Database Users

SPB Diary and Weather Problem

I am having a problem with some of the SPB products I recently bought and the Jam. It seems that it is causing a slowdown on my Jam along with the SPB Pocket Plus trial plug in. I noticed that my alarms were not always working and some time this morning, when I pulled my Jam out of it's case, it was really warm and the battery drained about 50%. Also, when I reset the device, the BT icon was missing. After I unchecked the SPB Diary plug-in, everything seems to be working better. When I reset the device, I also noticed the BT icon reappeared. Has anyone else had this problem, and is there no way to have all 3 SPB products running at the same time with the Jam? I have the latest rom upgrade. Are these programs too much for the Jam to handle correctly? Sorry if this a known issue... I checked the posts and could not find this specific issue.

I noticed that SPB Pocket Plus slowed things down on my O2 Mini (also due to 6 other plugins I run on my Today screen) and never used it since. I use PIToday which is the today plugin for PocketInformant and have a few other plugins including SPB Weather. Everything boots up fast ever since I got rid of PocketPlus.
But PocketPlus is popular amongst users but if it is an issue, get rid of it. Very easy to check without uninstalling. Go to Control Panel | Today and uncheck the PocketPlus box. Soft Reset and use your PDA for a few days and see if there is improvement

So, I really do not need to uninstall, but just uncheck the box in the Today screen settings? I really like the interface with spb pp. Do you have a recommendation that will work like Pocket Plus, but not slow down as much? Also, do you think SPB Diary and SPB Weather will work with an alternative PP plug in?

You don't have to uninstall the today plugins until you are sure you want to do so. You can just disable them by unchecking the box in the Today plugin at the Control Panel.
PocketPlus comes with a few nice fixes for the Magician like the notification (WM2003 startup fix), close active apps instead of minimising them and the safe mode but I've found better replacements for them
WM2003 startup Fix
http://www.scarybearsoftware.com/ppc_cn_overview.html
- I installed both on my handheld
Close Button
http://www.handango.com/PlatformPro...&platformId=2&N=96806&productId=54211&R=54211
Menu Options
http://www.handango.com/PlatformPro...&platformId=2&N=96806&productId=79935&R=79935
Safe Mode
http://www.handango.com/PlatformPro...latformId=2&N=96806&productId=166554&R=166554
As for the features like app shortcuts, I use
http://www.handango.com/PlatformPro...&platformId=2&N=96806&productId=27783&R=27783
- not as good looking as the PocketPlus

SPB Diary and Weather are standalone plugins so there shouldn't be any issues running them without PocketPlus. I love SPB Weather because I can put the app on my SD-card. If you remove the SD-card, you can still check the weather on your handheld (just that you will only see text, no graphic icons but it's still fantastic)

Integrate Pocketbreeze into SPB Mobile Shell?

Is there anyway I can replace the calender in mobile shell Today screen with the one for Pocketbreeze?
I really hate the WM calender. It shows so limited items.

yeah, I think the same. PocketBreeze is the main reason why I use Windows Mobile instead of an iPhone. The way it show your appoinments and todo's is amazing and is how the default WM calendar must show the items.
I use this combination:
Today plugins: only pocketbreeze .... And I run spb mobile shell with the NOW interface all the time... this way I have a big clock, control over the alarms, weather , silent/vibrate mode, and etc. at a glance.
When I press hang key (red button) it take's me back to today screen and I have access to pocketbreeze. Because I only run this 2 programas (1 normal program: SPB MOBILE SHELL and 1 today plugin: Pocketbreeze), it can switch fast and has no delay.
For almost 2 years I used Wisbar Advace (1,2,3) and it make my phone laaaag for everything. It was amazing but I like a more responsive device, so try my way and tell me if it helps you.
PS: My settings for the 2 soft buttons are:
left key: NOW SCREEN right key: DIAL TAB

This is a good idea. And definitely maximizes memory.
But thinking about it, I now remember why I wanted pocket breeze on the now screen. Because unless pocket breeze is blatantly in front of my eyes (without having to close NOW screen) then I will not look at my calender events lol.
But it is still a better situation, but still not ideal. I'll try it for a bit and see how it works for me

Shells and Today alternatives

Just saw announcement of Winterface shell from Vito, and I know some people use SPB shell... but also heard it can create problems.
What are the ups and downs? What alternatives are people using?
For reference, I use iLauncher, PhoneAlarm (for profiles, notifications), PocketBreeze for easy access to calendar, contacts, weather, and WkTask and SmallMenu (start menu replacement) for task management. Altogether, this works "fine" but some of the alternatives seem like a more integrated and polished interface.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

For myself I use: Real VGA at 96dpi, Magic Button to show the running applications, Small Menu as a Start replacement and launcher assigned to my home button, and Handy Menu for access to soft reset, screen capture, or device OFF (other options are available). All of them have small footprints and runs well at 96dpi.

