If there is one integrated application within Windows Mobile devices that has seemed to miss the "growing up" bandwagon, it has to be the Inbox application.  Sorely lacking in most current - and often needed - features such as HTML viewing support, signatures, accept or reject appointments, address auto complete and flags just to name a few, Inbox has fallen behind when compared to other included applications such as Mobile Word or Excel.  While indications are that thing will be improving with future releases of Windows Mobile, in this day-and-age of Push Mail the need for a more powerful email client is here today.

One of the leading developers in the charge to make a better email client is Web Information Solutions - or WebIS - based in the Austin, Texas area with their product FlexMail.  FlexMail 2007 is the latest version in the history of WebIS' mail client which was originally know simply as Mail.  This latest version offers desktop-like power on your mobile device while remaining intuitive and easy to use.  As I stated in my Top 10 Applications of 2006 review, there is very little that you can't do in FlexMail 2007 that you can do on your desktop.  It is that powerful and is the mail application for Windows Mobile users who need a serious mail application.  The list of features that FlexMail 2007 has is too long for one review but I will hit on the key features that separates it from other mail applications.  I encourage you to visit the FlexMail 2007 website for a complete list of all of the features in the application.

FlexMail 2007 is installed on your Pocket PC 2003 or Windows Mobile 5.0 device via ActiveSync and will require approximately 2.5MB of storage space on your device.  The application can be installed on a Storage Card if you have one for your device but I recommend installing it into main memory as it tends to speed up the application.  Once installed and started, FlexMail will prompt you if you want it to become your default email, SMS or both application.  This is always something you can change later should you choose not to make it your default application initially.  The first start of FlexMail takes a little longer than subsequent starts as it accesses the internal Windows Mobile database but will start up quickly there after.  In fact, compared to previous version of FlexMail, the 2007 version extremely fast.  In a non-scientific test (in-other-words, me just "eyeballing" it and counting), FlexMail 2006 took about 7 seconds to open on my Dell x50v running at 620MHz while on my O2 XDA Atom running at 520MHz, FlexMail 2007 opened in under 4.  Three seconds may not sound like much but when it comes to triaging email while on the go, those three seconds several times a day and over the course of a week can add up!

The interface for FlexMail is straight forward and can be customized to fit your needs best.  The initial view, which is the one I use, is Multi Page.  In this view I have a tab for my folders and a tab for my messages.  You can also change it to single page or a 3 Pane view.  On VGA devices such as the Dell x51v the 3 Pane view is nice but it gets to crowded for my taste on a QVGA device.  To change the view just tap the view menu at the bottom of the interface and choose which one suits you best.  You can also sort the way your email is displayed in your folders by Date, To, Sender, Attachments and so forth just like a desktop email client.

Figure 1:  The Multi Page View in FlexMail 2007	Figure 2:  The 3 Pane View

The folder view in FlexMail shows you the various accounts and folders associated with those accounts on your device.  In my case, because I synchronize my mail with my corporate Exchange Server, I have an account for ActiveSync as well as one for SMS.  If you have a POP account you will also see it listed here.  To add a POP account to your device, tap the FlexMail icon on the toolbar and choose Accounts.  From here tap the New softkey and the step-by-step wizard will walk you through putting in the information you need to access your account.  Remember that you will need your username, password, server information and authentication requirements in order to create your account.  Unlike some Windows Mobile mail applications, FlexMail does support SMTP authentication as well as SSL POP/IMAP support on standard and custom ports.  If you are not sure of what your settings should be consult your email service provider, usually your ISP.

Figure 3:  All Your Accounts Are Listed On The Accounts Menu	Figure 4:  The Step-By-Step New Account Wizard

Although there are several menus within FlexMail, it is designed with one-handed, stylus free use in mind when it comes to navigation around your folders and messages.  Most of this is done by using the D-Pad and Action button on your device to move and select from folder-to-folder or message-to-message.  This again makes it quick to triage email and determine what needs to be responded to quickly.  In addition, if you are an Spb Diary user (you can read my review of Spb Diary at this link), FlexMail 2007 can be integrated with it to display your mail and folders on your Today screen.  To reply to an email just tap-and-hold then choose Reply.  FlexMail automatically populates the To: field with the senders email address and you can immediately begin typing your reply.  If the contact you are emailing to is not in your contacts, FlexMail will prompt you if you want to save that email address as a contact.  This is a great way to never loose an email address!  Once your reply is completed tap the send button - the swift envelop icon by the To: field.  Your email message will be sent based on how you have FlexMail configured and, if you are using an Exchange account, how it is configured as well.  If you are sending from a local POP account on your device you can have it send it immediately or wait a defined interval.  With your Exchange account it will depend on how your account is configured on the server as to when it will be synchronized and sent.  In my case, we are set up to sync every 5 minutes during the day so my email replies can be delayed up to that amount of time.

Figure 5:  Unknown Email Address and SMS numbers can quickly be added to Contacts

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