I use the capabilities of my Nokia phone (N95 8Gb) extensively for information, entertainment and fun - so I've been curious as to how other people use their smartphones.

I did a small survey of my own, asking people about their favourite mobile applications and if they used their smartphone for internet browsing.

It came as a surprise that most people in my sample do not use the full capability of their flash phones. The one exception was iPhone owners, who are more proactive (the power of a good user interface, Zef would say).

Here is a shortlist of the applications I could not do without. I hope this may inspire greater use of the power in your pocket!

SportsTracker

Sportstracker is the application that people have been known to buy a Nokia N95 for.

Built-in GPS maps your path as you run/walk/cycle and records your times in a training diary. It also enables time comparisons over frequent routes. All very wonderful, but what about the rest of us? While out cycling enjoying the scenery, you might want to take few photos. No problem, SportsTracker keeps running in the background. You can even listen to your favourite pumping tracks.

When you arrive home, you’ve had such a great time that you might want to share your experience with others. Just click the upload button and you travel route will be uploaded to Nokia’s SportsTracker website where it can viewed on a map, (including those photos). View my journeys.

It's great for travellers too, the folks at home can follow your movements, complete with pictures.

Download Sportstracker.

P.S. The technology has now been repurposed for the not so sporty in the form of Nokia viNe. I’ll be testing this, so I’ll keep you posted on what I think.

Image Exchange

The N95 has a good camera. I use it lots, though it’s no substitute for a dedicated camera. Image Exchange is a photo browser. The interface and general use is much slicker than the standard offering (unfortunately the integrated web site does not work in New Zealand).

WorldMate

WorldMate is an application for travelers. At your fingertips there's airline schedules, specific flight information (with automated flight alerts), an up-to-date currency exchange, world clocks, and weather. Once I was sitting on a delayed flight, with the hostess explaining there would be a delay. She didn’t know for how long, but WorldMate did!

RoadSync

RoadSync is an email client for Microsoft Exchange, which us more stable and altogether nicer than Nokia’s offering. I gives you full email, calendar and to-do notes on the move.

Twibble

Twibble is a twitter client.  It's nice and easy to twitter on the move, as you should. You can check people you're following and even attach a photo to your tweet. I haven’t yet been able to get the built-in GPS tagging to work yet, but it's still fun.

MobiTubia

MobiTubia is YouTube for mobile. It's more reliable that Google’s offering and you can save videos for playing again later.