ConactBreeze good or bad?

[JimPAQ]

Has any one used the new ContactBreeze add on to PocketBreeze? I’ve been using it for a few days now, and I'm starting to fall in love with it. It just seems so much more efficient then Outlook’s contact list. I love the way the filter feature is designed. I was just wondering if others had used it, and if so, what some of the feedback as been? I haven't actually purchased the program yet, but short of finding out the program is secretly just a deliver system to spread the first PPC virus; I have no doubts that I will.

--Jim

[buckyg]

I give it a definite :way to go: My only problem with it was that I initially had the search set to Sequence instead of Initials. So when I clicked through the tabs, I suddenly had some tabs with nothing to display. I did figure out what it was doing, set the search to Initials and am very happy. This wasn't a bug, just a setting that confused me at first.

I am impressed with both "Breeze" products. There are a lot of settings, so you can customize it to your heart's desire.

[Mr. PPC]

I use both of them, excellent design and features. More importantly, excellent support (better than most, if not all) from the developers via their forum.

[Jereboam]

Both are fantastic additions that add real usability to the Pocket PC.

Extremely rapid lookup of contacts is a real plus when you are on the run.

I use Pocket Informant as my PIM and the integration is tight, including category icons on the Today screen which makes it easy to see what is coming up with a glance.

Dial and beam by Bluetooth and ContactBreeze will be perfect.

J'bm

[Sven Johannsen]

I think it is great, as is Pocket Breeze. You guys should take another look at sequence search. It's great for finding a particular record. Just start typing the name and it'll get it. It's basically a T-9 seaerch. If you are looking for a Sven, you type an "s" and you get all the entries that have an "s" (or p, q, or r) anywhere, then a "v" and filter down to names with an "s" (or p, q, or r) followed by a "v", (or w, x, or z), and so on. It zooms in to the name very quickly. Doesn't even matter whether first or last or how it is stored. Robert finds Ben Roberts as quickly as it does Robert Smith.

[JimPAQ]

I give it a definite :way to go:

I have to agree with you. I have been very impressed with it so far.

The only thing I find missing is filtering by categories. I'm not sure why I can't do this, since PocketBreeze allows me to do it. It seems natural for ContactBeeze to extend that functionality. But that's a small grip with an otherwise excellent application.

And yes, the support is outstanding also. I made the bonehead mistake of purchasing CalendarPlus after reading good review about it. I quickly realized that PocketBreeze was the next generation of CalendarPlus and I should have purchased it instead. When I e-mailed them and asked if I could upgrade and pay the difference, not only did they allow it, but the response was the same day. Needless to say, with support like that, you can’t help but love the applications.

--Jim

[zilla31]

definitely money. i love it. amit is working on some other top secret additions too... can't wait.

[ajnemasis]

Definately worth the money. I've been using SBSH today products since CPPro and they just keep getting better.

:way to go:

[JimPAQ]

I think it is great, as is Pocket Breeze. You guys should take another look at sequence search. It's great for finding a particular record.

Agreed, the sequence search is innovative and great for narrowing down a list. With my contacts list, I find I can get the list filtered down to 5 or 6 contacts (which fits nicely on the screen with no scrolling) in about three clicks.

--Jim

[Sven Johannsen]

The only thing I find missing is filtering by categories. I'm not sure why I can't do this, since PocketBreeze allows me to do it. It seems natural for ContactBeeze to extend that functionality.

Give them a day or two. This is the initial release and there have already been updates that extend the functionality. A caution though...keeping up with SBSHs updates can become a full time enterprise. There's an update every couple of days, and not just bug fixes, real improvements and extended functionality.

[Sully]

I worked on the Beta testing team for ContactBreeze and can tell you that not only is the filtering coming soon but many other enhancements. Users of the forum have made many request that Amit has added to his list. Just as PocketBreeze has been developed so shall ContactBreeze. Keep in mind that the same tab functionality that allows ContactBreeze to be a part of PocketBreeze has the door open for more additions. Users have requested such items as an E-mail tab and a Notes Tab just to mention a few. Drop by the SBSH forumn and tell Amit what you would like to see. :D

[buckyg]

Yes, I do like the sequence search, too. It's handy. It just threw me the first time I clicked through the tabs, since it was using the sequence search results. Once I saw what it was doing, it was one of those "Hey, that's a cool feature!" moments.