I use spb time to give me the alarm with big button and multi location times.
Then, spb phone suite for missed call/email/sms alert, turn in/off wifi/bt/data, phone profile.
For weather, I use sbsh pocket weather.
For launcher and safe mode soft reset, I use iLauncher.
For task switching, I use wktask.
For calendar, I use today Agenda which uses one line per item.
Works very well and is very flexible.
For calendar items, I use

Ultimate launcher with xmt using either a modified manilla style clock or modified x lucent theme, with wktask and quickmenu.
although the new today prog i linked to looks like it will have potential.
ocassionally especially if its sitting on my desk ill use the tempus13 swf manilla animated clock running fullscreen inside flashlite. must write a mortscript to trigger it automatically when docked.
all in 96dpi

--off topic---
cktlcmd, i see you've finally bought a replacement for your uni... Im still waiting for mine, still havent decided on x7510 or be cheap and stick with x7501... anyway, good on you! So did you bury your uni?

I've switched to spb mobile shell with Diamond skin. It's very customizable and flexible.

eaglesteve said:
I've switched to spb mobile shell with Diamond skin. It's very customizable and flexible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does SPB Mobile Shell work with Real VGA 96dpi in yours?
cuteangelika said:
--off topic---
cktlcmd, i see you've finally bought a replacement for your uni... Im still waiting for mine, still havent decided on x7510 or be cheap and stick with x7501... anyway, good on you! So did you bury your uni?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol
The best purchase I've done yet. I am happy with the quality and performance. Compared to my Universal, my X7510 is very stable even with hundreds of applications installed. It can survive a whole charge without having to soft reset. It is very solid with no creeking plastic sounds like the Universal. I still have not bought a micro SD card, and I still have tons of storage despite having 200 reference books in it. The screen size... I just love it. I never knew the importance of having a GPS till now.
Nowadays, I just use my Universal to play my music in my car. I hard resetted and only installed WM5torage 1.8 and SPB Time. It has become a permanant fixture in my dashboard. It still looks cool at night... especially with the screen on fully bright.
If you value the use of the buttons, go for the X7501 especially if you can buy a cheap brand new unit. Do read about the issues and how to solve the microdrive quirks though. I read that formatting the microdrive to FAT 32 using WM5torage prevents any data corruption. Never use the built-in format drive to format the microdrive.
On the other hand, since you are a first time Advantage seeker, going for the X7510 I think is the better purchase. I use my X7510 mainly on landscape, so buttons are no problem with mine. I can survive with just using the home button for launching any application via Small Menu. The 16GB SSD is a big plus. The keyboard is amazing. The only thing I can say about it is the absence of Soft Keys and Backlight. It's top has a rubberized coating, so no scratching of the unit can occur.
Here in the US, we have no option to buy a cheap brand new X7500 or X7501. All of them: X7500, X7501, and X7510 have the same price if you are purchasing them brand new, so it is most logical for me to go with the X7510.

cktlcmd said:
Does SPB Mobile Shell work with Real VGA 96dpi in yours?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. nowaday I'm using only 192dpi. I find that most of my applications look better in this dpi - from Opera mobile, phone, dictionary.... I can use my thumb (yes, not just finger but the big thumb) to do almost everything. There are a few applications which I wish I'm in 96dpi (such as office applications), but most of them work better in 192dpi.
It's funny that after using it for a while I'm so used to it that I wonder how I managed to see the tiny tiny characters in 96dpi. When I was using 96dpi, the feeling was reversed - I wonder how anyone could live with those gigantic taskbar!
Installing SPB mobile shell with diamond skin is a breath of fresh air for me for now. I don't know when I would get sick of this and change it again. I'm always looking for new toys so to speak, and each time I change I feel like I've just bought a completely new gadget.

eaglesteve said:
No. nowaday I'm using only 192dpi.
Installing SPB mobile shell with diamond skin is a breath of fresh air for me for now. I don't know when I would get sick of this and change it again. I'm always looking for new toys so to speak, and each time I change I feel like I've just bought a completely new gadget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I envy you with SPB Mobile Shell. I really like it too, but I love 96dpi more... can't have them all I guess.

