Not long ago, I needed a program that would allow me to access my Pocket PC from my desktop.  I was testing some programs that required me to input text on my Pocket PC, and I got tired of leaning over my desk the on-screen keyboard.  I started thinking how nice it would be if I could just use my laptop keyboard to input data on the screen while the device was synced.  In addition to that, I wanted something that could easily take remote screen captures of my device from my laptop to use in my reviews.  Finally, I wanted a program that could control my device remotely for testing purposes.  Well, here we go, I thought, now I have to find three new programs to download.  Not so fast.   Thanks to my fellow JAMM writer, tjchan, I discovered Soti Pocket Controller, a single program that does everything I described, and more. 

I was so excited about Pocket Controller (then the 5.07 version) that I immediately started writing this review.  Before I got very far, however, I learned of the coming release of Pocket Controller 6, and decided to wait  — and boy am I glad I did.  Where the previous version was a 3-in-1 program, Pocket Controller 6 offers a 10-in-1 program with a slick Windows Vista interface. 

Installation and Registration: Just download the desktop installer from Soti’s website or the JAMM store.  The installation package will load the necessary software both on your desktop and your Pocket PC.  Once you install it, you can test drive all of the program’s robust features for four days.  Frankly, I did not feel that this was nearly enough time to learn everything this Pocket Controller can do.  This should have been extended to 15 days, at a minimum.  Once you purchase the software, you will be sent a registration code via email.  Enter the code for full access.  Note that current users of Soti Pocket Controller Pro 5.07 may be entitled to a free or reduced price upgrade.

Connecting to your device: Connecting your device to your desktop via Pocket Controller is even easier than Activesync.  On most computers, when you install the program, an icon will be created in your task bar tray.  Just click open and the Pocket Controller start screen will appear with a button to connect.  Just click this connect button and Pocket Controller will automatically seek out your device and sync with it.  Within seconds, an image of your device screen will be displayed on your desktop.  Piece of cake.

Once you have connected Pocket Controller to your device, a larger than life image of your device screen will appear on your desktop screen.  This image is fully responsive, meaning you can control every aspect of your device from your computer.  It is a perfect remote control.  One thing I noticed immediately was the lack of any lag time in the responsiveness.  With the previous version, there was a significant amount of lag time between the device taking an action and transmitting it to your screen.  Not anymore.  With version 6.0, the response is instantaneous, making this an even better tool for controlling your device.

In addition to simply allowing you to display and control your device remotely, this is also a perfect tool for presentations and training.  Let’s face it, teaching a group of people to use a Pocket PC can leave a little too much to the imagination.  A group of 20 people, all huddled around a tiny Treo or Sprint Mogul from HTC will usually result in a lot of cricked necks and cries of, "I can’t see.  What did he just do?"

Now, imagine that same image of your Treo screen (or Motorola Q, i-Mate Jaq3 or whatever, blown up 150% (or more) and displayed on your computer screen.  Now, everyone can stand around your screen, comfortably watching your demonstration.  For larger groups, you could even hook up a projector and project the image for everyone to see.  Frankly, the possibilities of this software as a teaching tool are endless. 

Interface: The new interface for version 6.0 is a vast improvement over the previous versions.  Not to imply that the previous version had a bad interface.  It was an extremely functional, Windows XP interface.  The new interface, however, which is based on Windows Vista and the Office 2007 Ribbon Bar is simply amazing.  It is intuitive and easy to find exactly what you need.

The main interface is divided into four tabs which run long the upper ribbon:

• home
• view
• capture
• buttons

By selecting any of these tabs, the ribbon will shift to display the options within that particular tab, and hiding all others.  This means only the options associated with the feature you are using need to be displayed, making for a much cleaner and more intuitive interface.  Let’s take a closer look at each of the tabs.

Home Tab: The home tab is going to serve as your main interaction with your device from your computer screen.  From here, you can review and monitor almost any information your Pocket PC has to share. 

First, Soti Pocket Controller offer a fantastic and powerful file explorer.  If you need to manipulate files on your device, or transfer files between your device and your desktop, this is the tool you have been seeking.  The dual pane view allows you to keep an eye on the main file tree, while examining the contents of the selected folder simultaneously.  This means you can easily grab a file and drag it into another folder in the tree view pane.  Until now, the only means of doing this were by using Activesync — which was difficult to say the least — or the Windows File Explorer, which is also considerably less than ideal.  Sure there may be some other third party programs that can help, but until now, I have not found one that is as easy to use as Pocket Controller.

Next, Pocket Controller offers a System Information Tool, which allows you to monitor your device’s critical performance indicators.  From here, you can see which Operating System your are running (this can be critically important when you are deciding whether you need Pocket PC or Smartphone software), information relating to the size and status of your display, a detailed synopsis of your memory usage and availability, and a battery indicator.  The battery monitor seems a bit superfluous to me, because your device must be connected in order to use Pocket Controller, which means the battery is typically either charged or in the process of charging in the dock.  That being said, more and more devices are able to sync wirelessly via Bluetooth, so I do see the importance of this option to those users.  Overall, I found the ability to quickly and easily access this information from my desktop to be a real hidden bonus of this program.  It gave me the freedom to study the performance of my device and determine whether I would need to make any changes in order to optimize the allocation of resources.

The Task Monitor tool should be nothing new to Pocket PC users.  There is a small one built into your device, and several extremely nice ones are available both as commercial products (SK Tools and MemMaid) or freeware.  I have never seen a program, however, which allows you to access and control this information from your desktop.  From the Task Monitor, you can review all of the running tasks on your device.  Select kill to stop the task, or double click on any entry to view more details.  To be honest, much of this information might as well have been written in a foreign language for all the good it did me.  But you might find it to be more useful…especially those readers who are actively enjoy hacking their registries.

