by boysbytes, 28 April 2004.

My only wish for PIE (Pocket Internet Explorer) is to have single column browsing. Eliminate all horizontal scrolling when viewing webpages and I'd be satisfied. Actually my wish will be granted with the upcoming Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, but until the update arrives, PIE is still crippled in my book. Not willing to take things sitting down, I roamed the Internet and found PIEPlus.

The Software

PIEPlus by Reensoft is a PIE plugin that adds features to the basic PIE. The features are what most users would wish for - they do not overwhelm users with settings and no drastic changes to the PIE interface that could confuse users.



How does it fare

PIEPlus is a small application (the CAB file is roughly 170kb) that uses PIE's browser engine. So it doesn't take up too much memory, PIE launch time is hardly affected, and the only difference to the PIE interface is the PIEPlus logo on the toolbar.



Tapping on the link lets you copy or view the URL, or open the URL in a new window.
Easy surfing

PIEPlus lets you launch multiple webpages by tapping on the PIEPlus logo. Navigation between the webpages is also by tapping the PIEPlus icon. Too many taps for your liking? Fortunately you can map most of PIEPlus' tasks to hardware buttons, with a combination of press once, and press and hold. So for the typical PDA with 5 buttons, you should be able to assign up to 10 different actions. I use a task manager to navigate between websites. My favourite is Magic Button. It displays the running applications on the Task bar.



Navigation between windows is done using the toolbar. But I use Magic Button. The icons next to the Start button are applications running in the background. Just tap on the PIE icon to jump to another website.
I can see clearly now...

PIEPlus' trump card is its Pocket View webpage rendering. It is the best rendering algorithm I've seen for the Pocket PC. All the websites I frequent were properly rendered to single column browsing. The only drawback is that you have to do more vertical scrolling, and you may get "lost" in the website because the layout is drastically altered.



I've superimposed a few screenshots to show you PIEPlus' single column browsing. Very impressive.

If you do get "lost", you can revert to Standard View, which retains the original website layout.



Standard View retains the website's layout, but still tries to fit text into single column when possible.
The Big Picture

PIEPlus lets you browse full screen, but I prefer browsing with the normal view because I go through websites rather quickly.



The screenshot on the left is the normal view, and the one on the right is the full screen view. It's really good for reading webpages and AvantGo

Some websites detect your browser agent string to offer better surfing experience. MyPDACafe for example detects mobile browsers. When users visit http://www.mypdacafe.com on their PDA, a script detects the agent string and and redirect the user to our mobile webpage, http://mobile.mypdacafe.com. When I'm submitting news, I need to identify myself as a desktop browser. PIEPlus lets me change the agent string without having to perform a soft reset.

Conclusion

If you find PIE (Pocket Internet Explorer) lacking in some areas, PIEPlus would fill in the gaps. Casual users would find PIEPlus inobtrusive. The interface is clean, and the options are pretty straight forward. One feature that struck me is PIEPlus' Pocket View that renders websites to fit into a single column. This is the best single column browsing implementation on the Pocket PC. Readability is maintained but the website layout is radically changed.

PIEPlus' appeal is it's small installation, single column browsing and an interface that's user friendly. If you don't want to wade through pages of options, and just want the features I've highlighted in this review, PIEPlus could be what you're looking for.

Power users may want more features, and more customisation. If you're in this group of users, I'd suggest you try MultiIE. You can read MyPDACafe's review from this link.

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Pros

• Single column browsing.
• Gives you multiple windows.
• Full screen view.
• Able to assign actions to the hardware buttons.
• Application is small - no delay when launching the default PIE browser.
• Interface is clean, inobstrusive and friendly for all types of users.

Cons

• Navigating multiple windows could be easier.
• Power users may want to look at alternatives that offer more features and options to customise. Could be daunting for new users.

Coffee Cups


Product Details

Developer: http://www.reensoft.com

Price: USD14.95 (roughly RM56.80)

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