I’m the proud owner of a Samsung i-637 Jack, which has Windows Mobile as it’s OS. Opera Mobile is available for a variety of phones and thankfully, Windows Mobile is supported. I’m not a big fan of the default browser on my Samsung (Internet Explorer) for a number of reasons. For one, it’s ridiculously slow. In terms of functionality, there’s just not much there. Besides the bare bones like bookmarks, history, zooming, and typing, Internet Explorer lacks everything else. I then upgraded to the Skyfire Mobile Browser, which was a bit of an improvement, but I wasn’t impressed. That’s when I turned to Opera. I used Opera Mini on my previous phone, a Palm. The current version of the Opera Mobile browser surpasses IE mobile, Skyfire, and Opera Mini in terms of the skin and functionality. Gotta love a problem with great graphics right?

1. Speed Dial: If you’ve had any experience with the Opera browser or Google Chromium, you’ll know about Speed Dial. It’s pretty much a page with a graphic of some kind (usually a logo) and a link. That way, you don’t need to access your bookmarks or type in the URL manually. Speed Dial is a nice feature to have, especially on a mobile device where you’re probably just accessing a few sites many times over and over.
2. Quick Search: Most browsers nowadays have quick search bars linked to many search engines. Opera has a quick search bar right next to the address bar, allowing users to search Google quickly and efficiently.
3. Zoom Capabilities: On phones that don’t have a lot of screen real estate, the zoom feature is a must. If you’re not visiting a mobile website, the page will shrink to fit your screen, rendering text unreadable. Zooming in is the only way to solve the problem.
4. Easy Menu Navigation: When you’re just browsing, the menu will be hidden, but one press from a softkey will bring up options to go back to the Speed Dial, to bring up favorites and bookmarks, access history and saved pages, change your settings, find text on a page, and get help with operating Opera Mobile.

A look at Opera Mobile

It’s my browser of choice! Opera Mobile 10. Forget Internet Explorer and it’s limited functionality. I use Opera Mobile for all my Google searches and to access Foursquare!

Let me just tell you a few things. Their UI is very intuitive and perfect for those looking for information. For example, when you look up a city in Bing, you’ll be automatically linked to a Wikipedia article for the given city and popular categories associated with the it. You can even open up multiple map apps and have them on top of each other, although the more you have open, the harder it is to process all that wonderful information! Lookie here at a few highlights of the coolest map apps:

1. Local Events: Once you turn on the local events web app, you’ll be able to view events that are happening near you. Numbered pinpoints will appear as an overlay on the map as the events appear. A description is provided, with a location, date, and time of the event. Bing also gives you options to share or save the event. Clicking on the title gives you all the pertinent details about the event: points of contact and summary included.
2. Twitter Maps: If you haven’t already noticed, Twitter instituted the ability to provide locations alongside tweets. Bing takes advantage of this and shows recent Twitter updates on the map, marked again with pinpoints.
3. Photosynth: Have you ever experienced Photosynth by Microsoft? If you haven’t, it’s a tool that you must check out. Photosynth pretty much takes user photos and creates a 3D map that you can move around in and view from different angles.
4. Foursquare: How about a Foursquare map that shows check-ins with pinpoints at the locations and a blurb if they left a to-do, tip, or a shout. Pretty neat overlay for getting some opinions on places to go.
5. Gas Prices: Need to fill up on the good old gasoline? Then you better check out this  application. All information is routed from OPIS. Compare prices by location and find your way there. It’s easy! Pinpoints point to location, as with all apps.
6. Parking Finder: If you’re headed to a crowded and busy area, you’ll need some help finding a nearby parking garage. Find numbers, find locations, and calculate rates to save! A must have for finding parking.
7. Businesses By Category: Much like Google’s searching capabilities, here is Bing’s version of venue location. Search by popular categories and find places of interest. Food, coffee and tea, restaurants, arts and entertainment. Your complete guide to reviews and ratings for places to visit.

Seven is a luck number, so we’ll stop here with the highlights. Just to give you a heads up, there are a few cool applications like Current Traffic, What’s Nearby, Restaurant Finder, and Hotel Finder. Just take your pick and enjoy the application features on Bing. I sure have! I’ll be using this great tool all summer long to find places to go and things to do in my hometown of San Francisco!

• View your mobile screen on your desktop.
• Control your mobile using your keyboard and mouse.
• Copy/cut/paste text between your mobile and desktop.
• Capture your mobile screen and export to video, jpg, or copy to your clipboard.
• Browse your files and connect via Activesync or use an IP connection.

