Review: XDA Atom Life (Part III)

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This review was made possible by PNW Communications who are selling it for $375. You can contact them at +1 (425) 344-6577 or view the items they have for sale here.

In Part I of this review, I introduced you to the O2 XDA Atom Life and went into detail with its hardware and design in Part II. And the end of that article, I promised to cover the software of the Atom Life in Part III and that’s just what I am going to do.

O2 has been really generous when it came to the Atom Life. Not sure if it’s got to do with the 1GB of ROM or something else but the Atom Life does have a lot of good and useful applications that come with it. Just how much and how useful? Well here we go…

We now know that the Atom Life runs on Windows Mobile 5 platform and coming from Windows Mobile 6, there were some missing features which I was pretty aware of. However, O2 seems to patch many of those gaps and goes one step further to actually make it even better than WM6 in some cases.

There are 2 sets of applications that you will find in Atom Life. One consists of value-added applications which you could purchase on it’s own by the various developers. The other consists of applications that are exclusive to the O2 lineup.

Value Added Applications

CodeWallet Pro

With an abundant of personal information, remembering them all can be an almost impossible task for most of us. Have you ever visited a site to which you had an account but forgotten the login credentials? Or maybe you wanted to withdraw some cash from your checking account, something you do on a monthly basis, but forgot the PIN?

If such situations have happened to you before, you know how important it is to keep track of such data. Writing them in a book or keeping it in your wallet is far from the smartest thing to do for obvious reason. That’s where CodeWallet Pro comes in.

It’s a software by DeveloperOne to store your personal information so the next time you need, it’s always there. Not to worry about security because it uses strong encryption and password protection to ensure its integrity.

GPRS Monitor

If you’re on one of those plans that has a limit as to how much data you can use, then GPRS Monitor is an application you MUST install on your device. Created by Spb, it helps you keep track of your data usage so that you’ll know just when to stop using it (if you can stop yourself that is). Then again, if you are one of those on an unlimited plan, you can just give it a miss.

Jeyo Mobile Extender 2.0

This application is for your desktop and can be found on the included CD. Through it, you can backup, organize and manage your text messages right from your desktop. Every time you connect your Atom Life to it and launch Outlook, you will get a new option for it. What’s great is that you can even compose and send text messages through your phone right from your desktop.

Jeyo SMS Backup

If you prefer to not use your desktop or do not have Outlook but still need to backup your text messages, this is a free and useful application that will do just that. Bear in mind that when the Atom Life came out over a year ago, backup applications for text messages were few and far in between. You have a lot more options now, including the free PIMBackup which is highly recommended. So it’s up to you if you still want use it.

Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME)

The Windows Mobile platform has a large library but that does not mean this is a useless application. You’ll need it to run Opera Mini (one of the best browsers for Windows Mobile actually). You can also use it to run the Gmail and Gmail Apps application as well. Other than that, you can also use it to run your favorite Java applications and games.

MMS Client

No prizes for guessing what it is. If you are an MMS (picture message) user, then you’ll be thankful for it. If you’re not one, unfortunately there’s no way to uninstall it. Then again, you do have 1GB of ROM right?

PDF Viewer

This ClearVue product lets you view PDF documents on your Atom Life. It works fine but can be rather slow. I personally prefer PocketXPDF for viewing PDF documents. Not only is it free, but it’s always light.

Sudoku Revolution

Enjoy a game of Sudoku that comes with your Atom Life. It’s free but that does not mean it’s sub par. Far from it. It lets you load and save games so you can always put it away for later, create new puzzles and even change the numbers to symbols if you need a bigger challenge. I am not much of a gamer but having something like Sudoku Revolution on my device can help to pass the commuting time a lot easier.

Video Telephony

Picture courtesy of MWg

Because the Atom Life is equipped with 3G technology, you can make and receive video calls on it. Unlike some devices where your video calls are limited to just the front camera, with the one on the Atom Life, you can switch to the rear-facing camera whenever you want. If you’re camera shy, you can always replace it with a picture of your latest vacation. Now if only more of my friends had this service?

Worldmate

Over a year ago, Worldmate was a commercial software and it was really useful for travelers with its world clocks, weather and currency converters, among many other features. But now that a free version of the application is available, you might want to consider getting the latest from the developer rather than relying on the version stored on your device.

Exclusive Applications

This is where I feel O2 really shines when it comes to applications. Most device manufacturers out there like to pile their devices with a lot of applications but not many of those help the user get the most of out of their device. If only other manufacturers included similar applications on their devices as well.

Auto Installer

This is the application you use to install some of the value-added applications listed above. I say some because the rest are either on the included CD or already installed. All you need to do is select the applications you want installed and it will run the usual installer from there. Can’t get any easier than that can it?

Connect

Windows Mobile 6 has an application called Windows Update but that has never been used thus far. Well the O2 version of it is called connect and it is used by the company. Through the application, you will be notified of new versions of selected software as well as ROM updates if there are any so you never have to worry about your applications’ versions.

That’s not all though. It’ll also provide you with the latest products and promotions so you can take advantage of it as well as helpdesk numbers, repair locations and even the occasional tips & tricks to enhance your experience with the device. Talk about automated customer service. You’ll need credentials to sign in but this is easily available when you register your device on the O2 website.

Equalizer

Because the Atom Life uses stereo speakers, it needs an equalizer so that you can tweak the settings of the sound. The application is actually the SRS WOW HD that was recently made available for free and with it you can tweak many aspects of your device such as 3D, bass and even center levels. If you are an audiophile and have been lamenting the mono speakers on many Pocket PCs out there, the Atom Life might just be the device you are looking for.

