Today SPB Software has announced a major upgrade for SPB Mobile Shell to version 3.5, their award winning-next generation user interface- application. It has been some time since I extensively reviewed SPB Mobile Shell in the article: “SPB Mobile Shell v3.0 User Interface Step-By-Step Review“.
This new version builds further upon version 3.0, however SPB Software has added a massive load of new features which I will try to cover in this article. Let’s start with a video-overview from the SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 product page:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGrfQ7IKGBs
What is new in SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 ?
When I first saw the impressive changelog on the SPB website I really wondered why they just marked it as a .5-release instead of naming it SPB Mobile Shell 4.0. 
In this section I will focus on the most important new features, which are the result of a further “widget-ization” of the application in the different screens of SPB Mobile Shell.
Two improved homescreens: Professional and Lifestyle
One of the basic concepts introduced with SPB Mobile Shell was having two homescreens: Professional and Lifestyle. The reasoning behind this approach hasn’t changed:
“Windows Mobile devices are traditionally popular among mobile professionals, users that need the power of this platform in their daily lives. Very often you need the professional features of a Windows Phone at work, and in your free time you still want to use the same phone, but with a more generic “consumer-ish” angle.”
The left screenshot above shows the Lifestyle homescreen, while the right screenshot shows the Professional homescreen. At first sight you would expect just minor changes, but that is completely wrong since both the homescreens are fully widgetizable.
Especially for the Professional homescreen this is something new, as you can see in the left screenshot above. In the right screenshot a settings window is shown for the homescreens.
You can see that both the homescreens are enabeled, and that the Professional homescreen consists of 1 page, while the Lifestyle homescreen consists of three pages (in fact you have 3 Lifestyle homescreens). Finally you are able to set commands, which the buttons in the bottom row should open.
3D viewers for e-mail and sms messages
A second set of new feature is the addition of 3D viewers for e-mails / mms / sms-messages, which make it more easy to manage and read your e-mails / mms / sms-messages from within SPB Mobile Shell. On the top left you see a counter with new messages and the account name you are viewing.
Furthermore you see a “carousel” of e-mails, which in concept we also see in the TouchFLO 3D interface. The main difference in my personal perception is that the amount and size of the text is better implemented in SPB Mobile Shell. With swipes and gestures you can easily glance forward and backward through your e-mails. By hitting the button in the bottom right corner you open up a quick menu to reply, delete or forward a message (again without opening Pocket Outlook).
The same concept is also applied to the sms-messages, while you can easily select an account bit click the “account-bar”. If you don’t want this new feature, you can also set the widget on the homescreen to simply open Pocket Outlook as a default action. It is simply done by tap and hold on email widget and choose the corresponding default action. This is shown in the right screenshot above.
Facebook- and Twitter widgets
While we could see a Facebook integration in SPB Mobile Shell 3.0 in the contact card, with the goal to grab a picture from Facebook and add this picture to the person’s contact card. A same approach has been seen on TouchFLO3D of the HTC Touch Pro2. In the top left screenshot I have added both a Facebook- and a Twitter-widget to the Lifestyle homescreen.
These widgets can be used to update or post statuses to your Facebook-page, or in the case of Twitter simply sent out tweets from within SPB Mobile Shell. The great advantage is that you don’t need to install an additional Twitter- or Facebook client, but you can grant SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 to access you account (details). Again a clever improvement of SPB Software.
Integration with SPB Weather and SPB Traveller via widgets
We all know that SPB Software always had an excellent integration of various applications into SPB Mobile Shell and SPB Pocketplus as well. While in the previous version of SPB Mobile Shell already one tile or screen in the carousel was for weather and weather forecasts, we can see an extention in SPB Mobile Shell 3.5.
Additional functions and information known from SPB Weater are now integrated with SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 via various widgets. Furthermore parts of SPB Traveller are as well integrated via widgets. SPB Mobile Shell now more and more becomes the overall umbrella for the different (specialized) applications of SPB Software.
Complete list of other widgets
The video and screenshot above show the complete list over selectable widgets, and the list below provides the most remarkable in addition to the widgets covered in the paragraphs above:
- Tasks (customizable task list on your home screen);
- Picture Frame (widget and full-screen slideshow);
- Four instant wireless switches (WiFi, Bluetooth, Flight Mode, Phone Switch);
- Internet Search (with instant suggestions);
- Birthdays reminders (never forget about your friend’s birthday again);
Looking back at the basic concepts from SPB Mobile Shell 3.0
Some coolness added in SPB Mobile Shell 3.0 was the so called carousel to easily switch between the different screens of SPB Mobile Shell, in addition to the other “tiles” option. Both concepts are still in place and are further improved. The carousel now has some nice shadows and mirror images, and can be manipulated around with the fingers (also up and downwards so you can look into the carousel).
Matthew Miller, Editor of ZDNet Smartphones and Cell Phones blog has published a great SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 demo in which the new graphics and this new carousel behavior are clearly shown.
If you look at the number of titels in the tiles-overview, I can count 12 which is different from the previous version. The following list of screens is present in SPB Mobile Shell: Professional Home, Lifestyle Home, Launcher, SPB Menu, Call Log, Favorite Contacts, SPB Contacts, Contacts Carousel, Weather, Weather Conditions, Agenda, Time.
The main changes within SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 have been on the widget front, so in the basic idea’s there weren’t extreme changes. If you want to know more about the launcher or SPB Menu I highly recommend to read through the review of the previous version: “SPB Mobile Shell v3.0 User Interface Step-By-Step Review“.
Conclusions and thoughts
With the release of SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 and the developer’s focus on using widgets a next level in personalization of your Windows (Mobile) Phone is set. The extensive amount of widgets and options make it possible to create a unique user interface that suits your personal needs at best, without losing the basic concepts of SPB Mobile Shell version 3.0.
For the people who have had the chance to play around with an Android powered devices, as well as a HTC device with TouchFLO 3D on it see influences of both user interface on the design of SPB Mobile Shell. Homescreen widgets is something that can been see on Android devices as well. It is good that the different available UI’s learn from each other (look over the wall) and deliver the end-user a better experience !
There is one small remark that I haven’t figured out yet. In the Lifestyle homescreen you can customize the background as well as the colors. However the color of topbar (in the screenshots of the review shown in Windows Mobile Green) stands-out from the rest of the Lifestyle homescreen, and personally I do think the application loses some of its elegance on this point. I hope the topbar will be skinned as well in an upcoming release.
Finally I would like to recommend the SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 review from George Ponder, Editor of WM Experts, as well as the excellent video demo and review of Matthew Miller, Editor of ZDNet Smartphones and Cellphones blog.
Pricing and availability
SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 is available for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices (works on WM 5 or higher) from September 30th and on. A free trial version working for 15 days with some restrictions can be downloaded, or the full version can be purchased for $29.95 from www.spbsoftware.com. All registered user of SPB Mobile Shell 3.x can upgrade it to the version 3.5 for free.
