Mouse-shy Mac users have been enjoying an app called Quicksilver, which allows fast access to applications and files via the keyboard and has become something of a cult among productivity geeks.
SkyeQuikKey from SkyeStream is a reasonable stab at a Symbian 60 3rdEdition version of the same idea.
Once installed, your standby screen will accept text input as well as dialed numbers. To find an app, browser bookmark or contact, just enter the first couple of letters of its name and SkyeQuikKey will bring up a list of matching items. Scroll down the list with the joystick and use the soft keys to perform appropriate actions like run, call or create an SMS.
How useful you find this will depend on how you use your phone - if you have a lot of apps or contacts and are quick with your thumbs you might find it a real time saver but if you are a more casual user it will more than likely just get in the way.
SkyeQuikKey costs around a tenner, but the developers have generously provided an entire day’s worth of free trial - available here.
SkyeSpy sounds like the kind of Symbian app that Q might show to 007 at the start of the next Bond film (maybe a chance for some product placement here, guys - look into it).
With this cunning little app you can turn an ordinary S60 3rd Edition phone into a listening device and alarm system.
Once the app is running you simply leave it in the location you want to monitor. As soon as the phone detects any sound above a specified level it will spring into action and either send an SMS, call a designated number (so you can listen in) or record a sound clip, optionally sending it via MMS.
All incoming calls and texts are muted so your victim (sorry, subject) will never know they are being monitored.
SkyeSpy can also listen out for incoming calls, then silently answer them - letting you bug a room on demand.
The app’s developers, Skyestream, suggest using it as a baby monitor or burglar alarm (surely this runs the risk of having your phone stolen along with the rest of your belongings?) and of course there are any number of more ethically dubious uses that I am sure you can think of yourselves..
SkyeSpy costs £8.20 at the above link, and there is a 1-days free trial so you can give it a whirl.
