REVIEW & COMPARISON:great, free(!) PDA controller software EveryWAN Remote Support PE

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REVIEW & COMPARISON:great, free(!) PDA controller software EveryWAN Remote Support PE

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Menneisyys

Jun 19 2008, 14:11

Post #1

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Sparus Software is going to release a free(!), slightly (but not that much) dumbed-down version of their pretty useful EveryWAN Mobility Manager software currently offered for enterprise customers.

The new EveryWAN Remote Support, Personal Edition will be completely free. The biggest difference between it and the already-existing enterprise version is that EveryWAN only supports connections via ActiveSync. This means no (remote) TCP/IP connections are allowed.

Note that this isn’t a full review of the app as most of the functionalities the new application offers are already known from other remote controller applications; for example, VirtualCE, SOTI Pocket Controller or My Mobiler (see THIS for more info on these) or mDesktop, of which the new, 1.0.1 version has just been released, fixing many of the problems / issues I’ve pointed out in my review of the initial, 1.0.0 version. This means you’ll want to read my just-linked reviews and comparisons of what a decent phone controller app should be able to.

Now, let’s take a look at how EveryWAN compares to the above-reviewed & compared apps.

In a nutshell, in my very thorough tests it proved to be VERY good. It has really decent CPU usage, is compatible with both Pocket PC’s and Smartphones, has excellent goodies like a built-in task manager, registry editor etc.

Unique features: direct drawing on client screen, VoIP

Drawing on the client’s screen is really unique (but is, of course, somewhat limited usability in traditional, local USB environments):

VoIP (Voice over IP) works just great (tested with several setups), with very moderate CPU usage:

Of course, the lack of real IP connections (and, therefore, remote assistance / connections) make this feature pretty redundant. As with drawing on the phone / PDA screen, it’s over the classic "let’s access an employee’s handset from the enterprise via, say, a mobile phone connection" that this feature can really be used for.

CPU usage

It’s VERY low – much lower than that of ANY other controller application. Excellent! Some example screenshots showing this:

(VGA(!) iPAQ 214 – around 3%; the same on the 520 MHz VGA HTC Universal running WM6.1)

(s710 QVGA Smartphone – around 2%)

(WM2003 iPAQ 2210)

That is, it’s really low even on VGA devices – where alternative solutions consume at least an order of magnitude more CPU time.

Built-in registry editor

(Remote) registry editors built into remote tools are very useful – I very frequently use the one built into SOTI’s Pocket Controller. Unfortunately, the other, highly recommended controllers (VirtualCE and My Mobiler) don’t have a built-in registry editor; hence, I was relaly delighted to see EveryWAN does.

Following is a quick elaboration on the registry editor’s capabilities (see the Registry Editor Bible http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyy...stryEditors.asp for more info)

It’s capable of all the numeric systems with DWORDs:

There’s a dedicated editor for REG_BINARY values:

and for multi-line strings:

It’s also capable of advanced searches:

However, it’s incapable of exporting / importing; in this respect, it’s definitely inferior to SOTI Pocket Controller’s registry editor – or, advanced Registry editors like Resco running on the handset.

File Transfer

EveryWAN also supports built-in file transfer:

(Note that this isn’t essential – both ActiveSync and the Total Commander WinCE FS plug-in support it –, still, it’s nice to have it built-in.)

System info; task manager

The system info dialog is pretty detailed too:

The task manager dialog is also pretty cool:

Note that, as expected, the CPU % usage meter doesn’t work – you’ll need to run acbTaskMan to get a detailed info on CPU usage.

Skin manager

It also has a very nice skin editor:

MS Smartphone (touchscreen-less devices) support

The keyboard doesn’t work with MS Smartphones with slide-out keyboard when the keyboard is closed (it does when opened).

The on-screen softbuttons can’t be clicked (not that big a problem though), unlike with the other apps.

Note that, by default, it couldn’t install its client to my WM5 HTC s310 (Oxygen). The CAB file, EWRemoteSupportPESetup.ARM.CAB, the installer transferred to the root of the phone, turned out not to be compatible with Smartphones at all. However, manually transferring \Program Files\Sparus Software\EveryWAN Remote Support Personal Edition\EWRemoteSupportPE.ARM.CAB to the phone and executing it there worked:

(Note that the Wm6 QVGA HTC s710 / Vox didn’t have this problem.)

