A resource for taking your Islam with you wherever you go.

30 November 2007

Starting with the question I get most

Do you hear that?

My phone is a T-Mobile MDA which is essentially a Windows Mobile PDA Phone device made by a company called HTC out of Taiwan branded by T-Mobile. I like the Windows platform not because it is so well made, but because there is so much software available for it. Case in point, SmartNet's Pocket Islam. It is most noticable at prayer times because the Athan goes off in my pocket, and usually someone asks about it. Frequently it's a Muslim who wants to know how they can get that. If you have a Windows-based phone, they have a version for you.

Pocket Islam comes with quite a bit. Prayer times calculations, Athan at each prayer time, option to use alarms instead, Qur'an in Arabic and English, recitation if you have tons of free space on your device, Qibla calculation, Hijri calendar, Islamic holidays (which it can schedule in your calendar), even a swell today screen. However just like the restaurant that does pizza, hot dogs, fried chicken, and chinese food, it can't do it all well. I want the Qur'an to remember where I left off and it can't even seem to remember what language I speak. I'd like more Athans to choose from instead of the option to get tons of MP3 Quranic recitation that take up quite a bit of room, and I'd like it to better use the keys of the newer devices so I don't have to get out my stylus.

Why do I use it if I have these complaints? It's got the best prayer time calculation and athan options that I've seen, and they frequently update the software with fixes, new tweaks, and even new functionality sometimes. I like software that kept up to date.

0 comments: