PocketKiosk Builder v3.8 ()

Lock down Windows Mobile devices

PocketKiosk Builder increases mobile workforce productivity by restricting Windows Mobile PDAs to run only specific programs. To know more, please read below or download the fully functional evaluation version for 30-days.

   

Licensing: Purchase licenses only for the computer that you want to use to lock down the handhelds. There is no runtime cost for handhelds

Benefits

Features

Details

(Fig:- Word Mobile (Pocket Word) in fullscreen kiosk mode)

Packages built with PocketKiosk Builder can be easily installed on target Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) devices. Packages are in form of .cab files. Just tap on setup.cab file on the device. The PocketKiosk engine is installed and target application is run automatically in fullscreen kiosk mode. Even after a warm boot, the application will run in kiosk mode unless administrator wants otherwise.

System Requirements

• Windows Mobile 6.1, Windows Mobile 6, Windows Mobile 5 based device

• Microsoft ActiveSync

• Microsoft Windows 2000/XP on desktop

How to use PocketKiosk Builder

With PocketKiosk Builder you can configure your device to run in one of the two following modes:

1. KioskDesktop (KD) mode
2. Non KioskDesktop mode

Kiosk Desktop Mode

In Kiosk Desktop mode icons of allowed applications are listed in a special desktop. Users can launch only the allowed applications by tapping on them. If the application is closed, control comes back to the kiosk desktop from where some other allowed application can be launched.

Fig. Kiosk Desktop with a few allowed applications

Non KioskDesktop Mode

In this mode allowed application is launched directly at startup. No Kiosk desktop is available. If multiple applications are launched simlutaneously, user can switch among them by pressing first hardware button the PDA or the applications can launch and activate each other.

(Pocket Internet Explorer running in Fullscreen kiosk mode)

Packages built with PocketKiosk Builder can be easily installed on target Pocket PC devices. Packages are in form of .cab files. Just tap on setup.cab file on the device. The PocketKiosk engine is installed and target application is run automatically in fullscreen kiosk mode. Even after a warm boot, the application will run in kiosk mode unless administrator wants otherwise.

Using PocketKiosk Builder to build Fullscreen kiosk applications

Using Sample projects
On the desktop computer, there are two sample projects files in {Drive:}\Program Files\Askarya\PocketKiosk\Samples folder. First.pkp project file contains settings to build a package with KioskDesktop enabled (See screenshot below). Second.pkp contains settings to build a package to launch allowed applications directly without KioskDesktop support.

Step 1 - Create a Project file

You can save your project settings as pocketkiosk project files (.pkp) on the desktop. For e.g you can load First.pkp sample project file from \Samples folder to see how it works. You can do following actions on the project (.pkp) files.

New Project: Click this button to clear the values in various fields on the PocketKiosk Builder screen. You can now enter new values.

Save Project: You can save the project with any name (for e.g. myproj.pkp).

Load Project: You can load settings from an existing project file (.pkp file). The project file should have been saved earlier by Save Project option described above.

Step 2 - Building the Package

1. Run PocketKiosk Builder (Start -> Programs -> Askarya PocketKiosk -> PocketKiosk Builder)

2. In the screen below, You can select Kiosk Desktop option. Then add information about all allowed applications into the list. You have an option specify any command line parameters for the allowed applications. You can also set an administrator code which must be entered to stop PocketKiosk from launching the application into fullscreen mode. Incase you have loaded a project file (.pkp), these values are read automatically into the PocketKiosk Builder screen.

Click on Add button and following screen appears where you can specify other allowed applications paths.