eaglesteve said:
Installing SPB mobile shell with diamond skin is a breath of fresh air for me for now. I don't know when I would get sick of this and change it again. I'm always looking for new toys so to speak, and each time I change I feel like I've just bought a completely new gadget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How were you able to get SPB Mobile shell to work with the Diamond Skin (the one posted in the forums somewhere, right?) to work on a VGA phone? Or did someone convert in the the thread with the hundreds of pages?

polstein said:
How were you able to get SPB Mobile shell to work with the Diamond Skin (the one posted in the forums somewhere, right?) to work on a VGA phone? Or did someone convert in the the thread with the hundreds of pages?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=409528&page=4
See post 39 by Resaponderman.
Cheers.

eaglesteve said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=409528&page=4
See post 39 by Resaponderman.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link - much more better then translating and working with the French site I was trying to download and play with yesterday.
Installed - wow, it's much darker then I thought. Will play for a day, but my initial reaction is I like the original better.
Really wish that the program was somehow made to allow compatibility with some of the beautiful QVGA themes and VGA themes.

How are you getting to the dialer with Diamond Skin loaded?
Hey eaglesteve, how are you bringing up the phone dialer? With the lack of hardware buttons on the x7510 and no soft keys in Diamond skinned mode, I am hitting the home button to bring up the base Spb screen, and then selecting Phone soft key from te sys tray. When I want to go back to Diamond I then select Spb Menu which is my other soft key. That is a few steps when one used to do it.
Do you have a better approach? Thanks.

robjhellis said:
Hey eaglesteve, how are you bringing up the phone dialer? With the lack of hardware buttons on the x7510 and no soft keys in Diamond skinned mode, I am hitting the home button to bring up the base Spb screen, and then selecting Phone soft key from te sys tray. When I want to go back to Diamond I then select Spb Menu which is my other soft key. That is a few steps when one used to do it.
Do you have a better approach? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I pin the phone icon to the home tab. When I want to make call, I swipe my thumb upward to go to today and directly press the phone icon.

OK now I'm going to show my total ignorance. What do you mean by "pin" to the home tab.
Again thanks a bunch.

robjhellis said:
OK now I'm going to show my total ignorance. What do you mean by "pin" to the home tab.
Again thanks a bunch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you have installed SPB MObile shell, you will be able to see the following items in the Start/Setting/Personal/Today program under the Item Tab.
- spb mobile shell
- Home tab
- Time tab
- weather tab
- Dial tab 3
- Dial tab 2
- Dial tab
I only tick the Home tab.
The items on these home tab could represent the most recently used program so is dynamically added or removed, unless you "pin" them there permanently. To pin an application such as Phone on the home tab permanently, click and hold the tab until a menu pops up and choose Manage Pinned.. (the bottom item). You will be then allowed to tick the programs that you want to stay on the home tab. This is what I meant by "pin".

Thanks for that - now I get that piece.
My ability to finger swipe seems very hit and miss on my device. When I have the Diamond skin up mostly I can swipe right to left to flip the pages (which is not that useful seeing as there is a button to get to the same place) but swiping up and down to return to the Today screen works maybe 1 in 20 times - and the Today button gets me there anyway!
Any thoughts on why my screen gestures are not very responsive?
Also have you tried ThumbCal? If so I cannot get it to respond as the default calendar from within the Diamond Skin, although it works fine as the default from ouside of Diamond (ThumbCal has a setting to tick to make that happen).
Anyway, also watching out for any other alternate VGA skins. Have you noted any others on the forum yet? There is continued promise of more to come in certain of the "Development and Hacking" threads in the General section.

robjhellis said:
Thanks for that - now I get that piece.
My ability to finger swipe seems very hit and miss on my device. When I have the Diamond skin up mostly I can swipe right to left to flip the pages (which is not that useful seeing as there is a button to get to the same place) but swiping up and down to return to the Today screen works maybe 1 in 20 times - and the Today button gets me there anyway!
Any thoughts on why my screen gestures are not very responsive?
Also have you tried ThumbCal? If so I cannot get it to respond as the default calendar from within the Diamond Skin, although it works fine as the default from ouside of Diamond (ThumbCal has a setting to tick to make that happen).
Anyway, also watching out for any other alternate VGA skins. Have you noted any others on the forum yet? There is continued promise of more to come in certain of the "Development and Hacking" threads in the General section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have already installed FtouchSL, then the most likely reason for the lack of responsiveness is that you have not excluded Spb mobile shell in your FtouchSL. It should be very fast.

