COMPUTER WORLD SIMedit! 2.0: A Second Look Bohumír Dzubej Last year we reviewed SIMedit! Version 1.0 (CW41/97, page 34), but since that time Compelson Labs has released a significant upgrade in the 32-bit SIMedit! 2.0 and thus we have decided that it deserved a second look. We quite liked version 1.0, so we were pleasantly surprised to find many improvements in version 2.0. The heart of SIMedit! -- the hardware that reads and writes to a smart card -- remains unchanged. Those interested in a more detailed look at the hardware component of SIMedit! should refer to our first review (CW41/97, page 34). Truly, it is difficult to imagine how this product could be improved. It is compact, fast, easy to install and operate… perhaps it could play a welcoming song? But let's be serious now. The DOS version of SIMedit will run on XT computers and at just 360kB it is small enough to fit on a single floppy. Amazingly, the 32-bit version for Windows95/NT is only slightly larger at 395kB. At a time when much software seems to be getting bigger rather than better, SIMedit!'s tiny footprint is noteworthy in its own right. Our hats are off to the programmers at Compelson also for the fact that the SIMedit! program is a single file, can be run directly from floppy, and that there is no installation required! Just copy the file to your hard-drive and create a shortcut to the executable. Don't let its size or ease of use fool you though, this is a full-featured program that is everything it claims to be. So, what is the new SIMedit capable of? Like a bank card, the smart-card system relies on a PIN system. Be careful! If one forgets or loses their PIN, a SIM card is of no use. After three unsuccessful attempts, cards are blocked and must be unblocked with a PUK! You may not like this, but it is the only way to insure total protection of your data. After all, what would you say if somebody could try to crack your card's password without any limitations, not to mention if this person succeeded and used your data or even your mobile phone? The environment has changed greatly. The program can be started in two modes: a standard windowed version and a minimized version in the form of a bar with menu items and icons. I really like the latter. The program can be configured to automatically detect a card reader and the program detects the reader port without any trouble. Undoubtedly, the most important data on a SIM card are in the address book. When loaded in an appropriate window, a single mouse click is all it takes to sort the data by their order numbers, names and/or telephone numbers. SIM card data can be loaded in the address book window, you can edit them, add prefixes, replace strings, export data in an Excel-supported format, save them in a file and read them and write them back on the SIM card. Still not impressed? Those who are familiar with Windows95/NT should not be surprised that you can select, move, copy or delete several items at a time. But there is a completely new feature - up to three address book windows may be edited simultaneously. This means that you may pick items from your SIM card and transfer them onto somebody else's card and using the drag&drop technique you may copy them and paste them into another window. The window for processing of SMS messages has also acquired new features, the same ones available for the address book - you can work with up to three windows and items can be copied and moved just as easily. Another feature new in version 2.0 is a SIM card backup option. When you select it, the address book is read together with SMS messages and SMS message settings. The data can then be saved to your hard-drive or to floppy. If your SIM card is damaged, you can take home a new one instead of attempting to reconstruct your entire address book by memory and using the awkward mobile phone button pad… good luck! With the backup, the operation takes only a few seconds. If your company uses a larger number of mobiles, you can create a standard address book that can be individually modified. To my full satisfaction I myself tried it with 12 mobiles. Yet another feature worthy of note here is an option that can internationalize (standardize) your address book. +420 (for the Czech Republic) is added in an appropriate position. It can be done directly in the address book by using the search system and replacing a string and adding a prefix. The Internationalization feature does this in a much more elegant, fast and easy way; this is why I did not mention it when describing the address book. With the address book modified in such a way you may dial numbers saved within your country or any country in the world, provided your operator has a roaming service in the concerned country - there is no need for you to know international dialing codes applicable to a given country. The last change I want to mention is the amount of detailed information available about your card. If I had described in detail all the features of SIMedit 2.0, this article would have been much longer. Instead, let me make this laconic statement: It is compact, elegant, powerful and makes mobile life so easy. Finally, the included software manual is not full colour, is not printed on glossy paper, but like the software itself, it is made with good taste and is complete in every respect. Manufactured by: http://www.compelson.com