Comments on: Review: Spb Mobile Shell 2.0 — Never Look At Windows Mobile The Same Way Again

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:32:46 +0000

I think you are right, it is odd to essentially have the same feature with two very different looks and interactions. Personally, I prefer the individual contact screen from the Speed Dial Panel. It is quick and easy. And, there has only been one time when the number I needed was not right there.

You can access SMS, Email and Missed Calls from the Now Screen.But you are right, you can’t access the full call log. I think this will be fixed soon.

Doug

By: melvynadam

melvynadam — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:17:03 +0000

“isn’t that pretty much the same as the screen you see when you tap to bring up individual contact information on the Speed Dial Panel”
Not really. For a start, it includes ALL phone numbers. For another, a single tap in the Today plugin allows you to dial a user customizable number for that contact. I think that’s more useful than the Mobile Shell paradigm. My biggest issue I suppose is that there are two different modes of operation from the same software company for the same functions.

I’d happily do away with the complete Mobile Shell Today plugin. However, it’s not possible while I want to retain features like:
- Quick access to the call log: From the Phone Suite tab, tap and hold on any of the messaging icons (SMS, Email, Missed Calls). From the context menu, select Call Log. There’s no way to get to the call log in Mobile Shell until the suggestion in the above review is implemented (”include a button which could link back to the Windows Mobile call history”).
- Phone Profiles > Select to Time > More
- Spb Phone Suite’s Wireless Manager

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:23:41 +0000

Some good points you raise, Melvyn. Some of the features you requested, I think would be more appropriate in Phone Suite and then integrated.

As for your tap and hold request, isn’t that pretty much the same as the screen you see when you tap to bring up individual contact information on the Speed Dial Panel?

I agree with you that this is far more robust than any Today Screen Plug-in could ever be, for space requirements alone. But then the real bottom line is whatever works for you.

Interesting thought about putting running programs in the Now Screen. I had not thought of that before. But I do think the Now Screen is getting a bit cluttered.

Doug

By: melvynadam

melvynadam — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:12:13 +0000

Been playing with it now for 20mins or so. Managed to crash my device by going from Now to Weather, tapping the sync button then trying to go back to Weather.

Initial thoughts (from a v1.5 fan):
- It’s much faster - my device boots far quicker now.
- Time component: Still missing many places. Just tried to add “Morrisville, North Carolina” and various cities in Israel.
- Time component: The fact that you can’t filter cities by a single country is a feature that’s been left out for far too long.
- Love the gesture to launch any of the three main pages.
- The Today Plugin tab for Spb Phone Suite has a great feature for speed dials: tap and hold a contact’s picture and you get a choice of the means of communicating with that individual. This is one of my favourite elements of the application. The new quick dial page of Mobile Shell is crying out for this feature.
- Still no “Set to time>More” on the profile change to allow you to set the time to revert the change (i.e. instead of fixed period of 10mins, you could say “until 6:45pm”). This feature is available from the Spb Phone Suite tab of the Today Plugin but not the Spb Phone Suite plugin on the Now Screen.

I really disagree with Spmwinkel about the contrast between this app and a well configured Today Screen. The gesture launch of this from any application is incomparable with any Today plugin. Also, the screen space given to each of the components physically can’t be achieved on the Today screen which makes this a far more thumb-friendly environment than any Today plugin can achieve (IMHO).

Agree completely with Doug about the lack of tie-in with 3rd party apps. It’s been repeatedly requested on the Spb forums but so far to no avail. In February 2007, Spb assured forum readers that “Integration with other programs has high priority in the feature list”. We’re still waiting:
http://www.spbclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4007&highlight=

One final point. Am I the only one who thinks a “Now” screen without a shortcut to the “currently running applications” is a misnomer? I need to tap Menu > Tools > Task Manager when I really ought to be able to get there quicker.

By: melvynadam

melvynadam — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:49:50 +0000

Really useful review - thanks. I just set the cab file to install on my device but the uninstall of v1.5 seems to have crashed on one bar. Oh well, it seems there is *one* use left for the old stylus

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:37:02 +0000

Yeah, that chart was from the reviewer’s guide. I just could not fit it into my review. Needless to say, Memory consumption has been a huge priority for Spb and they have done a great job of significantly reducing memory with this one. That is particularly impressive, given the number of enhancements, including animation, gestures, and the expanded Now Screen.

