Games for mobile devices come in a wide range of styles. While many are effective ‘ports’ (or copies) from more mainstream gaming platforms, shrunken down to match small screens, lots are invented especially for PDAs and feature gameplay elements and features which really make to most of what small devices have to offer. Bejeweled 2 is one such game. Built specifically for Pocket PCs and PalmOS PDAs, this impressive game features outstanding gameplay, beautiful graphics and guaranteed stability, even on slower devices.

The object of Bejeweled 2 is simple. Swap neighbouring jewels to create lines of three which are then eliminated, only to be replaced by the jewels above them. Wisely avoiding a complex gameplay style, all operations are performed with the stylus (a far better control method than the joystick on Pocket PCs). When you start a game of Bejeweled 2, you’re given brief instructions and reminders for how to obtain your goal. If you’re stuck and can’t find any jewels to swap, Bejeweled 2 will notice and after several seconds of inactivity it gives you a small prompt as to which jewel you should try swapping. This feature is perfect for beginners and can be easily switched off from the main menu.

Bejeweled 2 offers four distinct game modes, each of which is playable in the excellent trial version we used for this review. ‘Classic’ and ‘Action’ modes are similar, except that ‘Action’ play includes a dynamic time-bar which you have to keep from running out. ‘Puzzle’ mode offers a series of increasingly difficult set-piece puzzles which you have to complete in order to unlock higher levels. ‘Endless’ mode is, as the name eloquently suggests, Bejeweled 2 without end: with no target or time limit, this is perfect for players who are looking for a couple of minutes’ game time. Bejeweled 2 also features a screensaver which can be set to display a series of the stunning game backgrounds, along with time and battery data.

While Bejeweled 2’s gameplay is excellent, its graphics are the key to what makes this game really enjoyable. From the already mentioned background images to special effects on individual jewels, Bejeweled 2 has been designed to constantly impress. Rich sound effects and a tuneful soundtrack make the experience complete. Graphics, sound and music can all be controlled from the Options menu, but we found that the more intensive settings didn’t cause any problems on slower test devices.

Bejeweled 2 is, if you like, that rare gem of PDA games. Original, stylishly designed, easy to pick up and highly addictive, it will enchant beginners and keep more experienced players entertained for weeks and months. If you have one game on your Pocket PC, let it be Bejeweled 2!

Download Bejeweled 2 1.30 in Softonic

PhatWare have a history of finding a weak spot in Microsoft’s Pocket PC software, and developing a new application which not only fills the gap but adds new features you’ll never live without again. PhatNotes continues this fine tradition by improving Microsoft’s barely-there Notes support while also replacing Pocket Word in the process.

Notes are, to this reviewer at least, one of those functions you’d expect that your PDA could really handle: after all, how much use is a Pocket PC that can’t adequately handle note-taking tasks? However, Microsoft’s built in support for Notes is so prohibitively designed that many users find they use it once then forget all about it.

PhatNotes brings power and multi-functionality to Notes. PhatNotes allows you to set up multiple databases of notes, each with multiple categories, which sync automatically when you connect your Pocket PC to your main computer. This makes it easy to categorize and sort your notes in a simple and convenient manner. Or, if you choose, select and drag text from any drag’n’drop friendly application (Firefox, for example) straight into PhatNotes’ desktop application, and in seconds, it’s saved to your PDA. Similarly, PhatNotes supports Microsoft Word documents on its own. As far as we could discern, there were no key features missing from this support. Indeed, PhatNotes has arguably the better interface.

In its basic functions, PhatNotes is easy to use, quick and reliable, but in some more complex operations, we found it a little less intuitive. Synchronising attachments (image files, for example) seemed like a useful function to have. It would be nice to quickly and simply add a map or a photo to a note which you’re taking with you on the road.

