RepliGo 1.2 from Cerience for Nokia and PocketPC

When I first heard about RepliGo (many moons ago) I didn’t have the need to carry all sorts of oversized, esoteric documents with me. And I thought you still would have to physically scan these documents, leading to all sorts of readability problems.

Well, if you like a fully automated process, RepliGo is the only way to go!

From the first moments of RepliGo’s smooth installation, indicative of the whole Cerience experience, to actually reading complicated landscaped documents on your handheld, it’s an exhilarating ride. Just pay the fare (or take the 14 day free ride) and enjoy the view(s)!

Here are some tests: I wanted to convert an article I had written recently for Australian FLYING.

I had scanned the five pages from the magazine and converting them for my iPAQ took all of 5 seconds! These five pages were compressed into a mere 168kb.

I then discovered that this is not the way to do it as a scanned document can not really be zoomed in to full readability. There is, of course, also no way that the software can use the Flowed View algorithms to avoid having to scroll sideways.

So let’s do that again.

I picked a flyer that I designed the other day with Microsoft Publisher.

It’s a half-page with a couple of photos. MS Word and Excel have a RepliGo button which instantaneously converts the document into a .rgo file.

Publisher and most other programs have an extra step that you need to take: go to Print, click on the RepliGo virtual “printer”. And voilà! Done. Fast and accurate.

The screenshot on my iPAQ says it all: at 50 % zoom it’s quite readable and if you click on the Flowed Text icon the text will be realigned so that you can just scroll down.

I love that feature!

These are some outstanding points about RepliGo to consider when the temptation is great to go with a JAV (Just Another Viewer):

• RepliGo can convert any document that can be printed whilst keeping all the attributes and appearance of the original.

• You can export the RepliGo output to many mobile platforms such as SmartPhones, Palms and PPCs.

• Large documents are very effectively compressed, usually at around 50% or less than the original. The quality is excellent although the compression doesn’t do justice to JPG image files. However, photos still have an acceptable quality.

• Hardcopy printing from your PDA is a cinch via infrared or BT connection.

• Easy landscaping for your garden might be a remote dream but switching to Landscape mode is a one-click affair with RepliGo. Essential for viewing Excel spreadsheets, PDF documents or PowerPoint slides! And remember: there’s no need to have a separate PPT viewer.

• If you just need a viewer and don’t need to convert any documents, the RepliGo Viewer is free!

We tested RepliGo 1.2 out on an iPAQ 2210 and a Nokia 6600 running the Symbian OS.

See some of our screenshots below.

Just keep in mind that, once converted, the files cannot be edited – only manipulated for viewing. That’s not a shortcoming but rather an advantage I would say.

Use other programs, like Word or Excel, to sync files on your mobile device which you are constantly updating.

Pro’s

• Look at the extensive list of unique features above

• Add my own personal favourite: the ability to view huge Excel price lists on my Nokia 6600

Con’s

• Perhaps the algorithm used for viewing images can be improved

The RepliGo website is your first port of call to really see what this application is capable of.

Check out Cerience for some impressive samples.

Registration: USD 29.95 for PocketPC or USD24.95 for most other platforms.

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