Pocket Power!

The Pocket Power Collection from Developer One is a set of utilities that increases the power of your Pocket PC and makes managing its resources easier. Pocket Power is a very balanced package which helps you speed up data entry, open and close applications quickly, and more. The installation is a breeze and the documentation that comes with the programs is excellent. Here’s what you get in Pocket Power.

AccessPanel Platinum Edition ($24.95): fast data entry!

With no physical keyboard, data entry on the Pocket PC and Palm-size PC can be a cumbersome task. Whether you’re tapping on the little keyboard at the bottom of the screen or waiting for character recognition to catch up with you, it’s slow going sometimes. Fortunately, Access Panel Platinum is available from Developer One to make data entry easier on your Pocket PC (Palm-size, Handheld and Handheld PC Pro versions also available). By just tapping you can instantly paste user-defined phrases, common phrases, contact information, and date/time stamps into any document (see Screen 1). You can even maintain the time sheet of your workday or keep track of the time with a client.

Screen 1: With a single tap AccessPanel Platinum instantly pastes predefined text, common phrases, contact information, and date/time stamps into any document.

After you have installed the application and run it for the first time, it will ask you if you want to install a sample set of phrases. You should definitely say yes to this prompt. It helped me a lot, giving me ideas of how I could effectively use AccessPanel. To start AccessPanel, tap on the “input method selector button,” the tiny rectangular box with an arrow in it, found in the lower right of the Pocket PC’s screen. Then select AccessPanel from the pop-up menu.

AccessPanel lets you enter information from three Phrase Lists. The Text Phrases list lets you insert predefined text into a document. This might include Pocket PC owner information, your e-mail signature, etc. The Date/Time stamp list lets you insert the date and/or time into a document. This list can be very useful in creating a timesheet or tracking the time you’ve spent with a client. The Contact Phrases list gives the names of all the people in your Contacts list. You can use it to automatically enter their name, e-mail address, mailing address etc. into a document.

Defining your own phrases

One of the big strengths of AccessPanel is its ability to let you define your own phrases. For example, when you find yourself typing in the same text over and over again, you can create an AccessPanel phrase so you can enter it with a single tap. To define your own phrases, tap on the up-arrow icon on the bottom right of your screen. Then tap on Options, select Access Platinum from the pull-down list and tap on the Options button in the middle of the screen. This pops up the phrase definition screen. Select the Phrase list you want the phrase to be stored in (Text, Contact or Date/Time); give the phrase a name (i.e. “Meet With”, this is how it will appear in the Phrase list), and then type in the phrase. When you’re finished, tap on Save.

Phrases can contain “dynamic field tags.” An example will help clarify these tags. Suppose I’m always entering similar Calendar appointments, like “Meet John Smith at his work” or “Meet Jennifer at her work.” I can create a Contact phrase with dynamic field tags to fill in the name of the person and their work address. The phrase would look something like this: Meet with at . (see Screen 2)

Screen 2: AccessPanel Platinum lets you create your own phrases, including phrases with dynamic field tags in them.