Mobile Software

Looking to improve the functionality of your mobile phone? We've compiled the most recently released applications and program updates for smartphones to help you maximize the potential of your mobile devices.

Looking for a single program that lets you record audio, capture photos, and jot down notes?

New Titles For Android

Google Goggles (free;www.google.com) offers a new way for you to search for items by taking a photo of the object. In particular, we think Goggles is a handy tool for finding more out about a particular landmark or product, such as a book, DVD, or piece of artwork, but you can also search using logos, contact info (from a business card), or a bar code. At press time, Goggles was still in beta testing, and Google indicated the program still had trouble with pictures of plants, cars, furniture, and apparel. Looking for a single program that lets you record audio, capture photos, and jot down notes? Evernote For Android (free; www.evernote.com) from Evernote can do all of this and more. You can attach PDF, text, audio, and image files to your notes. The built-in browsing tool lets you search through your notes. You can also visit the Evernote Web site or use the desktop application and synchronize notes among all your devices. Evernote also includes built-in OCR (optical character recognition), so you can copy data from images on business cards, plane tickets, hotel invoices as well as other text in images. Yelp (free;www.yelp.com) is a popular tool for finding recommendations for nearby restaurants, shopping, entertainment, and other local favorites. Yelp uses the GPS technology within your Android phone to deliver location-aware results. You can filter the reviews for the results based on several categories: Price, Open Now, Special Offers, and Hot On Yelp. If you're a user of the Web site, you can log in to your profile through your Android phone. A recent update also enabled click-to-call and hyperlink to direction functionality to Yelp's Android application.

New Titles For BlackBerry

Version 4.0 of Mobile Checkbook ($12.95; www.mobatech.com) from Mobatech lets users mark transactions as "cleared," letting them view their current available balance; schedule recurring transactions; transfer funds between two Mobile Checkbook accounts; and choose from multiple currencies or add new types of currencies. Mobile Checkbook includes a complete record of transactions, including date, time, payee, memo, and check number, and you can email the transaction list to keep the data somewhere other than your phone. Keeping track of where you parked your car can be difficult when you're traveling, especially if you always use rental cars. With VQ CarFinder ($9.99;www.4carfinder .com) from Xpressions and VisionQuest Innovatioas, GPS-capable BlackBerry mobile phones can automatically record where you park your car. VQ CarFinder detects a Bluetooth signal in your car (either via a built-in device or the optional VQ CarFinder Bluetooth Car Charger), and when you turn off the car and the Bluetooth connection is Lost, the program stores your last known location. To find your car, just turn on the VQ CarFinder application, select Find Car, and the map will direct you. www.paypal.com) lets you manage your PayPal account, send money, and buy items without needing to visit the PayPal Web site. And every payment is confirmed with your PIN or password, so your PayPal data won't be floating around if you lose your phone. www.askagent.com) from Ask Agent asks its 350,000-plus Internet users about what they think of your online content—whether it be a blog, photo, video, or company logo. Reply Storm is perfect if you are looking for genuine, constructive feedback, because the application sends the content to a "community of interest" that shares knowledge about the type of content you submit. All personal information is kept confidential, and any submissions and replies are made anonymously. Ever need to send money to others but only have access to your BlackBerry? PayPal Mobile (free;Reply Storm ($5.99)

New Titles For Symbian

Spb Software released version 2.0 of Spb Weather ($14.95; www.spb.com), which adds the ability to view current satellite images and a finger-friendly interface to Symbian mobile phones. Spb Weather 2.0 includes a five-day weather forecast that details the conditions for morning, day, evening, and night as well as pressure, humidity, and wind. You can store up to 10 favorite cities, and Spb Weather's database offers forecasts for more than 10,000 cities worldwide. There's also a widget for your Symbian Home screen. Skype released a beta of its Skype For Symbian (free; www.skype.com) for free skype-to-skype calling and the ability to call cell and landline phones using Skype credits or a subscription. You can make a connection using Wi-Fi or your Symbian phone's 3G service, and the program supports file sending and receiving over both. If you have friends or colleagues on Skype, you can also set up group conversations or instant message each other. As of press time, only select Symbian models support the program, but more will be added with the final release.

New Titles For webOS

Workers who need constant and detailed access to stocks and financial markets will want to purchase MoreStocks ($4.99; www .morestocks.com) from More Solutions. You can watch real-time quotes from your custom stock list. And to help you track how the stocks performed recently, you can use finger gestures to flick between charts. You can also set up the program to deliver alerts to your phone as soon as a stock reaches the price you set. The New feed feature gives you an easy way to stay up-to-date on the latest financial news.  RadioTime (free;radiotime.com) can access 100,000 local radio stations over the Internet. Even better, RadioTime can access the location of your webOS phone and automatically display a list of nearby radio stations, so you won't have to look hard to find music and news with a local spin. The program's interface offers Browse Music, Browse Talk, and Browse Sports tabs as well as Browse Location and Local Radio tabs.

New Title For Multiple Platforms

HyperOffice released a private beta version of its Collaboration Suite (free 30 day-trial; www.hyperoffice.com), which lets you access business email, calendars, document sharing, databases, and other cloud computing applications for small and medium-sized businesses. Ideal for small businesses with between three and 100 workers, the users are in control of who may access the corporate resources.