What's even better, you don't have to open your wallet to begin realizing the true potential of your smart device. The following seven Windows Mobile applications, all free, are a great place to start.

For example, did you know you can work around international roaming charges for your smartphone? Before you lose the phone or break it, do you realize that you can back up all your data from the phone, gratis? Here are the details on these and other essential freebies, yours for the taking.

1) mDigger -- Do Better Than That Simple RSS Reader

It's near impossible to stay on top of all the relevant news and information now bouncing around out there in the ether every day--in the form of text, audio, video and everything in between. Solution:

The mDigger reader application, for PCs and Windows mobile devices, lets you select what Web content you want delivered to your Windows Mobile device, and in what form. The software's similar to mobile RSS readers like Viigo, but mDigger allows you to get more than simple text. You can specify whether you want only text, images, video or podcasts from a given source, or a combination of those. And mDigger tailors that content to your device's screen and user interface for the best possible presentation.

The mDigger Reader

mDigger delivers "mClips" in place of typical RSS channels. You create your own personal mClips by choosing which specific information or content you desire from any Web source. Whenever a source publishes or modifies content, mDigger pushes it onto your handheld, meaning information can be accessed with or without wireless connectivity. mDiggers also get dashboard displays, which store important or noteworthy mClips, which can be shared or saved for later use, and albums, where saved mClips can be sorted and organized by groups or interests.

The mDigger app is available as a Web interface for desktop PC users, and it currently works on touch screen devices running Windows Mobile (WM) 2003, WM 2003SE (Version 7.6) and WM 5 and WM 6 (Version 7.6). The software is also available for handhelds without touch screens running WM 2003 and 2003SE (Version 7.6) and WM 5 and WM 6 (Version 7.6).