Users of mobile devices each tend to have a different set of functionality they desire.  Some want to be able to browse the internet, some to have great multimedia capabilities, some want to use the device as a laptop replacement.  Believe it or not, some even want the device to be just a quality phone.  With all of the various uses that are highlighted as the “stand out” functionality of new devices, and in my opinion especially the iPhone, Personal Information Management (PIM) is often overlooked.  Enter Agendus for iPhone.

Assuming that you are not new to the world of mobile computing, going back to the Palm OS, chances are that you are familiar with the emphasis on PIM management.  There’s also a very good chance that you are familiar with Agendus, Iambic‘s flagship application.  Iambic has since brought Agendus to Windows Mobile and Blackberry operating systems, and finally to the iPhone and iPod Touch.  As Iambic was kind enough to provide a copy for review, grab yourself a glass of iced tea and read on to see how Agendus dares to encourage quality PIM management on the iPhone.

Agendus’ primary functionality in version 1.o is built around tasks and contact management.  Boiling PIM down to the core, managing activities doesn’t get any more basic that planning what it is that a person needs to do.  Agendus excels at this.  Task definition is robust, providing a number of features to choose from.  When creating tasks, categories can be assigned, notes can be attached and contacts can be linked.  Agendus even provides support for specifying a start time for the due date.

Iambic has integrated numerous ways for users to filter the tasks, allowing a glance at what is to be accomplished today, tomorrow, etc..  The filter selection screen is very attractive, with icons and intuitive labeling.

Contacts management is the second facet of PIM that Agendus tackles.  If you’re familiar with Agendus from Palm OS or Windows Mobile, you’re aware that the program is built around contact functionality.  In the iPhone version, two unique views have been provided:  Compact View and Expanded View.  The differences between the two views are pretty self-explanatory, but there are a couple of worthwhile features to note.

Of course, tapping on an existing contact presents the user with contextual actions:  allowing for quick dialing or addressing of a text message.  Agendus has always excelled at integrating it’s data manipulation with device hardware.  Kudos to Iambic for continuing support of this on the iPhone.

Agendus’  Today View provides the user with a glimpse of important information, including today and tomorrow’s tasks.  If you are coming from being an Agendus user on a different platform, you will find this familiar.

First impressions may be that a second screen displaying tasks seems redundant.  Fortunately, Agendus incorporates additional information, pulled from the internet, to enrich the layout.  The Today View also displays a “Quote of the Day”, a “Day in History” blurb and local weather.  The weather is configurable to  your local area, so  I was easily able to set up my home town of Coffeyville, Kansas by entering the town’s zip code.  Tapping on the truncated weather on the Today View screen takes the user into a different form, presenting the forecase for multiple days.

The version that I’ve been testing on my iPod Touch is 1.0.  Iambic, eager to incorporate more functionality and fix bugs, has already submitted version 1.01 to the iTunes App Store.  Submitted for review on June 30th, version 1.01 promises to include several new fixes and refines many of the present features.  Check out all of the goodies that you’ll get when the update becomes live in the iTunes App Store here.

PIM management likely brings to mind three major types of data to manage.  Tasks, contacts and appointments.  Discussed above, we already know that Agendus covers all the bases with tasks and contacts functionality, but doesn’t address appointment functionality.  Up front, this isn’t any fault of Iambic!  Apple has always restricted developer access to various aspects of the the iPhone’s functionality, with one being no permission to work with the calendar data in any way.  Rest assured that Iambic is looking into possible solutions and has their eye on the day that Apple finally wises up and incorporates support for a Calendar SDK.  You can read about their plans here.

Highlights

• Extends built in Contacts functionality
• Adds support for Tasks, an area that has been overlooked in the iPhone’s stock OS
• Integrates web based weather information into Today View

Areas of Concern

• As noted above, Calendar / Appointment functionality is missing

Specifications

• Price:  $7.99
• Version:  1.0
• Size:  .5 MB
• OS 3 Compatible

Finally, I recommend Agendus for the iPhone and iPod Touch, for two reasons.  First, it’s a great start to a full featured PIM management application.  Granted, it’s version 1.0 and has a ways to go before catching up with the functionality found in other versions.  This dovetails in with the second reason for recommending Agendus.  Iambic has a long history of standing behind their products.  They continually provide major and minor updates, incorporating both new features and bug fixes.  To me, it looks like a good time to jump on the Agendus for iPhone bus and see what is in store for the future updates!

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