Third-Party Software

Before covering a number of third-party applications I always highly recommend to enhance functionality even further, let me briefly cover the Fuze in terms of all the crap AT&T loaded on the phone.  Personally, I usually buy unlocked phones and stay away from carrier branded phones for many reasons.  Unfortunately, AT&T's version of the Touch Pro is not only loaded with such software, but they have managed to integrate it into HTC's TouchFLO interface without the possibility of disabling some or all unless you resort to other advanced measures.

However, despite my strong hatred towards this, there is one hidden gem within all the crap that happens to be one remarkable piece of software...

**click to enlarge**

Thanks to the popularity of other phones on the market, you may have heard of a remarkable tool called Shazam.  For those who are not aware of this tool, it is a very impressive music identification tool/service for mobile phones.  It is one of those mobile apps that will leave most wondering how the hell it can do what it does so damn well.

What is it exactly?  Well, it is a highly useful service that allows you to use your phone to indentify a song just by letting the app listen to it for about 15 seconds.  It will analyze the sound file and use your current connection source to search an impressively large database in order to identify the song and present you with all information, including download, purchase and share links.

Within all the loaded crapware from AT&T is an app labeled "MusicID".  Powered by Shazam, it is essentially the same and it works perfectly on the Fuze.  In fact, I tested it many times and it was able to identify 99% of the tunes, regardless of background noise or how rare the song was.  The bad news is that it is a trial version of the app loaded on the Fuze.  Bottom line is that this is indeed a "service" from AT&T and they'll have no problem charging you for it.  However, feel free to discuss in the review thread in our forums for a workaround and free version that works just as well with the Fuze.

Ilium Software - eWallet 6.1

As far as third-party applications go, there is one must-have app that I always like to start off with.  This is none other than eWallet from Ilium Software.  Unless you take the time to try it out, you probably won't appreciate what it really has to offer.  I have used it for years now and you can practically turn your phone into your own digital wallet, containing practically your whole life at your fingertips with the most advanced security features available for the ultra-paranoid type.

**click to enlarge**

For those of you who are still unfamiliar with this excellent application, you do have the option of purchasing either the standalone mobile app or their professional version that contains both the Desktop and Mobile software.  The pro version is best, allowing you to build your eWallet with ease from your Desktop and easily set the software to sync it to your mobile phone.

This excellent software is capable of providing the highest flexibility in terms of data storage/management and supports just about anything you can think of, including bank accounts, auto info, credit card info...etc.  While it is likely that you'll find a built-in category/layout for the info you are storing, you also have the option of creating your own custom categories and card to store everything you have that is important and of high use.  As an added measure to somewhat make you want to use it and make it somewhat fun to create a Wallet file, you can also embed your own custom images within cards and one of its best features is that all stored phone numbers or URL links are hotlinks, allowing you to launch such action directly from the software itself.

eWallet allows you to practically store your whole life in it.  With that said, security is of high importance and this software does take all measures to ensure your data is secure.  Using government-level (FIPS) 256-bit AES encryption and user-defined options designed to prevent easy access to your data, you can feel comfortable storing all your personal data on your Windows phone without having to worry about it getting into the wrong hands.

Ilium Soft also has a number of other great applications for your Windows Mobile Phone.  They even have some free software, including one called Tipster, which I tend to use regularly.

Another great company with many talented developers that offers some excellent applications for your phone is Spb Software House.  Unfortunately though, at the present time, you will be unable to make "full" use a number of these without some heavy customization on your part.  The reason is due to the TouchFLO 3D interface AT&T chose to load on this phone. 

  The first application is the highly popular Spb Mobile Shell.  For those that have used it before, you will encounter one annoying issue that is the result of the TouchFLO 3D interface AT&T has chosen to load on the phone.  When TouchFLO 3D is loaded, it will end up overwriting the original soft key buttons with their own, not allowing you to set that right soft key to load Spb's excellent menu.  I have contacted Spb about this issue and they responded stating that they are aware of this problem and will hopefully find a workaround or fix.  However, for those of you who may not like TouchFLO 3D much, you can still configure their software to load a version of their Today Screen that will allow access to all features.  Unfortunately, I'm one who prefers to maintain TouchFLO 3D running and would prefer the soft key replacement to launch their robust programs/settings menu.  Hopefully there will be a fix soon.  In the meantime, here are some screenshots of this excellent application loaded and working on the Fuze...

Mobile Shell provides finger-friendly navigation of your phone, with plenty of customization, including transition effects and menu display options.  I would also like to add that it looks spectacular on the VGA screen the Fuze does sport. 

  A stopwatch...a simple yet handy tool that has yet to be featured in a Windows Mobile OS.  Spb has an application called Spb Time that not only is suited for travelers, but is the best stopwatch app out there for such phones.

In addition to doubling as an excellent analog/digital world time management tool, it is the stopwatch features that are impressive.  They are not only finger-friendly, but there are multiple timers and even offer the ability to save the data to a text file.  As a hardware reviewer, this is one app I tend to use regularly when I need to capture precise time.  It is highly recommend.

Spb also has another excellent application called Spb Phone Suite.  Unfortunately though, it does not work well the Fuze unless you either take advanced measures to customize the TouchFLO 3D interface or choose to disable it altogether.  This software is quite handy and while I won't go into details here, you can refer to one of my previous articles for a very detailed look at what it does, along with screenshots.  In short, it is an excellent call management tool that I always highly recommend to many who like to filter calls or simply do not like to be bothered at times. 

Next: Third-Party Software Continued