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Tech Republic has a terrific article up this week listing 10 reasons open source makes sense on smart phones. Author Jack Wallen says that besides the obvious cost savings, more customization options, better security, and improved phone-to-PC syncing are among the reasons the world would be a better place with more open source development on the mobile platform.

He’s absolutely right since, of course, there are few industries that can’t be improved by introducing open source software. One recent winner of SourceForge’s Project of the Month, ZK, is a an Ajax Java framework that makes it a snap to develop mobile apps. Of course, ZK isn’t the only project that’s focused on mobile devices. Here are a few more:

PicView - Put this picture viewer on your cell phone, then add your favorite photos to take with you wherever you go. The next time someone asks to see a picture of your kids, pets, or new car, you’ll be ready.

jsdbfs - Here’s a tiny JavaScript library designed for Mobile Safaru that stores CSS, HTML, JavaScript, or images in your phone’s local HTML 5 database so Web apps load faster.

PHP Gmail - This is an unofficial API for mobile Gmail that provides a base for Web apps that interact with Gmail.

nVMGc - Save all your SMS messages forever by converting them to text files or database rows and sending them to your PC for safekeeping.

Mobile Money Manager - A financial management app for mobile phones that transfers OFX formatted data to your computer.

Bloody Mess - Fend off monsters with this top-down shooter game based on the popular PC game Crimsonland. Even if you’re not a gamer, you should grab it just for the awesome name.