepage and interests.

Entering the text for sending messages was simple enough. As usual, we found the Transcriber feature to be the easiest and most accurate method of text entry, but this is very much a matter of personal preference for the individual user. IM+ also allows you to copy and paste text from other applications into your chat window; particularly useful if you’re using the program to collaborate on a work project, or even just to send your friend a link. IM+ also supports the most popular emoticons for instant messaging, for those times when words just can’t convey your feelings.

Up against some stiff competition, IM+ is an excellent chat program for your Pocket PC. While it has a couple of small issues and omissions, it is easy to use, relatively small and very stable. In other words, an excellent way of staying in contact even when you’ve got a good excuse not to!

Download IM+ (IMPlus) 5.4.2 in Softonic

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Pocket PC users are often on the move and this explains the large number of applications geared towards helping travellers wherever they go. One of the most successful travel programs available for handheld computers is this free guide to the subway systems in over 300 cities worldwide.

Métro has a very basic interface which can be a little tricky to read if you haven’t taken a look at the user guide. Once used to the controls, though, the average user will have no further trouble with this program. Use it to plan journeys, guide you between subway and railway stations, or to help you find places of interest such as museums or government buildings.

For such a small application, it holds a surprising amount of details and with frequent updates, you don’t need to worry about out-of-date information.

Download Métro 5.7.2 in Softonic

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When I was younger (in fact, it still applies now) I always wanted to have James Bond’s Miss Moneypenny as my secretary. As I grow older, I realise this is becoming less and less likely to happen. However, I’ve just stumbled across a mobile app that will give me almost the next best thing.

Agendus is an excllent personal information manager designed to make you more you a more productive human being through your Pocket PC. The application combines the different standard applications such as address book, notepad, tasks and email, and supports data synchronization with Microsoft Outlook.

It’s incredible to be able to manage and access so much information from one place, and it surprises me that Microsoft couldn’t have come up with its own Agendus when it developed the Windows Mobile OS. The program centralises a huge range of tasks, including managing contacts, appointments, tasks, notes, SMS and emails.

There’s a whole bunch of stuff you can do with this information using Agendus, such as displaying data in daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly views, grouping, editing and deleting. A powerful built-in full-text search ensures that whatever you need is always close at hand. Everything is very simple to synchronise too, using ActiveSync.

Thanks to an intuitive centralised interface and some slick integration with Outlook, this really is a product you can’t afford to be without if you have a busy personal or professional life.

Download Agendus Professional Edition 3 in Softonic

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Krypton Egg is a port of an old breakout clone that originally appeared on the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST many moons ago. While there are probably thousands of Breakout and Arkanoid-a-like games out there, Krypton Egg manages to stand out from the crowd with its intense yet balanced gameplay and imported elements from shoot ‘em ups.

Krypton Egg has lots of power ups – some you’ll recognize, and some you might not. The ones that really catch the eye are the ‘big balls’ and flying paddle. Finally, you can fly your breakout paddle an all directions! This adds a completely new feel to the gameplay, as you can crowd your balls against the bricks, and it’s much easier to manage multiple balls too.

When you only have one small ball to follow, there are times it’s hard to follow, as the screen can be full of action, but this is a minor niggle. The power ups, the boss fights (reminiscent more of R-Type than anything else) make this feel fresh.

Where most Breakout games have become lazy timewasters, Krypton Egg makes it exciting and addictive once more.

Download Krypton Egg 1.1 in Softonic

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Download Pocket Informant 8.5 in Softonic

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Looking at things in nature can be a very relaxing and calming experience, and the same goes for Pocket PC themes.

This Tree Theme features a (heavily Photoshopped) background image of a tree in a field. Behind it are rolling hills and a cloud-filled sky. It’s a nice enough image and on its own could make you feel at peace.

Unfortunately the creator of the Tree Theme has gone and ruined the tranquility by plastering a garish bright purple color in the status bars that above and below the image on the Today screen. This completely contrasts with the image, whereas a dark blue or gray color could’ve really complemented it.

As a result, Tree Theme is yet another example of a Pocket PC skin where a nice image is spoiled by a poor color scheme.

Download Tree Theme in Softonic

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If you’ve got a YouTube dependency and find it a struggle to tear yourself away from the video site for more than a few minutes then perhaps it’s time you started logging on from your mobile.

Youtubeplay is a Pocket PC app that allows you to do just that, giving you the facility to search and play clips from the website very quickly. It does this through a very minimalist interface where you can enter a keyword, view the results, then select a video and play it using the built-in video player.

There’s nothing too fancy about this program, and you won’t be able to access the full compliment of features that you’ll find on the site itself. The only real player features you have are the ability to play, pause, rewind and forward through vids, along with a fullscreen mode.

It would’ve been nice to see some kind of feature for ripping clips to your phone and saving them in other formats, but I guess these kind of goodies would only serve to slow down what is, in essence, a fast and lightweight solution for playing online video.

If you’re addicted to YouTube and want to access the service from your Windows Mobile device, youtubeplay represents a fast and easy-to-operate way of doing so.

Download Youtubeplay 1.0.0.10 in Softonic

Feniks Pocket PC

I found two caterpillars in my salad yesterday, so at the moment little grubs aren’t my favorite creatures.

As a result, I was not looking forward to playing a game where I had to help out a worm. However, I love word games, which made the prospect of trying out this part-crossword, part-word jumbler, part puzzler a little more appetizing.

Bookworm sees you assume the role of a librarian who must keep the Lex the worm fed with words. The bookworm eats the words you find and you’re points total goes up. The longer the word, the more points you get.

It’s a simple concept which proves mightily addictive. The challenge of the game is to join as many words as possible before the tiles fall down and the whole board goes up in flames.

Bookworm is great fun for a while but its longevity is hampered by the fact that there is little variety in the game as you progress.

Download Bookworm 2.0 in Softonic

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Download Weather Watcher Mobile 1.0.9 in Softonic

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So it’s not the most exciting new application you’ll find on Softonic but it could save you a lot of money and embarrassment. Similar to Apple’s iPhone locking tool S2U2 gives you the power to block your PDA’s keyboard and screen by means of a sliding bar. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Oh and it’s also a screensaver when your mobile’s not in use. I knew there was something else.

Download S2U2 1.35 in Softonic

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