All in all,

Pros

FREE!!!!
Very low CPU usage – while still delivers pretty quick results even on VGA devices
VoIP – working just great!
Registry editor (albeit without export / import)
Lets for emulating button presses (four application keys; two softkeys; the Home (SP) / Start Menu (PPC) button; the Back button on SP’s)

Cons

Save screen only in BMP; no video recording
While clipboard copying does work in both directions, it must be manually initiated every time – via a menu or an icon on the icon bar (no keyboard shortcut is available). SOTI’s approach is MUCH better in this regard, which even allows for very quick Ctrl-C / V / X shortcuts and, of course, clipboard auto-synchronization.
No manual screen rotation for, for example, GAPI games

Verdict

This app is really a gift if you don’t need remote (TCP/IP) connections. Highly recommended!

Note that, in addition to the Sparus Software folks, the XDA-Developers people should be also thanked for this excellent app. The Sparus folks have decided to release this application for free because they wanted to give back something to the XDA-Devs community, which has been very helpful as an information source while the Sparus folks were developing their product.

(Note that the app is still not available. It’s promised to be released in some days. When it’s released, I post an article update so you will surely get noticed of it.)

Paul (MVP)

Jun 20 2008, 08:20

Post #2

The Main Man
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Now if only we could use this to remotely control devices in the field (like the expensive LogMeIn Rescue), then it would be amazing!

P

--------------------

Paul O'Brien - Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices, MoDaCo.network Founder. Check out my Blog!

£10 off a £20 spend at eXpansys - click for details

PPCInformer

Jun 20 2008, 10:55

Post #3

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Device(s): HTC TyTN

no (remote) TCP/IP connections are allowed.

aww , Now only if that were also allowed in the Free version

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Paul (MVP)

Jun 20 2008, 11:02

Post #4

The Main Man
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Yeah, definitely. I did approach LogMeIn, and they have no plans for free / more reasonable consumer focused options.

P

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Paul O'Brien - Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices, MoDaCo.network Founder. Check out my Blog!

£10 off a £20 spend at eXpansys - click for details

PPCInformer

Jun 20 2008, 16:27

Post #5

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QUOTE(Paul (MVP) @ Jun 20 2008, 21:02)

Yeah, definitely. I did approach LogMeIn, and they have no plans for free / more reasonable consumer focused options.

P

the hunt for a Remote Connectivity Freeware to a WinMo device continues .....

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Hasta_la_vista

Jun 23 2008, 14:59

Post #6

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QUOTE(PPCInformer @ Jun 20 2008, 18:27)

the hunt for a Remote Connectivity Freeware to a WinMo device continues .....

Hi,
I am the CTO of Sparus Software, publisher of the free EveryWAN Remote Support tool.
We also have a commercial enterprise version (part of EveryWAN Mobility Manager) that does much more, including of course remote connectivity without cable or bluetooth, and we obviously cannot give everything for free ...

What fair limitation would be acceptable ?
Can you describe what you expect such a product to do ?

Regards,
Chris

--------------------

Free Handheld Controller: Download EveryWAN Remote Support
View and control your Windows Mobile Pocket PC or SmartPhone using PC screen, keyboard & mouse
From Sparus Software

Paul (MVP)

Jun 24 2008, 09:38

Post #7

The Main Man
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I'd expect it to remote control. Nothing more, i'd reasonably expect to pay for file transfer, chat and all the other bits n bobs you get in a premium tool...

If it worked well, i'd happily pay a reasonable one off amount.

I assume the technical issue is that there needs to be a server hosted somewhere in a DMZ?

I would love it to work as follows...

- I want to admin my phone and my wife's phone and my dad's phone, so I install the 'client' on each
- I go to a web console, and see their 3 devices
- I click a device and remote control it

Simple as that... possible?

P

--------------------

Paul O'Brien - Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices, MoDaCo.network Founder. Check out my Blog!

£10 off a £20 spend at eXpansys - click for details

Menneisyys

Jun 26 2008, 16:50

Post #8

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UPDATE (08/26/2008): it has been released and is available HERE

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