Smaller and Faster

We have spent more than half of our development time on optimizing the code, making Spb Pocket Plus as snappy and compact as possible.

The Most Powerful Today Plug-In Ever

• Multiple third-party plug-ins
• Vertical and horizontal tabs
• Both small and large tab icons
• Dynamic tab headers
• Auto-hide tab content mode
• Shortcut labels
• Group operations
• Skins

Tabs and Fast Search In Internet Explorer

• Now Spb Pocket Plus uses tabs concept for Pocket Internet Explorer instead of multiple windows
• The new button in the IE toolbar allows using the address bar as a Google search bar

Iconic Toolbar Battery Indicator

New style: now the battery indicator may be shown as a standard status icon on the taskbar. The new appearance is used by default on fresh installation. This feature (iconic toolbar battery indicator) is only supported on Windows Mobile 5 and later (it is not supported on Windows Mobile 2003).

Save/Open Dialog

The default system dialogs for save and open of files is changed with a new extended dialog, which allows to open any file on the device file system, not only from the my documents folder.

Smart Scrolling

This new feature allows to drag the window content of selected applications to be scrolled with finger dragging. It suppots most standard applications:

• Internet Explorer
• Contacts
• Messages
• Calendar
• Tasks
• File Explorer
• Programs/Settings
• Most of Spb programs

Button Mapper

One can add any action or program start to a long hold of the hardware buttons. The file shortcuts for the Spb Pocket Plus actions has been removed from the Programs menu of the device to reduce program size, but they still stay in the Buttons applet.

Custom Setup

The desktop installation allows to customize feature configuration to be installed on the device. Now user can select the only features that would be used thus saving the storage space. User can install some extra Spb programs, like Spb Diary and Spb Weather from the same installation.

Separate Download Features

We have removed the Repeating Alarms and Action Shortcuts features from the main page. Both will be available as free separate add-ons to download soon.

Safe Mode

If you install a third-party Today plug-in or a program that runs in the background and this plug-in or program has a bug you may have problems starting your device. Here, the only choice for you would be to completely hard-reset your device and lose all data. Unfortunately, this is not a rare problem. Spb Pocket PC Survey shows that 44% of respondents indicated that they have had such problems and had to hard-reset their Pocket PC.

When you boot your Pocket PC in safe mode the system does not load Today plug-ins, autorun applications or services. So you will be able to uninstall the bad application and reboot your device in normal mode.

"Alt-Tab"-Style Task Switching

Pocket PC devices are becoming more and more keyboard oriented and a good task switching utility is vital for comfortable operation with a keyboard. A new feature of Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 is that now you can assign the [Switch Programs (Alt-Tab)] command to a hardware button.

Just press the assigned hardware button several times to select an application you need. After you select it the application will open automatically.

My Documents on the Today Screen

In the new version of Spb Pocket Plus you can browse documents in a specific folder directly from your Today screen. There is a new tab implemented as a separate plug-in (free for Spb Pocket Plus users) that can show all documents in one folder.

You can customize the number of columns and rows, whether to show file size and date or not, what file types to show, etc. You can also delete and rename files directly from your Today screen.

Altogether this tab provides fast access to your most frequently used documents in one tap.

File Encryption in File Explorer

Spb Pocket Plus extends the standard File Explorer by adding the following features:

• "Folder Up" button
• File properties
• ZIP support
• Storage card formatting

Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 also adds file encryption to the standard functionality. Now you can tap-and-hold on a file and choose to encrypt it. Spb Pocket Plus uses strong AES algorithm for encryption. Now you can store important files in an encrypted form.

Icons in Tabs

Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 has improved the plug-in support in order to make life easier for those who have a lot of tabs in Spb Pocket Plus. The new feature of adding icons to tab headers makes switching between tabs more intuitive and helps you to better organize your Today screen.

For example you can add 4 tabs from Spb Diary (Calendar, Tasks, Contacts and Notes) with small intuitive icons instead of names. And it will not take a lot of space in the Spb Pocket Plus Today plug-in.

You can make tabs with name only, with name and icon or with icon only.

Close Icon in the Close Button Context Menu

Spb Pocket Plus provides an easy-to-use task manager. A tap-and-hold on the X button action shows a menu with the list of currently running programs. You can switch between these programs, close and minimize them or even close all active programs. In fact, you can add many more specially designed Spb Pocket Plus system functions to this menu.

A new feature of Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 is that you can now close any of the running programs from this menu. This is useful when you feel you need more memory or your Pocket PC is running too slowly.

"Open in Background" in Pocket Internet Explorer

Spb Pocket Plus adds an additional tool button to the Pocket Internet Explorer taskbar. This button opens a menu that adds commands to open several windows, switch between them, view the source of the currently open document, save the current document in a separate file and work in full screen mode.

A new feature of Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 is opening a new window in background. This is especially useful on a slow GPRS connection and allows you to continue reading the current page while the new page is loading in background.

Assigning Spb Pocket Plus Commands To Hardware Keys

After installing Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 you will find additional commands that you can assign to hardware buttons in the Start->Settings->Personal->Buttons applet.

Here are few examples of additional commands provided by Spb Pocket Plus:

• Switch Programs (Alt-Tab)
• Backlight Loop
• New Task, New Appointment, etc
• Close Button Context Menu (task manager)

Applets Support

Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 introduces a new kind of plug-ins - "applet plug-ins". These plug-ins are draggable on the Today screen the same way that you drag a backlight indicator or an icon. It gives you more freedom in organizing your Today screen.

We plan to release the following applet plug-ins soon:

• Spb Time - a small analog skinable clock
• Spb Weather - you can add a separate icon for your Today weather

Advanced Plug-In Support

Spb Pocket Plus supports plug-ins since version 2.5. For example you can add Spb Weather, Spb Finance, and Spb GPRS Monitor Today plug-ins as tabs into Spb Pocket Plus.

Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 plug-in support is improved by allowing you to add several tabs to one Today plug-in. This is especially useful for Spb Diary - you can add its Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes tabs in the form of 4 different tabs in Spb Pocket Plus (or only the ones that you use).

Speed Improvements

The speed of Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 has been improved significantly. Here are just few examples of speed improvement:

• Today plug-in loading - more than 90% faster now
• Switching between tabs - more than 70% faster now
• Opening close button context menu (task switcher) - more than 50% faster now
• Dragging tabs - more than 5 times faster now

Installation To Built-in Storage

Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 supports installation to a built-in storage or to a storage card.

When you install Spb Pocket Plus to a built-in storage some files will still be copied to the \Windows folder, however. This is because the built-in storage driver is loaded with a delay during system restart, so critical low-level components must be copied to \Windows folder.

Installation to a built-in storage will help you to reduce RAM usage because only critical files will be copied to RAM while all others will be copied to a built-in storage folder.

Full Keyboard Support in Today Plug-In

Now you can navigate though Spb Pocket Plus Today plug-in using hardware keys (left/right/up/down/action). You can run programs, switch tabs, etc without using a stylus.

Better VGA Support

Now Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 has full native VGA support. The following additional features were added from 2.5:

• VGA compatible custom icons for Today plug-in
• VGA themes
• Full VGA support in options

Other

• Windows Mobile 5 Support
• ClearType Support in Today Plug-In
• "Add To Today Screen" in File Explorer