Peter, I have to say that I never used the Now Screen with Mobile Shell 1.5. With 2.0, I can;t turn it off. The quick access it offers is just too significant. With only a tap or two, I have complete access to my contacts, programs, settings, and just about anything else I need. All in an extremely attractive and fairly well designed shell.

Doug

By: spmwinkel

spmwinkel — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:18:13 +0000

Peter, 4WinMobile had a chart with memory consuption, a comparison between Spb MS 1.5 and 2.0 on various screen resolutions.

http://www.4winmobile.com/forums/4wm-reviews-software/14853-spb-mobile-shell-2-0-review.html

It’s near the bottom.

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:11:50 +0000

Great review Doug, and although I can see the point of the Now screen enhancements, I’m not sold on this one. For a PDA user there is not that much added that is useful. Never been a fan of the Now screen, the today plug-in and MRU features are my faves, add PI, weather, time messaging and backup and it’s sweet for me. I like the animations, but I can live without it I think. I wish they had focused more on the today plug-in
Anyone got a memory usage comparison yet?

By: spmwinkel

spmwinkel — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:31:32 +0000

Awesome job on getting a review out so soon after the release. Just tried the trial last night for a bit, and I found that the concept simply didn’t work for me. If I wouldn’t have a Today screen I am very happy with, the story might be different, but now I feel that I rather see the information on the Today screen, which I can customize, than on the Now screen which is not so customizable. So to be true, I get to the point where the Now screen helps in some cases, but is only an extra step to get to my Today screen in other cases. And I’m so used to PocketBreeze, iLauncher etc. that it’s easier to stick to that, than to adjust my behaviours and get used to Spb Mobile Shell. Which doesn’t mean that I think that Spb Mobile Shell can’t be a killer app, because it probably is for a LOT of people! Maybe just not for people who already have a very efficient Today screen (which requires several programs and therefore more money, of course).

By: Brandon Steili

Brandon Steili — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:52:26 +0000

I’ve not had but a few minutes to really play with this so far but I do want to agree but respectfully disagree on the Calendar/appointments part being on the “now” screen. 9 times out of 10 when I turn on my device its for something like checking out my upcoming appointments or checking what date Thursday is. The Now screen - while slightly more cluttered by the inclusion of this information - really provides a great “at-a-glance” functionality for someone like me. Overall I personally feel moving any of that information onto another screen would take away from the functionality and usefulness of the Now screen and take me one more click/step away from getting to what I really want to see.

Also, and hopefully Apple won’t strike me down for this - but I have to hand it to SPB for developing an application that I REALLY want to see on my iPhone. One of the biggest problems I have with my iPhone is that I tend to forget to check the calendar because it’s not staring me in the face when I turn it on. WinMo has it on the homescreen - SPB has it on the Now screen and it almost smacks you with the fact that you have stuff to do and you better dammed well remember that. Overall - I’d gladly pay for this app on my iPhone - WITHOUT HESITATION, simply for the Now screen and the gesturing. Teamed with the glass screen/multi-touch interface on the iPhone it could be an incredible application.

I think given the multitude of different hardware and the difficulty of “finger” interaction on the typical WinMo device SPB did one heck of a job with this new release. So far I’m very impressed and without a doubt this is going to end up being one of my “have to have” apps for Windows Mobile this year. It might even be the first thing that gets installed…

Oh - and great review Doug. I know you would have liked a bit more time to polish it up - but given the circumstances you did a bang up job!

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:33:22 +0000

Thanks, Ragart.

Just goes to show that everyone finds something different to love. For me, like I said, the Contacts mostly just felt out of place. I think it would have fit better in Phone Suite.

Doug

By: Ragart

Ragart — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:31:11 +0000

Fantastic review, Doug! Insanely thorough, and I’m sure it’ll convince a lot of people to purchase

Funnily enough, I really love the SPB Contacts. I think it’s a great addition to the shell, since it’s there if you need it, but out of the way if you don’t. I like it a lot more than SBSH’s Contactbreeze, which is badly in need of an update.