BananaPC v4.2 - Windows Shell Enhancement
Features of BananaPC v4.0
· New! Faster, "flat" UI reduces strain on system resources!
· TINY! TINY! TINY! BananaPC does few things, but does them well and takes very little space on your device.
· EXCLUSIVE!! Make any PocketPC application run full-screen!
· Built-in Run dialog!
· Single-tap Kill currently running program at any time!
· Single-tap Mute at any time!
· EXCLUSIVE!! Patented always on-screen volume indicator! (patent-pending)
· Supports 16 separate volume levels!
· Ability to dock BananaPC in any corner of the screen!
· Option to remove the MuteMe and Full-Screen icons
· Allow BananaPC to be placed anywhere on the screen
· Option to always return to Today screen when any application is closed
· Option to use small icons (10x11) or large icons (16x16)
· Option to reverse tap-n-hold functionality of MuteMe icon · BananaPC works with all PocketPC devices
· BananaPC is being distributed as FreeWare
BananaPC Overview
Look closely, or you just might miss it! That's right, BananaPC is the tiny 'x' and speaker icons floating in the upper left corner of the Today screen!
BananaPC features a miniaturized version of KillMe and MuteMe all rolled into one program!
KillMe
The KillMe functionality is accessed through the small 'x' icon in the BananaPC program. KillMe visually alerts you when a user-defined number of applications are open on your device.
Single Tap the KillMe icon to instantly close the currently running application.
Tap and hold the KillMe icon to bring up a menu that allows you to quickly restore any running application to the front and also gives you more flexibility over what gets killed. You can also adjust the program options, access the Run dialog and close the BananaPC program from this menu.
BananaPC is currently the only PocketPC application with a "Run" dialog. Forget the strange way PocketPC manufacturer's created to get to the built-in "Run" dialog and just use the simpler tap and hold technique to quickly access it.
Options
We've learned quite a bit over lately about the PocketPC and how it manages applications. The PocketPC appears to only allow about 7-10 applications to remain open at one time (not including the Today page, which is system controlled). Because of this, we've capped the number of running programs available for flagging or warning at 10. The automatic closing is actually a nice feature of PocketPC over the older Windows CE 2.x variation, and really does keep down the memory constraints placed on the system.
The "Revert to Today on App Close" forces the Today screen to come up each time BananaPC is used to close an application.
The user now has complete control over the rotation and position of the BananaPC window. Just enter the screen coordinates and the icons will move to that location on the screen.
"Use Small Icons" allows BananaPC to occupy the smallest amount of screen real-estate as possible. The small icons are 10x11 and the large icons are 16x16. Choose whichever works best for you.
"Show Max" and "Show Mute" display the Maximize icon and the Volume icon respectively. Customize BananaPC to only show the icons that are used most often.
Maximize
BananaPC introduces an exlusive new feature for the PocketPC - a Maximize (or FullScreen) feature. Single tap on the maximize icon to force the currently active application to use the entire display area.
NOTE: Not all applications behave when this option is selected. Programs such as Internet Explorer continually shift back into non-fullscreen mode. The MS Reader program seems to be hard-coded to use a specific height. While the Reader program appears to go to full-screen mode, the bottom of the screen looks odd. Other programs such as Solitaire work great in full-screen mode.
MuteMe
The MuteMe functionality is accessed through the small speaker icon in the BananaPC program. MuteMe displays an indicator of the current volume level set on the device - no more guessing if it's too loud!
And guess what we found during initial testing? Our iPaq automatically adjusts the volume to 50% whenever the Microsoft Reader application is opened, but doesn't even bother to set it back to the original position when closed! I wonder what the reasoning for this might be...
Single Tap toggles mute/unmute functionality.
Tap and hold to display the Volume Control which gives you 16 separate volume settings - which will come in really handy with that powerful iPaq volume!
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