It’s simple to use and works pretty well. So far, I’ve used it to take screenshots on my Samsung i637 Jack, record video, and browse files. It works like a charm. At first I couldn’t get the hang of making calls with the computer, but then I figured it out. Connecting is a piece of cake and operating the cell phone with my computer keyboard and mouse is simple. MyMobiler also has several functions and keyboard shortcuts. It gives you the ability to zoom in or out to look at your cell phone screen, press your mobile function keys (i.e volume, softkeys, talk, end, etc.), make a key sound when typing, and rotate your mobile screen.

MyMobiler on Samsung i637

Not too much else to say about MyMobiler. It just WORKS! Whether you need to take screenshots or record video of your cell phone screen, MyMobiler is the tool to get. Install it on your computer and your mobile smartphone and tap away. I love being able to make phone calls using my computer. When I connect my Samsung to my computer to charge, I can make phone calls and even put it on speakerphone without having to touch my cell phone.

Two other features worth mentioning: the file browser and typing with the keyboard. If your smartphone comes with Microsoft Word or OneNote mobile installed, you can open it up using your computer and type directly into the phone and even save the copies. That means you can bypass the file transfer to the phone and type directly into it. How cool is that?

You can download MyMobiler here. For the Samsung i637 version I’m using, click here to download the installer.

 Download MyMobiler

1. Power: This is a neat feature to have. You can essentially turn your phone off without powering down your device. The phone will be disconnected, wifi turned off, and bluetooth turned off, but you still have access to contacts and vital information. This is also known as the “airplane mode”. It’s useful for the long plane rides or even times when you just don’t want to be disturbed, even by the vibrating phone.
2. Task Manager: Gotta love this feature. If you’ve ever used a Windows OS before, then you’ll know what the Task Manager is all about. When things go awry or you have a runaway program, just close it from the Task Manager.
3. Wifi: As with most phones that have wifi built in, you have the option of turning it on or off. With Windows Mobile, you can customize logins and connect to pretty much any network that is within range. Turning wifi on will run your battery dry, but it also means that you don’t need to tap into your phone’s data plan if you have access to an access point. If you turn on wifi and you’re near an AT&T wifi spot, you’ll automagically connect without login because your phone is AT&T! Perfect for Starbucks.
4. Bluetooth: Bluetooth capabilities is a must. If you don’t like to be corded to your computer, you can transfer files back and forth via bluetooth. I use it mainly for documents and pictures. Instead of taking out the storage card or connecting to the computer via USB, I just receive and transer files via bluetooth. It’s convenient and pretty fast. You also have to option of turning this off to preserve your precious batteries.
5. Home Screen: The default home screen for the i637 is intuitive and flexible. You can customize it however you want, but I love that you can access all the important information on the phone with just a few clicks. The time, missed calls, contacts, text messages, emails from all accounts configured, calendar and appointments, media player, and even simple settings.
6. ActiveSync: This bit of software essentially connects to your computer or server and synchronizes your important information like contacts, calendar events, emails, and tasks. With a data plan, you don’t even need to connect to your computer. With Windows Mobile, you can easily transfer and copy files to your computer’s Window OS. Cool beans! I currently sync using Google sync.
7. Windows Marketplace: It’s kind of like the Apps store on an iPhone or iPod Touch. Developed Windows Mobile applications that are available for your phone are displayed. You can download them via the marketplace and then use them on your phone. One downside is that there aren’t that many apps available. These applications can be free, but more often than not, they are quite pricey for some of the highly functional applications.

Since I have a paid unlimited data plan with AT&T, I try out as many apps as I possibly can. Here are a couple that I really like and recommend:

Microsoft My Phone: Brought to you by Microsoft, Myphone allows you to synchronize almost everything with you Windows Live account. It’s a simple download and registration process. Then you’ll be able to read all your texts and emails, access pictures, find contacts, view the calendar, view favorites and documents that are on your phone all from your computer. It’ll sync automatically too, so you don’t have to worry about actually running the program. Perfect for backing up your phone.

Perhaps the most exciting features are the premium features. These are only to be activated for a short duration and in case of emergency: when you lose your phone. With these premium features, which last 7 days, you can ring your phone loudly for 60 seconds, locate your phone on a map so you can find it, lock your phone to prevent unauthorized access, and erase your phone, including the contents of your storage card. Do you see how that is ascending in order? Looks like the premium features will cost you $4.99 but you get a free trial, so I suggest you not using it until you need it.

