When I first came across Pocket Zen Phone (PZP) it was still very much in its infancy, with limited functionality, crude interface and imposed a large footprint on the valuable space of the Today screen.

PZP is a Today screen plug-in for Pocket PC Phone Edition 2003 which permits the user to define and switch between various audio and functional configurations, much like the profiles on many typical mobile phones.  Unlike the profiles in mobile phones however, PZP is a work in progress and, wow, is it progressing!  The developer (Zendrui) can be contacted via this thread on the xda-developer forums and is extremely responsive to comments, bug reports and suggestions, and the software has improved significantly since its inception.

The plug-in displays five icons which represent the five modes (or profiles) that can be configured, unlike the earlier versions they can now take up almost as much or little space as the user wishes since the icons may be skinned (simple bitmaps, plenty are available) – I have mine as a simple row of text bitmaps for the modes (Silent, Vibrate, Quiet, Normal & Loud).  To switch mode simply tap the mode of choice and the underlying settings are applied.

Configuration is fairly simple and it is here that PZP leaves phone profiles in its wake.  Each mode can adjust the following wealth of settings…

• Modes can be renamed.
• Volume: System and Phone can be adjusted between Mute and Loud.
• Ring Settings: The ring tone (file) can be set, as can the type (Ring Once, Increasing Ring, Vibrate…)
• Notifications: Can set  the Type (Beam, SMS…), the How (Ring, Ring and Display, Flash, Vibrate…) and the sound file to use.
• Radio/Bluetooth: That’s right, it can even control the radio/bluetooth settings!  Oh alright, the radio option is disabled until V4, but that’s in late beta and available now.  Bluetooth can be configured though (Off, On, Discoverable, unchanged).
• Time Settings: Yes, it can even schedule profile changes (On time, Off time, mode to revert to).

So if you are missing your phone profiles or simply want to add some more flexibility to your sound selections, give Pocket Zen Phone a look, then look again in a weeks time… because it’s bound to have even more features by then!