Applications for smartphones
Written by Stephen Pritchard
Take the office on the road – and extend the usefulness of your smartphone – with our selection of business and travel applications for the BlackBerry, iPhone and other devices.
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It’s not that long ago since only the most dedicated smartphone user would buy a third-party software application for their handset. The challenge of finding appropriate, reliable, and trusted applications, clumsy interfaces, and obscure payment mechanisms meant that most smartphone users accepted what their phone maker or mobile network provided. If they wanted anything more, they would turn to a PC instead. Arguably this changed with the arrival of Apple’s iPhone, and with it, its Application Store. Business Apps
Business Card Reader for iPhone Shape Services’ business card reader application takes advantage of the higher-resolution camera in the iPhone 3Gs. The application is simplicity itself: take a picture of a contact’s business card, and the software uses text recognition to turn that into a compatible entry in the iPhone’s contacts book.The software currently supports English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish text. Users can also connect to the business networking site, LinkedIn, from within the application. The company that developed the text recognition engine used by Business Card Reader, Abbyy, also produces an application for smartphones running the Symbian S60 operating system, including many Nokia handsets. 
Voice on the Go Voice on the Go is more of a service than an application. It allows smartphone users to listen to their emails or text messages (SMS), as well as to compose messages using voice recognition software. Designed first and foremost for anyone who needs to send or receive texts or emails whilst driving, Voice on the Go takes the idea of voice dialling – already a feature on BlackBerry smartphones – a step further. The software also supports voice access to the smartphone’s calendars and contacts, and works with social networking applications including Facebook and Twitter. 
WiFicafespots Data roaming charges can really add up for business travellers, and even the best 3G mobile networks are still slower than a wireless LAN or Wi-Fi connection. WiFicafespots is not the most visually exciting application, but its strength comes from its list of free Wi-Fi hotspots in Europe, North America, and Australia. The service currently has 14,000 venues listed, offering free Wi-Fi, including restaurants, cafйs, and other venues. A neat trick is the way the software uses the BlackBerry’s in-built GPS navigation to show the way to the nearest hotspot. 
TomTom for iPhone Navigation software is among the most popular, and hotly contested, applications area for smartphones. Rather like the built-in browser, navigation applications are very much a matter of personal taste. Smartphones with a GPS satellite receiver will come with a built-in navigation application but these can verge on the basic. This might well be enough for occasional users, but for anyone who travels a lot, there is much to be said for having a top-quality navigation application to hand. TomTom’s iPhone software offers turn-by-turn navigation and the familiar TomTom interface. There is also the option to add a car kit that uses TomTom’s own, more powerful GPS receiver rather than the iPhone’s internal module; this provides more accurate navigation in built-up areas. The car kit and the application together cost more than a standalone TomTom in-car unit, but few other applications come close in sheer, real-world usability. TomTom also has software kits for Windows Mobile and Nokia smartphones, with maps for Europe and North America. 
Bloomberg Bloomberg’s mobile app does a very credible job of squeezing the interface from its trademark desktop terminals onto a small screen. The Bloomberg screen tracks stocks, leading indices, and currencies – these options can be customised – as well as news headlines. Click any letter on a BlackBerry keypad and Bloomberg immediately brings up its alphabetical list of stock tickers, or click on a heading or stock to drill down for more data. 
Opera Mini The iPhone arguably has the best mobile browser, but the mobile version of Opera – Opera Mini – comes close. Many smartphone users prefer it to the web browsers that come as standard with their handsets, because of its speed, interface, and excellent compatibility with non-mobile websites. According to GetJar, the independent mobile applications store, 25.3 million people downloaded Opera Mini in October. 
Cortado Premium Services Cortado offers something that you probably don’t think you need, but is hard to live without once you’ve tried it. The software allows smartphone users to print directly from their devices, either using a Bluetooth radio or infra-red connection. As long as the printer has Bluetooth built in, or is connected to a Bluetooth printer adapter, the process is quick and simple. Cortado Premium Services is the online version of the company’s software, hosted on its services; it also supports sending and receiving faxes from the handheld device, with inbound faxes delivered as an email. The Cortado Corporate Server – which businesses install on their own computers – adds document creation using the PDF format, the ability to manage files and query company databases, and scanning, copying, and presenting via the smartphone. 
FlightTrack FlightTrack is one of those simple applications that does what the name suggests. Aimed squarely at the frequent traveller – or his or her friends, family or colleagues – FlightTrack tracks journeys by flight number, giving scheduled and estimated arrival times, details of any delays, and details for the terminal. Information is updated over the mobile or Wi-Fi connections in near real time, and FlightTrack shows the flight’s position on an on-screen map. |
Apps storesApple’s Application Store for the iPhone changed the way smartphone users bought and installed new software. By doing away with the need to find an application online – or order it on a CD – and then connect the smartphone to a PC to install the software, it turned a niche activity best left to IT departments into a mass market.
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