Holiday shopping made easy with Windows Mobile |
| | The holiday shopping season is gearing up, and you know what that means: buying presents for family and friends. It’s not always easy to manage the process, though, because there are so many little details to keep track of. |
| | In this article I’m going to show you a couple of different ways to use your Windows Mobile phone to approach the problem, and you can pick the method that works best for you. |
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For the organized-in-advance types | You know who you are: You’re the type of person who thinks ahead and is a planner. You have the personality type that’s usually organized and is great at keeping records—you probably have a label maker that you use frequently. I know I do! So for those of us who typically take an organized approach to holiday shopping, let’s look at how a Windows Mobile phone can help make this process even easier.
The first thing us organized types like to do is make lists. And one of the easiest ways to make a list is by using an Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet. If your Windows Mobile phone comes with Microsoft Office Mobile (odds are good that it does), you can use Excel Mobile to create a simple spreadsheet to keep track of who wants what gift, where you can find it, and how much it costs. Then, when you’re out and about, you can open up this spreadsheet on your phone and mark off which gifts have been purchased. Or if you want to keep things really simple, you can use the Notes application directly on your phone and simply keep a list of who wants what.
What if you want to take it a step further? One of the best things about Windows Mobile is the fact that there are talented developers who make software for these wonderful devices—and, you guessed it, some of those applications are ideal for holiday shopping. One such application is SplashShopper ($29.95 USD). Available for both touch screen and non-touch screen phones, it’s made by SplashData and is a list-based application that allows you to easily keep track of shopping lists. SplashShopper lets you create an unlimited number of customizable shopping lists. You can track prices and product locations and even synchronize your lists with your PC. Hosting a big meal this holiday season? Put your shopping list on your phone and you won’t have to worry about losing it or forgetting it at home. |
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 SplashShopper grocery list on a touch screen phone. |  SplashShopper grocery list on a non-touch screen phone. |
Another application to check out is called ListPro, made by a company called Ilium Software. ListPro, which works on both touch screen and non-touch screen devices, is the perfect tool for creating holiday shopping lists because it allows you to customize the lists exactly the way you want. |
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 ListPro gift list, showing item, who it is for, and where it is available. |
In the image above, for instance, you can see that I created a list that shows what the gift is, who it’s for, where the person said I could find the gift, and how many of the gifts I need to purchase. There’s also a notes field you can’t see that I can use to record details about the gift, like the size or color the recipient wants. After the gift has been purchased, a simple tap on the check box (the left-most column) marks the gift as purchased. Nice and easy! ListPro is available for $19.95 USD, and ListPro Professional ($29.95 USD) allows you to use the desktop version as well as the device version, which makes data entry much easier if you do it on your desktop computer. There’s a 30-day free trial (available for both touch screen and non-touch screen phones) if you want to take it for a spin.
Another way of staying ahead of the game when it comes to holiday shopping is buying things when you think of them—and that means being able to do it wherever you are. If you have some down time, open up Internet Explorer Mobile on your Windows Mobile phone, and point it at www.amazon.com.
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 Amazon.com for mobile phones. |
Amazon has built a mobile version of their web site, and it works very well—you can search for products, add them to your shopping cart, and complete the purchase—all securely on your phone. Now that’s easy!
If you have Windows Mobile 6.1 on your mobile phone, you also have the new Internet Explorer 6 Mobile web browser. This new browser makes it easier to access the same versions of web sites that you use on your desktop or laptop PC. Because of the screen size on your phone, it’s not quite as simple as using a desktop browser, but it can be useful in a pinch.
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For the last-minute types | You’re not the type of person who makes lists and plans everything in advance? That’s just fine—your Windows Mobile phone can make your on-the-go approach work even better for you. Let’s say you’re out shopping and you’re not sure where the nearest store is to get what you’re looking for. Then you need a location-based tool, something to help you find what you need. You can download and install the free Windows Live Search application (go to http://wls.live.com on your phone’s browser to get it) and it will help you find the stores and shopping malls you want. |
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 Windows Live Search results for “Department Stores”. |
If your smartphone has a GPS, Windows Live Search can help you find stores near where you are, and give you directions on how to get there. Even without a GPS though, the software is useful for finding phone numbers and figuring out the locations of the stores you need to find. And we all know it’s a good idea to phone a store to make sure they have that product in stock before you drive there—there’s nothing worse than making the trek to a store only to find that they’re out of stock! |
| If you’re unsure of exactly what you’re shopping for, a few features in Windows Mobile make communicating with friends and family easy: |
| The new threaded text messaging (SMS) in Windows Mobile 6.1 makes carrying on a conversation really simple—you can see the message you sent, the response, and quickly type your response back. It makes text messaging similar to an instant messaging conversation, which allows for a much faster flow of information back and forth. Your Windows Mobile phone probably has a camera—not sure if that pair of pants you’re about to buy is the right color? Snap a picture and send it off in e-mail before making the purchase. Another way to use text messaging to assist with shopping is to use services such as Amazon’s TextBuyIt or NearbyNow. Both services allow you to use SMS messages to get prices of products, and in the case of TextBuyIt, when you get to the purchasing stage you’ll receive a phone call to confirm the purchase details. NearbyNow, on the other hand, will tell you which stores in the mall where you’re shopping carry the product, and even notify you if there’s mobile coupon available.
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| Windows Mobile phones are great communication devices. And through the power of great software, both on the device itself and from third-party developers, they become even more useful in day-to-day life. Holiday shopping can be a bit stressful, but by leveraging your Windows Mobile phone to the fullest, you can make your shopping experience this year better than last year. |
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