Last week I started a series on mobile sites that I like to visit on my iPAQ. Of course I started with Dave’s iPAQ not only because it is my favorite but because it clearly has the best interface of all the sites, especially with the new redesign.
When I purchased my first iPAQ, the sales person chatted a long time about the variety of things that I would be able to do with my new iPAQ. The ability to “surf” sites was something that intrigued me but quickly I found that too many sites were not easily formatted for the iPAQ experience.
It became clear to me that others had the same experience because I started to find sites that were formatted specifically for the handheld device. One of those sites was Pocket PC Magazine’s mobile site. It fit on the screen and had NO horizontal scrolling that needed to be used. So it became a site that I visited daily.
But visiting a site because it “fits the screen” is not the reason to do so. It has to have some “hook” to keep you coming back day after day, week after week and it does! The site opens to a very pleasing front page that has four categories to pick from.
Jim Karpen’s Web Guide
Diane Dumas’ Hot Downloads
Directory of Mobile Sites
Tip of the Week
Jim Karpen’s Web Guide
is the first in line so it is a natural to click on it first. Each week Jim updates his guide giving you items of interest like Online Guides, Freeware, Reference Libraries, Microsoft News, Giveaways, Browsers?you name it, he has done it. The quality of what Jim does is outstanding and it is something that I look forward to every week. If you want to go back in look at his past web guide columns, you can, but it has to done on the main site. It is not a feature that can be used on the mobile site but who knows, maybe they will change that…it would be an excellent feature!
Diane Dumas’ Hot Downloads
is next on the list and is another weekly feature that is done incredibly well. Each week, Diane picks a download that she feels will be of interest to her readers. There is a short synopsis of what the program is and why it will be useful to you. Each week she carefully crafts her remarks to give you the most information in a brief fashion. She continually finds quality programs for review and recommendation. The mobile site only carries the newest Top Download but if you miss the previous weeks choice, you can get it from the main site. They always leave the previous weeks choice up. It would be nice to have the same archive option that is there for Jim’s Web Guide.
The Directory of Mobile Sites
is next and is an incredible resource for the first timer (and the old timer too). There are six categories: Mobile Site General Directories, Web Search, Pocket PC/Smartphone General Interest, Pocket PC Media, Pocket PC Software/Shopping, and Freeware. Each category will bring you to a site that has been optimized for the mobile experience. There is a need to update a few of the sites but I expect they will do that soon?.
Tip of the Week
is a feature that is reason enough to visit the site. More often than not, there will be some little hint that they will pass on that will make your life just a bit easier. Tips like: Synchronizing an E-mail with an Outlook Item as Attachment, or How to Turn Off the Backlight Quickly on Your iPAQ Pocket PC are just a few of the types of tips you will get. Each tip is a quality tip and worth the weekly look to add to your repertoire. There is a Tip Archive at the top of the page on the main site if you want to go back and find an old tip.
Pocket PC Magazine’s Mobile site is an outstanding favorite of mine. I hope that you will find it as informative as I have over the past several years. Jim, Diane, and the staff at Pocket PC Magazine, THANK YOU for providing us with content that is current, and interesting to all of the Pocket PC community. A job well done!!