While the documentation provided with PhatNotes helped us set up attachment syncing in minutes, the feature itself is somewhat lacking. Any file you wish to attach to a note must already be in the shared documents folder for your device on your desktop PC. In other words, it pretty much already needs to be on your handheld. With the leaps and bounds being made in storage these days, we think that the time has come for programs like PhatNotes to automatically handle this sort of task. A feature we’d like to see in the future is attaching any file on your desktop PC to a note, and PhatNotes automatically making a copy of that file in your sync folder. After all, surely the general idea here is automation, not making the user check whether a file is in some folder.

Another gripe, though with potentially less impact, is the process for deleting databases. It would seem obvious that if you wanted to delete a database, you could select it (either on the PDA or the desktop computer), select ‘delete’ from a context menu, confirm and that’s it. However, PhatNotes asks us to disconnect our Pocket PC, delete the database on both it and the desktop, and then reconnect. This ungainly process could easily be automated, if necessary with a special warning, or an option to leave the database on the pocket PC, desktop PC or neither.

It is what PhatNotes brings to the table though which should be remembered. Despite the trouble with attachments and databases (features which Microsoft hasn’t even tried to include), are tempered by a very simple and enjoyable user experience with the more basic of its features. This program offers lots now, and hints at more to come… just like the developer that created it.

Download PhatNotes Professional Edition 5.3 in Softonic

Tunneling, or port forwarding, is a way to forward otherwise insecure TCP traffic through SSH Secure Shell for Workstations. You can secure for example POP3, SMTP, Telnet, FTP, VNC and HTTP connections that would otherwise be insecure. You can control not only SSH server but all computers in your intranet network.

ZaTunnel is a SSH tunnel and port forwarding program for devices supporting Microsoft Compact Framework 2.0.

ZaTunnel boasts a handful of improvements that make remote administration of Unix and other servers via Telnet/FTP/VNC protocol using mobile devices safely and more efficient.

Download zaTunnel Free 0.92 in Softonic

Master Kick arises in glory of the best arcade version of table soccer seen till now! It's not just a game with stunning graphics of various playfields and players, weather visual effects, or live cheering. Master kick gives you the full atmosphere of soccer match combined with 'foosball' skill.

Highly sophisticated AI plus numerous formations selection, playing in a league or quick match will not fail any soccer fan expectations. Great dynamic music and sound powered by MODULA Audio Engine and fullscreen support enlarge the overall game experience. Master Kick is available for all the PocketPC and PalmOS devices.

Game features include:

• Great atmosphere
• Addictive gameplay
• Amazing visual effects
• Six fields and six teams
• Vivid sound effects and music
• Action replays
• And much more!

One thing is for certain, Master Kick tried once, will become your favorite addiction!

Download Master Kick 1.4 in Softonic

Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe but if you want to discover it properly you should really think about getting a guide.

However, with so many gadgets and gizmos to carry around on trips these days it's best to avoid carrying around excess baggage like books and maps. Instead, why not install a travel guide on your PDA to save valuable pocket space?

This Pocket PC guide to Prague is based around the popular Dorling Kidersley Top 10 series of guide books, and manages to pack in lots of information about the Czech city. What I like about it is that it doesn't just reel off the same old stuff about all the tourist attractions and instead presents things in a more interesting way. For instance, you get tips on the best times to visit places, and a huge series of top tens featuring everything from the top ten things to see in Wenceslas Square to the top ten Czech filmmakers.

You also get a whole raft of maps, including a street index, transport map and metro map. Be sure to check the transport prices when you get there though, as the info in the guide may be out of date.

The Prague DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide & Map is an imaginatively presented and informative guide to this great city.

Download Prague DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide & Map 2.00 in Softonic

With so much of our work and home activities based around our PC, it often feels that you're chained to the desk 24/7. Sometimes even while you're out and about you're probably itching to get home and check your emails or finish that Word document. Thanks to Remote Desktop for Mobiles you don't have to worry because the program lets you access your Windows desktop from wherever you are.

