Price:	$19.99		Reviewed by:	Neil Brown
Supplied:	OmegaOne Software		Review date:	10/04/2006
Pros:	Hardware button unlocking - very fast Up to 20 characters / buttons User-selectable lock screen Easily skinnable Very convenient, yet secures your PDA easily		Cons:	Does not support WM5 Appointment presentation not always ideal

Introduction   We’ve been talking recently about compromises in the PDA world- I would trade a VGA screen against a decent keyboard, whilst others have said that they would prefer a better screen and rely on Graffiti / Transcriber, and a Bluetooth keyboard. This sort of compromise is sensible – there is unlikely to be a “perfect” device out there for everyone, so each user has to weigh up the pros and cons, and side with what they think to be best.   One area in which it is far harder to make a sensible compromise is in the field of security. Now that I have a smartphone, I have even more sensitive data stored on the device- not only my PIM, which, although not perhaps “sensitive,” is data which I wouldn’t want anyone to be able to access, but, more confidentially, since I now link in to my work’s mail server, a whole ream of emails containing confidential information. Certainly not something which I would want to be accessible to the wrong people.   OmegaOne Software’s 1-Pass   However, the requirement of security has to be balanced against a need for convenience. Clearly, the safest way to keep the information would be to avoid keeping it on a mobile device at all; however, that also creates the greatest degree of inconvenience, as the ability to access email, personal data, web logins etc from a mobile device is very convenient indeed. Microsoft has made some attempt to balance the two with their Password application, which is built into WindowsMobile, but, unfortunately, I just do not find this sufficient for my needs, for a couple of reasons.   The Password application only allows access via soft keys- you have to tap the screen a minimum of four times to be able to get into your PDA, whereas I would prefer to be to hit a hardware button combination, as I find it more convenient. Secondly, Password only has two options; one being an alphanumeric password, the other being a four-digit numeric password. The former is a pain to enter, whilst the latter is just too easy to replicate, especially because screens tend to hold fingerprints- so, if you tap your password with your finger each time your turn on your machine, chances are there will be four distinct marks on the screen, which narrows down the options in terms of guessing your password. I would never have thought of this if it had not been pointed out to me when I lent someone my PDA for a few minutes… Something I’ve not forgotten since, you can be sure – my solution has been to wipe the screen each and every time I use my PDA, so, a more convenient option would be great.   Locking functionality     OmegaOne Software’s 1-Pass improves considerably on the Password application, both in terms of security and of convenience. When you set up the application, you set up both a hardware button password (any number up to 20), and also a soft-key password (again, up to 20 characters), giving you the option of either tapping on the screen, or pressing hardware buttons. For me, whilst I do at least know my soft-key password, it’s the hardware button solution which appeals the most to me- when I pick up my PDA, and just tap the relevant buttons, and I am automatically logged in, with no need to touch the screen at all. Absolutely perfect, in my book. It’s worth noting that when the screen is off, it is still ready to accept a hardware code, so, if you press a button to turn on the screen (other than the power button), and then try to enter your code, it will fail, as that initial press is recognised… Not a problem at all, but just something to get used to, especially if you used Password, and are used to pressing the requisite application button and tapping in the code. If you use the soft key entry, then, you can press the application button as before. So, not only do you have more characters to play with (and, obviously, the more you use, the less chance there is of them being guessed), but you can log in using hardware buttons, which is my preference.   Via the options dialogue, you can set up how you want your PDA to lock, and when you want it to lock. For me, the only option was to use the “Enable Password” option, as I wanted my device to be protected, rather than just key-locked, but it is great to see that this option is available. There are two different automatic lock settings- one for when your device is powered off, and one for when your device is inactive (even if it is powered on – for example, sitting in the cradle). I have an automatic lock if my device is powered off for 5 minutes, but have set my “unused” period to 24 hours- if the device is in the cradle, then I don’t want it locking on me. Having said that, even if the device is locked, you can still answer phone calls- I just like to see my Today screen, I guess! If you wish to lock your PDA manually, a “Lock Device” option is added to your Start menu, and can be added elsewhere on your Today screen, should you wish for an easy way of locking whenever you want.     