Spb Diary 2.0

Supplier:SPB Software
Product:SPB Diary 2.0
Price: 19.95USD for first time purchasers
Upgrade Price: 7.49USD from version 1.x
In accordance with SPB's new policies version 2.0 is free for anyone who purchased version 1.7 in the last 90 days.

SPB are back and in fine form with a new version of SPB Diary. Check out this review to discover the new features and integration capabilities that make this the first thing I install on my devices. As such I am delighted to have an opportunity to review this latest version and wish to express my thanks to Victor from SPB Software.






Main new Features

New look and feel: skin support and stylus-free navigation
Database engine improvements: faster loading and better memory usage
Contacts Tab improvements: see photos and dial with just two taps
Special Events Tab: see birthdays and SPB Finance scheduled transactions in a separate view
Notes Tab: see PhatNotes, Text and PocketWord files
Full WM5 Support on all resolutions.
Integration with SPB Finance, SPB Weather and SPB PocketPlus
Seamless support of Pocket Outlook, Agenda Fusion, and Pocket Informant.
Useability features such as action+hold (same as tap 'n hold) for context menus.

Personal Information Management (PIM) Software needs to be easy, unobtrusive, and useful to have any lasting place on my today screen. Since its inception in April 2005, I have been using SPB Diary to accomplish this and more! SPB Diary has continually evolved to bring new features and integration options along with the usual bug fixes, in fact a scan of the release history shows that Version 1.0 users have enjoyed a total of fourteen updates for their fourteen bucks and 95 cents! Good value in my book.

With SPB Diary 2.0 previous users can upgrade for a fraction of the original cost while new users will be happy to shell out $19.95 for the privilege of using the best today screen PIM management software available. This new release brings many new features that I will be demonstrating in addition to those already covered by my previous review from way back in November 05, check it here to see which bits I've copied for this review. The screen shots showing the today screen have been altered slightly to add a red rectangle around the space that SPB Diary uses, this is done to distingush the application from others that I am using.



Installation
The default Personal Information Manager (PIM) today screen viewer included with the Windows Mobile operating system has not been updated since PocketPC 2002. A full three revisions old considering that we've since seen Windows Mobile 2003, then second edition and currently WM5, it's high time that this interface was overhauled and updated a bit and Microsoft's developers could learn a lesson or two from those at SPB!

Installation of SPB Diary can be undertaken by downloading either the Activesync installer for execution on your PC or a CAB file that can be downloaded direct to your device and started from file explorer. The file size of the cab is 1.76MB so watch out for those mobile service provider data charges!

During the installation WM5 will ask if you want to install SPB Diary to main memory or a storage card, I would strongly recommend that you choose the former to avoid any possible slow down of your device. As the installation finishes you will be presented with the screen to the left asking which style you'd prefer to start with and giving the option to turn off the standard calendar and task plug-ins. When you first view your today screen after installation you may be prompted by WM5 to allow the utility to run, this is a security check and your input in the affirmative is required to continue. With the installation now complete we can move on to what's now on your today screen.


Display
SPB Diary 2.0 offers the following integrated tabs, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Notes, Messaging and Special Events. See the screen shot to the right to get an idea of its presentation. Everything in SPB Diary can be selected without having to use the stylus but there are times when you will have to pull it out to get it on, (so to speak). Accessing the options is one such occasion and is accomplished via the 'Today' applet in the WM5 settings screen or via tap and hold on one of the mentioned SPB Diary Tabs.

Almost all of the settings that can be applied via the main configuration dialog can also be configured by tap 'n hold on the chosen tab. SPB Diary 2.0 can produce many little surprises with tap 'n hold and having a go is highly recommended to adjust the view just right for your tastes.





Configuration 1
The number of configurable items throughout the program is very impressive and shows a dedication to customer experience and choice on the part of the developers, so many settings can be tweaked and or adjusted that I would be very surprised if you can't find a few that you are very happy with. Furthermore due to the extensive number of options I've run up a little animation to show you each tab. So, starting with the general options and taking in Calendar and Tasks, look at the screens below to get an idea of the settings.

You can control the plug-in height or set it to auto-height which will maximise the plug-in space without showing the vertical scroll-bar to the right of the today screen. You can control the font, date settings, the tabs to display, the skin to use and a new 'Auto Return' feature that can be very handy if you like to have the contacts tab always on display.

Looking at the Calendar options, you can decide on how many days to show upcoming appointments for, up to a maximum of 31 days, you can show past appointments, appointments for which your time is marked free, and tasks among many others. Another worthy mention here is the integration with SPB Weather, this will show a weather icon for each day representing the forecast for that day. This is great for checking if the weather will be as boring as your next scheduled appointment!

The Tasks options page, also shown below has less configurable items but is still comprehensive and covers as many options for dealing with Tasks as I can think of.







Configuration 2
Below are the configuration pages for Contacts, Notes and Messages. Starting with contacts you can decide on your search panel order, grouping and what to do when a contact is tapped. A new feature pops in here with the ability to show photo contacts. Enabling this view will show pictures for any and all contacts that have pictures associated, I have only a few contact pictures and the display (shown further down in this review) is fine, but you might experience a slow down if you have too many.

The configuration for Notes plug-in allows you to once again decide on your search panel and grouping, you can show notes sorted by name, date/time, type or size and once again you can decide what to do when the note is tapped. When a note is previewed it is displayed in a small floating window. This window can be positioned anywhere on the today screen. It can't however, be increased or decreased in size.

