Have Some Fun with Your Smartphone or Pocket PC!

No cost entertainment and games
I mentioned eBooks earlier in the article, in the context of reference material. There are a lot of novels and short stories available in various eBook formats. A list of some of the best eBook sites can be found on Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine’s Best Sites Web page (pocketpcmag.com/bestsites.asp). The Microsoft Reader Web site (microsoft.com/reader/us/shop/default.asp) has a list of commercial sites that offer eBooks in MS Reader (LIT) format. Finally, a Web search on “eBooks” will yield thousands of references.

As mentioned previously, earlier versions of the Pocket PC have Microsoft Reader built into them. If yours doesn’t, you can download it for free from Microsoft’s Web site (microsoft.com/reader/downloads/ppc.asp). In addition, Adobe offers a free PDF viewer for the Pocket PC (adobe.com/products/acrobat/readerforppc.html). Smartphone versions of these programs are not available. However, some Smartphones come with third-party PDF viewer programs.

In addition to reading eBooks, you can listen to music or watch videos on your Windows Mobile device. All Pocket PCs, Phone Edition devices, and Smartphones come with Windows Media Player Mobile built into them. This lets you play music files recorded in MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) format, and view video recorded in WMV format wherever you are. Coupled with a high-capacity CompactFlash or SD card, you can store hours of your favorite music.

The new Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PCs and Smartphones (and some Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition devices) come with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile. Through its built-in DRM (Digital Rights Management) capability, this program gives you access to audio and video content that you can purchase on the Internet. Media Player 10 also allows you to download and view video and TV you have recorded with Media Center PC. Windows Media Player is free, but most of the music is not. However, if you already have CDs, you can “rip” music from them and convert it to MP3 or WMA formats using a number of programs. For example, you can convert CDs to WMA format with the free desktop PC version of Windows Media Player 10 (microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/10/default.aspx).

There are a variety of online sources for music in electronic form. From any online search engine, look for “free music” or “free MP3.” The version of Windows Media Player built into Pocket PCs and Smartphones lets you view WMV-formatted video. If you want to view MPEGs or AVIs you’ll need another player. Fortunately, there are excellent free programs available for both Pocket PC and Smartphone. The Core Pocket Media Player (tcpmp.corecodec.org/download) is another free media player for the Pocket PC and Smartphone. It supports AVI, MPEG1, WMV, DivX, and XviD video; and MP3, WMA, and Ogg audio; and other formats.

More Tips

Protect Your Investment
Protect Your Data: Back Up and Synchronize Important Information
Stay in Touch: Connectivity and Communications
Add a Keyboard or Turn Your Device Into a GPS System, FM Radio and More
Personalize the Today/Home Screen
Organize Ideas and Information on Your Windows Mobile Device
Carry Reference Material with You
Crunching Numbers
Fine-Tune Your Windows
Have Some Fun With Your Smartphone or Pocket PC!
See all tips


Mobile device with great utility software Utilities are focused programs that add a single, important feature to the device / OS. With the exception of games, there are more utility programs available for the Pocket PC and Smartphone than any other category of software.