If your device spends a lot of its time docked, you may want to give this utility a go. Dockware is a calendar and digital photo frame all in one.

Dockware opens up automatically when your phone is docked or plugged in to charge. It will rotate the pictures roughly every 10 seconds.

There are various views which you can choose between, showing you month, today and long date views. There is nothing too fancy about this free version of Dockware, but it is a nice utility to have.

Dockware came preinstalled in my last Windows Mobile device. I got used to it always being there, but my current device did not include it.

Dockware comes with a few nice scenic shots, but if you would like to use your own pictures, simply drop them into the Dockware folder.

Dockware is available for free from Iliumsoft. There is also a pro version with all the features you could ever want.

Microsoft Exchange servers offer a lot of a features that regular POP3 and IMAP email servers do not. It was even a consideration when I was deciding which company I wanted to work for.

Exchange servers have a number of features such as Outlook Web Access and Push Email, that help us have greater access to our email. Push Email helps us get email to our devices as soon as it hits the server.

If you have access to both an Exchange server and a recent Windows Mobile device (post WM5), you can get email to and from your device better than what is possible with any other method.

This article will show you how to connect your Windows Mobile 5 device to an Exchange server. It is not very hard to get up and running, but there are a few terms which are a little confusing.

This article is written for Windows Mobile 5, but I hope it will assist people with Windows Mobile 6 devices also.

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With Windows Mobile devices packing in so many battery draining features, it is hard to know how frequently you need to recharge your device. I estimate that I recharge my Ipaq rw6828 around every two days. It would be nice to get a better figure, as I have from time to time ran out of battery life.

BatteryTime is a today screen plugin that shows you the uptime of your device and how many percent of your battery life is left. It is very easy to reset the timer. Simply click on the plugin and select reset uptime.

I was hoping when I tested this utility out that there would be some calculations involved, giving me an hour:minute countdown of how much battery life I have left, but it was not to be.

I can still see this utility being useful. I can take note of how long the battery has lasted in between charges under various conditions, such as with Bluetooth and Wifi turned on and off. From these figures I can figure out roughly how long my device will last.

I can see this being on my device for a week, which should be enough time to calculate how frequently I need to recharge my device. Once I get a feel for it, I will then uninstall it.

BatteryTime is available for free from Windows Marketplace.

Network Folder Plugin allows you to map your network folders and access them easily from your Windows Mobile Device. The interface is simple, and the program is quite snappy.

Generally, mapping to folders from the Windows Mobile platform is not very practical, as you need to be near your computer for it to work, (so you may as well use your computer anyway). But, if mapping is something you think will be useful for your setup, check this out.

I figure that transferring photos and music might be quicker on Wifi rather than on Bluetooth. Mapping network folders is an important step in accessing these files and to get the better results.

Windows Mobile devices let you connect to network folders. The default software which is built in to these devices is very clumsy and primitive to use.

Once you have installed it, you can access it from Settings/Connections. You then see a blank list which will eventually stock all your selected shares. Click new and either type in the share name or browse. Find the share you want, hold down and select “map drive”. Enter in your password and username, and you’re done!

Once you have mapped network folders, they will show up in file explorer, under a new folder called network. The files can then be copied to your device, played in a media player or you can copy files to and from your device. A feature I like in this program is that you can save passwords so you don’t have to re-enter it each time you want to connect.

To install the file, copy the cab to your device and then run it. Network Folder Plugin is available for free from FreewarePocketPC.net.

I have looked at a few of these Windows Mobile tweaking programs in the past, but Advanced Configuration Tools is the most comprehensive tweaking package I have come across, allowing you to get deep into the nitty gritty settings of your device.

Most tweaks are done through changing registry settings. This can be done manually, but why would you bother when you can have an easy to use interface to change all sorts of customisable stuff?

Advanced Configuration Tools has the following features.

• Appearance tweaks
• Performance tweaks
• Phone tweaks
• Connection tweaks
• Bluetooth and A2DP tweaks
• Internet Explorer customisation
• Comm Manager customisation
• Cleartype Tuning
• Softkeys changing
• File Association editing
• Many more – you get the point

There is also a bunch of command line options to do various tasks such as rotating the screen and composing messages. You could create these command line options as shortcuts for your today screen or as individual programs, launchable from your Programs folder.

I believe the program was designed for Windows Mobile 6 devices though I tested it with a HP rw6828 running Windows Mobile 5. All of the tweaks I tried worked without any problems.

Get your free copy from Freeware Pocket PC.