The speakerphone is one of my favorite mobile phone features of all time, and it's great to be able to talk and have your hands free at the same time.

Unfortunately, setting speakerphone as your default way of answering the phone isn't really possible on the Windows Mobile platform - unless you have SpeakerPhone installed on your device. This simple, free utility automatically switches on the hands-free mode when a call comes in, or even when you make an outgoing call.

Configuring SpeakerPhone is a very straightforward proposition. You simple need to enable the appropriate option in the Incoming or Outgoing call menu in the program. You can also set the application to auto-answer, specifying the delay time.

Once launched, the application will hide itself and display an icon on the home screen, which you can use to open it and adjust its settings. This makes SpeakerPhone very simple to operate, although it would've been nice to have seen some extra features tagged onto the interface, such as in-call volume control or a Hold switch.

But if you just want a quick and easy way of automatically switching your device to speakerphone, this app is ideal.

Download SpeakerPhone – Auto On 1.05 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 3.4 in Softonic

If you're the sort of person who needs to stay on top of weather information for either your business or social life then Tenki will help you do so wherever you roam.

Tenki is designed to transform your Windows Mobile device into your own pocket weather center. The application feeds you with a wealth of meteorological information for a given location on our planet.

Unfortunately, I found the Tenki interface rather clunky. The main screen is confusingly laid out and it's hard to know where to start. What's more, if you live outside the US then you need to load your web browser and obtain your city code via the Internet, which is rather annoying. It would've been nice to be able to enter your location based on your GPS location too.

Once you've finally got your location loaded into Tenki though, you'll realize it was worth all the effort just for the sheer amount of weather information at your disposal. There are three different views available: Current, Forecast and Station, and each is packed with up-to-the-minute readings on everything from temperature to humidity to sunrise and sunset times.

Despite it's rather awkward user interface, Tenki proves to be a comprehensive and reliable guide to your local weather.

Download Tenki 0.90 Beta in Softonic

Depending on which particular handset you have, changing the volume on your Pocket PC isn't always as easy as it should be. Thankfully, help is here in the form of SetVolume.

This simple utility allows you to control the volume of your device through a wonderful, touch-friendly interface. It basically consists of a large speaker button with a gauge circling it. You can increase and decrease volume either by hitting the plus and minus buttons, or by swiping around the circle, in much the same way as you would with an iPod.

Hitting the button in the middle will activate vibration mode, while holding it down for two seconds mutes the device. This is an especially handy way of shutting your mobile up quickly if you're in a business meeting or a cinema.

Closing the application is pretty easy and you can do so by pressing the upper right-hand corner of the screen, or just by leaving it for five seconds.

SetVolume is great to use but perhaps the developer could've gone a stage further and integrated it as a Today screen plug-in with transparency, so you could call up it more easily.

Still, SetVolume proves to be one of the simplest ways to control the volume of your Pocket PC.

Download SetVolume 0.4.3 in Softonic

These days if you want to know the weather forecast you don't need to wait for it on TV or buy a newspaper.

WeatherBug Direct is a Windows Mobile add-on that provides you with live local weather information wherever you may be. This information is displayed on your Smartphone's home screen, outlining the forecast for today, tomorrow, and the next day. The data is presented in a very clear way with a weather icon, plus the temperature (only displayed in Fahrenheit, sadly) and the outlook.

Using WeatherBug Direct is pretty straightforward. You set up the application simply by entering the name and country of your location and selecting the nearest point to you from the list of local weather stations. There are more than 8,000 different WeatherBug Direct stations, so it's never that difficult to find one close to you. You can add as many different locations as you like, then set the 'Current location' to the place you're in now.

You can also use WeatherBug Direct to view current (well a few hours old at least) satellite images, weather cameras and radars. Note though, that the radar and camera image features don't always seem to be available, as it depends on your location.

In terms of its accuracy, WeatherBug Direct wasn't perfect in our tests. In fact, as I speak the program is telling me there's only a 32% chance of rain today. It's raining.

While it may not give pinpoint readings, WeatherBug Direct displays live forecasts in a very clear manner and boasts a few interesting features.

Download WeatherBug Direct 2.2.0 in Softonic

PathAway provides affordable navigational support for aviation, boating, automobile (on and off-road), hiking, cycling, touring, rally racing, motorcycle touring, ballooning, scuba diving, fishing, hunting, paragliding, mountain climbing, ultra-light flying, canoeing, snowmobiling, athletic training, outdoor education, geocaching, mapping/GIS, mining, military training, surveying, site inspection, telematics, field data collection, security, search and rescue or any application where location is important.

Attach a compatible GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) device to your Palm, and use PathAway to navigate. PathAway works with all of the leading GPS handheld devices. PathAway supports Bluetooth, cabled, sled-based, and SDIO GPS devices. internal GPS devices such as the Garmin M5 and HP iPAQ 6325 are also supported.

Download PathAway GPS 4.00.88 in Softonic

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 1.22 in Softonic

pRSSreader is a useful application that allows you to read RSS and RDF (also known as Web Feeds or Web Syndication) feeds quickly and simply on your Windows Mobile device.

