Spb Software House's Diary 1.5

Spb Software House's Spb Diary 1.5

When most Windows Mobile device owners are asked, the majority of them find the Today screen somewhat lacking. While Inbox, Calendar and Tasks can be displayed, the level of detail from these included plug-in’s is minimal and often require multiple screen taps to get to the information needed. This, along with the fact that Contacts is not even an option to display, drives many to look for alternative applications to fit their need.

Spb Software House has produced an excellent line of applications for Windows Mobile devices and their latest edition, Spb Diary 1.5, is another positive step in that tradition. Spb Diary is a Today screen plug-in that replaces Calendar, Notes, Tasks and adds Contacts. Spb Diary is all inclusive meaning that instead of multiple plug-ins, Spb Diary uses only one with multiple tabs for the various functions, much like Spb did with their application PocketPlus (for a review of PocketPlus, go to http://www.clintonfitch.com/reviews/spb/pocketplus-2-5/default.asp). This allows users to quickly see their tasks and calendar with the added benefit of contacts and Notes being available as well. All-in-all, Spb Diary is an excellent application and should be at the top of Windows Mobile users everywhere.

Spb Diary is installed via ActiveSync and can be installed in either the Windows Mobile device’s main memory or on a Storage Card. Although the application consumes just over 1MB of storage memory, it is our recommendation that it be installed into main memory as most applications that plug into the Today screen seem to perform better when installed here. Once installed, Spb Diary will start automatically and will be available on the Today screen (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Spb Diary Today Plug-in

The plug-in itself has four tabs located on the left-hand side of the screen. The tabs represent the Calendar, Task, Contacts and Notes functions. Along the top of the plug-in are the various filtering and viewing options available for each tab. So, for example, on the calendar view, users can select to see one day at a time or up to 30 days on their screen (Figure 2). By tapping the calendar tab itself, a pop up monthly calendar is displayed (Figure 3). This calendar also displays within each day a 24 hour time bar, with busy and out of office time color coordinated with Outlook.

Figure 2: Users Can Select the Number of Days Viewed at a Time

Figure 3: The Pop Up Calendar

Similar to the Calendar tab, the Task tab displays user’s active tasks and their due dates (Figure 4). If there is a note associated with a task item, that note can be displayed by tapping the note icon next to the task item (Figure 5). This not only saves time but gives a quick reminder of some of the details of the task.

In addition to the Task tab, tasks can also be displayed on the calendar the day they are due. Spb Diary gives users the ability to customize the tabs in which ever way suits their needs. These customizing options are discussed later in this review.

Figure 4: The Task Tab Display

Figure 5: The Notes of a Task Displayed

Beyond the Calendar and Task features, Spb Diary also allows for Contacts to be displayed on the Today screen, eliminating the need to use hardware buttons or multiple taps to view them. This makes finding a contact – especially when driving or at an airport – faster and often less frustrating. Further, the Contact tab has alphabetical tabs along the bottom of the plug-in which allows users to select and highlight contacts quickly and easily (Figure 6 – Note image distortion is to protect the innocent).

Figure 6: Contacts Display with Highlighted Search Items

With version 1.5 of Spb Diary, users now have the ability to access their Notes via the Today screen (Figure 7). On the Notes tab, users can see a listing of the Notes on their device and can also tap them to see a pop-up display of the note for a quick reminder of the contents of the note (Figure 8).

Figure 7: Notes Tab

Figure 8: Notes Pop-Up

Finally, Spb Diary can integrate with Spb Weather as well. On the calendar display, users are presented with a small icon to represent the weather forecast for that day. This is very helpful in setting up ones schedule, particularly if it involves outdoor activities (Figure 9). For a review of Spb Weather, visit http://www.clintonfitch.com/reviews/spb/weather-1-0/default.asp). By tapping on the Weather icon on the calendar, a pop-up menu of the forecast will be displayed as well. Note that current users of Spb Weather will need to have the latest version of the application installed for the integration to function properly.

Figure 9: Spb Weather Icon on the Calendar Date with Pop-up

While the functions of Spb Diary alone make it a must-have application on many users lists, the ability for users to customize each aspect of it pushes it even further up that list. Simply put almost every visual and display aspect of Spb Diary can be customized to fit each individual user’s desires and needs. To access the settings menu, tap-and-hold the tabs section of the Today plug in and choose Options…. The Options are divided into the various categories of the plug-in (Calendar, Task Contacts and Notes) as well as a General category and Category Icons (Figure 10). Each of the PIM categories allow users to change the appearance of the information on the Today plug-in to suit their needs and style preference. For example, on the Calendar options, one can change the way appointments are displayed, the font used, the number of days to display and which icons to show on the appointment (Figure 11). While Spb Diary does not have the huge amount of customization as similar applications, it does hit the ones that are most important and most widely used. This makes the application far less confusing and easier to set up.

Figure 10: The Options Menu

Figure 11: Configuring The Calendar

In addition to these settings, Spb Diary also allows users to customize the icons for the categories used in the various portions of the PIM (Figure 12). These categories are customizable and allow users to set a visual marker to what type of contact, task or appointment they are viewing without having to necessarily read all of the text of the entry (Figure 13).

Figure 12: The Category Icon Options Menu

Figure 13: Note the Category Icons on the right-hand side of the contact view

Overall I am most impressed with Spb Diary. It is a well behaved and well developed application that should easily fit the needs of most Pocket PC users. It would be nice to see the addition of Inbox functionality in Spb Diary in the future, thus eliminating one more extra plug-in on the Today screen.

As I have stated before in other reviews of Spb Software House products, the support provided is superior and responsive. All test emails sent to their support group have been answered in less than 24 hours with most answered in less than 8. Their answers are accurate and usually provide several alternative solutions to a problem.

Spb Diary sells for $14.95 and is available directly from Spb Software House on their website at http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/diary/?en. Existing owners of version 1.0 of Spb Diary can upgrade for free and the application is compatible with Pocket PC 2002 and higher devices, including Windows Mobile 5.0.

Spb Diary is an excellent alternative to multiple Today screen plug-ins and takes those plug-ins a step beyond in functionality and ease-of-use. It is a well developed application and one that Pocket PC owners should seriously consider as a must-have application.

Clinton Fitch
Senior Editor
Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! (http://www.clintonfitch.com)
HPC:Factor (http://www.hpcfactor.com)