Just Another Geek Site

SPB has finally released the long awaited update to its wildly popular Mobile Shell. Version 3 is now available for $29.95, or for an upgrade price of only $14.97. I forget why I had stopped using the older version of Mobile shell, so I won’t be making any comparisons here. What I will say is it’s beautiful, and nowhere near as difficult to set up as some other reviews have made it seem.

 

I have run into a few little problems with SPBMS3, but I have a strong suspicion that they have more to do with the bizarre behavior of my Treo 800w than the application. For instance, following a phone call, my phone goes back to the Today screen instead of Mobile Shell, and despite having the “override Start” option unchecked, Start will take me back to Mobile Shell. Ringtone sounds seem to have no effect, and it’s the System sound settings that seem to control my ringtone volume from within Profiles. Another complaint is also peculiar to using a Treo, and that’s that from within the launcher or application menu, I have to scroll to what I want, and can’t begin typing the name of the program.

 

The single worst feature of SPBMS3 is that it seems to have forgotten it’s being used on a phone, and that people do make phone calls to numbers outside of those in your contacts. It’s a good thing the WM Start bar shows in every view so that you can tap it to return to the Today screen, or you’d never be able to dial a new number. After some thought, that is a glaring deficiency.

 

So what is it? It is literally a graphic shell (interface) for your Windows Mobile device (WinPho). It allows you to make everything as pretty as you want with custom colors and background images.

 

As you can see from this screen shot, I have used a photo from my garden as the background image, and the border color something that contrasts with the image. You have the option of choosing one of the stock images that come with SPBMS3 as your background, any image from your device/sd card, or a solid color.

 

I happen to like a minimalistic view, so I don’t have much on this layout. But you can crowd it up as much (or as little) as you want. You can also set up multiple screens with different layouts. This particular view is a “Lifestyle” layout. The Lifestyle layout can be completely customized.

 

Since I no longer wear a watch, the time/date is important, and takes center stage on my phone. You can choose between analog and digital, and have several sizes from which to choose. Since the battery life on a Treo 800w is a little worse than awful, it also seemed important to leave a prominent battery icon on this screen, so I’d know if I needed to get to a new battery or a charger soon. Directly underneath the date, you can see the outlines of text message and missed call indicators along with the “0” to show there are none waiting. The numbers change according to the number of messages, and tapping on the desired icon takes you to your text messaging application, or call log.

Along the bottom, you see 4 icons. But before we examine them, let’s take a look at the “Professional” layout.  Not nearly as customizable or pretty, but unquestionably functional. Prominent time and date, and shortcuts to email, sms, missed calls, and sound (profile) settings. As with the default Windows Mobile Today screen, your current appointments appear on this screen. Honestly, if you are happy with this default, you probably didn’t need to get Mobile Shell to start with.

 

You’ll notice that the 4 icons along the bottom remain the same regardless of whether you are using the Professional or Lifestyle layout. These are the key function buttons to Mobile Shell. The far left button takes you to the other views possible, and opens up the true range of what you can do with this application.

 

One tap of this button takes you to the views carousel. Called a carousel for a reason, you can flip through every view offered, until you decide which you actually want to see. Here are some examples:

  

Pretty sweet, right? Launcher, Agenda, and Main menu for starters. A simple swipe of the finger across the screen, turns the carousel to the next view option. When you land on the one you want, just tap and it comes right up. “Swiping” is a big component of navigation within SPBMS3, although I actually prefer to just use my nav pad and arrow to where I want to go. You’re never more than a few swipes or taps from where you want to be. If you don’t like the carousel, you can always choose your view from a more traditional options screen.

Let’s take a look at the weather next. After all, it’s a beautiful day out!

 

Big and clear, tons of cities to choose from in the database, it will pick up weather information from SPB Weather (if you have it installed), but it is no longer necessary to have another application just for weather. A 4 day forecast is usually good enough. If you want all the pop and sizzle for your weather (satellite imagery, multiple cities, extended forecast), then you might want to consider SPB Weather.

 

Part of your decision will depend on your individual needs, and part from the space you are willing to give up since SPBMS3 alone takes up close to 10 MB.

 

 

 

 

I really like the contacts integration of SPBMS3. I like the views, and being able to quickly edit a contact’s ringtone is fun. One of the cool new features is Facebook integration. If your contact is found on Facebook, you have the option of choosing the contact’s FB photo. It’s also very easy to do this, and I found a few contacts that I didn’t have photos for, so I quickly added their FB profile pic.

There seems to be no limit to the number of favorites you set up, and you can arrange them in many ways, as well as use different sizes for each favorite. You can also have your favorites in a carousel view where you swipe from side to side to scroll through your contacts.

 

The call log also shows photos with contacts. However, it neglects to offer the simple information you get from the built in log, like the duration of the call. I would have thought this to be a necessary feature on any phone, and am surprised at its absence. As with dialing, you will have to return to the Today screen and go to your call log if you want call details.

 

You can, however, view all your contacts, and access them by swiping through your contacts, or starting to type a name. Contacts can easily be edited from within SPBMS3, and changing details like photos and ringtones couldn’t be easier.

 

 

 

 

Beyond contacts, a word you hear a lot these days is “widgets,” and SPBMS3 gives you plenty so that you can set up your Lifestyle layout with just what you need. If you look back at the first screen shot I shared, you’ll see to the right a shortcuts widget. This is basically a shortcut to my, doh!, shortcuts. In other words, a way to quickly get to a list of my most used apps.

You can set up widgets for apps, shortcuts, files, url’s, contacts, and a few other helpful gadgets. I do tend to be a minimalist – even on my pc I try to keep only one or two shortcuts on my desktop. I could put widgets leading to these, but I’d rather hit two buttons to get there, than have a cluttered home screen.

 

The beauty of the app is, of course, if you want a cluttered screen, you can have a 2nd (3rd, 4th, 5th, or however many you want) Lifestyle screen. I read on a forum where someone had set up ten different Lifestyle screens. That seems overkill to me, but the point is, you can set it up however you want, and however makes most sense to you.

 

I don’t agree with the people who have said there are too many options and it’s too difficult to use. It took me very little time to get comfortable with it, and for additional help, the documentation is straightforward, simple, and surprisingly short. With very few exceptions, I find SPBMS3 to be a great way to not only make your WinPho look better, but really improves the user experience. I do hope that they will provide an update soon that adds in a dial screen.

Written by Alli Flowers - Email

April 25th, 2009 | Tags: launcher, shell, SPB, windows mobile, WinPho | Category: Reviews | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed