Gaurav Gupta's Blog

All new high-end Nokia mobile phones are driven with a pretty powerful operating system, the Symbian OS. Not many of us know (or care) that it is possible to install a whole bunch of applications and games to add some cool new functionality to your phone, making your phone the ultimate device you would ever need to carry, and not just an instrument to stay in touch. We review some of the best applications and games we found.

(Most of these applications are compatible with Symbian OS versions 7, 8 and 8.1, which are the most commonly found Symbian OS versions in Nokia mobile phones. To know your phone’s exact Symbian version, refer to the Nokia website.)

1. QuickOffice Premiere – The ultimate office suite for mobile phones. QuickOffice comprises of QuickWord (a complete text editor with rich text formatting), QuickSheet (to view and edit your spreadsheet documents) and QuickPoint (to view and edit your presentations). The free version of QuickOffice allows viewing documents without the capability to edit them.

2. Easy Edit – Did you ever feel the need of a simple text-editor in your phone? Perhaps so that you can take in quick notes, compose text while you are on the move, and later transfer it to your computer as a simple text file? Easy Edit provides all the features of a full featured text editor, including opening and saving files, cut/copy/paste and much of everything you would expect from your computer based text editor.

3. Advanced Call Manager – The complete call management system for your mobile. You can use this application to automatically respond to your callers in moments when you can’t handle calls yourself. Available options include sending a busy tone, auto-reply by SMS, Automatic call divert and an inbuilt answering machine (this is different from voice-mail, as messages are recorded in your phone’s memory). A definite must have application.

4. SMS Timer – SMS Timer makes it possible for you to schedule your SMS to be sent automatically from your phone, at a predefined date and time. You can use this to say, automatically schedule birthday greetings. Just key in your recipient’s birthday, the message you want to send and your phone takes care of the rest. Your message is delivered at just the right time! No more forgetting!

5. MSearch – Most Nokia mobiles allow searching your contacts list only by your contact’s first and last name. What if you wanted to search for the number of your friend, whom you know works at XYZ Corporation, but somehow can’t seem to remember his name? Moreover, MSearch also allows you to search within the text of SMS messages stored in your phone.

6. Alarm Manager – Nokia phones require you to set your phone’s alarm clock everytime you want it to ring. This can be tedious and probably risky, assuming that you may forget to set your alarm and end up missing important events in your schedule. Alarm Manager allows you to set multiple alarms and daily alarms so that you never need to worry about setting your alarm before you retire at night.

7. IM+ – One of the most popular applications to connect to instant messengers like Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, AOL Messenger, ICQ etc. right from your mobile phone! Stay in touch, even on the move. All you need is a GPRS subscription.

8. News Reader – A mobile based RSS feed aggregator. Use it to read your news feeds or keep yourself updated with the latest cricket scores.

9. Smart Movie Converter – Did you know, it is possible to watch full length movies on your mobile phone? All you need is a software called “Smart Movie Converter”. The software can be installed on your computer and acts as a converter to reduce the resolution of your movie to match your mobile phone’s, which can then be played on your phone with the Smart Movie player application installed on your phone.

10. Calcium (Freeware) – You’ll fall in love with this. A simple calculator that proves how fast and easy calculations can be, as compared to the standard calculator provided in your Nokia phone.

11. FExplorer – A must have file browser for your mobile phone. Use it to browse your phone’s memory, your memory card and perform advanced performance tweaks, which are impossible with the standard file browser available in your phone.

12. SciCalc – A scientific calculator for your phone. Use it to perform all scientific operations like logarithms, exponential operations and everything else a mathematician spends his life in.

13. MSDict – Imagine, having an entire dictionary accessible to you, anytime, anywhere, at just the click of a button. MSDict is one of those “must have” apps on your phone. The dictionary allows you to search for the meaning of any word. The dictionary is based on the Pocket Oxford English Dictionary.

14. Power MP3 – An MP3 player for your Symbian based phone. Provides easy controls to pause / fast forward / rewind tracks, an enhanced playing list management tab and an equalizer. Certainly much easier and powerful than the standard MP3 player supplied by Nokia.

15. GeoMinder – GeoMinder tracks your location the same way as your cellphone displays the name of the area you are in. With GeoMinder, you can set location specific alerts. Like, you can ask your phone to remind you to check your e-mails when you reach office. Certainly better than setting time-based reminders.

16. Advanced Device Locks – Do you feel scared that people might access confidential information stored on your phone when you lend your phone to them? Advanced Device Locks allows you to set application specific locks on your phone. The phone will ask for a password if the user tries to say, open your inbox. Another must have application.

17. Guardian (Free version) – Locks your phone to the SIM card you authorize it for. If any other SIM is inserted, the device will automatically send an SMS to a predefined number, indicating the current SIM’s number and location. Very handy in case of a theft.

18. Profile Switcher – This useful application allows you to automatically switch profiles in your Nokia phone. Say, you could use it to automatically turn your mobile to silent mode at 10PM every night, or switch to a loud ringing tone at 6PM when you are usually outdoors for your evening jog.

19. Google Applications (Freeware) – Google Maps for Mobile allow you to access satellite imagery of Earth right from your phone! (Yes, it’s possible). GMail’s mobile based client allows fast and convenient access of your GMail account from your mobile. Further, you can perform everything you would normally do from GMail’s web-interface, and all your data would remain in sync.

20. Others – Yahoo Go! allows access of many Yahoo! services from your mobile. Opera is one sweet mobile based web-browser. In gaming, it’s worth checking out titles like Collapse, Frozen Bubble, Worms, Mau Mau, Moto Racer, Super Miners, K-Rally, Raging Thunder (a must have), Sky Force and a few emulators like vNes, vSun and vBoy.

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