Fizz Software - FizzTraveller

Fizz Software - Fizz Traveller Review


In Fizz Software's words Fizz Traveller is "Your feature packed travel mate. With over 58000 world locations, world times , world alarms, daylight maps, itinerary trip help, currency conversions, general conversions, superb graphics, user configurable themes and skins, simple interface & home screen plug-in support - this product is your essential everyday and travel tool."








Supplier: Fizz Software
Web site: http://www.fizzsoftware.com/index.html
Product: Fizz Traveller
Version: 2.4
Cost: £13.99
Platforms: Pocket PC & Smartphone
Reviewed: Pocket PC running on XDA-Exec WM5/6
Installs: Cab or via Active Sync
Manual: Pdf

(Save money at the 4WM Store now at only £11.54)





Overview


Fizz Traveller is basically a Home Page Weather forecast plug-in and alarm facility, that links to an application providing 5 separate applications, accessible from a Icon driven menu.

The weather options available on the home page are:

• Next 5 days
• 0-24 hours split in 6 hour sections
• 24-48 hours split in 6 hour sections
• 1 day with Town, Date & Time

6 different locations can be configured and selected using the left right arrows (or D Pad)

Clicking on the Globe Icon allows access to the application itself or can force a weather update using available connections.








Home Screen

From the Home Screen you have access to the individual components of the application:

1. The Home Screen (As shown)
2. Locations
3. Alarms
4. Tasks & Itineries
5. Conversions and Currency Rates
6. Weather Details & Forecasts
7. Options & Configuration
8. Close

The "Home Screen" can be changed to any of the individual options such as the alarms list in which case the standard Home Screen is displayed usng the View option on the Menu Bar.













Locations



This is the core of Fizz Traveller and allows you to configure 6 individual locations used by the rest of the package. These are also the locations used and displayed on the Device Home Page Plug-in.


According to Fizz there are 58,000 locations available.

By default the main cities are predefined but you can add your own by entering the location name and performing a lookup.


From usage so far you have to pick a fairly small village before it fails to find it.


You can also display more detailed information of each location and its current weather from this screen.






Alarms

For me this is the most important part of Fizz Traveller – the Alarms Function.

Windows Mobile's built in alarm is not particularly known for its reliability and so a 3rd Party program is an absolute necessity if you want to use your device as an alarm clock.

Alarms can be specified as either local time or for one of the 6 selected locations. So if you want to call someone in another time zone this can be configured easily.

A full range of options covering repetition and scheduling is available along with the usual sound and volume options. Additionally, the sound level can either be set to the current profile or to over-ride it and play at a given volume – this is a must have for wake up calls when you have forgotten to turn the sound up or even on.

When the alarm goes off then you get the current Clock displayed with two big buttons for dismiss and snooze which are handy for “finger” selection.

As well as over-riding the current sound level the alarms will also "wake up" a device and will operate in conjunction with a device in a PocketSecure locked state.

Tasks & Itineraries

This feature allows you to produce a list of basic Tasks / Itineries with which you can keep track of your travel arrangements.

However, it is a fairly basic tool and to be honest you would be better using your calendar or a more fully featured application for this purpose.


Rates & Conversions



A handy currency converter which updates from The Bank of Canada or the IMF, either scheduled or on demand.

The selection of currencies is quite comprehensive.

However, it can also do conversions between a host of other items as shown in the example.

















Weather






The final application is the Weather function which is actually almost worthy of its own review.

The weather forecasts can be displayed in either 24 hour, 48 hour or 5 day forecasts and updated manually or via a schedule either singularly or for all 6 locations available. The forecast can also be displayed in two map formats with pan and zoom.

In keeping with its “Traveller” name this part of the application can also show airport delays for the nearest airports to the configured locations.

All this is in addition to the weather details shown on the Home Page.












Options & Configuration




Configuration is simple and comes with plenty of skin variations which can be mixed and matched.

There are quite a lot of options and configurations available but the interface and documentation is exceptionally clear and they are easily set and modified.

Some of the nice touches are

• Updates only when docked ( via ActiveSync)
• Network Selection
• Data Download Tracking
• IntelliTimers (leaves out seconds to reduce CPU overhead)

Pros & Cons
Pros
Reliable & configurable Alarm function
Alarm can over-ride profile sound setting
Alarm can "wake-up" device
Large selection of locations
Excellent graphics
Good Weather Plug-In
Tight control over updates and downloads
Cons
Weather information is limited
Alarms not accesible from Home Page Plug-in
Tasks facility rather basic


Conclusion


4WinMobile Rating : 90%
Get it now at the 4WM Store for only £11.54 Smartphone/PPC


This product is marketed as a tool for travellers and I have to admit I am not sure if I was a professional globe hopper whether it could fulfill all my needs. All the parts are there but not in the detail that I might require. Saying that, the alternatives such as Worldmate Standard, which FizzTraveller sits against, is an ANNUAL subscription of £21.95 and for those extras for the truly professional traveller then Worldmate Professional will set you back about £50 PER YEAR.

However, if you are in the market for a good alarm system for your device then this is an excellent option. Not only do you get the alarms but a wide range of other useful tools and at a bargain price. Admittedly, the weather options via the today plug-in are limited, but then this is a multi feature application and Fizz Software does provide a fully featured weather solution separately.

The individual travel applications i.e. Tasks & Itineraries, conversion and weather details are not "bells & whistles" but for the occasional traveller or even the globe hopper used in conjunction with other tools this product is extremely good value for money.

There is active Forum on their website and they welcome ideas and new features for the next version with threads and posts actually responded to by the company.

The original format for this product was the Smartphone and general consensus is that on that format it is a regarded as the killer app in its field (and those using it would give it an even higher rating), & although it has some competition on the PPC in this role it is definately a contender for the crown.

As a personal recommendation if I could only have one 3rd party application on my device this would be the one. The weather plugin is a great indication of the weather coming up, the conversion tool is extremely handy (being a pre-decimalistion luddite I still think in “old” values and then need to convert) – but the Alarm facility is the the clincher. It works – what more can you say. This is the tool that gets me to work every morning.

And I am not the only one who thinks that:
Pocket PC magazine - "Winner Smartphone Travel Tools 2006"
Pocket PC magazine - "Winner Pocket PC Info Managers 2006"
Handango - "Best Application for Life 2005"
Pocket PC magazine - "Winner Smartphone Travel Tools 2005"
Pocket PC magazine - "Winner Pocket PC Info Managers 2005"
Pocket PC magazine - "Best Travel Tool - 2004"
Microsoft - "Best Smartphone Application - 2004"