Basically, RDM + Remote Desktop can activate a new channel of communication between the two systems. In this way, you can interact with the Windows desktop, from your PDA starting or stopping services, viewing system resources, restarting or shutting down the machine remotely, among other possibilities.

To enable the connection, the program uses a BES meeting, BIS, TCP / IP or http. It supports password access, includes a system of encryption to protect transfers and has a number of options for rapid mapping functions on the keys of your device.

This software doesn't give you access to all the apps on your computer but ultimately, if you want to control the basic functions of your PC from your PDA, RDM + Remote Desktop is a sound choice.

Download RDM+ Remote Desktop for Mobiles 3.7.3 in Softonic

You might not realize it, but mobile phones can make for great musical accompaniments for any tracks you might be producing. I'm not talking about sampling ringtones here, but rather using your device as a digital drum machine.

Little Snazzy Drummer is designed to let you do just that, allowing you to build drum loops and play them through your device. Once you've installed the cab file you can start playing around with beats by clicking on the 'Edit' option. Here you'll find five different drum tracks which, when put together, will form your loop or be used as a metronome to keep you in time.

The drum tracks comprise of Bass, Snare, Closed hat, Open hat, and Rim shot. Each track in the sequence has its own timeline where you can set the intervals at which each will sound, simply by checking or unchecking the boxes that run across the track. The track plays while you're editing, allowing you to easily preview the changes live and tinker with each track to keep the beat. Unfortunately, you can't isolate individual tracks though.

Once you've finished your beat, you simply return to the 'Play' menu and it will loop continuously, accompanied by a picture of a little snazzy drummer (who looks more like a big grotesque monster, if you ask me). It would've been nice if this little guy was animated but I guess you can't have everything.

It may not be the most advanced music production tool in the World, bu Little Snazzy Drummer is a very cool app that will help you create drum beats without any technical knowledge.

Download Little Snazzy Drummer 2008 Lite in Softonic

With this program, you can hide and unhide all your private messages (SMS, MMS, E-mail, etc.) which are stored in Messaging application.
You can hide your messages manually or smsOrganizer can hide the new messages on every incoming SMS! You can set a password for unhiding messages against unauthorized users.

Key features include:

• Hide and Unhide all your private messages (SMS, MMS, Email, etc.) within the Messaging application.
• Automatic Hide on every incoming SMS.
• Use a password to protect your private messages against unauthorized persons.

Hide your secret SMS messages with this handy tool!

Download smsOrganizer 2.71 in Softonic

For the best view of the Earth you really need to go up into space - or install this theme onto your Pocket PC.

This skin adds a picture of the planet as the background image to your Today screen. It's a decent quality shot taken from above the United States, and if you look closely you can pick out details of the terrain.

Earth Theme also transforms some of the Windows Mobile OS elements such as the Start menu, navigation bars and menu backgrounds. Generally, the Earth-colored scheme works well, although some of the black text changes are quite unreadable.

This PDA theme is designed for VGA screens at 480x640, so only users with this kind of display on their device can really appreciate its beauty.

However, fans of Earth (and let's face it, that's most of us) will enjoy the view that this Pocket PC theme offers you.

Download Earth Theme VGA in Softonic

I love using my Pocket PC but I've never found the experience of navigating files on the device as slick as it is in the native version of Windows.

Resco Explorer replicates the look and functionality of Windows Explorer on your Pocket PC. Granted, Windows Explorer isn't perfect, but it's a whole lot more intuitive than Windows Mobile's hotchpotch of a file manager, as this neat application proves.

The program is installed painlessly via Windows onto your Pocket PC, and once in place, provides a much quicker and easier way of navigating through your files. Initially, folders are displayed in a column, though the layout can be tweaked to the max, by applying a tree structure view, changing icon and folder sizes and sorting using a range of variables.

