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

NewsCopier™ is a free RSS newsreader puts the latest headlines, weather, sports, business, and entertainment news right in your hands. It keeps you up-to-date on blogs, bargains, stocks and other news.

You have instant access to the news you are interested in. The program can use your wireless connection, or update headlines when your Device is connected to the Internet. NewsCopier can either automatically refresh its information on a regular basis, or let you do the refresh manually.

The program works with variety of different feeds formats: RSS 1.0 (including RSS 0.9, 0.91, 0.92), RSS 2.0 and Atom.

This NewsCopier edition is distributed as a freeware program and is currently available for Pocket PC PDAs. Smartphones edition will be available later this year.

Key features of the program include:

• Instant access to the news
• Automatically refreshes news feeds
• Suppots different feeds formats

Download NewsCopier 2.0.3 in Softonic

All Mobile Mines is a freeware clone of Windows' Minesweeper. The objective of the game is to locate all the mines as quickly as possible without uncovering any of them. If you uncover a mine you lose the game.

All the features of the PC version on your mobile device.

All Mobile Mines is fully compatible with Windows Mobile-based 2003 SE Pocket PCs, play in landscape or portrait mode.

An enjoyable timekilling game for your PDA.

Download All Mobile Mines 4.0.2 in Softonic

One of my favorite toys as a boy was my bouncy ball (I was easy to please), and when I featuring one, I was obviously very excited at the prospect of playing it.

JumpyBall sees you take assume the role of a large, black ball that must bounce its way through a series of different levels, jumping at the critical moments to avoid water, fire, grass or other obstacles.

The 3D graphics are very well produced and the action scrolls very smoothly vertically. Once you really get into your stride you can achieve some blistering speeds, though it will take you a lot of practice to be able to jump everything at such a pace. There's a lovely funky electrobeat soundtrack pumping away in the background and it's very much in keeping with the on-screen action.

There are a few options you can tinker with, namely setting the music volume, adjusting game controls and enabling or disabling the auto-jump feature. Unfortunately though, ther's no option to adjust the difficulty setting which is a shame, because ultimately I felt the game was too tricky. Some of the platforms are so fiddly to jump across, even at slow speeds, that I quickly tired of the game and almost threw my Pocket PC out the window in frustration.

However, if you've got the patience to master it, JumpyBall does provide an innovative challenge.

Download JumpyBall 1.0 in Softonic

Few can have read a newspaper or commuted to work in the last couple of years without coming across Sudoku, the hugely popular Japanese logic puzzle. For those as yet unschooled in the art of writing numbers on grids, Sudoku is really much simpler than it looks. Of course, the best way to find out what all the hype is about is to try Sudoku for yourself.

SuperDoku is a free Sudoku program for Pocket PCs which combines the original simplicity of the basic puzzle with a range of new and handy features. Because it offers you the chance to play with skins (like gems or ancient hieroglyphs) instead of numbers, SuperDoku extends the longevity of each game, and offers a practical way of demystifying the puzzle for those with a fear of numbers.

Along with its pleasing design, SuperDoku is packed with features to make your Sudoku experience more fun. The game boasts 8 levels of difficulty which can only be accessed on completion of the previous level. Along with 2 hint modes (one which shows you a good cell to start from and another which actually fills in a cell for you), SuperDoku has one feature we liked in particular: the ‘reveal mistakes’ tool. For anyone starting out with Sudoku, this feature – which would be impossible in a newspaper – is an excellent way of checking if your first tentative steps toward completing a puzzle are in the right direction.

SuperDoku also offers you the chance to enter the puzzle in today’s newspaper so that you can take that Sudoku with you without having to carry the newspaper. This feature also means that you can use SuperDoku to help you with printed puzzles if you’re having trouble solving them.

On the down side, the game does feature a save and load function but this is limited to just 5 puzzles. We felt that the ability to have as many grids saved as you like would be a better implementation of the save function but 5 is clearly better than none. This small disappointment is certainly not enough to put us off this great little implementation of Sudoku on Pocket PCs. Other standard electronic features (pencil marks, auto pencil marks, bold original puzzle and more) are all included and are often better implemented than in other choices on the market.