Evernote: If you’re familiar with any Evernote program, then you know what it’s all about. Essentially you take notes and it synchronizes to a server. You’ll be able to view it online, from the Evernote desktop program, or from your mobile device. With the phone, you can take a text note, a snapshot, an audio note, or upload a file. Pretty useful if you’re on the run but need to remember something.Google Maps: We should all be familiar with this by now. It’s Google Maps for Windows Mobile! Whether you need directions, trying to locate yourself on the map, or searching for a venue, Google Maps is your go to application. When you’re searching for venues, you’ll be able to see contact information, store information, menus, and reviews. Using your phone’s GPS, Google Maps fixed your position and overlays your movements on the map in real time. It’s easy, intuitive and just works! A must-have application for times when you’re on the go.MyMobiler: We’ll do a whole post on this neat little application, but for now, all you need to know is that it enables you to control your phone via your computer. Everything from calling contacts to composing and sending out emails. Keep your eyes peeled for a follow-up post regarding MyMobiler!

Opera Mobile: Same goes with the Opera Mobile browser! It’s a fine piece of software and it is capable of more than I can write about in this blog post. I’ll follow up with an Opera browser and Opera Mobile post. Opera is currently my mobile browser of choice instead of the packaged Internet Explorer that comes with my Samsung.Have a cool Windows Mobile application to share? Leave it in the comments below!

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I’m not going to talk about the specifics, but you can consult the image above for some more facts regarding the benefits you receive. Let’s instead look at two iPhone and iPod apps that you can download that’ll augment your Starbucks enjoyment and visit. You can do a lot with your mobile phone and internet enabled devices. Here are two things that you can do with your mobile and have some Starbuck’s fun:

Starbucks: The official Starbucks coffee application for the iPhone and iPod touch. It’s everything that you need to know about Starbucks. Absolutely everything minus the products that they sell. Let’s break it down. With the Starbucks application, you can find the location of a Starbucks around you and view the services provided. See which locations have free wifi connections and which ones have drive-thrus. You’ll even be able to check if the branch is still open at the time you’re searching this up. Get directions to the coffee shop, invite a friend to come with you, share your location on your social networks, and add it to “myStarbucks”, which are you favorite stores. Searching for a Starbucks location that fits your needs has never been easier. You can filter the locations by amenity, which can come in very useful, especially if you want to take advantage of the “Mobile Payment” option that we’ll talk about later.

Under the drinks tab, you can have a look at their menu, discover new drinks, and create your own from scratch. Save your created drinks to “myStarbucks” and even share them with friends. Everything is customizable and all you have to do is take your custom drink over to the Starbuck’s you’re visiting. Under the coffees tab, browse all the different coffees, their descriptions, photos, and similar coffees. Don’t forget you can add your favorites to “myStarbucks”. You can even use the “explore” mode and pick a characteristic from a list that you want in your coffee and the application will find one for you! It’s a coffee chooser!

The food tab is pretty versatile. You can search for food by filtering by calories or filtering by the lack of a certain ingredient. It’s pretty self-explanatory once you start using it. In the food tab, you can view pictures, view nutrition information, view allergens, get drink pairings, and add to “myStarbucks”.

Starbuck’s Mobile Card: Have a Starbucks card that you’ve registered online? Or maybe you have a couple? If you have one buck haven’t registered it, go register it for some free goodies. With the Starbuck’s Mobile Card application, you can enter the information from your card into the application and check your balance from the app. You can even reload your card, set up auto-reload, and view your recent transactions. Also, after you’ve registered your card, you can track the number of stars you’ve earned and what level you’re on.

Then there’s a cool feature called Payment Trial, where you can pay for Starbucks locations in Target Stores just by using your iPhone and iPod touch. You don’t even have to take your card out. Your iPhone and iPod will generate a code that can be scanned for charging your account. Neat feature!

Keepass also has a lite version for windows mobile phones which essentially does the exact same thing. You can even install it onto a USB flash drive and use it on any computer. Currently, I have the program and database of passwords on my computer. The database is protected by a password and a master key file which I store on my USB. Without the USB and the correct key file, there is no way to open up the database and retrieve the passwords. Adding new password entries is pretty simple. After entering some basic information and saving the database, you’re good to go.

There are a few features of Keepass that I’m really fond of.

