You have to admire a company that names itself PhatWare, if only for its cool name. Even so, the company has some interesting software available for users of mobile devices.
First up is PhatNet, a network-monitoring product that works on Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC and lets administrators troubleshoot packet-based networks, including UDP, TCP, Ethernet, DNS and NetBios.
PhatNet is a real-time analyzer that decodes and filters data over a LAN or WAN, and can filter by IP address, UDP port, TCP port, hardware address or data string, the company said. It can monitor both wired or wireless networks, and users can create advanced filters for more difficult network problems.
The software comes in a Personal Edition ($99) and a Professional Edition ($299). The personal edition monitors PPP connections only, and the Professional version lets users collect and filter network packets directly from the Ethernet network adapter in "promiscuous mode," PhatWare says. The software has been tested and certified for use with Windows Mobile 2002 and 2003-based devices.
The second software application is PhatPad 2.0, a note-taking application for Windows Mobile devices. PhatPad 2.0 includes a companion desktop PC application that lets users access the PhatPad features from a user's PC.
The PhatPad software lets users draw pictures, jot text notes, or combine text, drawings and pictures to help improve a user's productivity. Other features include a pop-up customizable tool bar, a "bring to front/send to back" layering feature, and variable page sizes. Users can also load a JPEG or BMP file as a page background - while most would use this for decoration, users such as a real estate agent or insurance adjuster can load up a photo and then use the application to "mark" points of interest.
The software costs $29.95, although owners of earlier versions can upgrade for $14.95.
