VITO Technology has recently released an upgrade to FunContact.  The update brings the version number up to 3, so with the major number change we decided it was time to spend some hands on time with the program.  I’ve installed FunContact on my Wizard (thanks to VITO for donating a copy for review) and have spent some time with it as my primary contact manager.  Grab a glass of iced tea and join us to see how FunContact faired.

The premise of FunContact is simple.  It offers a finger friendly user interface for managing contacts.  The full screen interface (the standard top and bottom bars of Windows Mobile are hidden) is broken up into three different views:  a scrollable list of contacts, a favorites pane and a recent caller screen.  Each of these can be navigated using icons resting comfortably at the bottom of the screen.  Within each of the views, the screen scrolls nicely as you swipe your finger up or down.  As with the icons at the bottom of the screen to switch views, all of the selectable buttons and objects are large and finger friendly.

Screen one allows the user to fluidly scroll up and down through the full list of contacts on your Windows Mobile device.  An index bar, recognizable from various contact managers, resides along the right side of the screen.  Quick searching for a contact can also be done using the number pad.  It would be a wonderful addition if this number pad could be used to enter a number for dialing that doesn’t already exist in the program.

The second of the three screens provides a “favorites” panel, containing a list of tagged contacts.  Tapping one of the favorites allows you to initiate a phone call or SMS to the person.  The entries, displaying a thumbnail image of the contact, are large, oriented towards the finger friendly nature that we’ve come to expect by now.

Screen three provides users with a list of recent incoming and outgoing calls.  As you’ve probably gathered by now, the display is easily scrollable.  Selecting one of the entries allows the user to choose between the option of calling or sending an SMS.

It’s safe to assume that FunContact works with the same database as your Pocket Outlook, so there is no need to have a separate copy of your information.  This means no need for messing importing and exporting.  You can also add new contacts directly from the program, with the option to complete the fields in the program or switch over to the standard Pocket Outlook New Contact form.

The next aspect of FunContact that we are going to look at is the installation of the program.  With the CAB weighing in at near 3 MB, I opted for installation on my Wizard’s external memory card.  I’m stingy with my RAM, so I was initially very glad to see that there weren’t any additional components installed to internal memory.  FunContact worked just fine running it from the card, with perhaps only a small performance lag when initially loading the program.  One additional aspect of installation that is worth noting is that FunContacts seems to take over the standard Windows Mobile Contacts links, so if you choose your Contacts program you’re automatically going to be redirected.

As I noted earlier, I’ve spent some time working with FunContact as my primary means of handling contacts.  I’m not a heavy phone user… typically I only talk with one person on my cell phone per day, maybe two.  If I have a day where I call more than three people, I’m being very social (no kidding).  What I do need for this though, is a quick solution.  I want to be able to initiate the call quickly.  I don’t want to have to think about what I’m doing.  While the finger friendly user interface found in FunContact is useful:  it’s quick once you are inside of the program; there are a few too many steps involved.  FunContact requires me to jump into the program, switch to the favorites view and tap the contact to initiate a call.  VITO may want to consider a solution for speeding up this procress, perhaps a solution as a today plugin displaying the favorite contacts.

In conclusion, FunContact provides a finger friendly alternative to the standard Windows Mobile Pocket Outlook Contact solution.  It’s got more glam and glitz that the standard offering and is fun to use, from the scrolling and animation aspect.  Read on for my favorite aspects and concerns regarding FunContact.

What I Liked About FunContact 3:

• The ability to install to the card is welcomed for the memory conservative.
• The finger friendly interface is very fluid in use.
• The dark theme is very professional and aesthetically pleasing.

What I Didn’t Like About FunContact 3:

• There is a lack of customization in the program.
• There is no today screen plugin for dialing contacts.
• There is no integration with the connection manager.
• The top and bottom bars of Windows Mobile are hidden with no option to restore them.

Where to Download and Purchase:

FunContact 3 can be downloaded for a trial here.

FunContact 3 can be registered for $19.95 here.

Users wanting to take advantage of other VITO applications, such as Winterface, Zoomboard and SMS-Chat along with FunContact really should take a look at the package here that is available.  With a massive savings of over $40 for the full package, one can get several VITO Techonology applications for $24.95.

