CSI PowerPack

By Rich Hall

CSI PowerPack, from CASIO Soft, is a utility suite that adds a number of excellent features to Handheld and Palm-size PCs. Although the utilities work on any PC Companion, a couple of them seemed more valuable to Palm-size PC users.

Installation was a breeze. I connected my Casio E-10 Palm-size PC to my desktop and ran the CSI install program. PowerPack gives you the option of installing any or all of the utilities. Install them all at first and play with them. Then, delete the ones you don't think you'll use. [TIP: If installation of any Windows CE software program fails, try rebooting your PC Companion and reconnecting it to your desktop PC. If it still doesn't work, try rebooting your desktop PC. If it still fails, call technical support.]

The CSI PowerPack includes the following utilities:

• CSI DeskType ­ This utility lets you use your desktop PC's keyboard to enter text directly into any H/PC or Palm-size PC. You must have your PC Companion connected to your desktop PC via cable and have Windows CE Services installed and running. Once DeskType is installed, you activate it from the Start menu of your desktop PC. A small text window appears on your desktop's screen. Click anywhere in the window and you're ready to enter text into your PC Companion (see Screens 1 & 2).

You can't use DeskType to navigate on the H/PC or Palm-size PC. That means that you have to tap on the PC Companion's screen to open the appropriate application and go to the data field before you enter text. Likewise, when you are finished entering the text, you save documents, tap OK buttons, and close dialog boxes from the PC Companion. While you are entering text, you can press the backspace key to back-up over and delete text. But you cannot use your desktop PC's mouse to select and delete text on the PC Companion. As far as I can tell, you can use DeskType to enter text into any application or dialog box that accepts text. Watch out pressing the ENTER key on your desktop PC. It will bounce you out of dialog boxes instead of moving you to the next data field.

There was a fraction of a second delay between when the text appears in the window on your desktop PC, and when it is entered in the PC Companion. This was because I was working through a serial cable connection between my CASIO Cassiopeia Palm-size PC and desktop PC. It was noticeable, but did not get in my way, and I'm a relatively fast typist. Even with these minor limitations, DeskType is a great enhancement if you spend much time at a desktop PC.

• CSI File Explorer ­ This utility adds a Windows Explorer-type application to your PC Companion. You can use it to find files by name and quickly view them. You can run applications or open documents in their application.

H/PC and H/PC Pro users have a built-in File Explorer. But existing Palm-size PC users do not. This application is particularly important to Palm-size PC users who keep a lot of notes or other files on their device.

• CSI Task Switcher - Switch instantly between open applications, or close unused applications. Installing Task Switcher places an icon in your system tray (an arrow symbol on a pile of pages, close to the time display).

Tap on the icon once and you switch between the applications that are open on your PC Companion. Tap and hold down on the icon and the Task Switcher screen comes up, letting you select one of the open applications and switch to it, end it, or end all open applications (see Screen 4). This application will be of some benefit to Handheld PC users, but of particular use to Palm-size PC users.

• CSI Screen Zoom - Enlarge your view of any portion of your PC Companion. For example, Screen 5 shows my Palm-size PC Calendar magnified at the lowest for four magnification settings, making it easier to check appointments.

Palm-size PC users can use the scroll function of the Action button on the side of the unit to scroll up and down the enlarged display. Press the center of the Action button to automatically step through the four magnification settings (1.67, 2, 3, and 4 times as big as the normal display). Tap anywhere on the screen to return to the normal display size. Handheld PC users can press the arrow keys on their device's keyboard to scroll up, down, left and right to navigate around the enlarged display. Press the Enter key to automatically step through the magnification settings, and return to your normal display.

Screen Zoom will be useful on either the Palm-size PC or H/PC to quickly magnify the size of a document, Task list, appointment Calendar, or Contacts list. This one has a lot of potential, but I had a little trouble scrolling around a magnified Palm-size PC screen, especially in Calendar. The Action button is fine for up/down scrolling, but Screen Zoom needs a way to quickly jump to the left of the Palm-size PC screen. I found that the only magnification size I'd want to use on the Palm-size PC is 1.67 or at the most 2. Magnifying the screen 3 or 4 times is too large for me. For future releases, I suggest that CASIO Soft replace the 4 option with something below 1.67.

• CSI Image Viewer ­ View bitmaps, JPEGs, and CASIO digital camera images directly on your Handheld PC or Palm-size PC. Image Viewer lets you enlarge or reduce a displayed image and convert between standard image formats.

Image Viewer lets you fit the image to the screen of the H/PC or Palm-size PC, or adjust the image size from 25% to 200% (or a custom size you create). You can save any opened file in Casio's CAM format, as a JPG, .bmp, .2bp, or UPF file.

• CSI Screen Capture - Captures any screen on your Handheld PC or Palm-size PC to a bitmap file. I used this utility to capture the CSI Image Viewer screen (see Screen 6). This is a handy utility for people who write about PC Companions.

I tested a pre-release version of the CSI PowerPack, so I can't comment on packaging. But I had no problems installing it or using it. I did have to consult the documentation file that came with CSI PowerPack to figure out how to use DeskType and a couple of the other applications.

All of the utilities in this package add power to your H/PC and especially your Palm-size PC. Screen Zoom, as is, is probably more useful on a H/PC because it's easier to scroll left and right. My favorite utility in this package was DeskType. I've always avoided text entry on the Palm-size PC. DeskType makes it easier to do this for a person who spends much of his time at a desktop PC. Again, this is a review of a pre-release package. I'll keep an eye on the production version to see if there are any changes.

The CSI PowerPack is the first piece of software I've reviewed from CASIO Soft, a former division of CASIO that was split off into an independent company a few months back. If PowerPack is any indication of their ability to develop useful Windows CE software, I look forward to their future offerings. 

Screen 1: Activate CSI DeskType from your desktop PC and a text-entry window pops up. Place your cursor in this window, type, and the text is entered into your PC Companion.

Screen 2: Text entered into DeskType's window appears on your Palm-size PC (shown here) or H/PC.

Screen 3: CSI File Explorer adds a file explorer to your Palm-size PC (shown here) or H/PC. You can search for files, open documents, and run programs from File Explorer.

Screen 4: The CSI Task Switcher main screen lets you select one of the open applications and switch to it, end it, or end all open applications.

Screen 5: CSI Screen Zoom can magnify a portion of your PC Companion screen, making it easier to view data.

Screen 6: CSI Image Viewer lets you view bitmap, JPEG, and CASIO digital camera images on your PC Companion. Shown here is a bitmap image of the Cassiopeia E-10 Palm-size PC, displayed on the screen of an E-10 using Image Viewer.