SPB Software House, today, released a new public beta of their critically acclaimed Diary today screen plug-in.  For anyone familiar with Diary, I don’t have to tell you how critical it can be to have all of your appointments, tasks, contacts and more at your fingertips.  This has become one of the most important programs on my Axim, particularly since the release of version 2.0 earlier this year. 

One thing that has really impressed me about SPB has been the way their developers listen to the needs and desires of the users.  A common refrain on the SPB Diary Support Forum is, "If enough people request it a feature, we will add it."  The new features in SPB Diary 2.1 is a perfect example of this philosophy.  The first new feature listed, integration with WebIS Flexmail, was not offered before it was requested in the support forum.  It was included based upon the overwhelming requests for it.  So, thank you, SPB Team.

I’ll be doing a more comprehensive review of SPB Diary 2.1 soon.  For now, you can download the SPB Diary 2.1 Public Beta from the SPB Diary Support Forum.

The following new features were implemented:

• FlexMail 2007 support added
• Conflicting appointments feature implemented
• Many changes to search panel (see more details below)
• Photos assigned in PhotoContacts Pro are shown now
• Photos not shown when HTC PhotoContacts stores them on SD problem fixed
• Photos in contacts can be GIF files now
• Creating new contact from a company group feature implemented
• Possibility to add more sorting modes for tasks tab via registry added (find more details here)

and the following problems were resolved:

• Uninstallation problem resolved (this and further builds should not fail while uninstalling)
• Freeze when previewing some messages problem fixed
• Bug category missing when new items created on desktop fixed
• Bug with some time-zones not handled correctly fixed
• Bug with exceptional meeting requests causing calendar loading failure fixed
• Bug with recurring appointments and leap years fixed
• Exceptioned all-day recurring appointments shown incorrectly bug fixed
• A rare problem causing calendar tab not working fixed
• Warning when deleting read-only notes added
• Completed tasks not shown in some situations problem fixed
• Scrolling with hardware buttons in pop-up windows device specific problem resolved
• When grouping tasks by due date undated group is shown in the end of list now
• Problem with wrong file extension when making a copy of .DOC file fixed
• Bug with message not marked as read when pop-up closed with hardware "OK button fixed
• Contacts with only "File As" field shown correctly now
• MMS are doubled when moving between folders problem fixed
• Time-span window closing itself immediately bug fixed (Dopod)
• Some texts in Options changed (capital letters)

The following changes to search panel in Contacts and Notes tabs were made:

• Support of hardware keyboard added
• Context menu in search panel added
• Custom search languages support added (via registry)
• Hebrew and Greek search alphabets added into package
• Possibility to hide backspace (<<) button added (registry key ‘PhoneKeyb_DisableBackspace’)
• Search in company name implemented
• Spaces when searching are ignored now
• Long action hold on backspace (<<) clears search now

Hardware keyboard support feature might not work for some devices, so it is disabled by default. We would appreciate if you check if it is working or not in your case and inform us. To enable this feature you will have to change "AdvancedKeyboardSupport" registry key. The possible values are: 0 – Disabled (by default now); 1 – Enable when plugin is active (is selected); 2 – Enable always (when you press any symbol key diary take selection).

Related posts:

1. Spb Software Announces Public Beta of Diary 2.5
2. SPB Diary – Version 2.02 Released
3. Spb Diary 2.5 Rocks PPCs Everywhere!
4. Spb Diary 2.0 – Call for Public beta testers
5. SPB Diary 2.0 Released & Reviewed