Some of pRSSreader's main features are:

• Support for RSS (0.90, 0.91, 0.92 and 2.0) and RDF (1.0)
• Incredibly small
• Support for multiple site reading
• Marking of unread items
• Properties of site
• Sequential reading of items
• Customizable appearance
• Import of OPML files
• Customizable location of cache
• Open news in an external browser
• Caching online content for offline browsing
• Caching images within feed items
• Editing feed name
• Hiding read items
• Sorting items

Popular RSS reader for PPC.

Download pRSSreader 1.4.2 in Softonic

One of the most annoying things about owning a Pocket PC is that the battery has a tendancy to die on you at the most critical moment. Luckily, there are plenty of apps out there that can make it easier to manage the power on your device, and Batti is one of the best I've come across of late. The freeware points out a lot of detailed information about your battery status, including the remaining capacity, tension strength and even the temperature.

Once installed, Batti displays a battery symbol at the top of the screen. By clicking on the icon you can bring up the data on its status. The program can be set to warn of you of impending battery failure either visually or in the form of an acoustic tone. As a result, Batti makes for an ideal way to ensure you're never caught short due to a lack of juice.

Download Batti 2.4 in Softonic

Pocket Sudoku is a sudoku application for Pocket PC (Windows Mobile), written in C#. It's currently capable of generating sudokus using five different difficuties, and solving sudokus. It's designed for Pocket PC but can run on any device (handheld or desktop computer) with .NET 2.0

The application's current capabilities:

• Background generation of puzzles (i.e. You don't have to wait for puzzles since the next one is generated when you're solving the current one)
• Solve puzzles
• Pencil marks (automatic and manual)
• Painless interface
• Undo, redo
• Save and load sudoku (.sud) and text (.txt) files
• High Scores

Download Pocket Sudoku 1.0 in Softonic

There are lots of areas of your mobile device that it's nice to be able to keep an eye on, but the default Windows Mobile interface isn't really cut out for this.

PDAStatus addresses this issue, allowing you to view all manner of information about your Pocket PC's status from the Today screen, through a series of large, customizable icons. Once installed, the application makes it much easier to check information without having to delve through the Windows Mobile menu system.

The program displays lots of useful information including battery charge, available memory (ROM, RAM and external card space), and even the amount of balance remaining to make calls if you're on a pay-as-you-go plan. The software also includes a backlight manager, allowing you to manage when your light comes on, and giving you the opportunity to save precious power by doing so.

It's pretty easy to set everything up and I really like the fact you can customize everything from the icons themselves to the position they appear on the Today screen. It would be nice to be able to map other information onto here, such as unread messages or news alerts.

Nevertheless, PDAStatus certainly provides an interesting way of presenting status information on your Today screen.

Download PDAStatus 1.1.6 in Softonic

These days many of us take our photos around with us on our mobile devices. But viewing them all can be a cumbersome experience unless you have a program such as S2V.

S2V is a stylus-free picture viewing application for Pocket PC. It comes with a stylish, user-friendly interface that makes browsing through your photo collection really easy. You operate S2V simply by sliding your finger across the screen to move back or forward through the images. You can rotate the images and zoom in or out, which is done using the d-pad.

An option on the bottom menu of the S2V interface allows you to call up your files and folders, which, again, are very easy to peruse with your fingers alone. S2V can also be used to set wallpapers for your Today screen through its support for S2U2.

S2V certainly provides a more interesting way of viewing photos on your mobile, but unfortunately it's not perfect. For starters, the program lacks any kind of transition effects or the ability to apply soundtracks, which usually come as standard in slideshow apps. More worryingly, I found S2V was prone to frequent crashes and this becomes pretty annoying after a while.

Once the developer has ironed out all the bugs though, S2V could become an essential download for anyone who keeps photos on their Pocket PC.

Download S2V 0.42 in Softonic

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 5.7.0 in Softonic

If you like looking at the planet through Google Earth then Pocket Earth is an excellent application that allows you to watch and interact with the glorious globe all the way from space. However, there's more to this than pretty pictures. You can search for locations, check the weather - including wind speed and humidity - get information about moon phases, sunrises and sunsets, and see what time it is across the world. There are even thermal maps.

Literally everything you want from the planet is on here. You can zoom in and out and scroll about from point-to-point to track distances between different locations. The graphics are great and the scrolling feature is smooth. There really is so much in this simulation that you should just get downloading it right now.

Download Pocket Earth 3.5 in Softonic

There's so much good stuff lurking on my computer that I forever want to take it with me and share it with the people I meet on my travels. Having recently lost my USB stick and not owning a memory card reader makes this a bit tricky though. Thankfully, Card Export II addresses this issue, allowing you copy data from your PC or Mac to the multimedia card or internal memory on your Pocket PC.

The application is ever-so easy to use: simply rig your phone up to your computer via the USB cable and a few seconds later the memory cards installed in your handset will show up as removable media in Windows Explorer. You can then simply transfer these onto your handset using your Pocket PC to slide them across.

If used properly, the program can save you the money because you don't need to buy additional mobile memory. It's ease of use means that if you need to take data around with you, then you need to install Card Export II.

