Application:	APOD
Latest version:	Ver 0.56
Language:	English
Development environment:	Basic4ppc
VGA-aware:	yes
Licence:	Freeware (as long as beta)
Protection:	none
Tested with:	iPAQ 210, h2200
Manual:	none
Recommended storage:	main memory or storage card
Requirements:	online connection

APOD browser is Pocket PC software for the purpose of browsing NASA's 'Astronomy Picture of the Day' (APOD) web site. APOD's search page does not work with the PocketPC's Internet Explorer, for which reason this application comes in place. The APOD browser requires an online connection.

How to Use:
You can query APOD in basically three modes:

1. By Date
Select a date to view the APOD of that date. Since the first APOD image was presented on June 16, 1995, the calendar is limited to between June 16, 1995 and Today.

2. By Keyword
Enter a keyword of your choice and tap on [Search]. Make sure to avoid too common keys, such as 'moon', 'planet', etc. This would result in too many hits, since each occurance of that search string in APOD's texts will be output as result and is often not related to what you wish to explore.

3. By Choice
This mode searches the editor's choices for the most educational Astronomy Pictures of the Day. Simply select an item from the combo box. Each choice yields three to five hits as so well selected by the authors of APOD.

After closing the settings screen, tap on the GO menu to download the selected image and text. Tap on the image for a shrunk view that fills the screen without scrollbars.

Tap and hold on the image to open a context menu.

Image info: shows image size.

Negative image: turns the image negative and back positive.

Save Image and Text: saves the current image (negative or positive) to a subfolder named 'saved', including the explanation text. Please note that devices running Pocket PC 2003(SE) cannot save JPEG images, but large BMPs only (o/s limitation). You may wish to manually reduce the color depth of BMPs to 256 colors to save space. WM devices save images as JPEG, mostly staying under 100KB.

Select another Image: turns to the Settings screen.

You can browse saved images with the cursor keys:

Right key: one image forward

Left key: one image back

Up key: goes to the last image

Down key: goes to the first image

Center key: goes to the midmost image

1. Select APOD picture by date
2. Select APOD picture by keyword
3. Select APOD picture by author's choice
4. Scrollable full size image
5. Stretched full image
6. Selectable thumbnail preview
7. Negative image
8. Save selected image and explanation
9. Browse saved images with cursor keys
10. Automated download of a month worth of APODs and explanations for offline viewing

Installer PPC:	download (410KB)
PPC requirement:	.NET Compact Framework 2.0