- "Launch automatically at startup": Check this option if the application should start automatically when device boots up.
- "Never launch this application automatically": Check this option if the application is a system process (like shell32.exe) and should not be started by PocketKiosk as it can crash or lockup the device. Usually this option is not applicable for user applications.
- "Do not show on Kiosk Desktop": Check this option if you want to run the application in background mode and don't want the user to see its icon on the kiosk desktop screen. Such application can be launched or terminated by some other program only.
- "Application itself controls fullscreen mode": Check this option if the application handles the fullscreen mode itself and you don't want to PocketKiosk to interfere in the operation as it can have undesirable effects.
- "Launch after wakeup": Check this option if you want to launch the specified application as the device resumes or wakes up from suspend state.
- "Tapping on icon brings....foreground": If an application is already running, check this option if you just want to bring application window to foreground when  application icon is tapped, otherwise the application is launched normally. Usually launching an already running application brings up the existing instance to foreground but this is not always the case. .

3. Now click on Build Package button and this will generate setup.arm.CAB file for ARM processor based devices.



Step 3: Installing the Package on the device

There are two ways to install the package on the device.

1. Click the Install button on the main screen. If the device is currently connected with the desktop over ActiveSync, the package will be installed immediately and the device will softreset automatically and target application will start running in fullscreen kiosk mode. If the device is not connected over ActiveSync, the package is queued and when ActiveSync is connected later, the package is installed on the device.

OR

2. Copy the setup.arm.cab file to a folder on the device and tap on it. The cab setup will run and the package will be installed automatically. Before performing this step, run ActiveSync and establish the connection with the Pocket PC device. For e.g. See below, setup.arm.cab file is copied into My Documents folder on the device. Tapping on setup.arm.cab begins package installation. After installation is over, device will soft reset and target application is  automatically launched in fullscreen kiosk mode. Note: Use this method when you need to install the package on large number of devices.

Exiting from Fullscreen Kiosk mode

There are 3 ways to unlock the device from kiosk mode.

1. Kiosk Desktop Unlock: If kiosk desktop is enabled, tap on the title text area just above the list of allowed applications. This will bringup the admin logon screen where the admin code is entered. If correct code is entered the device will exit from kiosk mode.

2. When using PocketKiosk Builder to build the packages, the admin can exit the kiosk mode by going to "Device Control" section and by pressing "Exit Kiosk Mode on device" button. ActiveSync connection must be established with the device before using this option. 

3. Soft reset the Pocket PC device. You will see following screen. If user doesn't tap on 'Yes' or 'No', the target application will be launched automatically after specified time delay. (This time delay can be modified while building the .cab package. The default time delay value is 10 seconds)

Click No on the above screen. Now enter the admin code (It was set while building the package in step 2) 

If valid admin code is entered, PocketKiosk will exit and the Pocket PC will start in normal mode.

Buy PocketKiosk Builder 

Email us your feedback and comments at: support@askarya.com. Thanks for using Askarya software.

Note:Single license can be used to deploy packages on any number of PocketPC devices for free.

History

• v3.8    - New feature: Show battery status on Kiosk Desktop screen
             - New feature: Show background image on Kiosk Desktop screen
             - Improvement: Proper acquiring of phone signal at startup

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• v3.7     - New feature: Specify custom icons (32x32) for applications on the kiosk desktop screen. Icons can be normal images in bmp, jpg, gif and png formats with 32x32 size
             - New feature: Show list of running application, Activate/Stop running applications
             - New feature: Option to select whether to launch application or bring up background window when icon on the kiosk desktop is tapped upon
             - New feature: Strong password encryption, One way hashing
             - Improvement: No more closing of running applications when kiosk mode is exited

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• v3.6     - New feature: Option to show taskbar (but disabled) at all times, even on KioskDesktop screen
             - Improvement: Better control of Phone functionality for Windows Mobile Phone devices
             - Improvement: In NonKiosk desktop mode: Option to launch application after device wakes up from suspend state

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• v3.5    - Improved UI (fonts, buttons) during kiosk mode startup
            - New feature: Option to launch application after device wakes up from suspend state (Useful for login application)
            - New feature: Support to disable/enable RAPI security (use PKSecurity.exe tool)
            - Bug fixes
  

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• v3.4     - New feature: Option to block Autorun.exe launching from \Storage Card folder
            - New feature: Option to block software installation in kiosk mode
            - New feature: Silently install pocketkiosk packages without showing messages asking to reset the PDA and to start the kiosk mode automatically.
  

