04-30-2003, 07:00 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 33
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dotPocket 2.0 - It's All About Control
dotPocket 2.0, by Novosoft Inc, is a bipolar software package clearly meant to compete with some of the bundled software packages currently available. It�s all about control - it allows you change the resolutions of your Pocket PC screen, as well as control your Pocket PC remotely with your desktop computer. But can these different packages be wed successfully into one application? Read on...
It�s all about control. dotPocket 2.0, by Novosoft Inc, aims to give Pocket PC users more control over their PPCs: It seeks to give control over Pocket PC screen resolutions and it seeks to allow users to control their Pocket PCs remotely from their desktop computers. This single package is a competitor to bundled packages like the Nyditot Virtual Display/Pocket Controller bundle which has been discussed here in the past. While it not a completely polished package, for the price it is well worth your time to check this software out.
There are two components to the dotPocket software: one package resides on the PPC, and the other on the desktop. While they are intertwined, both have a different focus.
PART 1 - Display Control
(or how to make your PPC screen bigger without breaking the case)
The Pocket PC component mainly controls the PPC display resolution. This means that you can effectively increase the size of your Pocket PC screen, or change the orientation. This comes in very handy for viewing things like a wide Excel spreadsheet, or a Textmaker word processing document. There are preset resolutions of 240x320 (the default Pocket PC resolution), 360x480, 480x640, and 600x800, with configurations for portrait and landscape orientations. You can take resolution all the way up to 600X800, but of course, since you can�t physically make your screen any bigger, everything on the screen gets smaller, making text sometimes illegible. However, the software developer was smart enough to foresee this and the software has a zoom control.
When the dotPocket PPC software is running, a small red square appears on the screen. This is the control interface for dotPocket. Tapping on this square (which can be relocated anywhere on the screen so that it is out of your way) causes the display to change to the normal resolution, but with a virtual desktop. That means that the red square sprouts directional arrows and you can use it to scroll all around the extended PPC screen. You can set the resolution to 600x800, and then use the zoom-in function to view your work at a normal size and then pan around the screen, and zoom back out again. Tapping on the red square at this resolution gives you a menu of other dotPocket options, including the ability to change resolutions. Changing the resolution necessitates a soft reset of the unit, but once a resolution is selected, then it's a one-click deal to flip the orientation 180 degrees. You can also set your own custom resolution but beware: by going away from the established screen proportions, you can come up with some pretty goofy distortions.
Interestingly, I typically use DeveloperOne�s Screensnap software to capture PPC images for these reviews, but when I was using dotPocket, I couldn�t get Screensnap to work. Very interesting.... read below for a description of how l got screen grabs.
The Pocket PC component also allows for the setting of security controls and displays your current IP address, but more about that in a minute.
Figure 1: This is my IPaq screen in landscape mode - great for viewing test documents. In this screen grab, the red dot interface is not present.
Figure 2: Even though the red dot is not visible in this screenshot, tapping it gives you this menu.
Figure 3: Menu showing the different resolutions built in
Figure 4: Menu showing control options
Figure 5: Menu showing security options
PART 2 - Remote Control
(or how to use your $1200.00 desktop computer to input text on your PPC)
The desktop component is a Pocket PC remote control. When your PPC is connected (either via Activesync or wirelessly) a window pops up on your desktop showing the image of your Pocket PC screen. This is a live connection, and using the mouse you can click on areas of the PPC screen in the windows, and the PPC will respond as if you had actually touched the screen itself. This allows you to access all of the information in your pda without having to take it out of its cradle, etc, and since you can use the desktop computer keyboard, you can also enter information into PPC apps much faster than by writing. One missing feature, however, is access from the desktop to the hardware buttons. Not a big deal, but this would be nice.
But that's not all the remote software can do. The software also has screen capture functionality. As mentioned above, I had trouble getting my screen capture application to work, but I used the dotPocket desktop component to grab all of my screenshots without so much as a hiccup. However, beyond static screenshots, the software also allows for the creation of an AVI video of the screen - great for creating a tutorial for some application or process on the Pocket PC. Both of these functions give you great control of file naming and locations to save to and worked very well.
The software also has a file manager function which allows you to move files more quickly and easily that you can using the dreaded Activesync. This feature worked well for me to move files to my IPaq, but consistently crashed when trying to bring files from the IPaq to my desktop.
As mentioned above, the desktop software connects to the Pocket PC via Activesync or a wireless connection. Using the security settings on the Pocket PC component, you can lock out access when cradled, and more importantly when set up for a wireless connection. This second option is a great feature, and I successfully connected over a Linksys Wi-Fi setup to control my IPaq from another room. This was actually a lot of fun, as I was able to activate the voice recorder remotely to record what was happening somewhere else! It was so Mission Impossible! My next step is to try this with a compact flash camera. Keep in mind that if you want to connect wirelessly, you will need to know the IP address of your Pocket PC, which must be entered into the desktop portion of the software. Finding this is not a problem, as the Pocket PC version of dotPocket will display your IP for you.
