PC Advisor presents our favourite mobile contacts and calling apps for Google Android, BlackBerry and Apple iPhone, and recommend the best utilities and online applications for your desktop or laptop PC.
Chat with all of your friends: BeejiveIM enables you to chat simultaneously on AIM, Facebook, GoogleTalk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, MySpace, and Yahoo. • $10 for a single device, $15 for a transferable licence (30-day trial)
Using the BlackBerry Messenger IM client, you can quickly and easily communicate with other BlackBerry owners. Using your unique BlackBerry PIN (or bar code), you can add your friends, then chat with them or share images, videos and location details. • Free
One the most ingenious mobile apps we've seen, Bump lets two smartphone users physically bump their devices together to share contact data, media and bookmarks, as well as to initiate social-networking connections and chat sessions. Each phone's GPS radio detects the presence of the other, then establishes a web connection with the device in order to share data. • Free
Crunch SMS is a chat-style bubble-SMS application for BlackBerry that offers lots of customisation options. You can add pictures to contacts, change the colours, create a lighthearted tone with 'smileys' and add a signature. • Free
Google Voice, coming soon to the UK, gives you one phone number that you can use to make outgoing calls from – and forward incoming calls to – any phone. The app's Voicemail Inbox transcribes your messages so that you can preview them. • Free
Using HootSuite, you can manage your Facebook and Twitter accounts within an elegant, clean user interface. HootSuite stands out from other social network managers for its extra features: you can schedule updates, set columns to monitor keywords and hash tags, and translate updates in other languages. • Free
Missed Call customises your Android phone's LED light, ringtones, vibrations and alerts for missed calls, incoming calls, SMS, Bluetooth, and calendar events. • Free
Mycall.mobi is a neat alternative to calling up a phone directory service. Based on the postcode you type into a web browser or a supported smartphone, it can call up local results and save you time and hassle. • Free
Offering location awareness and embedded images and video, the UberTwitter for BlackBerry client has all the regular features of Twitter but adds advanced ones such as URL shrinking and group list support. • Free
VoIP service Vonage Mobile allows you to call Facebook friends even without knowing their numbers. Just make sure you check the time zones first; a couple of 2am calls could result in you being 'defriended'. • Free
LINKS - READ THE WHOLE FEATURE:
The 150 best software apps for mobile and web
The 10 best apps for contacts and calls
The 19 best location-based apps
The 12 best games for mobile and web
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