Symbian phones have a huge advantage over other phones as they provide a huge set of third party applications with which we can add a lot of capability to our phones. Unfortunately a large number of mobile users are unaware of what can be achieved using these mobiles.
Most mobiles already come with an integrated Calendar, a To-do list and other simple utilities. Now using a set of freeware applications it is also possible to browse through PDF and document files. Sept Solutions has recently released a freeware symbian application for the opendocument format. The OpenDocument format is an open format for saving and exchanging documents such as presentations, text documents, spreadsheets etc.
note: I have not yet got an opportunity to test this application so watch this space for updates :) or let me know if you are able to use this application successfully.
In addition to this, Adobe has released a freeware PDF reader for mobile phones. It currently supports Palm, Symbian and Pocket PC. Download here.
Applications like these are simple alternatives to commercial software such as QuickOffice.
Mobile applications for Business users
Tiny Tube - Watch videos from Google Video/MetaCafe/YouTube* on your mobile
You can now watch some of the most popular content from Google Video and MetaCafe at TinyTube.net . This site has been designed for mobile browsers and allows you to view the latest/top videos from Google Video and MetaCafe. When viewed from a non-mobile device it acts just like the normal google videos, however on the cell phone it provides different quality settings which affect the amount of data that you download.
You can also search for videos and see other videos shared by the same user.
The site initially had support for YouTube too, but this feature has been taken down due to violation of YouTube policies. So you would probably have to wait until YouTube comes up with its own mobile version for downloading videos.
Watch movies on your mobile
Watching movies on your cell phone is now a lot more easier, thanks to DivX releasing a mobile version of its player.
The player automatically searches for DivX files stored on the mobile phone (this happens only the first time you load the application), if new files are added we need to rescan the file system. It has a facility to fast forward and also control the volume. Full screen mode is also supported and the player has an option to play in landscape or portrait mode.
The application currently doesn't support the "resume" option, so once you close the player you need to fast forward back to the last played location or use the "4" shortcut key to use the "jump to time" feature. Lots of other shortcuts are provided for controlling different features.
The player is currently available for free download from the DivX mobile site. The application is a great freeware alternative to Smart Movie provided by Lonely Cat Games.
The player currently supports Symbian, UIQ, Windows Mobile SmartPhone and Palm.
DivX has also released another application "Discover DivX Mobile" which allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds which notifies you of any new content. The site also provides movie trailers and music videos.
Cool Mobile phone Calculator
Although the Series 60 phones by Nokia come bundled with a calculator, Calcium provides a more efficient interface (not to forget it looks cool too!) to perform the simple mathematical functions like addition,multiplication etc.
Calcium makes use of the joystick and assigns a function to each joystick navigation options (top/left/right/left/center click). That makes it a lot more faster as you don't have to select the option from the menu each time.
In short, Calcium = Simple + Free + Cool :)
SMS Assistant
SMS Assistant is a simple freeware application for Symbian based smart phones. It sends predefined messages automatically to people calling you or sending messages to you. This way you can always focus on your work and at the same time let people know that you are currently unavailable.
The application can be configured so that you can choose to use the service only for specific message types(text messages/multimedia messages) or voice calls. The software can be activated as and when the user needs it and then disable if not required. Currently it is available only for Series 60 and Series 80 mobile phones.
The Series 80 version allows incoming messages to be forwarded to another number and also keeps a log so that the automatic reply will only be sent once to each number.
Mundu : Radio on your mobile!
Mundu Radio provides streaming internet music radio stations to your mobile. As of now it supports Palm, Windows Mobile and Symbian phones. All you need is a data connection (GPRS/CDMA) and you are ready to go!
You can define your own play list and also select the radio stations/ genre. Currently around 50 stations are supported right out of the box. You can also define your own station, all you need is the link to the radio station. The play list/radio station list can also be updated from the web from the "My Mundu" section on the site.
To install Mundu on your cell phone you first need to register at the site (yup, this is necessary and you need it to connect from the phone application) and then download the application for your phone.
Check here to see if your phone is supported. As of now this service is available for free and the only charges are for your data plan provided by your network operator. The amount of bandwidth used depends directly on the songs bit rate (a song @ 128 kbps will require more data usage as compared to @64 kbps).
You might not be able to receive calls when you are using your GPRS connection (this varies from one mobile to another) so check your mobile phone's behavior first (it actually depends on your network operator and your mobile phone).
