Remote Desktop for Mobiles 2

Services such as Mywebex and Gotomypc are great for accessing remote computers, but you need to use a PC with an Internet connection.

Remote Desktop for Mobiles 2 lets you perform similar functions direct from your mobile phone.

It works with any Java-enabled mobile and while a 3G connection is preferable, the service is still usable on a standard GPRS connection.

Just like similar services, Remote Desktop for Mobiles requires a server application to be running on the PC you're looking to connect to.

Using this application, you can set up user accounts, passwords and access rights.

You then download the 90KB client application to your mobile. A special version is available for most Blackberry devices (see our Blackberry 7230 review) and there's also a web-based option.

Once the connection is made, you can click the Desktop option to see what's currently displayed on your remote PC.

Mobiles with larger screens obviously cope better at displaying the desktop, but you can alter the magnification level to make it usable with small displays.

View our screenshots here.

The display is refreshed at intervals of your choosing, although this is also limited by the speed of your connection.

You use your mobile to control the mouse pointer (including double-clicking, right-clicks etc). If in magnification mode, the pointer is used to scroll around the desktop.

It's also possible to send individual keystrokes or blocks of text using your keypad.

While the desktop view is impressive, there are plenty of other options to play with. You can browse through the contents of your hard disk, cut and paste files and run preset commands.

Of course, you'll be charged by your mobile operator for data usage every time the desktop refreshes or you perform a function.

A built-in traffic meter lets you keep an eye on how much data you're transferring and we found a typical five minute session involved around 30KB of traffic.

How much this costs depends on the tariff you're on - contact your mobile operator for details.

Compared to using a web browser on a second PC to access a remote computer, Remote Desktop for Mobiles 2 is obviously far more fiddly.

However, for those times when you're not able to use a PC, it's an excellent alternative to standard remote access software. A free 10-day trial is available and you can view some screenshots here.

To hear more about Remote Desktop for Mobiles 2, click here.

For all our Product of the Week podcasts, click here.

System requirements:
Java phone with 2MB of Ram and 64KB+ application size
3G, GPRS or Edge
2MB of Ram
Windows 98/NT4/2000/XP