SuperDoku is a robust, fun and well designed way of playing Sudoku on the go. The range of features included on this freeware product is truly impressive. Perfect for experts and beginners alike, SuperDoku guarantees hours of fun on your Pocket PC.

Download SuperDoku 1.1 in Softonic

For those with limited needs, OggSync basic will provide the Google Calendar user with full two way synchronization with no 3rd party involved! Direct form Google to your phone!

OggSync 2.0 FreeWare provides the following features:

• Full 2 way sync from your phone to one of your Google calendars
• Supports Google Hosted Domains
• No 3rd party involvement, keep things simple with just your phone and Google Calendar
• Full support for repeating events, and changes to those repeating events
• Uses over the air or cradled connections so you can always be up to date
• Compatible with Outlook and ActiveSync

A great solution to what was a very annoying gap in the PPC's functionality!

Download OggSync 3.21 in Softonic

For most people it's imperative to be able to hook their Pocket PC up to their desktop computer in order to exchange files, install applications or synchronise data. Unfortunately ActiveSync doesn't always want to play ball, which is where FixASRunAt comes in. The program is designed to eliminate connection problems between your computer and mobile device.

The software is able to repair programming problems within ActiveSync to give you a more reliable connection. The interface is very simplistic but this makes it straightforward to use. You just click 'OK' in the menu bar and the freeware launches a list of commands for scheduled tasks and notifications, allowing you to fix problems.

FixASRunAT won't repair all ActiveSync problems, but if you find yourself constantly experiencing connections worries, it will siginicantly reduce the amount of times you need to reset your device.

Download FixASRunAt in Softonic

The Japanese are famous for their weird and wonderful games and although Hasami is a little more mundane than the norm, it's nevertheless an enjoyable way to spend some time. A variation on the popular board game, Shogi, this one sees you track and capture all of your opponent's pieces. In order to achieve this you must put two of your pieces on the edge of a row or column where your opponent's pieces are.

The game includes three levels of difficulty, ranging from ridiculously easy to virtually impossible, so I recommend the medium setting for optimal gameplay. There is a two player mode and plenty of help and pointers to improve your game.

Although not much to look at, Pocket Hasami provides an interesting diversion in both one and two player modes.

Download Pocket Hasami 1.0 in Softonic

smart2go is a comprehensive navigational package packed full with maps from more than 30 countries with thousands of cities making it perfect for the traveller. The freeware provides a route planner which works in the same way as similar other software programmes. Simply specify a new route by entering either an address or, interestingly, one 'Point Of Interest' such as a hotel or restaurant. You can save these once you have located them.

There is the option to search for directions using roads or motorways depending how you want to travel, and you can choose the longest or shortest route, depending on how much time you have. Before all this you must load the map data, for free, from your PC using MapLoader. You can make this as detailed as you want by even adding petrol stations directly from the internet. There are more features available but unfortunately you'll have to pay and the free software will probably give you what you need.

Download smart2go 1.1 w in Softonic

SSContact is a contacts managing application with slide down option. You can use the program to browse your contacts faster by just sliding down your finger on the screen in iPhone style. This freeware is similar to the iContact v0.2 sliding application.

Feature:

• Two different Themes (one Light and one Dark)
• One Speed Icon for quick call
• Display Contact using tap on selected item or central key on dpad
• Settings Dialog to customize the app, settings are stored in registry
• Sort Contacts by First or LastName or File As in Ascendenting/Descendenting order
• Support Landscape/Portrait
• Big Keyboard for quick search inside contacts
• Scrollwheel and DPAD support for scrolling
• Quick search using stylo with alphabetic index on the screen

Download SSContact 1.1.0 in Softonic

Webcam Holmes is a freeware application for Windows Mobile 2003, 5.0 and 6.0 based Pocket PC and Smartphone devices. It allows you to remotely monitor and watch IP webcams in real time from a local network or Internet from your mobile device.

Download Webcam Holmes 1.0 in Softonic

After the huge success of portable MP3 players, it was only ever going to be a matter of time until mobile video took off in the same way. As portable movie players become more and more popular, the temptation to buy one of these sleek, spanking new devices becomes almost unbearable! But wait! As the proud owner of a Pocket PC, you probably already have the hardware necessary to enjoy video on-the-hop. All you need now is a piece of reliable, free software to convert and optimise your movie files for mobile use. PocketDivXEncoder is that piece of software.

