Speaking Of Free Software...

[Brad Adrian]

<a href="http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&amp;platformId=2&amp;productType=2&amp;catalog=0&amp;amp;sectionId=0&amp;productId=40466">http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&amp;platformId=2&amp;productType=2&amp;catalog=0&amp;amp;sectionId=0&amp;productId=40466</a><br /><br />The developers at <a href="http://www.jarosoft.com/seymour.html">Jarosoft</a> are giving away a copy of their new software, Seymour, to five registered Thoughts readers. The purpose of Seymour is to let you view more than one open window on your Pocket PC screen at a time (Get it? "see more?")<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/seymour.gif" /><br /><br />"Seymour is an innovative application that allows the user to work better with their Pocket PC. By giving the user the ability to view two applications at one time, the user can easily exchange information between them with less taps of the pen. The user can see more at one time because two applications are visible in scrollable views rather than one."<br /><br />This is an innovative idea, and one that really takes advantage of the Pocket PC's ability to multitask. I realize that the on-screen real estate of our devices is already kind of cramped, but I can see situations in which it would be nice to not have to keep tapping the Start icon to switch between applications.<br /><br />So, go ahead and click on the link above to try out the free demo of this software. In order to have a shot at winning one of the free full copies (which we will give away in a few days), you must make sure you're registered with this site and that your e-mail address is up to date so we can contact you if you win!

[Barak]

I've had the trial version for 2 days and I have to say I am impressed.
It's interface is easy enough to jump right into and start using.

It's nice to be able to have two program panes open at the same time and makes my pocketpc more like a desktop in that manner :)

It's amazing that the programs that cost the least are often the most useful. :wink:

Whether I win a copy or not, I will have the full version before the 30 day trial is over.

[fgarcia10]

I really like the program, and its price, with my luck I better go ahead and buy. :lol:

[Master O'Mayhem]

pretty nice idea.

[cludwig]

I've gotta try this. One of THE most important places for this would be with the Phone Edition. Since there's no "real" keypad on the Phone Edition devices, I find myself seriously struggling when I need to check my phone messages.

I want to take notes and be able to tap keys at the same time, but it's _awful_ at the moment. By the time I've switched to the Notes application, the message usually has to be repeated so that I can write down the number of the person who called or something else. Then, by the time I switch back to Phone app to press the key that I need to get the voice mail system to repeat the message, I find myself needing to be back in Notes to write it down. Something like this would help a lot.

Now that I think about it, a _tremendously_ useful application would be a tiny "pop-up" Phone application that let me just answer / hang up / switch between calls and tap phone keys. The regular phone app is great, but once I'm in "PDA" mode (using the stylus) the "full screen" approach with giant finger-pressable buttons is overkill, and as noted, sometimes a pain the kiester since it "covers up" the PDA application that I'm trying to use.

If an app like that could be developed and made to hook into (appear automatically) the "Answer" button that appears in the pop-up dialog when the phone rings I'd be _even more_ excited about the device... if that's possible!

[QYV]

This application sounds very cool and I'm going to try it out. But (at the risk of going slightly off-topic) is there any kind of application that allows for the viewing of two separate documents of the same type?

What I mean is, there are a lot of times when I want to (for example) cut and paste text between two Pocket Word documents. Currently, I have to open Doc A, copy the text, close Doc A, open Doc B, paste the text, close Doc B, open Doc A again, etc. This works to a degree, but can be a real pain sometimes. If there was some kind of hack that allowed for keeping two Pocket Word docs or e-mails in my Inbox open at once (with the ability to switch easily between the two) I would be ecstatic. Anyone know of anything like that?

[empowermobility]

Hi there -

We've not been able to perform this on Pocket PC 2000 devices, but! we have successfully done this on 2002 with a special version of Seymour. That is, we had two Excel Applications open at one time, and cut/copy/paste between them, saved them etc. :D However, due to time constraints and the scope of 1.0, we did not include this in 1.0.

Now, I can not guarantee anything. All applications are different and we can't change how apps are written. But, if we can get it work reliably for Word, etc., you may see this working in future versions of Seymour.

Stay tuned ...

[QYV]

Thanks for the response - I will anxiously await the next version of Seymour, then! If you can get that stuff working, you'll have a sale from me for sure. :D

[christak]

I'm planning on giving this app a try... Any problems using it on a 3950??

[christak]

Well, I have loaded this software onto my iPAQ 3950 and it works pretty much as advertised. I'm quite impressed overall. I have tried using several applications and most work quite well -- One issue that I have noticed with this software is in access to the "slider bars" on app's while using Seymour -- I don't have a way to get all the way to the bottom in some app's while staying in split screen mode (in Seymour). This issue could be my lack of fully understanding the software (there is no help file that I have seen) but at this point, I believe that it would keep me from buying (the current version).

Nice idea though and I look forward to the next version.


Update-- There is a very useful help file available within the app -- I just missed it before. I have also contacted the developer by email and am quite impressed by his willingness to discuss any software suggestions/issues and by his responsiveness.

[pantster]

Wow, I just won a copy of this. I can't wait to try it out!

I'm off on holiday to Vegas for 2 weeks, I'll let you know what it's like when I return.

Phillip 8O

[christak]

Congrats on winning a free copy -- I believe that you'll like it all in all. Especially since you got it for the right price!

[jim s]

I, too, am a winner of this nifty app. I use NSBASIC and was hoping to have two files open for copying/pasting between them, but you can only open NSBASIC once. The next time you try to open it, it opens up the first instance. I guess I could save the text in .txt format and use Pocket Word for the second editor. Looks like it will be a very useful application.

Jim

[empowermobility]

A quick update ...

Agenda Fusion and Resco File Explorer have both corrected their applications to work better with the SIP. Seymour should work better with them now. The other apps, like Mazingo and Pocket Informant, etc have mentioned they are looking into SIP management. All looks promising --- we'll keep you posted.

We expect most other applications to better support the SIP over time. Let us know if you find any apps that don't.

FYI - A new version of Seymour (1.0.4) will be out soon which will provide:

- Better SIP use with captured apps. No more of a bottom pane application being obscured and not resized when the SIP is up.
- FaceLift support
- Taskbar icon memory. The app will remember the eye's last position.
- much Better Today screen support.
- a few other fun things and fixes we don't want to mention just yet. =)

Thoughts, comments or complaints? Please send us or post your feedback. We feel this concept has a lot of potential so your ideas / thoughts / complaints will greatly affect how the application ends up.

Seymour will only get better ... so thanks for the support.