Open the 'Menu' and you'll uncover a treasure trove of settings that allows you to completely customise your file management experience. There's a Send option for quickly sharing files via email, Bluetooth or Infrared; a fast and reliable Find tool, file encryption, an Edit menu for performing file commands, and a comprehensive Help menu too. Delve into the 'Options' menu and amazingly you'll discover there's yet more settings for personalising your file manager.

If you're looking for a quicker and easier way to navigate and manage files in Windows Mobile, I doubt you'll find anything better than Resco File Explorer.

Download Resco Explorer 2008 7.02 in Softonic

I love the fact that I can browse web pages on my Pocket PC. However, being the intellectual fellow I am, I often like to read long scientific journal entries or pore over long-winded reports and lectures about modern technology. This causes a problem, in that it takes a long time to read them online and I don't want to stay connected too long. Of course, I could download and save the page, but this then puts a burden on my device's memory.

Step forward iSilo, a sophisticated reader for viewing HTML documents and text files on your Pocket PC. The best thing about the software is that it uses a little trick to make these files as small as possible, saving you space on your device. With the help of its sister-Windows application iSiloX, the program converts documents originally saved as Web pages or text documents into TXT format.

As a pay off for the mighty compression rates offered by iSilo, you unfortunately lose some links in the conversion process. Some graphic formats aren't displayed properly when converted, but fonts and tables remain largely unaltered.

Aside from a few niggly display problems though, iSilo represents a great way of compressing HTML and text documents for viewing on your mobile device.

Download iSilo 5.03 in Softonic

All game data including your local time. Simply to handle and insert match results. But there will be no need to manually insert match results. mySoccer supports live update via internet. If you have a phone edition you can get the results directly on the run through a possible GPRS or UMTS connection. For others mySoccer supports a manual update via file directly from our homepage.

Download mySoccer 2008 2.0 in Softonic

I'm a big fan of the great outdoors and love to go off exploring hills, valleys and streams whenever I can. Unfortunately though, I have no sense of direction, which has led me into a few scrapes in my time.

Step forward Tracky, an application that allows you to plan out routes and track your current position through a highly visual interface. In order to use the program, you need to set your start and finish points, along with any places you want to visit in between.

Using GPS technology you can then take it out with you and get a portable view of your current course and baring at all times. The software downloads maps from Google Maps to provide you with a pretty detailed plan of where you are in the world. The amount of stats and options locked within Tracky are incredible, and you can access all sorts of information about your real-time altitude, speed and distance to the individual marker points.

All this is great and everything, but compared to many Sat Nav systems I've tried, it all seems remarkably fiddly to set up. The zoom control is a trifle cumbersome, GPS configuration can take some messing with, and there is a distinct lack of user help within the program itself.

Although Tracky can certainly help you find your way back down the mountain, the chances are you'll be stuck up there for a while figuring out how to use the darn thing.

Download Tracky 3.3.5 in Softonic

Imagine if you could use your Pocket PC to sniff-out wi-fi hotspots. No more of that walking around wth your laptop looking for that elusive WiFi. Simply use Sniffi to literally sniff out WiFi spots in your neighborhood or working area. Sniffi is an advanced WiFi networks manager which may be used to search for hotspots, as a connection manager or as a network parameter monitor.

The application works in a very similar way to Windows WiFi network manager. The list of available networks is clearly displayed together with their ID, protection status and signal strength. There's a day/night color profile, fullscreen switch and you can switch it from vertical to horizontal mode easily. You can even perform pings on available networks and view TCP/IP stats for each one.

This is not the most effective WiFi detection system as much will depend on your mobile's capabilities but if you can't be bothered turning on your laptop to see what's available, its better than nothing.

Download Sniffi 2.3 in Softonic

If you're a budding megalomaniac then chances are you've enjoyed playing classic strategy games like Civilization and Populus in the past. Times have moved on though, and it's now possible to play God while you're sat on the train.

Revival is the latest creation from legendary developer Herocraft, charging you with the task of exploring seven planets and 27 continents with one main objective - to conquer them. There are two game modes to choose from. The wimpish 'Single' game, where you start with a home city already built for you, or the tougher 'Campaign' where you literally start with nothing and must build up schools, homes and protection for your community.