[amitregev]

buckyg - Thanks for the support 8)

If you don't use the sequence search - give it another try, I really advice you all to give it a second chance and read the 8 lines describing it on our site - I really, really, believe most of you won't leave this search method after trying it for 3 minutes :D

One of the last problems we have today with the sequence search is for users who have many contacts (1,000 and above) - it can be a bit slow. By slow I mean it can take about 1-1.5 seconds for the first two clicks until you narrow the search list, and this is too slow for a search method - I know that.

When testing it with 500 contacts I can tell you it's pretty fast, less then 0.5 seconds for first click, and all following clicks always get faster, so it's fine.

The good news is that we improved our searching algorithm (I must admit this comes with the help of one of our users who sent me a nice algorithm he had in mind and we plan to implement soon) - with this new algorithm, I'm sure the sequence search will be much faster, even if you have 3,000 contacts 8)

[amitregev]

The only thing I find missing is filtering by categories. I'm not sure why I can't do this, since PocketBreeze allows me to do it. It seems natural for ContactBeeze to extend that functionality.

Give them a day or two. This is the initial release and there have already been updates that extend the functionality. A caution though...keeping up with SBSHs updates can become a full time enterprise. There's an update every couple of days, and not just bug fixes, real improvements and extended functionality.

Yes, this will be added soon 8)

I first want to add the "File As" defaults from the contacts default PIM/PI/AF - which means you will see the default number you defined for each contact - this is still something we are missing and I think is very important.

I hope to have this in a matter of 2-3 days and then we will continue to category filtering :D

We also had a new PB version today that allows you to disable/enable any tab you wish except for the Calendar tab which is, for now, the default "must have" tab. I think this is really a great addition because many people don't use all the tabs, but only some of them, and disabling the tabs you don't use make PB work faster and consume even less memory - this way, you can customize your PB even more 8)

[Sully]

Check out this special offer from SBSH.

http://www.sbsh.net/products/pocketbreeze/index.php?page=special_offers

[Toys4Boys]

A definite winner! Reasonably priced, downright cheap, excellent functionality, i especially love the zoom keyboard and the support is beyond compare. Not only is this product a real value but you are supporting a truly excellent company!

[buckyg]

Amit,
You're right: I spent a few minutes playing around using the Sequence Search. You have me convinced. This is very useful.

Excellent software and support. Between all the time you spend on development and then posting on the support forums and now here, I sure hope you catch some sleep sometime!

[buckyg]

Looks like Amit gets by on only a little sleep, version 1.0.04 was just released.

http://www.sbsh.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1308

He's made load performance improvements, changed the display to go by your PIM's "File As" and more.

[JimPAQ]

Awesome, looks like this CB loads a lot faster. I also installed the new PB and my problem with the category being partially obscured is now fixed as well. I like the fact that I can disable the tabs even though I actually use them all.

--Jim

[amitregev]

Awesome, looks like this CB loads a lot faster. I also installed the new PB and my problem with the category being partially obscured is now fixed as well. I like the fact that I can disable the tabs even though I actually use them all.

--Jim

I must admit I was amazed with the results when I changed the loading class we use for ContactBreeze. It seems that after the change I've implemented the loading is now about three times faster!! I don't want to post the programming level change, but I have many complains for M$$.

Anyway, I hope to have within a week or two the feature to dial directly from CB and this will allow Phone Edition OS users to search and dial using the full mode screen CB offers without the stylus 8)

[JimPAQ]

OK, I did it. I said at the start of this post I was running ContactBreeze but had not yet purchased it. Well, I decided that it was just too darn handy to give up. So I went ahead and purchased it. Honestly, I think it's under priced for the quality of the product so I figure I better buy it now before the price starts going up. You know that whole supply and demand thing.

Thanks again for a great product.

--Jim

[amitregev]

As promised, about a week after the initial release we released today ContactBreeze version 1.0.05 with a special version for Pocket PC Phone Edition users that supports dialing directly from ContactBreeze on your Today screen! 8)

You can read more about the new version on the following URL:

http://www.sbsh.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1380

Cheers. :)