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• v3.3     - Option to associate .pkp files with PocketKiosk Builder
            - Branding of cab package: Change Application and Company Name shown during installation and in "Remove Programs" list on the device
            - Option to change Admin code from within the device. No need to build and deploy a new cab package again.
            - Bug fixes (Proper implementation for softreset, Proper handling of End Call button on Windows Mobile Phone Edition)
  

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• v3.2     - Support to reset the PDA from desktop (Added in Device Control section)
             - Show properties (window handle, window title, executable name to which the window belongs etc.) of current foreground window on the device (Added in Device Control section)
             - Added support to not run an application in fullscreen mode. This might be required if the application itself is handling fullscreen mode
  

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• v3.1     - Proper enumeration and handling of hardware buttons
             - Show Unlock menu with tap-and-hold anywhere on the kiosk desktop empty area (not just the top bar)
             - Fixed Issue: After kiosk mode exits, hardware buttons now work as assigned in normal mode
             - Fixed Issue: Activeysync reconnect fails always if "Disable ActiveSync Connection" is selected
             - Fixed Issue: Tapping on Unlock menu on device properly shows login screen, Earlier it was sometimes showing white screen

  ---

• v3.0     - Added new Kiosk Desktop feature
             - Added Spanish and Brazilian language support 
             - Improvements in User Interface and project file (.pkp) format
             - Option to disable Continue button on startup screen (e.g. application on SD card may take some time to be available for   launch). With this we can restrict the user for trying to start the application before the timer expires.
             - Option to fit logo image to screen
             - Option for admin to unlock the device by tapping on KioskDesktop title text area and entering the admin code
  

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• v2.6.4 - Option to show version on device screen
             - Exit Kiosk Mode from desktop (Device Control feature)
             - Specify delay (in seconds) before exited target application is restarted by PocketKiosk (Useful for updating applications in the  field) 
  

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• v2.6.3 - Performance improvement (less CPU overhead)
             - Showing PocketKiosk versions on client engine and desktop tool
             - Bug fix (PocketKiosk Builder project was not saving AutoLaunch option for applications) 
  

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• v2.6 - Create New Projects, Load existing kiosk projects and Modify/Save projects
          - Bug fixes (e.g. taskbar flickering in rare cases) 
  

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• v2.5   -  Option to disable ActiveSync connection when application is running in kiosk mode,
            - Added support for showing logo image (.bmp format only) at startup,
            - Works in both Landscape and Portrait mode
            - Disable taps on taskbar when an unallowed application window is in foreground.

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• v2.3   -  Option to show taskbar with no start button. With no Start button user won't be able to launch other applications. Also target application cannot be closed by tapping X button as the taskbar window will be disabled. This feature is useful if you want to use the taskbar to show some type of information such as program status or system status (e.g. battery info, clock etc.)

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• v2.2   -  Enhanced performance and Optimization done.

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• v2.1   -  Fixed issues and improved performance.

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• v2.0   -  Allows switching among multiple applications by pressing a hardware button.

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• v1.3.3   -  Does not allow Today Screen from coming back after session timeout.

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• v1.3.2   -  Launch target application using shortcut links (.lnk files), Simultaneously run extra apps in Kiosk Mode.  
               -  Support for disabling hard buttons, automatically soft reset the device after package installation on most devices. 

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• v1.3    -  Automatically launch target application after some time delay with no user interaction.

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• v1.2    -  Option to execute multiple applications in background while keeping main target application in fullscreen kiosk mode.

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• v1.1.1 - Optimization for .NET CF applications.

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• v1.1    - Added support for running CF applications in Kiosk mode

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