by boysbytes, 26 April 2004.

Your Pocket PC comes with a basic browser. What if you could add a bunch of features to Pocket Internet Explorer (PIE) without getting bogged down by slow execution times, high memory requirements, and unfamiliar interfaces? Then check out MultiIE - it's PIE on steroids.

Mobility to the next level

You can browse the majority of websites without having to fork out money, other than paying for the Hotspot access. But to really improve the Internet experience, there are several third party browser alternatives that add useful features. There are two approaches that resourceful developers have taken - a Pocket IE plugin that adds features on top of PIE, and a standalone browser gives free reign to the developer to build upon.

MultiIE - PIE on steroids

MultiIE 3.0 adds 2 icons (for Windows Mobile 2003) to PIE. But the features it adds to PIE is staggering.



Tapping the MultiIE icon gives you some webpage navigation controls, but you can assign the same controls to hardware buttons. The hardware button assignment is only active within MultiIE.



Tap and hold on a link (left) or on the page (right), and you get more features.

You can start browsing the Internet with the default configuration. But MultiIE is very customisable. There are so many settings to tweak to your desire. You can have an audible alert when the page is loaded, hardware button support for common actions, integration with Nyditot Virtual Display for landscape browsing, integration with VITO Mobile Downloader, and unique features like Quick URL Builder and Address bar macro.



MultiIE maintains the layout of the page, but narrowed to best fit the lower resolution of the Pocket PC. This image consists of 4 screenshots, superimposed for better illustration.

Quick URL Builder and Address Bar Macros use a series of comma separated syntax to quickly form URLs. A good guide on how the syntax works and how you can customise MultiIE can be found from this article on PPCW.Net.

The default Address Bar Macros lets you perform Google searches and stock quotations from CNN easily. Enter the phrase or stock code into the address bar, and let MultiIE fill the rest of the URL and display the results. I use this feature a lot - to compare the specifications for my upcoming TV purchase, find links for MPC news, etc. I also made a custom Handango search macro since I like sharing interesting software on MyPDACafe.

Recently I discovered MobileLeap that offers a service to reformat a website to fit your PDA screen. The service is in beta and is currently free to use. MultiIE allows me to create a macro that will submit the URL in the address bar to MobileLeap's translation service and display the formatted website. The macro I used is: http://mobileleap.net/app/demo/translator?url=#^;-MobileLeap



My custom macro to search Handango - I just enter the title of the software on the address bar, tap my custom Address Bar macro that I've named Search Handango, and I find what I'm looking for! MultiIE's macros saves me a lot of time.




My custom macro for submitting URLs to MobileLeap's website translator... and MyPDACafe's website, after translation. Notice the single column browsing?

MultiIE's integration with VITO Mobile Downloader has potential to simplify downloading concurrently, and resume failed downloads. However I found VITO Mobile Downloader difficult to use, and in one instance, actually caused my iPAQ to hard reset. Perhaps there were conflicts with the other applications that I've installed. Normally, PIE does not allow you to perform multiple downloads. You could use MultiIE to open several windows and perform downloads on each window, but that's not ideal. VITO Mobile Downloader allows you to perform multiple downloads, resume downloads, visual representation of the download process, and lets you concentrate on surfing.



VITO Mobile Downloader lets you perform multiple downloads and resume interrupted downloads. The graphical representation of the download speed is fun to watch, but not scalable. I sometimes get up to 1Mbps at WiFi Hotspots.

Menu Extensions is a little used feature (according to the developer). It allows third party applications to hook in to PIE to display in the context menu. MultiIE will look for shortcuts in the Menu Extension directory for shortcuts, and they will be displayed in the context menu. However, shortcuts have a filename and a command line. MultiIE has a macro language for the command line, allowing the URL, page title and the local cache file URL to be passed to third party applications that support passed arguments. You could take advantage of this feature to send a link to download managers, image viewers, html editors, etc. I only use the basic feature of Menu Extensions to launch GigaPad (a text editor that's part of GigaBar). For this feature to work, the third party application has to support passed arguments.



There are many settings in MultiIE to suit your preference. I've highlighted some major features in this review. The rest you can try out yourself.

MultiIE - Conclusion

Pocket Internet Explorer is a good basic browser, but there are glaring omissions that detract from the browsing experience. MultiIE fills the gaps. Especially for myself, I post news on MyPDACafe from TMNET's Hotspots. I found MultiIE works best for me.

My favourite feature is the Address Bar macros. Searching Google and Handango has never been this easy! Just type the subject into the address bar, choose the macro you want, and MultiIE does the rest. MultiIE's tabbed browsing lets me open multiple webpages and load them in the background. There's an option for an audible prompt when the page is complete. MultiIE also allows me to copy links, images and save webpages. This really makes submitting news less tedious on my Pocket PC.

MultiIE doesn't take up too much of your storage memory since it's "piggy backing" on PIE. However, opening too many windows will take up program memory and the OS will terminate a window without warning to claim back some memory.

MultiIE doesn't have some features like auto-complete fields, Java and some Internet standards for secure websites (not recommended when surfing wirelessly). MultiIE also does not eliminate horizontal scrolling. The developer has stated that he will leave the webpage rendering to the improved PIE in Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition. However I found myself preferring MultiIE's webpage rendering. If you're familiar with the layout of a particular website, MultiIE's rendering will maintain that layout, with each column resized to fit the screen. This allows you to quickly jump to where you want to read. Since the columns are maintained, some horizontal scrolling is expected.

There's a 14 day trial version. I'd recommend you to give MultiIE a try. The interface is very intuitive, and the features are well thought out. The amount of features may intimidate you, but give it time, understand the features, customise it, and be impressed. I certainly did.

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Pros

• Small application because it still uses PIE's browser.
• Supports hardware buttons.
• Interface is intuitive.
• Very customisable with MultiIE's macro language.
• URL Builder and Address Bar macros offer features usually found on desktop browsers Mozilla and Firefox comes to mind.
• Developer is attentive to customers.

Cons

• Poor documentation.
• Some horizontal scrolling is still required. The only respite is the upcoming Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition with the improved PIE, and on-the-fly landscape support.
• Opening multiple windows take up a lot of Program memory. Windows are sometimes closed without warning when memory is low.
• No Java support.

Coffee Cups


Product Details

Website: http://www.multiie.info

Price: USD14.95

Purchase from http://www.multiie.info