Surf Orkut on your Mobile!
Orkut is one of the most popular social networking websites and for a Orkut freak like me, it is very important that i can always stay in touch with my friends.
Although the official Orkut FAQ still specifies that it cannot be accessed from your mobile, it is in fact possible to access Orkut from your mobile. All is takes is a set of bookmarks by which you can join communities, accept friends, scrap users etc.
Orkut Login page problems:
If you cannot see the username and password fields when you open www.orkut.com on your mobile, you are probably using an old version of Opera Mini. Update Opera to the latest version and the login page should work properly just by using www.orkut.com (Read more about Opera Mini)
In case you are unable to update opera due to some reason, create a new bookmark in Opera Mini :
1) Go to Menu > Bookmarks and select Add.
2) Set the title as "Orkut" and the address as
This link doesn't go though any proxy and is though the Google login page :) The link is pretty big so instead of manually typing it out you can save it to a text file and send that to your mobile, then copy the link (don't know how? click here) and paste it in your Opera Mini bookmarks.
For all the following operations instead of clicking a link which simply reloads the page use the bookmarks specified to achieve the desired result.
Scrap other users: UPDATED : 8th September 2007
Create a new bookmark with the title as "Scrap @Orkut " and set the address as
Now every time you want to scrap someone, just type your message in your friends scrapbook message box (once you type your message the page will reload, this will not cause any problems) and then open this bookmark. Your scrap would then be posted.
Joining communities:
Add a bookmark with the title as "Join Community@ Orkut" and set the address as
(UPDATED: 17th June 2007)
Once you are presented with the option " Are you sure you want to join this community?" load the bookmark to join the community.
For Adding a user as a friend/Accept friend request:
Add a bookmark with the title as "Add Friend@orkut"and set the address as
(UPDATED: 17th June 2007)
Use this bookmark instead of pressing "Confirm" on the friend confirmation screen.
For Updating Profile data:
Add a bookmark with the title as "Update Profile@ Orkut" and set the address as
(UPDATED: 6th September 2007)
Use this bookmark instead of pressing the "update" button.
For Updating the Settings :
Add a bookmark with the title as "Update Settings @ Orkut" and set the address as
(UPDATED: 6th September 2007)
Use this bookmark instead of pressing the "update" button.
For Creating new Forum topics/ Replying to existing forum topics:
Add a bookmark with the title as "Forum topic reply@ Orkut" and set the address as
Use this bookmarklet instead of pressing the "submit" button. This bookmarklet is very similar to the previous one, except that Action.submit is used instead of Action.update.
Accepting/Rejecting new community member requests (if you are a community owner) :
Add the following two bookmarklets
To accept new member requests:
To decline new member requests:
These bookmarklets work on the first user in the accept/reject list. So if you have multiple pending requests, you have have to process them in the same sequence.
Hopefully things should change pretty soon . Lets hope that we have a better version of Opera Mini soon :)
(UPDATED: 8th September 2007)
Google seems to be very fond of changing its javascript functions quite often (every 15 days?), kindly drop a comment incase any of the above mentioned bookmarklets do not work anymore!
Guardian :Anti-theft system for mobiles
Guardian is an anti-theft application which enables you to get notified whenever someone changes the sim card on your cell phone. Every time the phone is switched on, Guardian checks the sim and if the authentication fails it sends an sms to a previously set number. If the sim is unauthorized it hides itself and so the new user will not be aware that an sms has actually been sent. The sms sent contains essential details which help track down the phone easily.
The application is also protected from unauthorized uninstallation. A special procedure needs to be followed in order to uninstall the application. The application can also be password protected. It is recommended to install the application to the phone as it has hard reset protection (which actually means that its very difficult to delete the application even by resetting the phone back to default settings)
It also has a remote control feature whereby one can delete the messages/video/photos simply by sending an sms. However this feature is activated only on donation.
Download Guardian for free.
Opera Mini- the Best of all Mobile Browsers:
Opera Mini 2.0 released by Opera Software is an excellent mobile browser supporting lots of different mobiles (check your phone here). In spite of the small screen limitation, Opera renders most sites beautifully using its “Small Screen Rendering” technology.