Download Card Export II for PPC 3.14 in Softonic

The virtual wallet market is popular with software developers. Nearly all PDA users make use of some sort of virtual wallet program to store their credit card numbers, email passwords or other personal data. eWallet, already regarded by most as the leader in its field has improved on its already excellent reputation with version 4, a feature packed virtual wallet application which is near perfect.

Whatever information you want to keep safe, eWallet is designed to help you entering and retrieving your data with the least hassle possible. Like most virtual wallet programs, it includes a range of categories to choose from as well as a ‘custom’ category option. However, because eWallet’s range of categories is so expansive (check out the ‘internet settings’ option with space for IP addresses, default gateways and more), you may find that you never even need to create a custom category.

When you create a new card (a card can represent an actual credit card or any other record), you’re immediately given a range of customisation options which exceed the offerings of other programs. Change the colour of your card, add a custom .ico icon file, or even a sound effect to make each entry unique and easily recognisable. Cards can be created in the main set of your data store or in unlimited levels of subcategories, offering a level of organisation which is simply unavailable in other applications.

eWallet’s level of security is also impressive. With frequent requests for your passcode, you can be sure that no one can simply pick up your PDA and gain access to your cards. eWallet offers 256-bit encryption where some of its competitors still don’t encrypt your data at all. It also offers you the option to set password hints on individual items, a handy and popular data-protection technique often employed on websites. With top level stability, eWallet can be relied on to stand up to the job, even if you use your virtual wallet application frequently.

As you may be able to tell, we were pretty happy with this version of eWallet! It has so few flaws that the biggest issue we had was with the non-alphabetic listing of icons in the card-editing screen – hardly a critical issue. Synchronisation via SyncPro is actually far better than using ActiveSync, given that it doesn’t need to upload/download the entire database each time it syncs: SyncPro is capable of only updating the latest changes you’ve made, saving you precious time.

eWallet performs its core role with simplicity and ease of use and then offers you a higher level of customisation than any of its competitors. It’s not only the best in its category but one of the few absolute ‘must have’ programs for Palm, Pocket PC and Windows Smartphones. With practically no negative points, it just can’t get a higher recommendation!

Download eWallet 6.1.3 in Softonic

Let's face it, the built-in Calendar in Windows Mobile for Pocket PC isn't up to much. It's clunky and fiddly to operate and makes it difficult to quickly check the date and make appointments.

ThumbCal is designed to replace the default calendar on your handset with one that's easier to use. It's certainly a lot clearer, with big buttons as the dates that can be easily touched with a finger. If you run the app with its bundled skin you'll get a slick black interface with white numbers and grey highlights.

By clicking a date or tapping it with your fingers you can access a menu where you can select 'Today' to return to the current day on the calendar. You can choose 'New' to make an appointment for a particular date. Or at least, that's the theory. In practice, I couldn't get the feature to do anything, probably because this is an early alpha version.

Nevertheless it's good for checking dates in the future and goes up beyond the year 2100, so you can literally plan the rest of your life on it. As you flip through the years, the calendar scrolls upwards, which looks pretty cool. Again though, it's hit and miss as to whether this feature will work.

ThumbCal is a great looking, easy-access Pocket PC calendar app which is unfortunately let down by bugs and glitches.

Download ThumbCal 1.0.7 in Softonic

It’s hardly a secret that Microsoft’s native handwriting recognition software for Pocket PC leaves much to be desired. Calligrapher 8.3 fills the gap left by Microsoft and adds plenty of extra features to sweeten the deal.

Calligrapher allows you to enter text directly into the main window of any application, rather than forcing you to write in the small field at the bottom of the screen. This makes for a lot more freedom than in other handwriting recognition tools, gives you more space to work in, and clearly helps the program to recognize characters and words more accurately.

As well as the standard features, Calligrapher boasts a built-in spell checker which is a nice touch, but it is the accuracy of the recognition engine which really impresses. You’ll need to take some time to learn how to use this application, but it’s easier to use than many of its competitors so this is shouldn’t prove to be a major issue.

In all, Calligrapher 8.3 is a major improvement on your Pocket PC’s default handwriting recognition software and is recommended to anyone who has struggled with Microsoft’s disappointing effort.

Download CalliGrapher 8.7 in Softonic

PPCDesktop is an application that allows you to modify the environment of your PocketPC system.

Thanks to this application you can create short-cut icons, add desktop wallpaper to suit your taste and manage all the applications resident on your device, in the same way as if you were using the default desktop.

Improve access to your applications.

Download PPCDesktop for Pocket PC 1.20 in Softonic

SplashPhoto turns your Pocket PC handheld into a mobile digital picture frame. Simply load your favorite images with the included desktop software and you're ready to view images while on the go. Images can be viewed by thumbnail, individually or in a slide show.

Additional features include:

• Capture images using the built in camera on devices like the Treo, P900 and Zire 72
• Read images on memory cards taken directly from a digital camera
• Send images to other mobile devices via infrared, Bluetooth, or email (where supported)
• Pan and Zoom on the handheld application
• View images in a Slideshow with transitions and background music

View images on your Pocket PC with SplashPhoto.

Download SplashPhoto 5.01 in Softonic