Create a wireless office using Windows Mobile

Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1 is available for Windows Mobile 5 touch screen devices with a build number higher than 14847 (tap Start >Settings >About to find your build number) and all Windows Mobile 6 devices (touch screen and non-touch screen). The upgrade is available for free for some users, and you can find out if you're eligible by visiting Microsoft's Web site (microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/downloads/microsoft/buy-office-mobile.mspx). Otherwise, you can purchase the upgrade at handango.com for $49.95 (search for "Microsoft Office Mobile").

As its name implies, Voice Command lets you activate and control various features on your device with spoken commands. You can not only launch any application by speaking the program's name, you can access features within the application. For example, speak the name of an album, artist, or genre to play it in Media Player Mobile. You can also say "play everything" to put your entire music collection into a playlist. If you hear an unfamiliar tune, say "what song is this?" to hear the name of the song and performing artist. You can also access your device's system tools to ask for the phone's signal strength, battery level, and time and date. Voice Command will even alert you when your phone's battery is getting low.

The software can act like a "virtual secretary" by announcing your incoming calls, e-mails, and appointment reminders. You can even set the software to read SMS messages aloud. And, the software can be configured to only speak during "free time" in your calendar, so your new assistant won't disturb you during a meeting. Voice Command supports Bluetooth headsets, allowing you to access its features while your phone or PDA is stashed away in your briefcase, pocket, or purse.

Note2Self also solves one of the biggest pet peeves I have with Windows Mobile. The built-in Notes application on touch screen devices features a voice record capability. However, recordings and regular notes are listed together, making it more difficult to find the recordings. In addition, I prefer to have the most recent recordings displayed first in the list, and it's difficult to do this. On a Windows Mobile device, you can sort a file list by Name (the default), Size, Type, and Date. But when you sort by Date, it displays the oldest files first and the most recent files at the bottom of the list. You can display the most recent files at the top of the list by selecting the Date option twice. As you can see, too many screen taps are involved in the process. Because I have Note2Self set up to send recordings to my own Inbox, the most recent recordings always appear there at the top of the list! I open the message, listen to the note, take any necessary action, and then delete the message. Very efficient!

When you run the installation program, it adds a desktop client to your PC, installs the DeskFinder application on your Windows Mobile device, and creates a "DeskFinder Service ID." The Service ID is a unique code that prevents other people from accessing the documents on your PC. For security, you can only perform a remote search of your PC from a handheld that was physically connected to your computer during installation. You can also password-protect the handheld application, which will help prevent unauthorized access to your PC if your handheld is misplaced or stolen.

The Search screen (Fig. 6) includes tabs for e-mail, instant messages, files (like Word and Excel documents), and your PC's Web page history folder. When the program returns search results, you can tap on any item to download the text or launch a URL (if the search result is a Web page). DeskFinder also includes an advanced search function that allows you to give more specific criteria to narrow the results or find a specific item.