SPB Time comes packaged in an installer for PC desktops. This automatically installs a trial or full version depending on which you have a license for. The installation is naturally performed thru ActiveSync. The whole installation procedure is painless and easy.

The Clocks

Ahh, yes, the clocks is the only instrument we have of measuring the passage of time, as we know it. We could, naturally discuss what time is and the various theories that involve time as matter, but that is beside the point of this being a review of an application. SPB time includes two essential clocks: an analog and a digital.

The analog displays the time in – surprise, surprise – analog format. The dial is a standard 12-hour dial that most of us is familiar with. I was hoping to see the possibility of changing it into a 24-hour dial, but that doesn’t seem possible yet.

The analog clock displays the alarms around the dial, which appear as old alarm clocks and are placed according to the position of the hour hand when the alarm is supposed to go off. One can naturally drag and drop the alarms as one whishes, or edit them.

The digital display is slightly different. It displays the date, time and a calendar. The alarms appear arranged according to the time on the right side of the screen. As you most likely can see in the screen shot, SPB Time also respects the regional settings. In my case, I have the Finnish regional settings in use.

The last clock is the world time clock. It gives you the right to choose four different cities from around the world to observe the local times in. This view also shows a map of the world with shading. The shaded area being the areas where there’s night and the non-shaded area is where people are enjoying the bright day. Switching into full screen, reveals a more detailed map where you can scroll about and click different cities to check the time in.

Something I observed, what one might want to call a small Easter egg, is that when you click on Antarctica, you do not get the time there but a cute penguin saying that there are no cities here. True, the only people on Antarctica are American researchers on some research station which doesn’t qualify for the title of city or town. (Or am I wrong here?)

Stopwatches

SPB Time isn’t all about clocks in all of their glory, but also measuring time. Therefore you can find a chronograph (or, if you prefer, a stopwatch) and two different timers. To get to the times, one has to click the “Clock Timers” tab

The chrono is a relatively well timed one. What do I mean with relatively? Ok, taking time on the Pocket PC isn’t as easy to perform as on regular PCs, but it requires some fine tuning to get it to be precise. If it isn’t tuned, then the timing might throw off at hours. I did a quick test and let SPB Time and my Timex watch run for some minutes and both were similar when I stopped them (when taking into account the error generated by the human body’s internal time delays). However, this test was no scientific test and I will not make any guarantees of the function-ability over a greater time period or different Pocket PCs. Hence, your mileage may vary.

As with all chronographs today, there’s the lap button for marking your lap times. When you have finished taking your times, the lap times can be closely checked by tapping the document like button.

The lap times will then be opened in another window with a possibility of saving them for future use in a simple text document.

The countdown timers are well suited when one’s cooking food – especially, if you like me, cook more than eggs. The timers can be run in any order and modified whenever.

The “countup” timers are (like I’m trying to convey) timers that count up from zero. They are more like a chrono, but here they are 4 chronos in one place. These also support lap times and their detailed analysis.

More Extra Goodies

As I mentioned earlier in this review, SPB Time has the feature of skins. One can choose from the four included skins, make one own, or download from the net. Something extra that brightens up one’s day.

If modifying the alarms via the analog and digital views doesn’t feel appropriate, it is possible to modify them via the options dialog.

The alarms in SPB time also packs another punch in comparison to the standard Pocket PC alarms; the volume can be set to normal, ascending (rising in volume) or maximum. However, I don’t recommend the maximum for any morning alarms (not on my iPaq anyways), not unless you like waking to something with the volume level of a fire alarm.

One of the best features, IMHO, is the screensaver. You can choose from the analog, digital and world clocks and set the timeout for the screensaver. This is just nice to have visible on the desk since you can skin it the way you want. Very unlike real hardware clocks!

Basic Facts

• Application name: SPB Time
• Version tested: 1.0
• Developer: SPB Software House
• Price: $ 9.95
• Download: Trial Version

Requirements

• Operating System: Pocket PC 2002 or Windows Mobile 2003 device
• Free Storage Space: 1.9 megabytes

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