As many of you have noticed, over the summer, we added a JAMM contact form. This form has proven to be extremely useful fro developers letting us know on a new release or update, as well as readers asking questions about a product or review. Many of these questions are specific to a particular situation and the answer would only be of interest to the writer. We answer these emails personally.

Every so often, however, we receive an email with a question that is so universal in nature that it would make no sense to answer it personally. These are questions which probably hundreds of users have asked themselves, and I think the entire community would benefit from sharing the response and discussion. This latter describes the question we received from the JAMM contact form today. 

Steven asks:

Q: What is the difference between Spb Mobile Shell 1.5 and Spb Pocket Plus 4.0.1? They seem to list similar features and benefits. The reviews even mention similar points. Also should I buy both, if not which one should I purchase?

Stick with us an jump past the break. I may not be "Dear Abby" but, in the esteemed tradition of Gear Diary,  I will provide my thoughts in response to Steven’s question.

A: This is an excellent question, which I have seen raised in the Spb Forums from time to time (even by myself on one occasion). Spb Mobile Shell is, hands down, the best and most versatile program available for your Windows Mobile device. It is the first program I install on a new device. Yet, it is not without its critics. Probably the most valid criticism of Spb Mobile Shell is that it partially overlaps with numerous other programs, causing confusion as to what it can actually do and what it can actually replace. For example, it includes Time Tab, which is a scaled down variation of Spb Time. Likewise, the Weather Tab is a scaled down version of Spb Weather. Both provide the basic functions of the other programs, but not the advanced features.

Nowhere is this overlap more apparent, however, than in the Today Screen Plug-in. Although both Today Screen Plug-ins (Mobile Shell and Pocket Plus) offer a tabbed interface, the Pocket Plus 4 plug-in is considerably more customizable. From here, you can create any tab, and place any items, programs or today screen plug-ins within each tab. The Mobile Shell plug-in, however, behaves considerably differently. From here, you can add one of several preset tabs or, you can add a tab for any today screen plug-ins you have installed on your device, loading only one plug-in per tab. The Mobile Shell plug-in offers a fantastic method for organizing the information which would normally be displayed on your today scree, whereas Pocket Plus is designed much more to be an effective program launcher.

Of course, just to confuse matters, the Home tab in Mobile Shell allows you to launch any of the last 12 programs you ran; while you can also add any Today Screen plug-in to the tabs in Pocket Plus.

The more important differences, however, lie outside of the Today Screen Plug-in in each program.

In addition to the Today Screen Plug-in, Pocket Plus 4 offers:

• Memory, battery, and brightness indicators
• Taskbar battery indicator
• True close button
• Task manager
• [Alt]-[Tab] task switcher
• Safe mode boot
• Pocket Internet Explorer enhancements
• Smart scrolling
• New file open/save dialogues
• File archiving
• File extension and attributes
• Zip and Unzip files
• Enhanced button mapping

Mobile Shell, on the other hand is a little more complicated to reduce to bulleted features. It integrates completely into your device, offering an entirely new interface for interacting with your device. It does this through the Now Screen, which is a sort of screen saver,loading each time you turn on your device. The Now Screen displays all of the vital information you need at a glance. Additionally, there is the Spb Menu, which offers a finger friendly method for scrolling through all of the programs and settings on your device. One part of Spb Menu is also the "My Menu" in which you can place the nine programs, settings or items which you access the most and launch them with a single tap of your finger.

Additionally, Spb Mobile Shell offers Spb Contacts. Again, this is a finger friendly application (which very easily could have been a standalone program) which allows you to organize, edit and create contacts. You can even dial a contact or send an email from this screen.

Obviously, this is not an depth look at either program. For that, you should check out our overview of Spb Mobile Shell and the Spb Pocket Plus 4 vs. SBSH iLauncher 3 Head to Head Review. However, as I have attempted to illustrate, despite the apparent overlapping functions, both programs offer significant functionality besides the overlapping Today Screen Plug-ins. Which one is right for you will depend in a large part of what your needs are.

As I mentioned at the beginning, one of the primary criticisms of Mobile Shell is that it overlaps, but does not replace, many Spb programs, including: Phone Suite, Pocket Plus, Time, and Weather. For this reason, some users have suggested that it might make more sense for Mobile Shell to be reconfigured as a container, into which you could add fully operational modules such as the aforementioned programs. Whether Spb decides to take Mobile Shell in that direction remains to be seen.

As for me, I use both Mobile Shell and Pocket Plus. I have looked into dropping one in favor of the other on numerous occasions. What I found, however, was that I could not live without Mobile Shell’s Spb Menu and My Menu on the one hand; and I could not live without Pocket Plus’ customization on the other. So, what do you all prefer? Tell us how you have configured your device. Do you use Mobile Shell? Pocket Plus? Are you like me and use both? Or are you like many readers who use one of the many other programs out there such as SBSH iLauncher?

Technorati Tags: spb software house, pocket plus 4, mobile shell, comparison, just another mobile monday, jamm

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