Java Mobile Phone Applications

Recently we’ve been taking a look at mobile phone applications for the various smartphone platforms available, some of them the more popular applications, some of them our personal favourites, and some you may not have come across before. But these days its not just handsets that can be classed as ‘SmartPhones’ that can have applications installed to them. Most people I’m sure are aware that they can add games to their mobile phone. In these same handsets you can also add applications. So, to round off our look at the cream of mobile phone applications, here are five apps that can go on almost any phone that supports Java 2.0 and what’s more, they are all free.

Google Maps, you don’t need GPS on your phone to be able to use mapping software. Although you can buy for a very reasonable price Bluetooth GPS dongles that will work with many models, Google Maps Java app will find your location based on an approximate calculation by using network triangulation. What this does is calculate your distance from the three nearest phone masts from your current location, which allows the application to calculate your current location. And it works surprisingly well, with an accuracy of up to 50 metres when used in city centre locations.

Opera Mini, without a doubt, Opera Mini is one of the finest applications for mobile phones; with Opera Mini, the web is suddenly accessible and usable on a whole host of phones. When you web browse via opera Mini, your traffic is sent via the Opera servers in Norway, which allows all the extra HTML junk to be squeezed out, so pages load faster on a mobile device. For a handset that is not enabled with 3G, this is a major bonus. Favourite sites can be bookmarked and shortcuts set up so you can easily access the web on the move.

Yell (&Maps) is a Java application that allows you to access the full Yell.com database on the move. The potential in such an application is enormous. Search for any business type or any business name in any UK location. You can also search by category, by looking for a night out, or somewhere to eat, accommodation, gift or shopping ideas, etc. Once you’ve made your choice, select from the sub menu, choose your area and let the application search. You will be presented with a list of options to choose from, with business name, and contact information shown on screen. It’s also worth pointing out here, Yell Maps. Slightly different to other mapping applications, the main focus of Yell Maps is finding local businesses from your current location, and as with Google Maps you don’t need a GPS enabled handset to make use of this application.

Footy Mad does exactly what you would expect an application with that name to do. Keep up to date with all the latest scores and results from the English leagues, from the Premiership all the way down to the Blue Square league. You can keep up to date with all the latest news, scores, results and fixtures, and check out all the latest team standings. Live text reports are available when games are being played, and you can also access details from La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Eredvisie and international games. Pretty much everything needed for the dedicated football fan.

Yahoo Go, Yahoo have been on the ball when it comes to mobile services from the very early days of WAP, way before Google became the new King of online services. From the earliest days of text only browsing, it has been possible to check your Yahoo mail and even use Yahoo messenger from an internet enabled device. The user interface and designs of mobile applications is much improved from the early days, and Yahoo Go takes full advantage of the large colour screens available on most modern mobile phones. Once you login to the app, you are presented with a carousel design by which you can navigate through the array of Yahoo services. These include Yahoo News and Headlines, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Weather, Stocks and Shares, Photo Share, Entertainment News and Local Maps and listings. The vast offering of Yahoo services all together in one well designed easy to use application makes Yahoo Go one of the top mobile applications.

And that finishes our look through our own favourite mobile applications. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the list, and if you have a favourite application we’ve not mentioned or looking for give it a mention via comments below.