The magic cats were a bit wobbly yesterday as one of them had to have her stitches out (silly little thing knocked a glass bottle over and stood in it) but they have now picked the winners of the JAMM Store contest! So without any further ado (and because the magic cats are hungry and need feeding – I swear they eat me out of house and home!) the winners are:

George49
Shcmenge
geocacher1

Congratulations! You’ve won a $25 gift certificate to the JAMM Store – watch out for an email from me later on today!

Pretty much everyone I know has a cellphone account that’s paid monthly, however, there is another option out there and that’s pre-paid cellphones. Boost, an Irvine, CA based company has pretty much got the market covered for pre-paid cell service, but it looks like they’re about to get some serious competition. Boost’s parent company, Sprint Nextel, has announced plans to buy Virgin Mobile to the sweet sum of $483 million.

Virgin, based in New Jersey, uses the Sprint network for its service. It has competed head-to-head for years with Boost Mobile, based in Irvine. Boost was among the first of the prepaid crowd to offer a $50/month unlimited plan in January (see, “Boost Mobile adds ‘tax-free’ $50/month unlimited plan“).   Virgin added its unlimited plan for one penny less in April.

 

It should be an interesting acquisition for Sprint as they’ve fallen way behind on the prepaid arena.

Original story taken from the OCRegister

I’ve been meaning to post on this for a while, and it’s probably double pronged. When I got my EEEPC 1000H, little did I know that it would become my primary PC. I suppose lot’s of people see netbooks as underpowered, good for one thing devices. On the other hand, if I mentioned a server, most tech heads would picture, imagine, some sort of hyper powered computer, or computers, all linked together, serving data to the internets. What if I say to you, you can run your netbook as a server?

So just some background info, I’ve been blogging for a while, and I set up a couple of sites[free] to archive the stuff I was doing on JAMM and to be able to post things that were, out of the realm of the coverage here at JAMM. Let’s face it, I like lot’s of weird stuff that can’t be categorised here. Although I’ve managed to work some of it in, in my “Now This is Mobile Tech” series. By chance a Twitter friend offered me some server space, so I could self host a blog.

Obviously I chose WordPress as a platform, because that is the editing,admin interface I’m most familiar with, [that’s what JAMM runs on] but administering a blog/website, and creating a look and feel, for your online, personal space, is a bit more complicated than I, and probably many of you think. Although I’m still pretty chuffed at re-writing, for the first time,a plug-in yesterday, I still think it’s a great idea to have a test blog/site, but how to conserve limited server storage and bandwidth? Serve your test site locally’

I spent a lot of time finding a way to host my site locally so that I don’t get things wrong online, and XAMPP was the solution.

Essentially, what this means is that I am running a virtual server on my netbook!

XAMPP is a very easy to install Apache Distribution for Linux, Solaris, Windows and Mac OS X. The package includes the Apache web server, MySQL, PHP, Perl, a FTP server and phpMyAdmin.

XAMPP works with many different blogging platforms, well it will work with any platform that supports the Os’s and programming languages mentioned above. The experience, is something else, and a  bit surreal! You can open your PHP admin page, and your Blog in a browser, any browser, and view the work you have been doing. A great way to preview content, and site design.

Most importantly, this is a mobile solution, that does not require a high powered computer, me and my EEE can run this happily on battery!

Netbooks are actually becoming preferred mobile devices, ease of transport, ease of input, and visual, large enough screen for most of us to be happy. [the first place you go blind is in the eyes] but a lot of people discount the power that a lot of these so called mini devices offer. There’s actually a lot you can do with a netbook.

Spb has done it again.  Another review has just been posted by our friend  Clinton Fitch, where He exclaims,

“Having played with Spb Puzzle now for several months it is hard to find anything not to like about it.”

The review has crystal-clear screenshots, detailed descriptions and a resounding round of applause at the end of the review.

“What I Don’t Like:
* Nothing!”

How often is it that you see a reviewer so happy with a new game?    I want to run out and buy myself a copy of SPB Puzzle…just from reading the review!

Check it out @ ClintonFitchDotCom!