One the problems with the PalmOne Treo's user interface is that it is difficult to quickly pick up the phone and call someone from your address book. Sure, if you've called them recently, you can press the call button for a list of the last 10 people you've called, but that list only contains numbers for calls that you've placed. Not calls you've received.

Digging into the address book requires several clicks to find the contact you're looking for - hardly ideal, especially while driving.

Enter TAKEphONE (US$20) from SHSH Software, a Palm OS application for the Treo 650 that makes finding and calling contacts incredibly easy. It makes operating the Treo truly one-handed and is an indispensible application.

After you install it, you can configure it to run when you press the green call button (instead of running the default "phone" application). From there you can quickly press and dial one of your pre-defined speed dials (large buttons dedicated to contacts) or you can use another view to quickly search for a contact by typing the first few letters of their name.

TAKEphONE's enhanced searching capabilities are what sets it apart. In addtion to typing the first few characters of a name (which searches any combination of fields), there are four search methods including a sorted search that allows the 'and' operation in search strings.

You can also define up to five seperate "locations" each with calling-card support (auto-dials access-numbers, PINs), extension and IVR handling. TAKEphONE even includes a "capture hack" that allows you to dial numbers from other applications.

TAKEphONE is available for US$20 from SHSH Software.