One of the challenges for most Windows Mobile you face is making use of the Today screen.  While there are a variety of plug ins available from a variety of developers, the challenge becomes having the plug ins needed to make the device useful while not making the Today screen so crowded that it becomes useless! This is particularly true when it comes to plug ins related to the mobile office suite of applications. 

Spb Software House resolved some of this with the introduction with Spb Diary in 2005 and with the latest version, 1.7, takes an already exceptional program and makes it truly one of the most indispensable applications a Windows Mobile user can buy.  The latest version builds on the already outstanding set of features and along with a host of minor fixes and Windows Mobile 5.0 compatibility, adds a host of new features and functions.  In addition to Calendar, Contacts and Tasks and Notes that were in previous versions, now Spb Diary can handle Messaging or Inbox , allowing you to view all of the office suite applications in one, simple Today plug in. 

Spb Diary is installed via ActiveSync and will require approximately 1.1MB of storage space on your Windows Mobile device.  It can be installed in your devices main memory or on a storage card but it is highly recommended that it be installed in main memory.  You will need a Windows Mobile 2003, 2003 SE or 5.0 device to use Spb Diary.  Once installed, Spb Diary will automatically start and be displayed on the Today screen.

In Figure 1 you see a new feature to version 1.7; the auto height adjustment of the Today plug in.  By enabling this feature in the Options of Spb Diary, you can have the plug-in automatically adjust to fit the space on your Today screen.  This is a one-of-a-kind feature that really shows the attention to detail that the Spb development team have on their products.

Another area where the Spb development team has shown their prowess is the integration they have between their various applications.  First, integration to Spb Pocket Plus allows you to essentially collapse all of Spb Diary and Spb Pocket Plus into one Today plug-in.  By doing this, you can save a tremendous amount of screen space for other plug-ins or go with the “clean and simple” look that I personally prefer.  Spb Diary also integrates with Spb Weather (note the weather icon after the date) and now with Spb Finance.  If you use Spb Finance, automatic transaction reminders will appear on the calendar!  Now there is no reason to go to various applications – they are all in one place.  For a review of Spb Pocket Plus, visit http://www.clintonfitch.com/reviews/spb/pocketplus-3-0/default.asp 

Note:  All Figures of Spb Diary from this point forward will be show as they are integrated with Spb Pocket Plus 3.0

The plug-in itself has five tabs located on the left-hand side of the screen.  The tabs represent the Calendar, Task, Contact, Notes and Messaging 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, you can select to see one day at a time or up to 30 days on their screen.  By tapping the calendar tab itself, a pop up monthly calendar is displayed.  This calendar also displays within each day a 24 hour time bar, with busy and out of office time color coordinated with Outlook.  With version 1.7, birthday’s and anniversaries are also displayed – a much asked for and needed improvement.

Like the Calendar tab, the Task tab displays your active tasks and their due dates.  If there is a note associate with a task item, that note can be displayed by tapping the note icon next to the task.  This not only saves time bug is a quick reminder of some details on the task.  Tasks can also be displayed on the calendar the day they are due as well in Spb Diary.  This is a customizable feature which can be enabled or disabled to suit your needs.  These customizing options will be discussed later in this review.