For some of us, our computers are literally the hubs of our lives. It’s hardly surprising then that if our beloved computer has to spend few days at the tech hospital for repairs, one feels helplessly lost. The good news is surviving without a computer need not be a major catastrophe. For, one can always fall back on the other electronic device essential to modern living: the mobile phone. Here’s a quick guide to equipping your mobile phone to work as Plan B and keep your life from becoming a complete disaster if your computer packs it in.

It is a myth that you need a fancy phone to access hi-tech features such as browsing the net, chatting, e-mailing and so on. Even mid-range phones today come equipped with capabilities far beyond what we call upon them to perform. If your phone is Java-enabled, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be able to use it as an internet device.

Browse the net: If your mobile phone supports GPRS/EDGE/3G, you probably have a built-in browser. However, for best results, try Opera Mini 5.1 (Mini.Opera.com). This takes you as close to the ‘real’ desktop browsing experience as you could get, complete with tabbed browsing and the ability to sync bookmarks, shortcuts and history between the desktop and mobile versions. The browser pre-processes websites to compress them for faster rendering on the small screens of mobile devices. Opera Mini is free and will run on any Java-enabled phone. If you’re using an older model with low memory, you could try Opera Mini 3 Basic.

E-mail: Your phone may have a built-in push mail client, but if you’re a Gmail user, do install the Gmail apps for mobile. This not only lets you access mail, but also Google Docs, Calendar and Contacts for mobile devices running on Symbian, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile and so on. If you’re using a more basic handset, the Gmail application runs on Java-enabled phones and Google Documents will most likely run from your mobile browser. Another free client worth trying is Emoze (Emoze.com). This supports multiple accounts and works with popular Webmail services.

Chatting and social networking: There are a number of decent instant messaging clients available for the mobile platform, including the possibility of your device having a native chat client. But if you’re looking for a consolidated app that will allow you to log into all of your chat services (Gtalk, Yahoo, ICQ) as well let you use Twitter, Facebook and the likes, you might want to take Fring (Fring.com) for a spin. It supports voice and video calls, though it has recently been blocked by Skype. A word of caution—while Fring itself may be free to use, voice or video chatting could result in a significant amount of data transfer, which you will have to pay for depending on your mobile service provider’s internet rates. Fring will run on Java-based phones as well as those running various OSs.

Reading/editing documents: QuickOffice (Quickoffice.com) lets your read, edit and create MS Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations on your mobile. Your phone may have a basic version installed that allows you to only read files. Unfortunately, this is a commercial application, but at under Rs 700 it is very affordable. Some Nokia users might be eligible for a free upgrade to QuickOffice Premier. QuickOffice runs on Symbian S60, Android, Windows Mobile, iOS, Palm and BlackBerry.



Payal Dhar is a freelance technology writer