Review: SPB Traveler 2.0

For those of us that are die hard Windows Mobile users, there are a few companies that develop software for our handhelds that really stand out. I’m talking about the kind of company that, when you hear that they are working on a new project, you get goose bumps. SPB Software out of St. Petersburg, Russia is one of those.

SPB recently made headlines with their release of SPB Online, a mobile content portal; and the announcement of their foray into developing for the Xperia X1 Panels. With two new products in such quick succession, I for one wasn’t expecting anything new from SPB for a while.

One of SPB’s flagship products (along with SPB Mobile Shell) is SPB Traveler ($29.95). Now in version 2.0, the appropriately named Traveler is designed to facilitate traveling, in particular on an international basis.

Keep reading for all the details.

Ease of Use

SPB Traveler 2.0 features a dramatically redesigned interface. Everything is now finger-friendly. With large buttons and bold text, navigation is intuitive and crisp. The learning curve is minute, and going from beginner to power user is as smooth a transition as I’ve seen.

Local Weather

Traveler is designed to allow you to enter a city or cities in which to track the local time and weather conditions. SPB boasts that it can provide information on over 10,000 cities worldwide. As an additional bit of usability, the national flag is displayed as an icon next to the city. Switching between the cities that you have chosen is as simple as tapping on the name or the flag.

Trip Planner

The Trip Planner is one of the more useful features that are included. While not new to version 2, the functionality has been expanded substantially. The original release of Traveler allowed you to create a trip and to input your flight information, creating a schedule and compensating automatically for time zone changes. Version 2 allows you to input flights, hotel information, public transportation, car rental, meetings and more! Creating a full itinerary for your trip is entirely possible. The ability to load a trip from the web appears to be an additional feature, but does not seem to be available at the time of this writing.

Tools

Several additional tools are included with SPB Traveler 2.0. All offer powerful functionality which can sometimes be found in other tools, but not all wrapped into one package.

A Tipping calculator is included that allows you to specify an amount (the application is currency neutral), a tip percentage and a “split”. For example, say your meal cost $49.96 to be split between 4 people. Assuming a 15% tip, the total amount would be $57.45, which works out to $14.36 per person. I personally can’t do that in my head without hurting myself.

A Unit converter allows you to specify a unit type (Length, Temperature, Speed, Weight, Volume, etc.) and shows you the conversion to the different units. What’s nice about this tool is that you can view multiple conversions at the same time.

The Flights module is the coolest app of them all. Powered by OAG (www.oag.com), travelers are able to search for flights directly from their mobile device. Search parameters include departure and arrival cities, departure date, cabin type, service type (non-stop, direct, etc.), and AM vs. PM. Searches are saved in order to facilitate more efficient navigation. After the search is completed, details such as flight duration and even aircraft type are available at your fingertips. Once the desired flight is found, a couple of clicks will add the flight to your trip plan.

The runner-up for coolest application is the Clothing module. The intent here is to be able to remember and convert clothing sizes and measurements for yourself and/or friends and family. Think of this example. You’re traveling to Japan for a sales meeting, and want to purchase kimonos for your wife and daughter. Prior to leaving (being the forward-thinker that you are), you input their sizes into your trusty PDA. Once shopping, you can simply bring up the previously input measurements, and quickly and easily convert the sizes from US to Japanese. Similarly to other modules, this application simplifies things by allowing you to create people to save specific data to, as well as categorizing types of information (men’s shirts, women’s shoes).

After you’ve found that perfect kimono, the problem of converting your currency comes up. Of course, Traveler handles this as well. Similarly to the Unit converter, you can view multiple exchange rates all at the same time.

For those of us that are geographically challenged, SPB included a “Geo Game”. This game allows you to test yourself on national flags and capitals, encouraging you to enhance your knowledge in preparation for international travel.

Without a Phrase book, any international travel companion would be incomplete. SPB Traveler’s Phrase Book module allows you to view different phrases grouped by categories such as gratitude, apologies, and “first need phrases”. The most commonly used languages are all covered, and can be translated between each other.

The Time module allows you to create meeting requests in the specific cities that you have listed. This module handles time zone conversion for you automatically, and sets the location to the target city.

Conclusion

SPB Traveler ($29.95) has made significant strides in their push to version 2. This application is an absolute must have for anyone that is more than a casual traveler. The set of tools that are included are well thought out and well implemented. Integration with online resources only enhances the experience. If you travel frequently, particularly overseas, do yourself a favor and purchase SPB Traveler 2.0 before your next trip.