Another Free Stuff: Handy Shell ~ SCRATCH e-PAD!

People in the mobile world seemed to be very generous this days, there giving away lots of free stuffs. Yesterday, I featured a free N-Gage game activation code, today, a one year license software that was doled out to me via text message two weeks ago, Epocwares, Handy Shell. I didn't feature this yet because I need to use and observe the software first before giving out my insignificant thoughts about it, haha, self pity again.

Anyways, just to give your a brief background, Handy Shell is a third party application software created by Epocware that provides 3 additional Standby screens (Today, Applications, Contacts) and advanced launcher which will completely change smartphone’s look and increase its productivity. It is fully integrated with main smartphone applications like Clock, Contacts , Calendar, Messages, Profiles and Themes.

Handy Shell features:
1. Today view completely replaces Active Standby and collects all important info on your smartphone’s screen. Digital clock, date, alarms, Application shortcuts, Phone indicators (Bluetooth, missed calls, new messages, new emails, active profile, active theme), Calendar events, Weather plug-in with 5 days weather forecast for your home city for Handy Weather owners. Applications view gives a fast access to frequently used applications.
2. Contacts view shows 12 favorite contacts with optional dial or create message actions
3. Dial and Start allows to find the desired contact or to launch applications directly from any view. Just start typing first digits of phone number or first letters of contact’s/application’s name. Handy Shell will interpret them in T9 manner.

The Handy Shell that I got has a weather plug-in with it and a Handy Taskman, so its a 3 - 1 software, a good stuff. If I am to rate this software from 1 to 10, I say its a 6 because I find it confusing rather than helpful and it took me a week to figure things out, call that stupidity in my part, anyways, there was even a time that I decided to turn it off because it hinders my mobile phone used, that's how worse I am to adopt to new things or how worse the software was, oh well.

Last night I decided to give it a try again and dig down further to configure how it will work for me and I think I had found a way but it wasn't perfect like that of my old set up. I changed the Today's Page setting, as you can see in the screenshot above, left part, I rearrange the order and change the applications shortcut keys, this shortcut keys were my most used applications of all thus making Today's page more usable.

On the Applications page, screenshot above, right part, I assigned programs that were related to Internet and Web. I'm used to grouping softwares to folders and since I'm fun of using my phone for surfing, all the web applications landed on the Applications page. The only bad thing about it is that I cannot see running programs as oppose to the folder version were I could see a blue circle on the upper right corner of the icon. This is very important to me since I'm using several web browser and applications at the same time and it was like I'm jumping from one browser to the other since opening web pages was slow due to the mediocre Internet connection and speed I have and the need for me to come back to the other browser that I opened from time to time is important. I was thinking of assigning other applications on it and bring back my web folder to the menu page again.

I find the Contact page rather annoying than helpful due to a handful contacts that can only be save and so I deactivate it. Besides I can easily find my contacts by using the Dial to Start feature they have included in the software so this standby screen page is really a pure waste.

Other odd discoveries, It seemed that browsing my phone works slower with Handy Shell, maybe it was because of the added configurations that was stuffed into it. Even the End key doesn't close menu folders anymore. Before, End key will close menu folder, now it brings you to Handy Shell's Todays Standby Screen.

As of the moment, I'm still trying to adopt the software and familiarize its capability. I believe its a good software once you will get used to it. My major concern is the slowness it brings which might become a major issue for me in the future, hopefully Epocware will release an update that will address this concern.