Windows Phone Thoughts: Keeping Your Identity (and Everything Else) Safe Using Spb Wallet 1.0

Introduction
For those of us who rely upon our personal digital assistants for keeping track of our personal information, having a secure facility for storing the myriad of passwords, lock combinations, and PINs which are now part of everyday life is crucial. Most of us rely on some sort of electronic wallet application which stores this information in an encrypted file on our device. There are a number of them which have been around for quite a while now and through numerous iterations. Spb Software is a a bit of a latecomer to the field with their product, Spb Wallet. So, let's take a look at what makes their offering different.

Installation
Two installation packages are available – a desktop .EXE file containing both the PC and PPC versions, and another .CAB file with just the PPC version. The desktop installation package is typical of Spb products - providing a simple and straightforward way to select the various pieces you need.


Figure 1: Desktop Installation screen.


Figure 2: Additional functions (desktop related) included in the desktop installation procedure.

The .CAB version is for downloading/copying directly to your PPC, then double-tapping the file to start the installation procedure. To complete registration, you need to access the Registration option on the Menu (right) soft key.

I won't go into too much of a discussion of the desktop version of Spb Wallet (after all, this is a PPC-based site :-)), but the desktop version provides basically the same functionality as the PPC. The primary difference is that with its increased available screen real estate, the desktop can provide it all on one screen. The desktop version also includes the import facility (more on this later) and integration with Internet Explorer.

As is normal with most Spb applications now, the visual interface is clear, uncluttered and appealing. I'm quite impressed by the visual designer they have working for them. Now that I have a Windows Mobile-based phone, I'm beginning to appreciate the advantages of one-handed operation (i.e. no stylus required) and it's nice to see the software vendors responding with interface designs which support this. Spb, in particular, seems to understand this best as almost all of their new products include touch interfaces with buttons and icons large enough to be handled by the fattest of fingers.