Still the King (1/2)
WebIS Pocket Informant 2005 Revision 3
INTRODUCTION
Over the years the community has
bemoaned the lack of respect that Microsoft has
given to their Personal Information Management
applications on the Windows Mobile platform,
especially when compared to the great evolution of
Outlook on the desktop. Perhaps this is done on purpose to encourage innovation from third party developers such as WebIS and DeveloperOne. Pocket Informant 2005 was
initially released in March 2005, and since July, WebIS has been working laboriously on the new rev 3 version, which adds full support for Windows Mobile 5.0 among other features and bug fixes.
Although this isn't officially a major version upgrade, there's still a healthy list of new features and bug fixes. Read on for the thorough review.
WHAT'S HOT
WebIS has added too many features to
list. Here are some highlights, you can find the
complete list for revision 3
here:
- Contacts editor only shows you the fields you want to see
- One handed search and dialing on Pocket PC Phone Edition devices using the D pad
- Five customizable calendar views plus contacts, tasks, notes, and search views
- Timeline view lets you compare schedules and manage projects
- Notes view supports sound files, Outlook notes, PhatNotes, and PhatPad
- Task auto-groupings and hierarchical groups
- Contact grouping by company, department, city, state, and country as well as a picture list
- Appointment bars in all calendar views
- Soundex searching for contacts in the search view
- 2/6/12 month date picker complete with date coloring
- Supports task recurrence/regeneration and show days until due
- Smart macros and active templates make text entry a snap
- Journaling with optional syncing with WebIS' Journal ActiveSync
- Soft keys for main and summary views (WM 5.0 English only)
SETUP
There are two versions of Pocket Informant
bundled in the setup, one for the WM2002/2003 ARM based OS and one for
the WM 5.0. The setup routine will automatically determine which one you
need. If you choose to install directly from .cab the file you
will have to choose the appropriate one. ".ARM.cab" for WM2002/2003 and
".WM5.cab" for WM 5.0.
The setup uses the standard Windows XP/ActiveSync installer dialog.
WebIS packages additional trial software such as Toolbox 3 (which we recently reviewed), and a free version of Phatware's PhatNotes LITE, that you can elect to install.
(all images link to higher resolution)
A new feature in the Windows Mobile 5.0 installer allows you to choose where to install the application without having to make the selection in ActiveSync. This is particularly helpful when using the .cab install method directly on the device.
PROGRAM FEATURES
WebIS releases new versions regularly and
we have reviewed Pocket Informant several times. Pocket
Informant 2005 is an evolutionary release from
version 5 with quite a bit of improvement under the
covers, as well as enhanced user features. If this
is your first look at Pocket Informant, I highly
recommend reading our last
review of version 5.5, since this review will
concentrate on enhancements made since then.
Pocket Informant 2005 addresses the 5 key areas of Personal Information Management, contacts, calendar, tasks, journal and notes. It ties them all together very nicely with it's multiple views, timeline feature and search capabilities.
Introducing -- the revamped interface of Pocket Informant! No, we're just kidding. This is what PI looked like when we last reviewed the application.
The first noticeable change in WM5 is the use of the standard WM 5.0 soft keys at the bottom of the screen which allow you to control the application with one hand, and this works pretty well, but tends to jumble all commands under the singular Menu -- something we'll have to get used to with many WM 5.0 applications. For those that have no need to use the soft keys, you can also configure the application to display the pre WM 5.0 classic look, as depicted on the right image above. The "Next Tab" key allows you cycle through all the different views in the applications. It'd be great if the left soft key could be programed to take on custom tasks.
One of the
additions to the calendar views is how you can zoom
to a selected number of days from the month view.
The zoom feature
works by selecting the number of desired days you
would like to view. I selected the 2 weeks
from the 17th to the 30th. You can then tap on any
day of either view above to display the detail. To
view day details, you have three options which you
can choose from in the interface month and timeline
view settings. The viewing options are: anchored,
inline, and pop up.
The anchored view option shifts the calendar upward. This is the default.
The inline view option shifts the calendar around the detail.
The pop up view option brings the data to the foreground.
You also have the ability to view the tasks that are overdue or due on the day you choose to display. This option can be set for any of the five calendar views.
A very powerful feature (not exclusively new to rev 3) is the ability to create "My Text" entries with current date/time and contact field text substitution. If you continually make lunch appointments, for example, you can create a my text entry to simplify your input. In addition to fixed text entries, you can perform text substitution by entering special variables defined in the Pocket Informant's user manual. In this example %first% and %name% are associated with first name and last name from your contacts. The combination of "My Text" and text substitution is called "Smart Macros."
You can use my text entries and smart macros in most text fields throughout the product. Once you choose a my text smart macro entry with variables associated with contacts, the contact selection screen is displayed.
The result speeds up your entries considerably.
As with previous versions, Pocket Informant 2005 marries templates and smart macros into active templates.
You create an active template by using the template editor. Two types of templates are available, one for tasks and one for appointments.
If you're a power PI user, than you know the power of using active templates. In this example, the subject and location fields have contact based smart macros while the time and status fields were modified from the appointment form defaults.
Once you create a new appointment, you choose the template you want to use.
The contact selection screen is displayed and once you select a contact the appointment screen is filled in. Pretty nice!
The contact entry screen has been updated to include a feature that allows you to add one of the many contact fields that may be seldom used for entry. The option to add a new field to the editor can be found at the top right of the screen. By tapping it, you will bring up all the available contact fields. Once you have made your selection you are returned to the updated entry screen.
The new field is added to the bottom, ready for entry. Another new feature on the left allows you to access more widely used field. By tapping on the + icon next to "Email 1" a new entry field for Email 2" is added. This also works for "Office", "Home", "Email" and "Work Addr" fields.
Pocket Informant 2005 rev 3 has also improved on its ability to link PIM items together and create mini project plans using its timeline feature. This is a very complete product. Utilizing the full potential of what it has to offer will entail some studying.
