Review: TAKEphONE

Looking to take control of the Phone application. Take a look at TAKEphONE.

Review: TAKEphONE

Ratings:
By: Christopher Meinck

Enhance Your Smartphone

TAKEphONE is an innovative utility that enhances the capabilities of the Treo addressbook. Using TAKEphONE, you can SMS, email or phone from the contact book with greater ease.

Faster Searching

TAKEphONE's has a tabbed interface. The first tab is a find on steroids allowing one touch find that allows for "multiple" finds. Searching your contacts is done by selecting a group of letters (ABC, DEF, GHI,JKL, etc.). As you progress, TAKEphONE narrows your search. I found the size of the tabs easy to navigate. I often search while driving (not recommended), but TAKEphONE eases the process. I found the ability to do an "&" search to be very effective. If I were searching for Jillian Janson, I can search for J & J. This will narrow my database down to all contacts that start with a J for last name and a J for first name. TAKEphONE is 5-way jog dial compatible, so you can use the 5 way if you're more comfortable. TAKEphONE allows you to search other fields. I tend to do most searches using Last, First, so I was able to activate the "Turbo" search for a much faster look up. Finding contacts was a breeze and very fast.

Multi-task

Once I completed my find, TAKEphONE really shines. It brings up a multiple rows ad with headings "Tap to edit" or "tap to dial". I configured TAKEphONE to work with SnapperMail and this allowed me to "tap to email". This was awesome as I don't have access to my contacts in SnapperMail. The built-in address book is very phone-centric, where TAKEphONE realizes the Treo 600 offers so much more. For example, there is an icon that allows you to SMS, to schedule an appointment, to beam through the IR. These features, coupled with the Tap to Edit and Tap to Dial are what really make TAKEphONE.

Overall

Once comfortable with the the interface, I found TAKEphONE to be an excellent extension on the PalmOne phonebook. If you are looking for more control over your address list and tighter integreation with the features of the Treo 600, then I'd suggest you give TAKEphONE a try. There are a wealth of options and features that make it a worthwhile addition to any Treo.

TAKEphONE is available as a free trial and retails for $19.95.