The installation procedure for this application was a breeze, mainly because there wasn’t one! It was refreshing to see that a simple program didn’t need to touch the registry in order to run, let alone force us to restart the computer (as all Nokia’s apps do). So as soon as you download the program, you’re ready to go. The program itself was pretty easy to use, with controls and settings which should be familiar to anyone who’s even come close to thinking about video compression in the last five years. For those who haven’t, all you really need to do is tell the program which device you’ll be using and it’ll do all the work for you.

Experts will likely balk at the lack of fine-tuning tools available in PocketDivXEncoder but its ‘advanced options’ dialogue allows for greater control over such features as 2-Pass Encoding, XviD Compression, audio Live Effect and more. A really impressive little feature is the live clip resizing tool which allows you to preview your video while changing its dimensions - handy if you’re working with a device which doesn’t have native support from PocketDivXEncoder.

The most important factor in video conversion and compression tools is the quality of the end product. It’s no good reducing a movie to 4MB and rendering it completely unwatchable in the process. PocketDivXEncoder performed admirably when converting our (fairly high quality) test video, achieving good video compression without losing much detail. Small changes we did notice was a slight alteration to colour and brightness balance on the picture and an almost imperceptible shift in audio-video sync. These issues reflect the fact that this is not a professional level tool but then again they’re almost impossible to spot without really hunting for them.

Working with PocketDivXEncoder is on the whole a pleasing, simple and rewarding experience. That a free application can offer such reliable performance and high quality – at levels often missing from other, highly priced software – says a lot about what a good freeware program should look like. If you’re looking to convert video to fit your PDA, all you need is PocketDivXEncoder.

Download PocketDivXEncoder 0.3.96 Beta in Softonic

SirfGPSTweaker is a freeware (Pocket PC or Windows) application for displaying output from NMEA or SIRFBINARY based GPS device. It has autodetection of data format (so it works both in NMEA or SIRF with on the fly detection). It can display statistics and data panel for cockpit use. Cockpit mode includes history graphs for speed and altitude. Programm is able to tweak GPS receivers by changing the operation mode or resetting the device. It can save output from GPS to a dump file and save comprehensive debug information.

Download SirfGPSTweaker 0.98 in Softonic

The application provides a text box for entering notes into. Wiki-style markup language can be used to format the notes, and the left 'soft-key' can be used to toggle between a 'View' and 'Edit' mode.

The application uses standard Windows Pocket Internet Explorer to view the wiki pages. Clicking on a link to a page which does not exist automatically creates a new page. Wiki pages can be stored either on the phone memory, or on a removable storage card.

Features of the program include:

Simple markup

The wiki parser uses very simple markup language, allowing headings, bullet lists, numbered lists, code listings, horizontal lines and tables, to be quickly and easily included

Links

Link to wiki pages, sections within wiki pages, or external web pages

Templates

New pages are created based upon a user-defined template - allowing all pages to have a common menu header or footer with no extra typing

Customisable look

The appearance of the wiki is based on a user-editable CSS style sheet -

giving the user total control over font size, style, colour, margins, borders and more. A template stylesheet is included

Customisable syntax

Unwanted markup types can be disabled, and preferences allow the way that syntax is applied to be configured

Sync

By default, a directory which is sync'ed by ActiveSync is used, allowing a wiki to be edited on both a PC and PDA. With a third-party sync utility (such as freeware MobSync), any location, including directories on a Storage Card, can be used

Page management

Pages can be deleted, and a Recycle bin allows pages deleted accidentally to be restored. Pages can also be moved between different wikis

Download Windows Mobile Wiki 1.12.1 in Softonic

Freeware poker of the more traditional sort. So far includes 7-card stud, 7-card stud with twos wild, 7-card stud with twos and threes wild, and 5-card stud. Choose 2 to 7 players. Requires NET 2, WM2003SE, WM2005.

Everyone starts with $1000, and anyone who drops below $100 is out of the game. The objective is to be the last player standing (or sitting.) MBroPoker uses old "Vegas" rules; so the house takes 10% of the pot up to $4. This guarantees that eventually it'll come down to two players, and finally one. If you are that one, you can make it to the Hall of Fame; the ten quickest people to be the last player remaining.