Along the way, you'll need to develop your citizens and build them from a bunch of simple archers to a bunch of tooled-up fighting machines. Of course, things are not that easy, and you'll constantly find yourself having to battle invading tribes hell-bent on destroying you. Thanks to some impressive AI, this is no mean feat, as your opponent's armies are aware of your strengths and weaknesses.

The graphics are small but wonderfully detailed and the soundtrack to the game sets the mood perfectly, changing style depending on whether you're building, fighting or training. I found the menu system a little confusing and at first you'll struggle to know exactly what you're doing as you try to suss out the controls though. As a result, I found Revival difficult to get into, yet with a bit of persistence you get the hang of the way it works, and start to relish the prospect of battle.

If you're a fan of God games and if you have the patience, Revival makes for a great download for your Pocket PC.

Download Revival 3.1.0 in Softonic

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) 5.3 in Softonic

Let's face it, using the Internet on your Pocket PC can leave you with a lot of crap clogging up your device. Not only does this eat into your memory, it can also slow down your device. Therefore, it makes sense to remove the stuff you don't need. ClearTemp helps you to do this without any hassle by locating, sorting and removing all types of temporary files stored on your device.

From the main ClearTemp environment, you can view the size of all temporary files available, including the temporary cache, browser history, temporary installations, URLs, cookies, and a lot more besides.

To remove them, simply select the type of file you want to delete and click 'Apply'. These files will then all be removed automatically, freeing up that valuable memory space on your PPC. Be careful though, because once they're gone then there's no way of getting them back if you really need them.

All in all, ClearTemp provides a quick way of clearing memory space by wiping out unneeded files from your device.

Download ClearTemp 1.0.2 in Softonic

MobiBlogr is a free blog software for Windows Mobile. With MobiBlogr on your Windows Mobile mobile phone, you can blog at anytime and anywhere. EThis means you can enjoy all the freedom of blogging on the go.

Features:

• Standard blogging: publish post to web, edit/delete published post, get recent posts
• Photo blogging: edit and publish blog enclosing local photos
• Richtext editor supporting most of richtext tag
• Full HTML featured viewer
• File Upload, one-click photo upload to your online album
• Built-in gallery view for photo browsing and uploading
• Auto blog/upload newly captured photos

Download MobiBlogr 1.5.1 in Softonic

PlaylistMgr is a simple playlist editor for managing Windows Media Player playlists and it supports unicode. You can create or edit playlists easily and conveniently using this software. In addition, PlaylistMgr also helps you to manage your media streams and podcasts.

Usage notes:

• You can add a media stream by entering the URL in "Add URL" dialog
• In the podcast management dialog, you need to define the folder where the all the media files for the podcasts are kept
• You can double click on a media file in the list to play it
• Alternatively, you can click on "Play All" to play the playlist for the podcasts.
• The playlist for the podcasts is automatically updated every time the podcast management dialog is launched
• Alternatively, you can use "Create Shortcut" to create a shortcut for launching PlaylistMgr silently, updated the playlist for podcast and load it in the media player automatically

Download PlaylistMgr 0.7.5 in Softonic

There are plenty of list managers around so, to be good, new software packages need to offer either something very different or lots and lots of options. ListPro has always offered both of these things but now it has some great additions. Firstly the new formatting options make it easy to arrange all your plans exactly as you want including with bullet points and numbers. You can also now quickly access websites if you need to get some more information.

One of the best features is the 25 new templates that are provided to get things done extra quickly so you don't have to start from scratch the whole time. This can prove a bit disappointing as they are not always exactly how you want them, but in terms of getting lists finished quickly they are a great addition. Also you can now share your lists with other users which is a great idea in theory and especially helpful for 'favourites' lists with subjects like music etc.

Download ListPro 5.0 in Softonic