Have you ever wanted to be able to take a snapshot of your phone. Or better yet, a video to show something working. Or maybe use a real keyboard to edit a phone number or someone’s address?

Maybe it’s a side effect of my job, but I find it becoming more and more important as my phone becomes more useful to me that I can interact with it in more ways. Dashwire for instance is a great way to ensure I have a backup before I do something silly (like cross the road in the rain – can end up with a handset dead in a puddle).

My latest new best friend is MyMobileR. A desktop application that let’s me connect to my phone (via ActiveSync, Wifi and even Bluetooth) where you then have full remote control.

You can drag’n’drop files to the device, or you can scroll through your contacts and make a change. If you want to show someone else how to do something then you can take a screenshot or record a video.

This looks like one of those really simple apps that does it’s job so well you’ll wonder how you did without it. And when you check the price (free!) you’ll agree it’s a bargain!

I’m off to explore the limits of what it can record and how much control I have (there’s one physical key on my Shadow I can’t find yet… but I’m sure it’s there!)

If you need more functionality then check out Soti for their device management and remote control solutions, but for a quick and easy every day solution MyMobileR has a place on my desktop.

Recently I've needed to transfer files, 10 or 12 times a day, from the machine I'm working on to a local server and also a remote FTP site. It was painful and inefficient (had to have multiple windows open, FTP kept disconnecting... just no fun).

I did a quick search on the web and found UpRight from Otaku Software. I'd tried one of their products before (TopDesk, an OSX Expose like utility for Windows) and thought it was really well done (but I got a second monitor instead!).

According to their write-up it looked straight-forward and simple

UpRight significantly simplifies file transfer, allowing you to:

• Upload to files and directories to FTP servers, Amazon S3, and local and network directories.
• Select which files and directories to transfer using wildcards and regular expressions.
• Move or copy files and directories during transfer.
• Display, email, or copy to the clipboard a configurable message after each upload.

so I thought I'd give it a go... and after using it for a week so far I think it's worth a look.

Now, it's not perfect...

• I'd like so see support for uploading directly to my Windows Live Skydrive and the Silverlight Streaming Service as well as the already supported Amazon S3 service (normally a real pain to get single files uploaded to)
• I'd love to be able to associate specific settings/defaults for particular files (eg always upload the file to a particular subdirectory within the defined FTP site) - as it is you have to define a destination for each directory or subdirectory
• I could see a use for being able to upload a file to more than one place (in my case copy to both a local network drive and a remote server)
• and just a set-up thing... when defining remote FTP destinations a way to log on and navigate the file structure rather than having to remember the exact path would be very neat.

Those comments aside ... I love the ease of use - once you've set up a destination it's two clicks to get a file there.

I didn't think I'd have much use for the actions you can perform after a move, but I've become a fan of the fact I can script it to put the path and filename into the clipboard so I can check it in a browser with no more typing.

I've been using it this evening to push files both to my local server then when they are debugged to the live box, also to move stuff quickly and easily to my Windows Home server... saves me opening two windows and drag'n'drop (and I always lose windows when I'm trying to do that... maybe I do need TopDesk after all!).

Oh, quick up-date: just installed a trial on my wifes machine as (a non technical user) show now uses it to uploads pictures to our family site (public and the Windows Home Server) - FTP scared her, this ... is just like computing should be.