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Over the next few weeks I will be doing double duty as a judge in the button enhancer category of Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazines and also presenting reviews of them here. So, you can get a better idea of the software programs in that category and how I will be judging and voting.

Here’s the full list of all the software reviews in the button enhancement category:

Burr Oak Software’s HotButton Plus

Hundera’s HButton

Momidi’s BtnPlus

AE Button Plus

AE Keyboard Mapper

Today, I’ll be doing a review of Fantastic Byte’s SoftKey Manager. It’s a soft key manager which enables you to extend the functionality of the soft keys in the Today Screen. What are soft keys you ask? Well, they are the left and right action keys located at the bottom left or right of the PDA screen or those physical hardware keys located directly underneath the screen on the left and right. Many Windows Mobile program will have the soft keys available so that you have extra options or features available. This soft key manager program will only assign the soft key option in the Today Screen. It will not override the soft key assignments in other programs. Considering that the Today Screen is normally the main screen we see when we turn on our smartphones, having this program can be very handy. This program not only allows you to assign it to a program, you can select an image, or a file, even those on your expansion card! And the best thing is that it’s free!

So, why would you want such an application, you may ask? Well, considering that there is a limited number of hardware buttons on a typical Windows Mobile smartphone, being able to add extra functions to those buttons can dramatically improve your productivity, or at least make it easier to open up that program or link without having to navigate all over to get to it. Once you’ve set up the link to your soft key, it’s as simple as pressing it and you’re there.

To give you a better example of this soft key manager software, here are some screenshots I’ve taken of it showing the program.

Click on the thumbnails for a bigger image

For those who want to skip over all the detailed review and just want a summary, you can jump to the review summary

The program is very easy to use and it’s very easy to set or assign whatever program you want to assign for your soft keys.

First, run the program by going to it either via the Start menu or, if you have a shortcut set up on your launcher, run it from that. You will see the main screen of the program. Unfortunately for square screen devices (like my Treo 750), you will notice that you’ll need to scroll down to view items at the bottom.

The screen clearly defines the Left Softkey and Right Softkey and what they currently are set to. To change it and assign it, simply tap on the “…” button for the softkey you want to change.

It will then allow you to select what target file, link, etc you want. By default, it shows the Start Menu items. If you tap on the downward pointing triangle at the right, you will see a drop down menu allowing you to find files via the browse option (even allowing you to select files on your expansion card) as well as Internet Explorer Favorites. So, if you want to have access to your favorite web link, you can assign it to your left or right soft key, bypassing the normal process of opening up Pocket IE, then favorites and select it. So, now, do you understand how useful this program can be? You can assign both the left and right soft keys. But, if you own a Treo 750, you may have difficulty in assigning or changing the right soft key. Keep in mind that this is likely not due to limitation in the software but more related to the Treo OS. Read my observations for more details.

Once you’ve selected the program, link, etc, tap on the “Save Changes” button to ensure that the program has that assignment saved. Then, either tap on the “Soft Reset” button or manually perform a soft reset on your device. Should you wish to revert the soft keys back to the default assignments, simply tap on the “Reset to Defaults” button, “Save Changes” (just to be sure) and “Soft Reset”. It can’t get any simpler than that.

Video of SoftKey Manager

Video at YouTube

Alternative video link: Video at Blip.tv

Here are my observations:

Although the program is freeware and it generally works, I was finding that it wasn’t entirely working as well as I expected. First of all, before I continue, I would like to mention that the problems I’ve experienced may very well be due to the Treo 750 and how the underlying Treo Windows Mobile OS may be the culprit. I am quite sure that other devices will likely not have any problems with this software working at all. Actually, I am very sure that there is something in the Treo’s OS that is preventing or conflicting with the program to prevent it from working right. After a soft reset with the changes made in the software, I could notice that for a slight second when loading up that the soft keys were showing the program or link that I provided in the SoftKey manager program but somehow, it gets replaced by the default selection in the Today Screen. So, it shows that this is something that the Treo OS is blocking or preventing from working. With that in mind, here are the rest of my thoughts.

In order to test this program, I had to do a hard reset of my Treo 750 to ensure that there was nothing conflicting with it to prevent it from working. Originally, I wasn’t able to get it to work at all. I sent an email to the developer who advised me that it could be something conflicting with it. So, I did the hard reset and loaded the program and although it works at least with the left soft key, it’s obvious that there is something blocking the program from making soft key mapping changes for the right soft key. Again, I’m not sure if it’s only unique to my Treo 750 smartphone but that is what I have experienced.

The right soft key (action button) can not be changed by SoftKey Manager. I have not tried other soft key management programs and can’t comment on whether other software was able to do so, but it seems that this program right now can’t override the default settings for the right action/soft key button on my Treo 750. Understandably so, since the right action/soft key does have a menu of options and features and replacing it would take out a lot of options. So, for Treo 750 owners, we are left with half of the functionality of the software by only being able to set or change the left action/soft key button. That’s fine, but it seems that again, there’s something blocking the Calendar from being loaded on the left soft key. I have tried a few times and each time, the soft key loads the default Email instead. I’m not sure why that happens.

One suggestion with respect to the program is that rather than adding the new soft key assignment to the menu (as it seems to happen for me anyway), could there be an option to specify or limit the softkey to only be assigned to one app or link, or whatever? That way, it could be a “one button access” rather than two button, having to press the soft key and then press the select/center button to run it.

A similar suggestion along the same lines is possibly offering more than one assignment or selection for the soft key, perhaps up to eight different links, etc? That way, you can have those frequently used apps or links right there.

By having the option of offering the combination of either a one link/app access or multi link/app could be very beneficial, providing the choice for those who wish a one button access or having a list of apps available. Again, this is simply a suggestion.

Review Summary

Fantastic Byte’s SoftKey Manager is a decent soft key mapping assignment program that can allow you to set or assign a specific program, link, picture to the left or right soft keys of your Windows Mobile device. Considering that it’s freeware, you really can’t complain. It’s very straightforward and easy to use. And at the tiny size of 40k installed on my Treo, it’s nice to find that it works without taking up much space.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get it to work as well as I’d hoped on my Treo 750 since the OS apparently has blocked the program from changing the right soft key and for whatever reason, the Calendar application from being assigned on the left soft key. Aside from that, other links seem to work fine. Again, keep in mind that this may very well be a unique situation that applied only to my Treo 750 smartphone due to specific restrictions in the Treo OS, as I’m sure that it will likely work flawlessly on your device.

Again, at a price of zero pennies and its small size, you can’t complain. Check out Fantastic Byte’s SoftKey Manager here.

Enjoyed this review? Check out the many other Palm Discovery software reviews here.

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