SOTI Pocket Controller

Like the majority of Windows Mobile users, I spend most of the workday sitting at a desk with my Pocket PC docked and synchronized with my PC. I regularly look up information on my Windows Mobile device (and occasionally relax with a game Plumbin' Frenzy: http://www.pdamill.com). However, I find that switching between my laptop's full-sized keyboard and my Pocket PC's tiny little stylus to be a bit awkward. The obvious truth is that it's much easier to use the computer's keyboard and mouse!

Control your Pocket PC with your PC's keyboard and mouse

The solution to my problem is Pocket Controller Professional, from SOTI (http://www.soti.net). Pocket Controller is a "host-client" application that installs on both your PC and Windows Mobile device. Once installed and activated, you can open applications and control your Pocket PC using the PC's keyboard and mouse, and view the Pocket PC's screen from a window on your PC's display. You can even configure Pocket Controller to mimic hardware buttons, and can create scripts to automate tasks on your handheld. Pocket Controller also allows you to capture screenshots of your Pocket PC's display and frame them in skins resembling your device, as well as create video recordings

Pocket Controller's desktop PC component occupies approximately 7 MB of hard disk space, while the Windows Mobile software takes up less than 100KB. Pocket Controller is designed to work on Pocket PC 2002 as well as Windows Mobile 2003, 2003SE and 5.0 devices, including Smartphones. The Windows Mobile software installs into the device's main memory and is started automatically after a soft-reset of the device. The program requires that ActiveSync be running in order to function properly.

Once installed and started, Pocket Controller displays the Windows Mobile device screen on your PC's monitor, along with the various menus of the application itself (Figs. 1 & 2). The majority of Controller's functions are available via icons above the device screen, and all can be accessed by the various pull-down menus on the menu bar. With the Windows Mobile device displayed, it's no longer necessary to tap on the Pocket PC's physical screen. You can use your desktop PC's mouse to click on the Start menu and other items on the Pocket PC screen, and the functionality is near-identical. For example, normally you would tap and hold on a word with your stylus to access the pop-up Edit menu. In Pocket Controller, you use the mouse to place the cursor on the word, and then hold the right mouse button down to access the Edit menu.

Fig. 1: Pocket Controller's main display as it appears on your PC's desktop.

Fig. 2 : A larger view of the main display.

Notice also the Application Buttons toolbar located at the top of the Pocket Controller window immediately above the image of the Pocket PC's screen (Fig. 3). These duplicate the hardware buttons on your Pocket PC—click on one with your mouse to start the program or activate the function associated with the button.

Fig. 3: Click on the buttons in Pocket Controller's Application Buttons toolbar to launch Pocket PC applications. In this image, the toolbar is located immediately above the Pocket PC display.

You also have the option of "skinning" the application so that the Pocket Controller window on your PC looks like your model of Pocket PC or Smartphone. You change the skin from the Skin Manger, which is accessed from Controller's Tools menu. Once the skin is selected and applied, the display changes to reflect the physical look of your device (Fig. 1).