Which brings me to the next tool offered by Pocket Controller, the Registry Editor.  The Registry Editor is set up much like the File Explorer, with a file tree on one side and the contents of the selected folder on the other side of a double paned window.  To be honest, I have never been much of a registry hacker, however, I also recognize that many of you are.  Like the File Explorer, this is an extremely easy format to use.  It is also the only program that I am aware of which allows you to easily manipulate and edit the registry on your device from the comfort and convenience of your desktop.

The built-in Synchronization Manager allows you to sync files or folders between your computer and your device.  Unlike an Activesync connection, Pocket Controller allows you to completely control the sync process by creating your own synchronization rules.  This clever tool ensures that you can modify any document, and maintain all of the changes on both your computer and your device.  Now, you can edit on the go without fear of retyping all of your changes when you return to the office.

The final two tools in this tab are the Dos Window and Restart.  These are both fairly self explanatory.  The DOS Window will open a DOS style prompt which you can use to input commands for your device.  I am not a programmer, and really have not used DOS at all since Windows 95 came out, so this was not a tool which I could make any use out of.  That being said, many of you would probably find some interesting uses for accessing your device through a DOS window, and we would love to hear them.

The Restart option gives you the choice of restarting (soft reset) or wiping (hard reset) your device.  Be aware, however, that wiping your device will delete any files, folders, registry information, and programs which you may have had stored there.  So, if you do wipe your device, don’t say I never warned you.

Combined, these tools allow you to remotely monitor and access all of the important system resources on your Pocket PC.  These are critical tools, which are typically sold individually for use on your Pocket PC.  The fact that they are all packaged together and allow you to easily and attractively view the information from your desktop computer, is only one part of what makes Pocket Controller an indispensable program for any Pocket PC user.

 View Tab: One of my favorite features of Pocket Controller is its unique ability to add skins to the image of your device.  In other words, not only will it display an interactive image of your screen, but it will also put that image in context by adding an exact replica of your device.  The device skin catalogue contained on Soti’s website includes hundreds (if not thousands) of devices, and is constantly being updated.  Nonetheless, if you are looking for a device that is not represented, you can simply email them with images of your device and they will create a skin for your device.  This is a fantastic feature because when you take screen shots, it allows you to see not only what the program looks like, but how it will look on your specific device.

In addition to creating skins, you can also control the background of your screen.  Fill the background behind the image of your device with any solid color, or you can choose a website to display in the background (of course, I chose JAMM for this).  This is a fantastic option for anyone who uses Pocket Controller as a teaching or presentation tool because it protects any information you may have been viewing in another window on your computer, and allows others to see only the background screen you select.

Once the image is displayed on your screen and your background is set, you can also use Pocket Controller to manipulate how your device is displayed on the screen.  By default, it will be shown in Portrait view (vertical), however, you can rotate it in either direction if the program you are displaying needs to be shown in landscape mode.  You can even zoom in or out if you want to highlight a particular item on the screen.

If you really want to emphasize a particular item, you can also select the Draw tool (or John Madden tool as I call it).  This provides you with a pen in your choice of colors which you can use to circle, note, or otherwise draw on the screen.  You can even use this tool to sketch out complex sports plays.  Just like Monday Night Football, the X’s and O’s will appear right on your screen.  Simply toggle out of draw mode and your markings will immediately disappear.

The options in this tab are all geared toward allowing you to examine and present the materials on your screen in the most convenient manner possible.  They allow you to control what will be displayed on the screen, and the manner in which it is displayed.  This is all extremely important to anyone who uses Pocket Controller as a teaching tool or for taking screen shots.  Rotate, zoom, color, or draw, this is the place where you can do it all.

 Capture Tab: The capture tab is where I spend the majority of my time with Pocket Controller.  Sure, I appreciate all of the system tools and display options.  To be honest, however, the primary reason I needed this program was to take remote screen captures for my reviews.

  I absolutely love the screen capture options available in Pocket Controller.  To begin, you can choose whether to capture the screen image only or an image of the screen with the device skin included.  This means that your screen images will be displayed in the context of your device.  Again, this is fantastic because it allows you to show exactly how a program will look when it has been installed on your device, rather than just a generic image floating on the page.  From here, you can save a screen capture to your computer or print a hard copy.

From this tab, you can also create movies to show the steps being taken on your screen.  This is extremely useful, for example, if you are demonstrating a new on-screen input method, such as Speedscript.  Rather than showing a static image, you can show a short recorded clip of the program in action.

Buttons Tab: Finally, the Buttons Tab is relatively self explanatory.  It provides a button in the ribbon bar for each hardware button on your device.  This allows you to quickly and easily access the hardware button functions, even if you are not in skin mode. 

Conclusion: Whether you are an instructor, software reviewer, or just an average user, Soti Pocket Controller will have a tool for you.  In fact, the program offers such a wide variety of tools and utilities, that it would be almost impossible for you to use it for any length of time and not find something you need. 

Soti’s website advertises Pocket Controller as a 10-in-1 tool, however, I think this was a significant understatement.  In fact, I bet if you looked hard enough, you would probably find a kitchen sink somewhere under the hood of this program.  Simply put, Pocket Controller offered everything I needed, and more.  This is, by far, the most complete package I have ever seen for the Pocket PC. 

Vital Statistics:

Name: Pocket Controller 6

Version: 6.0

Platform: WM 2003 SE, WM 5 Smartphone, Windows XP, Windows Vista

Also Available:  All platforms are supported

Developer: Soti

Price:          $34.95

Available From: Soti

                           JAMM Store (The JAMM store still offers only version 5.07. You can purchase this version, however, and request a free upgrade to version 6 from Soti).

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