Displaying of e-mail and SMS messages is covered by the configuration options for the Messages tab. There is a smaller number of items here, but again enough options to suit most tastes. The preview window is good for messages avoiding the need to open the messaging program just to read an sms or e-mail.







Configuration 3
Lastly then, to the right you can see the relatively simple configuration screens for Special Events and the Category icons.

Special Event options allow you to configure from one week to one year of upcoming events. These events are typically birthdays or anniversaries based on your contact entries. It's important to note that a calendar entry for someone's anniversary will not appear here. It has to be added to the contact anniversary field. This is something that tripped me up during my evaluation. Special events can also integrate with SPB Finance for upcoming transactions.

Category Icons allow you to choose from a range of built in icons representing different categories that you use for appointments. There are quite a few icons but unfortunately no new ones in this release.






Calendar
Moving on to the presentation of the plug-in the next set of screens will show how the plug-in responds to taps, and tap 'n holds! I've animated each section and based on where you tap you will notice the different screens for configuration appear. As mentioned earlier, most of the same configuration options covered earlier can be applied without opening the configuration applet.

So, starting with the screen to the right we see the calendar presentation on the today screen. When you tap n' hold on the calendar icon you are given the options to create a new appointment or tasks, or open the calendar, tasks or inbox applications. Finally you can open the main configuration applet by tapping options. It should also be noted that SPB Diary can integrate with Pocket Informant and Agenda Fusion, just two of the most popular PIM replacement products. With either of these installed, when you choose to open the calendar or create a new appointment the plug-in will actually open the appropriate application for you.

A single tap on the calendar icon pops up a calendar focused to the current month, you can select a range of dates by tap n' hold and load that selection into the display. Additionally you can tap on the header to choose the number of days to display and to filter your displayed appointments based on categories or a combination of categories.





Tasks
Tapping on the tasks icon switches the view to your tasks page. Tap 'n hold on the tasks icon to create a new task, open the tasks program or open the main configuration applet.

Tapping on the header, you can 'group by' a rage of options and select the sort order. Additionally, tapping on the right of the header presents filtering options similar to the calendar settings.

Contacts
Looking next at the contacts display shows a very visible new feature in the 'photo contacts display'. A tap 'n hold on the contacts icon will give the options to create a new contact, open contacts or open the main configuration applet as discussed earlier.

Tapping on any contact produces a floating window with that contacts information, a d-pad movement can move between the numbers and pressing the action button or tapping can initiate a call, e-mail or sms message. I do find that the floating window sometimes opens too low to the bottom right of the screen and needs to be moved up to see all the information, this is something that I hope will be worked on for future enhancements as it can require the stylus to move the window, only a small niggle in my opinion.






Notes
Notes display also contains some updated features, you can this display show recordings, text files, pocket word files and another new option Phatnotes notes!

A tap n' hold on the notes icon will present the now familiar features, new note, open notes or open the main configuration applet.

Again the header bar can be used to arrange the 'grouping' by date/time, category and the sort order of your choosing. Tapping on the right of the header bar will allow you to filter based on categories.

Messaging
The Messaging display tab will show you your individual accounts that can be expanded to show your messages. Tapping on any message produces the floating window preview (if configured), while I like the preview window I've opted to have my taps actually open the message.

Tap n' hold on the mail icon to create a new message, open the inbox, or synchronise mail. When selected, synchronise mail will call activesync and request synchronisation. Additonally from the tap 'n hold menu you can open the main configuration applet.

The header bar allows you to decide your sort order for messages based on date, from, subject or size and the left of the header bar can be used to select individual mail accounts or 'All accounts'.





Special Events
Finally then we have the newest tab, Special Events.

Tap n' hold on the icon to produce a menu that actually doesn't flow from the others! This time the options are for New Contact, open contact or the main configuration applet. As mentioned in the first part of the review the special events are generated based on your populated contact fields for birthday and anniversary, as such you can't create a special event on the fly.

The header bar can be used to organise the 'grouping' to date/time, no grouping and to choose a time space (one week to one year). The right hand side of the header bar allows filtering based on categories.


Conclusion</SPAN>
SPB has continually developed a line of great products for your pocketpc devices, the commitment to product development and continual enhancement is very clear in this release. With SPB Diary 2.0 on your today page you have instant access to your appointments, tasks, contacts, notes and special event notification.

I would consider this product to be a yardstick against which Microsoft can aspire to; it's on my today screen and it will be on any device I purchase in the future. I am confident that enhancements will be forthcoming and that this investment will be as worthy as that for version 1.0.

It has been a complete pleasure to use this application where the implementation from the developers has surpassed my expectations for how the product should function. As a 'simple' PIM today screen replacement it's really incredible that I can have the information I want, in the way I want it always on the screen accessible to me. I think it's great and encourage you to give it a trial. Better still use DIARY5042WINMOB during your handango checkout for a 50% discount off the normal price. This coupon expires on 12th September.


For
Highly customizable.
One handed navigation improved.
Multiple resolution support.
New contact picture display.
All PIM information available on the today page.
Can now select and copy from a floating window.
Integration with SPB Weather and SPB Finance

Against
Still need to use the stylus sometimes.
Floating windows could be better positioned.



4WM Rating 95%