The options menu is available through Start / Settings / Personal / 1-Pass, and replaces the / Password menu. You need to enter your password to access the options menu – this prevents someone picking up your device out of the cradle and disabling / changing your passwords. Of course, it does mean that if you forget your password, you won’t be able to change it, and there is no facility for providing a hint – in that case, the only option is a hard reset, which is great from a protection point of view.   Locked display       The standard “Password” display offers your Owner Name and a series of buttons- nothing more. 1-Pass offers far more than this, including your email address and phone number – so, if you lose your device, at least the information required to get in contact with you is easily available. I am not sure where I picked up this tip (am sure it was from a PDA forum sometime recently), but, if you do enter a phone number into the Owner Information box for displaying on this screen, and happen to be using a smartphone device, do not enter the number of the phone which you are looking to protect- clearly, if you’ve lost the phone and someone is trying to return it, it’s pointless if they can only dial the missing device! Unfortunately, the email address line is not particularly long (and is not alterable) so, if I wish to use my personal address, it actually runs onto the second line, which looks untidy. Instead, I’ve opted to use my 247Corp address, as all the email ends up in the same place, and it looks nicer on the screen!   You can choose from a pre-set list of options what you would like displayed on the screen; I used “user selectable” rather than “user configurable” above because, although you can select what information you would like to see, you are limited to the options presented in the program’s options menu, and the positioning which is assigned to those options. For example, you can choose whether to have either an analogue or digital clock, or indeed both, but you could not choose to have the analogue clock on the left, or the digital clock at the bottom of the screen- their positions are fixed. If you use OmegaOne’s “Journal Bar,” then you can have articles from this displayed on the screen; there is no option to have any other Today plug-ins included (for example, RSS feeds might be of interest).       In terms of calendar items, you can have your “Next appointment” included, which is a reasonably useful feature if you do not wish to unlock your device to see what you need to do next. Thanks to hardware logins, I was able to get into my PDA in less than two seconds, actually performing the login whilst removing the device from my pocket / cradle, so there is no noticeable log-in period at all, but, if you were to enter a 20 digit numeric code by hand each time, then, being able to see your next appointment might be a considerable benefit! It is worth noting that the “Next Appointment” does not work particularly well when you have an all-day appointment, as it actually displays this appointment to the exclusion of all others. I am sure that it is functioning correctly, in that an all-day appointment does last all day, and so it is probably what you should be doing all day, but I often use this functionality to indicate a task which needs to be done at some point in the relevant day – as such, not being able see my timed appointments is a bit of a nuisance. Perhaps it’s a “personal use” issue, but, for me, as I so often have all-day “Don’t forget to do [X]” notes, I would prefer the option of showing timed appointments in preference to all-day ones. Actually, my preference would probably be to show more appointments than just the next one, but, that just shows my reliance on my PDA’s calendar function to make sure I am where I need to be, and do what I need to do!   You can skin all of the items in the display, and there is a comprehensive guide available on the OmegaOne Software website. I have not tried to do this yet, as my graphic skills are shocking, but, I quite fancy a skin to look very similar to my “Black and White” (from Juni) Today theme, with matching buttons and colours etc. It’s possible, but I’ll need to spend some time with The GIMP to learn how to do it! Changing the background image is very easy (simply a case of getting the right sized file, and naming it correctly) and, in any case, there is a selection of pre-made themes available from the OmegaOne website if you do not like the default skin.     Conclusion   At the beginning of this review, I discussed the balance between security and convenience. Well, after a week using 1-Pass, I can safely say that it handles the balance very well indeed. For me, the ability to use hardware buttons means that I can log into my device whilst I am still removing it from my pocket, but, at the same time, lets me use up to 20 different button presses (and, with my device, 14 individual hardware buttons from which to choose). Whilst not as configurable as I perhaps would like, the “Locked” screen is a considerable improvement over the default Password screen, and does mean that someone who picked up a lost device would be able to see your supplied owner information at a glance- if that gets the device returned to you, then that alone would be worth the price of the software. For me, the hardware log-in justifies the price, especially since it means that I do now use security, whereas I previously did not bother. A small price to pay for the peace of mind gained from knowing that your personal information is away from prying eyes, but yet can still be easily accessed.