Image Editor

Ever wanted to edit your photos on the go? With the included image editor, that’s now possible. Not only are you able to do basic manipulation to the images such as cropping, drawing and transforming it, you can even add frames or stamps of icons to it. For the artists in you, choose to play with the color or focus of the image for that photoshopped effect right on your Pocket PC.

Media Album

This is like a souped up version of Pictures & Videos (which you can also find on the Atom Life). Not only can you browse your media files, you can even view slideshows of photos (in full screen) right from it which makes for a great screen saver when you are charging your device. What I like about this application is that it integrates nicely with Image Editor and Camera as there are shortcuts to it right from the application itself. Nice!

Media Plus

If Media Album is the souped version of Pictures & Videos, then Media Plus would be the souped up version of Windows Media Player. Well not really because it still uses the latter to play video formats. It’s actually an all in one application for your media (hence the name). From the application, you can roll to any feature that you want and it would activate the necessary application to do so.

What I particularly like about it was the settings. You could use it to set alarms which plays the normal buzzer (boring), FM radio or even your music. And set how long to snooze as well as how loud the volume should be. For those who enjoy listening to music just before bed, it also has a sleep timer which you can set so that your device turns off after the timer runs out. It’s these little things that really make the Atom Life a powerful media-centric Pocket PC don’t you think?

Menu

This is the task manager of O2 devices. When activated, it will pop up a box with a list of running applications so you can choose which ones to close (or close all of them). Depending on the options that you have set for it, it could appear in the title bar or at the bottom of the Today Screen. When placed at the title bar, it functions like many of the task managers out there though one way to get the most out of it would be to bind the application to a hardware button so that you can pull up the list from just about anywhere. Now if only O2 had a real close button as part of it, it would have been perfect.

Phone Plus

One of the things I enjoy about WM6 is the fact that I can use the smart dialing function. Just enter the first few letters of the name I want to call using the number pad and it would come up with a list of matching entries. With WM5, such a feature is missing but not to worry, Phone Plus fills this gap, and more.

Besides the smart dialing feature, it also allows you to edit numbers before call so you don’t have to save so many versions of a certain number. Just call up the number and then move the cursor to where you need to make the edits and change it.

Other useful features include a block list that you can activate all the time or time based as well as IDD prefixes and calling card settings. With the former, you can create profiles that automatically enters the prefixes before a call while the latter lets you store PINs so you no longer have to carry the calling card with you.

Self-Diagnostics

Ever wondered if a problem you encountered was hardware or software based? Wonder no more when you use the self-diagnostic application. It let’s you test the various hardware aspects of the Atom Life so you know if the reason your device is behaving that way is because of a software you recently install or time for you to send it in for repairs.

Setup Wizard

This is one application that every device manufacturer should have in my opinion. After every hard reset, you have to go into settings to make the changes such as owner’s name, email addresses and country settings, among many others. Wouldn’t it be easier if an application launched after that hard reset where you can these data, and more, all from one place? If you said yes, then you will definitely enjoy the setup wizard that O2 has included with Atom Life.

SMS Plus

Souping up standard Windows Mobile applications seems to be one of O2’s strategies as it does it again with the SMS. It adds threading capability so you can actually view messages as if you were in a chat. That sure makes for easier following of your messages doesn’t it?

And for those of you who like sending group messages or scheduling your messages to be sent later, SMS Plus lets you do just that. Who said that moving from a normal phone to a Windows Mobile platform meant that you had to give up certain features?

Profiles

One thing that I sorely missed when switching from a Nokia to a Windows Mobile is Profiles. Those are the things that you switch based on the situation you are in. It’s more than just changing between On, Vibrate and Off with the speaker icon.

Instead, you can customize the ring type, ring tone and specific volumes among other features as well. So if you are in a meeting, you can set it to just beep once and when you are outside in a noisy environment, you can activate the profile that vibrates and ring the most obnoxious ring tone you have.

Themes

The O2 Theme is similar to the Themes that you get in Settings > Personal > Today. However, besides just changing the look of the device, it also has some pre-set Today plug-ins that it would use based on the theme that you choose.

For those who want unique devices, you can even customize the color and background scheme. Sure there are some free applications out there that let’s you do just that but the Atom Life comes installed with it in case you ever decide to give it a try.

USB To PC

This is another one of those applications that you can find for free and that all Windows Mobile devices should come with. It gives you the option of turning your device into a mass storage when connected to a computer. You could use ActiveSync to transfer all your files but it’s rather slow because it’s filtered to make sure the file formats are right for the device.

With mass storage mode, the transfer would be significantly faster and there would be no converting. Nothing fancy here. Just good old fashion design that works. Select the behavior you want (for syncing or mass storage) and plug in into the computer and there you go.

Conclusion

There are quite a lot of applications that O2 has packed with the Atom Life and while it may not be the most you would have seen in a device, I would say that a lot of these applications are actually useful. In fact, they make the transition to a Windows Mobile device just that much better by filling in the gaps left by Microsoft. Threaded text messaging, profiles, self diagnostics and the auto configuration are just some of the many you would appreciate on the Atom Life.

So how does all these applications play into the user experience? Well I’ll tell you… In part IV that is which will come out on Monday.

The first image of the O2 XDA Atom Life belongs to PDAdb.net while that used for SMS Plus belongs to MWg. All other images are copyright of My Today Screen.

This review was made possible by PNW Communications and they have it for sale at $375.00, among other devices. You can contact them at +1 (425) 344-6577 or view the items they have for sale here.

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