PIM management on Windows Mobile devices, has always been lacking, spurning a large number of third party applications, to augment the native, mediocre, PIM management included on WinMo devices. If you’re lucky, [like me] when you’re a new windows mobile user, you’ll find a PIM Management application that meets your needs entirely and stick with it.

You have to move on though, and explore what’s out there for the platform. Now I have always favoured an all in one personal information manager, a program that does calendar, contacts, tasks from the one interface, but recently I had a look at SBSH Calendar Touch, and have become much more interested in what I’ll dub “PIM Pods”. Applications that take a specific portion of your personal info, and let you manage it, with some sort of integration of the rest of your PIM, while still focusing on their specific area.

What you really get are applications that are specifically tailored to your own needs when using your device. If your Windows mobile device is your communicator, you want every aspect of your contacts, MMS, SMS,Email,Calls covered in one place. This is what SunnySoft Contacts tries to deliver, but how does it fare?

Install

A little background here, when I first started looking at this application, I installed it on my Axim x51v. The desktop installer recognised the device I was installing on, and certain features pertaining to a Windows Mobile phone were not accessible. I’ve recently picked up a HTC Kaiser {unfortunate name} Tilt, Tytn II, and when installing on that device, the install program detected the Tilt, and applied the settings for a WinMo Phone. That is what I call intelligent software design. Quite a surprising feature, and one I hadn’t anticipated, or seen before. I haven’t tried a straight .cab install, so I cant say anything about the difference. Straight away though, this said to me attention to detail.

Look

There’s some good graphic design at the core of this program, from the program icon, which I just liked, don’t ask me why! It’s the icon with the three people there, they remind me of jelly babies.

The UI is quite smooth, It presents you with a list of contacts, tap on any contact and it will display a contact photo, double tap and you go to a larger view that will let you edit the contact, or view the history of your interaction with that contact.

It is rather eye pleasing, and to note I’ve used a filter so that I don’t have to edit out contact details.

For a long time Windows Mobile user, you will have already categorised and customised your PIM information, and that sort of customisation is what SunnySoft contacts draws from. Now you can just use the on screen keyboard and dial numbers you want to call, and then add them to your contacts, or scroll through the  list of contacts and call, email, MMS and SMS, from your contact details.

The fact that SS contacts, piggybacks on your existing windows mobile PIM database, is a boon for the program, and one of it’s biggest downfalls. When you edit contacts, view contact history, or full history, you are taken to a native WinMo application. You go from a great UI to the standard black and white, editor.

I’d really like to see this pull the info from the WinMo Data base, with it’s own good looks.

Like it does with it’s history button

Finger Friendly

One of the things I’ve been rather skeptical of, and not many developers have really delivered on is the finger friendly support that they have been trying to achieve for Windows Mobile. I’m sure it has something to do with the iPhone, but the older Windows Mobile software/Hardware, hasn’t been great at handling this sort of thing.

If I talk about SS Contacts on the Axim, the VGA resolution and screen size are actually complimentary to the finger friendly side of this application, Once the screen size and resolution diminish, so does the human manipulation of this application (sans stylus). On the Kaiser, with the smaller screen, SS Contacts is not a fail, for it’s finger friendly integration. In all of the most commonly used screens the finger scrolling, works well, and i’m sure if you had a more powerful device, the scrolling and finger use, would be much more usseful. The main interface of the application, is great for finger friendly aaccess, but once you go a bit deeper, editing, applying filters etc, you have to access a stylus oriented menu. The combination is not a killer, but if you are going to use this, you are better off to just use the stylus.

Conclusion

I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea here, I really like this application, for it’s look and feel, I just think there are some updates coming. The reason we purchase third party applications is to escape the Windows Mobile interface, When an application reverts to WinMo, it increases ram utilisation on the device, thus impeding the device. Slowing it down considerably.

I’m not canning this, it is just not as sophisticated as I think it might be. It’s well worth a look, and I’ll add here, it’s probably going to be a lot smoother on some of the more recent windows mobile devices.

Product page is here

SunnySoft Contacts is available for $14.95 USD

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