1. The first one is the ability to lock the workspace. With the program open and using Ctrl+L on the pc, the database is locked. All you can do from a locked workspace is close the program or minimize it to the tray. To enter the database again, you’ll need your password and master key.
2. Another cool feature I like is the ability to synchronize password databases. With the database open, you choose synchronize from the menu and choose a target database to save to. Useful! I synchronize the database from my desktop to the one on my USB using this method. That way it is always backed up.
3. The last feature that I really find useful is the ability to auto-fill usernames and passwords. Once you visit a webpage where you have a password saved in a database, Keepass will detect the form and with only a few key presses, automatically fill the fields in and press enter for you.

What a great little program! It’s powerful, easy to use, and a necessary tool in a developer or any power user’s arsenal.

Click here for Keepass password manager download, screenshots, and help.

http://www.youtube.com/user/googlechrome

Google didn’t lie about the speed. The program itself loads really quickly and pages load miraculously fast. Even with all the tweaks I made to Firefox, Google flat out beats Firefox. That’s why I’ve uninstalled Mozilla Firefox and all my browsing needs have been replaced by Google Chrome. Chrome is an awesome browser. I’ve been using it for a long time now and always the developer’s version. I mainly went with the developer’s version because the extensions were being tested. I’m currently using 5.0.396.0 beta. Part of what makes Google great is the simplicity and the various extensions available for mainstream consumption. The only drawback of Chrome, that I feel, is the consumption of resources. Each open tab is a new process and each installed extension is also a new process. Sometimes Chrome will crash and it doesn’t play too nicely with flash if you have a lot of extensions or tabs open.

Enough said about how much I live for Google products and Google Chrome. Let’s have a look at a couple of extensions that I’ve either installed and uninstalled or still have installed. Let me give you the low down:

1 . Alwitt’s Facebook Enhancer: If you use Facebook, you need this extension. The design might be a little bit lacking, but everything else is sound. Some main features:

- fixed top menu bar that stays fixed even when scrolling
- fixed left filter bar
- bigger profile pictures that pop up a full sized image on hover
- pop up bigger image on mouseover
- highlights today’s birthdays
- bottom menu bar is slightly transparent

  Find the chrome extension here and their Facebook page here.

2 . Delicious Tools: Use delicious to share and manage links? You might find this extension useful. Features:

- ability to save bookmarks
- view your delicious bookmarks and inbox
- customizable keyboard shortcuts

Find the chrome extension here.

3 . Gmail checker:* An effective and efficient Gmail notification tool that sits on the browser toolbar and notifies you of new arriving mail. Features:

- number of unread mail is displayed prominently
- link for Gmail inbox (keeps you signed in)
- shows sender, subject, time, and snippet of your emails
- ability to delete, archive, or mark as read from extension

4 . Google voice: An extension made by Google that allows Google voice users to make calls, listen to voicemail, and get notified. Features:

- make calls, send SMS, preview voicemail and inbox
- turns numbers on websites into callable numbers

Find the chrome extension here.

5 . Stickr: Getting involved with Stickr? Make sure you install the Stickr extension before you start looking at and posting Stickrs.
6 . Stumbleupon: I use Stumbleupon to discover tons of interesting, new, and unique sites. All of this in a social setting, of course. Features:

- stumble from the toolbar with topic filters included
- rate sites up or down and comment on them
- share through other social networks
- access your own favorites

Find the chrome extension here.

7 . Web Developer: If you’re a web developer, then this extension will be invaluable. It’s an official port of the web developer extension from Firefox.

Find the chrome extension here.

8 . Cooliris:** Turns your browser into a 3D wall for viewing images, the web, and almost anything imaginable. Features:

- 3D browsing and mouse flick controls
- search from popular image search engines and YouTube
- comes with video viewing from popular sites including Hulu

Find the chrome extension here and website here.

9 . Turn off the lights:*** Fades the entire page except for the video you’re watching. If you’ve ever used the "dim lights" function on Hulu or in the Divx player, it’s the exact same thing. Simple and functional.
Find the chrome extension here.

10 . Session manager:**** Manage your current browser tabs and reload it whenever you need it. Features:

- create startup pages for daily routines
- group and rename tabs to start up later
- save pages you’ll come back to when researching or shopping.

Find the chrome extension here.

11 . Speed dial: Replace the Chrome new tabs and start tab with a customized version. Features:

- customizable background and speed dials
- fully editable titles and URL

Find the chrome extension here.

The starred extensions have special notes. I’ve listed the reasons below.

*Gmail Checker: I can’t seem to find the download page for this extension anymore. Instead, it looks like it may have been replaced by newer, yet not as functional version.

