| Software Author: ? |
Spb Software House |
| Product: |
Pocket Plus v3.0 |
| Cost: |
$24.95 |
| Reviewed By: |
Ted Phipps |
| Rating: |
|
Introduction
There?s a lot of functionality missing from the Windows Mobile operating system. You get a solid basic starting point, but eventually everyone discovers tasks and tweaks that they wish were present. Spb?s Pocket Plus is an excellent addition to your software suite, combining several desirable additions that help you to realize the full potential of your PDA.
Installation and Registration
Downloading and installing the program was direct and simple. There is no CAB file, so you cannot load it without a PC. There is only one deviation from the standard install process, when you are asked if you wish to associate ZIP files with Pocket Plus.
Today Screen Plug-in
The main interface for Pocket Plus is the Today Screen Plug-in. Pocket Plus provides three default tabs and gives you the ability to create new tabs as well as decide on the contents of each. One of the nifty new features in this version of Pocket Plus is that now you can assign icons to the tabs.
Notice how I?ve added the yin-yang symbol to the System tab, and next to it is a new tab that I created, identified by the heart icon. By leaving the tab names blank and assigning icons, you can go wordless and save some space on the screen. Spb supplies 80 different icons for you to use.
You will also notice several icons and monitors that you are already familiar with. I?ll go over the defaults, but remember, everything is customizable.
On the Main tab are visual indicators that show your battery status, your backlight setting, system memory usage and storage card status. Tapping the slide monitors will change the way the information is displayed. For instance, you may prefer seeing the approximate time left on your battery charge (in hours and minutes) rather than the percentage of full charge remaining. Tap and hold on the various monitors to bring up menus to further customize the display to give you exactly what you want to see.
Tapping the icons beside the slides ? the battery, lightbulb, card and chip ? does further useful things depending on the icon. For instance, tapping the battery takes you to the system screens to modify options available there, and tapping the card icon takes you to File Explorer. Any tab also functions as a task launcher, simplifying things by letting you start programs from the Today screen by tapping the displayed icon. You can add and remove launcher icons and arrange them however you?d like. I especially like the oversize calculator icon, which lets me start it with a finger tap and lets me free up a hardware button. You have the option of oversizing any icon. The ?Today? house with the vertical arrow icon is a theme switcher.
The Connect tab contains icons for Internet Explorer, email, Sync, beam options and networking options.
The System tab has the theme switcher (again) and a button for soft reset - you?ll recognize that button if you use Windows XP.
The smaller icons take you directly to system functions such as program removal, screen alignment, button assignment, setting alarms and the clocks, and more.
Changing the order of the tabs displayed is as simple as drag and drop.
Integration
Now in this screen I?ve added yet another new tab, this time marked with a dollar sign.
To the tab I?ve added large icons for the calculator and Spb Finance and Spb Finance Entry. Once again, it?s very handy to have my system financial programs organized under a single tab, and for simple security I could assign a less obvious icon to the tab and/or programs themselves.
Other Spb programs are closely integrated into Pocket Plus, and include Weather, Time, Diary, GPRS Monitor and more. See their site for details.
Goodies and Upgrades
Some of these are brand new features with this release, and some are upgrades over previous versions.
Spb has added a Safe Mode prompt that lets you reboot your device with all Today plug-ins, services and automatically started apps are disabled. You may never need this (knock wood) but it can be a sanity-saver if a newly installed program continually crashes your system before you can remove it.
Normally, when you tap the close button (the ?X? up in the corner), the application is simply moved into the background and continues running. Pocket Plus changes the way this works by making it a true close button, but they go one better than that: if you tap the ?X?, the program closes, if you tap and drag then the close button acts like you?re used to and the program is minimized. Tap and hold and you get a menu that resembles the Task Manager on a desktop. Of course, you can customize the way that each tap action works and designate programs that will always minimize instead of close.
You will see new options when surfing the net using Pocket Internet Explorer. Full-screen capability, multiple windows, ?save as? for pictures, ?view source? to see the underlying HTML and more.
Pocket Plus adds compressed file handling. To unzip a file, all you have to do is tap it and a menu appears asking if you wish to extract the ZIP file. Tap ?yes? and a directory is created and the enclosed files are extracted into the new directory. To zip files from File Explorer, select the files to include, tap and hold, and when the menu appears tap on ?add to ZIP file? and they?re compressed under the name of the first file selected.
For additional security, you can also encrypt files from File Explorer. You?ll be prompted for the decryption password.
This version of Pocket Plus allows you to assign more system items to the hardware buttons. Remember that I mentioned that I no longer have the calculator assigned to a button. Now that button controls a great feature that works just like the one in Windows. Pressing that button cycles through the current open programs on my PDA. There are other interesting options available too, enough to match the way that you use your device.
If you need to format your storage card, Pocket Plus also adds that capability. That?s a rarely used but very handy feature.
There are several generic extended themes included in the package, with more available for download at the Spb website. There is also a nice FAQ and discussion about what an extended theme is and what it does for you. Spb has also made available (for free) an extended theme creator for you creative types. You don?t have to have Pocket Plus installed to take advantage of extended themes.
Spb made a significant effort towards improving the speed of this version of Pocket Plus. It shows, because there is little if any wait time associated with most of the various functions. There is a noticable wait when doing zip and encryption processing, which is understandable because they are necessarily overhead-intensive. Spb has made a commitment to the future by adding Windows Mobile 5 support and including fully native VGA handling. The only real weakness that I?ve found is in the help screens. Like Spb Finance, I think a lot of improvement can be made in both the scope and the level of detail provided.
Spb has indicated that there will be several new free plug-ins for Spb Pocket Plus in the next few weeks. I?m looking forward to seeing what they offer.
Summary
With Spb software, the primary rule seems to be ?if you can tap it, it can be customized?. You get incredible flexibility with Pocket Plus which allows you to tune these very useful tools into your dream suite of services. Thanks to Pocket Plus, I?ve been able to remove several separate programs that I used to use, and the close integration with other applications ? especially Spb Finance in my case ? makes this a must-have on my PDA. That said, I?m knocking off one-half star for the weak help screens. Based on their demonstrated willingness to listen to user suggestions, I expect that they will take care of that minor deficiency with the next release.
Where Can You Get A Copy?
You can download and purchase your copy from Spb Software House. |