It supports downloading mp3, images etc directly to the phone. Lots of shortcuts are provided to navigate quickly. The web pages are pre-processed on a remote server in order to optimize content for your phone. With support for bookmarks, skins and browsing history it is a must have freeware for you phone.
Alternatives to Opera Mini do exist but as of now most have fairly limited support or a really dull look. Minimo from the guys who came up with firefox currently supports only the Windows Mobile phones. Hopefully they will come up with better support soon.
UPDATE: Opera has released a newer version Opera Mini 3.0 which supports RSS Feeds, Photo blogging, Content folding , secure browsing and more.floAt’s Mobile Agent
Once a connection is established it gives you detailed information about your phone’s battery power, firmware version, signal strength, missed calls details etc. All your phone’s content (inclusive of messages, games, themes, and images) are available easily in a familiar explorer like interface.
Transferring data to and from the phone is very easy too. You can talk to your callers using your computer headphones and microphone. It also allows you to send sms from your PC.
On your phone you are provided with a menu based interface with which you can control your PC. It allows you to control a wide range of applications such as Winamp, PowerPoint, Explorer, etc. And if all this isn’t enough, you can write your own scripts too! And this quality software comes for free!
Bluetooth provides an additional advantage over a cable connection as you can easily control you power point presentations from your phone , or control your music playlist from wherever you are (you should be within Bluetooth range of course :) )
All these features gives the SE phones a huge lead … at least in the low end category where Nokia phones come with hardly any good quality PC based software support.
Backing your mobile content
Most phones these days provide support for Bluetooth or alternately a cable connection. While a cable connection is usually much faster, a Bluetooth connection allows you to use your mobile freely within a range of 30mts or so. To backup your phone details it is important that you have at least one of the options mentioned above. The phone usually has a software CD bundled with it. Alternately if you do not have one, you could check out the site for the latest version of the software. A lot of other alternatives such as Oxygen Phone Manager and Float’s Mobile Agent are also available. Nokia has its own PC suite with which the entire phone backup can be easily taken.
This option is usually available though the Nokia Content Copier.
1) Select “Make a backup of the phone contents to the PC”
2) Select your phone
3) Select the content you want to backup. In case of a full backup see that the “Copy also memory card contents” checkbox is checked.
Essential free Symbian software
Once you have purchased a Symbian based phone, its time to exploit its features to the max. Here is a list of utilities which are available freely.
1) FExplorer: Handy file explorer to browse the content saved on your phone, has lots of features. Check the link for more details.
2) S60Zip: Freeware utility to compress files into zip format. Useful if you tend to store a lot of doc format e-books on your mobile.
3) Forward: A very simple utility to transfer the installation files from the inbox to any folder on your mobile.
4) SymbtChat: Chat with your friends using this application. Works over Bluetooth, the recipient need not have this software installed.
5) Ogg play: Great freeware audio player for the series 60 phone. Supports several formats and skins.
6) Calcium: A nice freeware calculator which moves most of the operations to the joystick hence making it a lot faster.
7) ReadM: e-book reading software with lots of features.
8) JJLKeyLock : For some strange reason most Nokia Series 60 phones do not support auto keypad locking.
9) XXL Screen Saver : Tired of the default screen saver? Install this and get a bigger clock as the screen saver. Also supports skins.
10) Message Saver: Allows the user to save all/selected messages as notes which can be later transferred to the PC.
11) Google Maps: Now you have Google Earth on your mobile too!
12) Yahoo Go : A collection of Yahoo related stuff (messenger, mail, photos etc) right on your mobile.
13) Agile Messenger: Supports AOL, Yahoo, MSN and ICQ.
14) S60Dict: Free offline dictionary.
15) TaskSpy: More like the task manager on windows.
16)MobiPocket Reader: Read ebooks on your mobile. Lots of ebooks available in MobiPocket format.
The Quest for a perfect mobile
The quest for the perfect mobile...and so it goes...every day someone or the other enters into a crowded shop searching for the ever elusive perfect mobile. With the huge range of mobile handsets available today, almost everyone is easily overwhelmed. Choosing the right mobile is pretty much like asking the question "Will you marry me?" One wrong move and you would probably repent it for the rest of your life (or rather your mobile's life). With mobiles coming up with new features each day, anything that one buys tends to be obsolete in a short span of a few months.
This blog serves more as a guide to being happy with your own mobile and manage with the huge range of software available for your mobile.