I didn't know about FtouchSL relying entirely on HTC TouchFLO. I've downloaded it now and will try it out. Thanks for the tip.

Contact tab on my Today Screen?

Hi guys, I have searched and searched but cant find.. Is there a prog that can fix so I can have lets say five contacts on my today screen? So I just tap them and either get some options, sms or call up. Or it just calls them up.
Hope u understand what I'm out after =)
Of course I mean the today screen with the TF3D disabled =)
Thx

If you are looking for an appliacation without TF3D, for a normal today application then try SPB Shell.
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/mobileshell/?en
Regards
Sid

You can also add Contact's pictures as a quick shortcut on the main screen of SPB Pocket Plus.
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/pocketplus/?en
I have used nearly all of SPB applications, and they are absolutely professional.
Regards
Sid

sidd said:
You can also add Contact's pictures as a quick shortcut on the main screen of SPB Pocket Plus.
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/pocketplus/?en
I have used nearly all of SPB applications, and they are absolutely professional.
Regards
Sid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sadly speaking all doesnt work on manilla... only 1 i have awork around is icontact and changing the left key to icontact... but i really love mobile shell contacts

davidwong said:
sadly speaking all doesnt work on manilla... only 1 i have awork around is icontact and changing the left key to icontact... but i really love mobile shell contacts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can definately use it with "2nd Today", I am using SPB Traveller with 4 different clocks & VOIP on the normal Today Screen.
Regards
Sid

I run SPB Mobile shell, it's not active as a plug-in, I can still use the slide move from "Start" tho ( 15 extra fav contacts and stuff ), and by using Fantastic Bytes Softkey Manager 1.1 my right softkey is set to SPB contacts, works like a charm

tyfon11 said:
Hi guys, I have searched and searched but cant find.. Is there a prog that can fix so I can have lets say five contacts on my today screen? So I just tap them and either get some options, sms or call up. Or it just calls them up.
Hope u understand what I'm out after =)
Of course I mean the today screen with the TF3D disabled =)
Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try http://software.palminfocenter.com/...tact---Contact-Management-with-a-Visual-Touch

How to display next appointments ?

Hello,
Because, there is no such fonction in standard, I'm searching for an easy-to-use solution for displaying next appointments
For exemple, combining today agenda + second today is not an easy-to-use solution.
Manilla 3 came with a new calendar but without week view.
Is there really no solution to display next appointment dates on Manila home screen for exemple ? How guys you handle that ?

I dont know what you mean because appointments I type into my calendar are shown on the home screen one day before the certain date. I think you have to use a calendar that uses the outlook-database to save appointments.

Exact, but for a professional use, one day before the certain date is a too short term view..
I wish I could scroll the view until a week for exemple..

Why do you see using SecondToday as a hard option?
I use this with Spb Diary, and it is both easy to set up, and a doddle to use. It displays forthcoming events, bithdays etc in a clear, easy-to read list for the following 31 days.
I have it assigned to a long keypress on the left softkey, but it could just as easily be assigned to the calendar button

nikki-m said:
Why do you see using SecondToday as a hard option?
I use this with Spb Diary, and it is both easy to set up, and a doddle to use. It displays forthcoming events, bithdays etc in a clear, easy-to read list for the following 31 days.
I have it assigned to a long keypress on the left softkey, but it could just as easily be assigned to the calendar button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested 2nd today + Today agenda few month ago on my Polaris but I was not really conviced. I will try with spb regardless but I will stay frustrated that such a simple fonction as displaying upcoming appointments was so badly implemented..

Kholargol said:
I tested 2nd today + Today agenda few month ago on my Polaris but I was not really conviced. I will try with spb regardless but I will stay frustrated that such a simple fonction as displaying upcoming appointments was so badly implemented..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wellcome to the club, then. Most who use the HD as a professional tool complain of the same thing.
However, SecondToday does work well, and is only a button-press away. I have set up Spb shell to display just the Diary page as a full-page view, so can see loads of appointments.
I also have high hopes for the new Spb Shell v3 which is due to be released fairly soon, and might use that instead of TF3D.

that's the reason why I went back to the default Windows Mobile Today screen with SBP Diary and Calendar+
Check this post on my blog
http://www.olivier-ladeuix.com/blog/?p=652

Eh, exactly what I talked about ! Have a look at this :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=497197