Download MbroPoker in Softonic

The freeware game X-MAS Runner LITE is a gift for you and your Pocket PC from the lovely people at Ballshooter Games. You and the bounty hunter join forces to collect all the treasures, candies and gifts while eluding (or preferably destroying) evil guards who are trained to kill.

Put on your thinking torque, because there are a lot of riddles that need guessing if you want to make it through all of the levels.

You’ll see a multitude of Christmas backgrounds and hear original soundtracks. Make the holiday season even more magical, and download X-MAS Runner LITE.

Download X-Runner Lite 1.20 in Softonic

Have you ever wished to save some text while browsing the web on your PC and view this text later on Pocket PC? Well now you can with the freeware 'SendTo.'

SendTo is an Internet Explorer Plug-in for your desktop pc that allows you to simply
highlight or select some text, and easily sends it to your PocketPC as a either a Note or standard Text (txt) file.

Usage:

• Simply highlight / select the text you wish to send
• Right Click
• Select either the 'Send To Notes(PPC)' or 'Send To Text(PPC) option from the Context Menu.
• When ActiveSync next runs, your text is copied over automatically to your pocket pc to either a note or text file!

Download SendTo 0.0.5 in Softonic

Freeware app that turns your Pocket PC into a 23rd Century Tricorder! It does a few corny things just as a gag. For all you Star Trek fans.

Major features of the program include:

• Can store bitmap and wave files on an external storage device (e.g., CF Card) and have Tricorder access them
• Can use custom images and sounds
• Written in Visual C for fast execution and compact file size
• Compatible with the Pocket PC 2002, 2003, and Windows Mobile 5 OS devices

All in all, Tricorder is an amusing, geeky toy for Star Trek fans with Windows Mobile devices.

Download Tricorder 1.4 in Softonic

Simon says... Play that tune! ... Let Simon teach you to play some tunes. Just follow what Simon is playing, note for note. Another freeware game written with VB.net compact framework for Windows Mobile devices (Smartphone and PPC), with OS 2003/WM5.

Simon will play some song phrases. All you have to do is to follow what notes Simon is playing. He will be playing each song phrase note by note, so that you will be able to follow correctly (hopefully!).

There are three levels:

• Easy Level - Simon will be playing song phrases consisting of only 4 different tones
• Medium Level - Simon will be playing song phrases consisting of 5 different tones
• Hard Level - Simon will be playing song phrases consisting of 6 different tones

Download Smart Simon 1.0 in Softonic

Winamp has always been one of my favorite music players for Windows, and I still maintain that it is better than the bloated monster that is iTunes.

If you too are a fan of the player then you may wish to download WinamPAQ for your Pocket PC. The application replicates the original Windows version for your mobile, allowing you to play MP3s and other audio tracks (but not videos) on your device.

WinamPAQ's oh-so familiar interface consists of the player control window, EQ and playlist editor, all stacked on top of each other. If you want though you can choose to hide any (or all) if these windows to make space on your screen. One of the traditional complaints from anti-Winamp users is that the user interface is too small and fiddly, and this is only exacerbated by the size restrictions of the Pocket PC display. Touchscreen users can forget being able to quickly use the volume control, EQ sliders and many other functions simply because the buttons are too tiny.

Luckily, there is a Scale feature that lets you zoom in by up to 200 percent, although if you do this you'll have to scroll around the interface rather than viewing it all at once. Another way around the problem could be to take advantage of the programmable hardware button support afford by WinamPAQ, which lets you assign common controls (Play, Pause, Back, Forward, Open, etc.) to individual keys on your PPC.

Like its Windows-based relation, WinamPAQ manages to pack in lots of cool MP3 playing features inside. You can repeat tracks, shuffle them, organize them into playlists and manipulating playback sound all through the main interface. The Preferences menu lets you make further customizations to the player, though sadly this version of the program only comes with one skin.

Die-hard Winamp fans will enjoy using WinamPAQ for sure, while others will probably get frustrated by the overly intricate interface.

Download WinamPAQ 1.0 in Softonic