Windows Mobile Louisville

There has been quite a buzz about Spb Mobile Shell 2.0, so I was delighted to receive my advance review copy so I could begin playing with the app and prepare a review.  This review has a couple of ”firsts”:  it is the first review posted on our new site, AND it is our first combined written and video review! So, without further delay, I will post the video portion here at the beginning, then follow up with an extensive written review. Both are intended to compliment one another, so, enjoy!

While the first version of Spb Mobile Shell has only been around for little more than a year, it quickly received wide recognition and acceptance:

• It was #1 best selling Pocket PC program at Handango and PocketGear in 2007
• It was the winner of Shareware Industry Awards 2007 as the best program for PDA
• It was the winner of the 2007 Pocket PC Mag Awards as the best User interface/menu improver
• And, it was voted the Best Evolution Application by Handango

Spb Mobile Shell 1.5 was released in June, 2007 and offered additional layouts for mobile professionals and additional customization options.  It didn’t take much time for Mobile Shell to climb to the top of my short list of “must have” applications that get installed first thing.  The application seriously changed the way I operated my device.   Over the past 8 years or so, I have transitioned from being a heavy-duty stylus user (in the early iPaq days) to finding ways to have shortcuts on my Today screen (using apps like Pocket Plus and the like) so I could use the directional pad to navigate, to the present - I hardly ever touch my stylus, period!  I thought that life was good with Mobile Shell v1.5…

Enter Version 2.0.

When I first installed Mobile Shell 2.0, I looked at the Now screen and thought: “Hmmm - this doesn’t look too much different.”  Then I began diving in and I was very impressed.  The same essential components are there, but they’re arranged into three easy-to-access panels: Now Screen, Spb Menu and Speed Dial.  At first, I used the icons at the bottom of the screen to jump from one panel to another, then I began trying out the gestures to switch screens - very cool.

By swiping left-to-right (or vise-versa) across the screen with your thumb, you can switch between the panels with ease.  You can do this anywhere on the screen, but I also found it quite comfortable to do the gestures right across the bottom of the screen, over the icons.  Swiping upward exits from the panel view, allowing you to return to your Today screen or wherever you might have been working.  More on that when I talk about calling up Mobile Shell panels at will.

Back to the Now screen for a moment - as I mentioned, at first glance it doesn’t look too much different than what you would have seen in version 1.5, but there are some pretty cool improvements.  If you tap on the weather icon, a nice full-screen weather dialog pops up, with everything easily controllable via your thumb.

Same thing for the time dialog as well as phone profiles dialog.  Nice, full screens that are easily controlled with your thumb.

Each of the dialog boxes is easily exited by either tapping the arrow at the lower left, or by using a swiping gesture (left-to-right), which will return you to the Now screen. 

Speaking of gestures, the animation effects can be turned on or off via Settings. Granted, it’s eye candy, and what really matters is functionality (which the app certainly has), but it’s still nice to have some “wow factor” to the gestures, particularly if someone is watching you operate your device!

The Spb Menu Screen

The Spb Menu is now a hybrid of the original menu and the “pinned” icons that could be part of your Today screen on the original version.   At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this new layout, but after a few times using it, I really began to like the thought process behind it, particularly since you can pull up this menu at any time, from anywhere you are working on your device.  Along with pinned items, your frequently used items will be shown, and if you need to drill down further via the menu, it is done with ease.  I pinned certain apps that I normally had in the My Menu area, so they are always accessible with a gesture.   Again, this is easily done by pressing and holding in the upper area of the screen, bringing up a thumbable dialog.  Thumbable - is that a word?!

 

The Speed Dial Screen

I really like this screen.  I have Microsoft’s Voice Command installed on my device, and use it to dial numbers quite often, but there are times when using Voice Command just doesn’t work, particularly in noisy environments.  That’s where this speed dial screen comes in handy.  There are 16 places for contacts, one of which is set to pull up Spb Contacts, but you can move it or remove it if you wish.  It defaults to the lower right spot.

Tapping a speed dial contact brings up a nice full screen dialog.  You can open the contact from there as well.

You can manage the Speed Dial entries by pressing and holding on any of the locations in the grid.  Notice the Spb Contacts option - that allows you to move that Spb Contact icon to any spot you choose. 

 I like the thumbable T9 capability of Spb Contacts.  It makes it much easier to pull up a contact from the hundreds I have!

Taskbar Gestures.

To me, this is one of the most powerful features that Spb has developed for Mobile Shell.  Taskbar Gestures gives you the ability to call up any of the three panels from any application on the device.  You just drag your finger from the left half of the taskbar downward. The three panels appear in a thumbnail form, and you can choose which panel you want to launch. (I had to borrow this screenshot from Spb, because Pocket Controller did not capture the overlay of the thumbnails!)

If you want to activate a panel quickly, you can just swipe your finger from the taskbar down.  The panel that will be activated depends on where your gesture finished - left is Now, middle is Spb Menu, and right is Speed Dial.  VERY cool!  In the week or so that I have been using 2.0, I have found this to be my most-used feature.  I’ve always got something open, and then I want to jump to something else.  In days of old, I would fine-tune my Start menu so I could quickly get to those items, but it still didn’t cover everything.  The Taskbar Gestures does.

 

RAM Consumption

Spb Mobile Shell 2.0 uses less memory than previous versions, even with the new features and graphically rich interface.  An impressive feat, and one I’m glad to see, particularly on my memory precious Mogul!

Click on thumbnail for a large view of this chart

Conclusion

Some time soon, HTC and Sprint will be releasing an updated ROM for my Mogul.  As soon as I install it, the very first thing that will go on my device will be Mobile Shell 2.0.  Sure, there are several other must-have apps as well that will be installed right after, but in my opinion, Mobile Shell 2.0 has now become a necessary “extension” of the operating system, making a Windows Mobile device even more powerful and easy to use than ever.  Kudos to you, Spb - you have taken a fine product and raised it to the next level!

The price for Spb Mobile Shell 2.0 remains the same - $29.95.   You can purchase it here.
If you are a version 1.x owner, you can upgrade for 50% off the retail price.  If you purchased a 1.x version within the last 90 days, you are entitled to a free upgrade.

 

Tags: gesture, Mobile Shell, review, software, Spb

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 8:38 am and is filed under Reviews, Software, Software News, The Latest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.