Figure 6: Desktop pc screen showing the window to my IPaq's soul
Gotchas
It must be mentioned that I reviewed this software using the demo product, and not the registered version. That being stated, I only had a few problems with the software:
- Using the file manager component consistently crashed when trying to bring files from my IPaq to the desktop (tested on several operating systems and hardware configurations.)
- The red dot control interface only gives access to the resolution manager when you zoom in - It would be nice to be able to change the resolutions without having to zoom in.
- I was not able to use my screen capture software when dotpocket was running on my IPaq.
- Hardware buttons are not accessible from the remote control.
Where To Buy
The software can be downloaded from Handango for $30.00. [Affiliate]
Conclusions
dotpocket 2.0 may have a few rough edges, and it certainly is not anything novel, but the power it provides gives welcome control over my Pocket PC. And the relatively low price certainly makes it attractive when compared to some of the bundled software on the market. You should definitely give this software a try.
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04-30-2003, 09:42 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 15
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Quote:
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and takes up XXX Kb of RAM
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I'm not sure I have that much room on my ppc 
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04-30-2003, 09:43 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 16
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You say there is nothing novel about this program - what would be the alternatives and how do they rate? I am looking for something that will help with spreadsheets - zoom and landscape being the big requirements. I also like the ability to input from the desktop.
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04-30-2003, 09:55 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 157
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I think products such as these would be MUCH more useful if they worked with VGA cards such as the Margi or Colorgraphic. Using your Pocket PC in 640 x 480 as a mobile computer that can be connected to a monitor and keyboard is a great solution for mobile workers. Add in software like Conduits' Pocket Slides and SoftMaker's Text Maker and you have a laptop replacement.
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Charles Pickrell
Sacramento Mobiole Computing SIG
A chapter of the NorCal Mobile Computing SIG
www.mobilecomputingsig.com |
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04-30-2003, 11:25 PM
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Editorial Contributor
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,411
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by gracar
You say there is nothing novel about this program - what would be the alternatives and how do they rate? I am looking for something that will help with spreadsheets - zoom and landscape being the big requirements. I also like the ability to input from the desktop.
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A combination of Pocket Controller http://www.soti.net/bot.asp?Cmd=Products and Nyditot Virtual Display http://www.nyditot.com/home.htm comes to mind. Those two are even bundled together on Nyditot's page. Note: it indicates Voyager support. PC I use all the time, it is wonderful. Nyditiot I have and it works, I just don't find a lot of use for it because most of the apps I use are designed for the portrait screen, I hate scrolling, and zoomed out it is too small to read. Those aren't application issues though, those are platform and personal issues.
__________________
Sometimes you are the anteater, sometimes you are the ant.
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05-01-2003, 01:59 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 33
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This is the product I use the most. I find Nyditots controls slightly easier to use.
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05-01-2003, 12:58 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 1,004
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Well I just downloaded the demo and installed it on my HP568 which has a broken screen - and at least now I know that all the data is intact and, apart from the screen, the device is working. Pretty important information as I am hoping to swap the screen with the screen from another broken 568.
From what I can see, the remote control part of the software is very good - there is quite a delay with commands etc, but I am dying to try out the avi record function.
Goldtee
__________________
...waiting for the arrival of my Axim x50v...But I still love my Newtons!
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05-01-2003, 05:38 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 49
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AXIM USERS BEWARE!!!
I just installed this app on my Axim. The program will connect and work, but changing any of the display settings causes my Axim to boot to a blank screen. A soft-reset fixes this.
BUT -- after uninstalling this app, none of my buttons work anymore. The launch buttons, directional pad, scroll wheel, and record button are all functionless. I've tried everything short of a hard reset, and it looks like that's where I'm headed.
The manf. website does not list the Axim as one of the devices it tested on, but also does not give any warnings about using other devices.
Hopefully we will hear more about this, possibly why it happened.
Blue
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05-06-2003, 08:02 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3
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Few words from manufacturer.
Hello and thanks for the warm review.
Sorry for the Axim. dotPocket is still incompatible with Loox and Dell Axim and some other devices with Xscale processor as stated on http://www.dotpocket.com/download.html
We are planning to fix this problems till the end of May.
As for Screensnap software, dotPocket uses its own driver for screen capturing. If you want to use another screen capturing software, just disable dotPocket driver through dotPocket Device Manager.
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05-13-2003, 02:41 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 1
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:cry: Well, I installed the demo. Excitedly, I set a video mode I needed. The software requsted a soft reset. It never got past the iPAQ ROM Screen. It's still there, an hour later, and nothing will shake it out. I'm going to try a hard reset, but my initial experience is pretty discouraging. I hope I don't have to send my iPAQ 3955 in for maintenance.
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Linear Mode
