Reviews
SnapperMail
Getting
email on the road has become as important to me as getting phone
calls. Using a combination of a cell phone and a handheld computer,
I'm able to get email wherever I am, whether just across town
or far away on business. My Palm Tungsten T3 connects to my cell
phone via a low-power wireless radio standard called Bluetooth.
My cell phone, a Sony Ericsson T610, connects to the Internet
via its built-in GPRS radio and my email streams right into my
handheld from as many as four accounts, all without cumbersome
wires.
Until recently, I've been using my Palm's built-in VersaMail email
application, a program with a long history and a refined interface.
I've heard so much praise about SnapperMail, however, that I had
to give it a try. It was designed by a fellow I know who has spent
quite a bit of time on the road living out of his Palm device,
Mr. Will Lau. A New Zealander, Lau traveled around the world with
a Palm device and a modem in 1999/2000. The experience shows,
because SnapperMail works more like a desktop mail application
than any other handheld mail program.
Its main draw for me is one that's missing in VersaMail: a single
email inbox. I just press the Send/Fetch button, and SnapperMail
goes to work getting all my email and putting it in one place.
Which email account the email is coming from is not usually important
to me, and the VersaMail design requires too much switching between
accounts. I'm more interested in getting and viewing my email
fast so that I can answer it. SnapperMail can be configured to
have separate inboxes, but that's not the way I choose to work.
SnapperMail goes beyond the typical spare Palm program. It offers
choices.
There
are two "Nav modes." StylusNav mode is designed to display the
maximum amount of information while remaining easy to use with
a stylus. This means a traditionally slim scrollbar, and a single-line
listing of email. FingerNav mode is designed to work better for
cell phones, where the rest of the interface has already been
redesigned to work better with a finger, devices like the Treo
600. This includes a two-line display, easier for the big pad
of a finger to select. And when you need to access the scroll
bar, all you do is get your finger on the very slim scroll bar
and it immediately expands into a fat scroll bar for easier fingertip
control. When you open an email, the font is bigger in FingerNav
mode for easier readability and selection. You switch between
modes by tapping in the lower right corner, where there's either
a stylus or hand icon depending on the active mode. Because I
prefer the two-line display, I keep SnapperMail in FingerNav mode
and I went into the font menu in the Message Read mode and changed
the font back to the small one for easier readability.
Desktop computers can do something handhelds usually cannot: receive
email attachments and open them for editing and resending. SnapperMail
not only can receive and open attachments when paired with software
like Quickoffice or Documents to Go, it can even open files that
arrived in compressed form, specifically zipped files, with the
help of the bundled HandZipper Lite. Just tap on the zip file
and you're presented with a floating pull-down menu. Select Open
with HandZipperLite and you're taken to the application where
you can see all the filenames. Pick your file, choose Unzip/Install,
and you're asked whether to send the file to the text reader or
to your default viewer. In my case, it defaults to the T3's built-in
Documents to Go. Soon I'm viewing a Word document with no trouble
at all.
But can it pass the ultimate test? Can SnapperMail successfully
send a Word document created on a Palm device? Yes, no problem.
Just choose Send in Documents to Go, pick the app that will do
the sending (naturally we'll be sending via SnapperMail) and up
comes the program, flashing to the screen very quickly. Another
few seconds and the file is gone, on the way to the inbox of my
partner. The file not only opens on a PC running Word, but on
a Mac running Word.
You can also install Palm program files via email attachment.
Just email them to yourself, tap on the attachment and choose
Install. Very impressive, a feature I know was important to Will
while he was on the road and usually without a PC for a traditional
HotSync install.
Another bundled application is JPEGWatchLite, a JPEG file viewer.
Though you can send the file to any photo viewer application that
SnapperMail identifies as being able to handle a JPEG, I'm particularly
impressed with JPEGWatchLite. Not only does it zoom and drag around
easily, but it displays full EXIF data for digital images, so
I can see for example that my friends in Germany used a Kyocera
Finecam SL330R digital camera to take a picture of their new baby.
That's a feature I did not expect from a program carrying the
Lite name.
SnapperMail also supports a number of standard file formats, including
GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNG, Powerpoint, vCard, vCal, Text, HTML, CSV,
MIDI, PDB, and PQA. All that is required is that the files are
Palm OS compatible and that there's an application to handle it.
These formats also seem to go out just as well as they come in,
including JPEG files loaded via an SD card directly from a digital
camera. SnapperMail includes the ability to save received files
to the Palm or to any file folder on an external storage card
via its built in file browser.
As if all that weren't enough, tight integration is implemented
in areas I didn't expect. You can tap on URLs to launch your favorite
Palm Web browser (which one is chosen via a dialog box), and tapping
on email addresses automatically opens a new email with the address
in place, something we've come to expect from our desktop email
programs. But SnapperMail is able to go even further. Because
it is intended for smart phones, phone numbers are automatically
underlined in all text or HTML email. Tapping on them automatically
dials the number. In the case of the Palm Tungsten T3, a Bluetooth
dial connection is initiated and the phone number is sent to my
cell phone where it is instantly dialed. Now that's sophisticated
integration.
More thoughtful features can go without notice, like the Skip
Account button that appears onscreen while the program is checking
email. We have all faced wanting to skip that file that's too
big or is otherwise slowing the download. What's more, both this
and the Cancel button actually work when you press them, there's
no endless waiting.
Finally, if you just can't say it with words, SnapperMail is still
able to help you get your message out. They've bundled Diddlebug
for scribbling quick notes or maps that you can email anywhere.
SnapperMail works with quite a range of Palm devices, including
Sony, HandEra, and Palm/palmOne machines dating back to Palm OS
3.5. Three versions are available. Lite includes almost everything:
the JPEG viewer, HandZipper, DiddleBug, attachments, and unlimited
accounts for US$29.95. The Standard version adds full HTML rendering
(excluding download of most graphics), and account segregation
(multiple inboxes) for US$39.95. The Premier Bundle includes SSL
email connections, meaning more secure transactions between the
handheld and server when supported by the ISP. This is available
for only US$10 more, at US$49.95. SnapperMail truly is worthy
of all the praise and awards it has received. It now has a permanent
home on my device.
-Shawn Barnett
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