Windows Mobile based phones have great abilities for communication, productivity, entertainment. But more complex devices are harder to use. Most users while switching from regular cellular phones to PDA-phones notice that PDAs are harder to control when things come to simple phone tasks, like one hand operation, making calls from a phonebook and so on. For example, to write a new text message on the Windows Mobile phone you have to start Messaging application and tap "New" button. At the same time, there is a "New Message" item in every simple cellular phone's



However, there is one significant advantage for Windows Mobile phones ? these inconveniences can be improved with good software. Spb Mobile Shell will warp all the power of Pocket PC with easy and familiar interface. Let's take a closer look.

Spb Mobile Shell consists of three parts: a powerful Today Screen plug-in, a cell phone-like menu and a new standby screen.

Today Screen Plug-in

Today Screen Plug-in is a light version of Spb Pocket Plus, Spb Weather, Spb Time and some sort of photo-calling application.

One of the biggest advantages of Spb Mobile Shell Today plug-in is that it saves space on your Pocket PC's Today screen. When you install Mobile Shell it creates four Tabs: Home, Time, Weather and Dial.

The Home Tab is a smart quick launch panel. Its icon shows you battery charge status and the content is automatically formed from frequently used applications.

The Time Tab shows you time in three time zones of your choice and the next alarm time.

The Weather Tab shows a forecast for a selected city.

In the Dial Tab you can place photo icons of your contacts for speed dial.

Also, you can add any Today plug-in as a Tab. For example Spb Pocket Plus for customizable quick-launch of Pocket PC applications.

If you use Spb Time and Spb Weather, the corresponding Tabs also have extended functionality like multiple alarms and weather forecasts for different cities.

Auto-hide function is another prominent feature of Spb Mobile Shell Today plug-in. It keeps Tab contents hidden when not in use, thus leaving Today Screen free to enjoy nice background pictures.

Phone-like menu

The second major part of Spb Mobile Shell is its Menu. It can be assigned to any hardware button or to the soft key of your PDA.

Spb Menu will look familiar to you if you have ever used cellular phone. It is really well considered. The menu has eight icons with submenus which perfectly fit in a landscape mode. For example, "Messaging" icon opens the submenu, where you can choose from items like: "Create new SMS", "Create New E-Mail", "Read SMS", "Read E-Mail". Very user-friendly, now you don't have to navigate through folders and menus of Messaging application.

Every icon contains such submenus with additional useful functionality that you can easily access. In Multimedia you can browse media library, start a slideshow or launch different modes of camera.

No need to tap on a screen with a stylus, all can be reached with a device navigation button or numeric keyboard.

"Now" Standby screen

Spb Mobile Shell also features a nice standby screen, called "Now". This screen can be activated manually, by the time-out or every time you switch your device on.

This screen shows all current information in a very tight form. Clock (digital or analog), weather for today, battery charge status and signal strength, missed calls, SMS, e-mails and upcoming appointments ? all this information on one device screen and easy enough to read on the go - the thing mostly missed by users after switching to Windows Mobile Phone. Simple, nice and useful!

Conclusion

Spb Mobile Shell is a great application. Power means nothing without control, and if Windows Mobile potential is power, then Spb Mobile Shell is control.

It has practically everything that is needed for comfortable work with PDA like with an ordinary cell phone:

? Several Today Tabs, by the way, big enough to press with a finger

? Convenient dialer

? Photo-contacts on one of the Tabs

? Support of third party plug-ins

? Excellent menu: every application or setting can be easily reached without a stylus

? Under Tabs' stripe there can be other elements of Today Screen. The opening Tab will simply overlap these elements.

Besides, Spb Mobile Shell operates quite quickly, Tabs are switched instantly, and there is no difference in operating speed after the installation on Pocket PC.

As a minimum, this utility will allow to spare a considerable amount of space on Today by compressing six rows to one neat row on the screen. And as a maximum, it will enable to navigate a PDA with one hand only without a stylus.

With such application your device gets cell-phone usability and keeps all advantages of Pocket PC system, something that you should really give a try.

Compatible devices list

ACER: n300 Series, n30, n50, n20 and others

ASUS: A626, A636, A639, P505, P525, P535 and others

Dell: Axim X3, X5, X50, X50v, X51v and others

HP: hw68xx series, hw69xx series, hx21xx series, hx24xx series, hx29xx series and others

HTC: TyTN, Wizard, Prophet, Hermes, Artemis, Universal, Herald, P3300, P3600, P4350, P3350, X7500, Athena

O2: XDA series

T-Mobile: MDA series

QTek: 9000, 9100, 9600, S100, S110, S200, G100, 2020, 9090

Other Windows Mobile Powered Devices.