**Cooliris: Perhaps it wasn’t perfected yet, but the Cooliris extension was a little buddy in my Chrome and would crash all the tabs I had open.

***Turn off the lights: It’s a neat little extension, but I didn’t find too much use for it besides the occasional YouTube video.

****Session Manager: I used this extension for a long while, but then I discovered that it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. I don’t really need a session manager because I don’t save pages for long. I really used it more for start pages and Speed Dial has taken its spot.

Hope you find these useful and if you any extensions that you’re really fond of, make sure to leave a comment. Cheers and happy chroming!

The good fun in using stickrs is the ability to share what you find online with other users. Users can also comment on other user’s stickrs and even rate them. It’s a truly social experience of link sharing with an element of Twitter attached. I love what they’ve done aesthetically with their site logo and their widgets. The only problem I have with their site is their translations. They need a little bit of help with the English translations since they’re generally lacking. It makes navigation and understanding a little bit of a hassle. Other than that, everything works well and it’s really fun to use and share. If the word about stickr got out, it might become an instant hit.

It’s a free service and it’s great for leaving notes and commenting on the web. This platform looks like it might open a wide realm of possibilities, since they’ve already got Twitter, Google, and Facebook interconnectivity all figured out. I wonder what the next step of the stickr development team will be. One obstacle that may get in the way seems to be spamming and overuse of these stickrs. On most of the sites that I’ve been to, there are either no stickrs, just one or two stickrs, or a whole mess of stickrs (an example is Google.com). What is in place to prevent spamming and the overflow of stickrs? Having so many overlapping stickrs displayed on top of each other is hard to read, but luckily they’ve made a widget that can display all the stickrs of a page on a sidebar. Unfortunately, if the page doesn’t have the widget installed, there’s not much to be done.
Using stickr is easy and intuitive. While there are still improvements to be made as with most products, they’ve really delved into something new. Ready to get started? Just follow these steps and you’ll be on your way:

1. Go to stickr.com and sign up for their services.
2. Set up your profile and customize your settings.
3. Install the plugin for your browser to view stickrs.
4. Start putting your stickrs on the web and sharing with the community.

If you take a look at the right hand side you’ll se my stickr widget for this site. If you don’t see it, you might have to refresh the page until you see the I <3 Stickr widget floating on the right hand side. Have a look at it just for kicks. I’ve made a stickr for my blog. Get on your way to looking at the web in a whole new way.

1 . Twistori: Have a look at some tags based off of Twitter.

2 . Music Visualization: Awesome artist linking.

3 . Infographic on Infographics: The title says it all: it’s an infographic on the data visualizations on the web.

4 . Life vs. Death: In the major struggles and battles of wars, this is a representation of those who lived vs. those who died.

5 . Opinion Space 2.0: Designed to let citizens express their opinions. Opinions show up as dots on a map.

6 . Risks Interconnection Map (RIM) 2010: A network diagram that shows all global risks and their connections.

7 . Flight Patterns in USA: Air traffic over North America.

8 . Britain from Above: A look at Britain from above using GPS and satellites.

9 . Walmart and Sam’s Club: An animation of the growth of Walmart and Sam’s club (it’s exponential growth!)

10 . So You Need A Typeface: A neat flowchart that helps you choose a font to use.

11 . 100 Pixar Characters: 100 Pixar animation characters drawn to scale.

I currently subscribe to Netflix for all my video viewing pleasures and I use Hulu and the CBS website incessantly. I actually check Hulu several times a day, hoping that they’ll have new episodes of my favorite TV shows up and running. With a combination of these three websites, I can keep myself entertained and keep up with the plot lines of my favs.

Rentals cost anywhere from $0.99 to $3.99 and the periods of rental vary from 24 hours to 72 hours. Even after a couple of months, the YouTube store doesn’t have too much to offer. They do have some popular options now, but not many. The store doesn’t compare to anything that Netflix, Amazon, or iTunes currently carries. Ah, alas the YouTube store only allows for rentals and not purchases like Amazon or iTunes.

You’ll be paying through Google Checkout. I haven’t actually tried the store out, so I don’t know about the video or audio quality. If any of you have tried it, let me know how it is. I would think that the quality is at the least, tolerable. The store has a clean layout, too. I’m just concerned about their competitive edge, with such a limited selection. No doubt they’ll be expanding ,but are you willing to pay higher prices for just a rental? I’m gonna stick with Netflix, Hulu, and CBS for now. Don’t forget to check out the store.