Pocket411 - Beta testers needed

[jhzafrani]

Hello All,

One of the software packages that I missed the most when switching from a Blackberry to a Pocket PC was Berry411. For those of you who are not familiar, Berry411 is an application that allows users to find information very quickly. It is essentially an interface around Google's various services.

I decided to write an application and am releasing it as beta (more like alpha) for people to try out and let me know what they think. It is attached to this thread. Simply download the zip, extract the CAB file, place it on your Pocket PC and execute it to install the application.

When the application is run for the first time, it will ask the user to setup the three locations that the application will use. Those are home, work, and other. The format of the location can be anything from a full address to just a zip code. Only one location is required for the software to operate correctly. Once the initial configuration is done, the main screen of the application will be presented. To use, simply select the location (home is the default), enter the search term, and select from the search menu the type of search you would like to perform. All results are presented in Pocket IE.

This application requires the .Net Framework compact edition version 2.0 to be installed. Further, it is a Pocket PC app only and has only been tested with Pocket PC 2003 and Windows Mobile 5.0.

I would appreciate any feedback, suggestions, and reports of issues.

Thanks in Advanced,

Jim Zafrani

[Wideawake]

sweet, thanks for posting it here with us, I will give this a try and move down to the Pocket PC Phone Developers Spot till final release.

[bunnytrigger]

thank you dude, downloadind right now and fixing to test it

[jhzafrani]

All,

Thanks for taking the time to evaluate the application. Attached is a new version which corrects issues with the reverse lookup list.

Thanks again,

Jim Zafrani

[Wideawake]

Ok played with it alittle and here comes a few suggestions. First when I installed the newest version it added 2 icons to the program. Then after opening the program it ased me to set the default location. I set it, hit ok then it told me to set it again (is this the work location?) well anyway after that it poped up again, is it supposed too? I ended up hitting cancel to exit. after opening I first recognized its not set to ms standards. the left soft key should be one function with no menu...I mean it really doesn't matter much but that's what ms recommends. As far as that its setup pretty nice with some good functions for finding info quick.
~mike

[Malatesta]

Yeah I've been using this app...well since yesterday (over at TC)! And it's quickly become one of my favorite apps.

Since it's runs on CF 2.0, which means it takes awhile to load up, I recommend to leave it running in the background so it's faster to call up when you need it. Seeing as it has a relatively small footprint, it should have little impact on RAM.

Power User Tip:
Going one step further, I only need this program when I'm out-n-about (as opposed to Home or Work) so I use my other favorite program PhoneAlarm to launch it automatically whenever I switch to my "Out" profile and to close when I switch to another. That way whenever I'm out in the city or in public and I'd really need to look up a movie time, restaurant, or other information, it's always there waiting for me.

[xclusiv_1]

so is this something that's safe to download and use as a final version?

[ZaijiaN]

Sounds like a nifty program, Jim, i'll try it out when I get home.


Any chance I can get the source as well? I'm just starting to develop .netcf apps myself.

[Crash83]

Love the app but heres my question, is there a possibility of using a different engine? rather than google maybe http://wap.switchboard.com/xhtml/index.asp? due to its usage of the white pages as well as the yellow pages?

[Pibe38]

Originally Posted by Crash83

Love the app but heres my question, is there a possibility of using a different engine? rather than google maybe http://wap.switchboard.com/xhtml/index.asp? due to its usage of the white pages as well as the yellow pages?

Unfortunately this thread has not been updated since October and the developer has not posted again.

At this moment, there's no development for this app. You may want to check our Software forum for the Windows Live Search client, it is an option to this app.