We've been working hard over the past month on a new build of Slam to help with performance and battery drainage issues. Today we release a version with the following improvements:

1. Radically smaller size. The smaller application uses less device memory, helps with 'phone bog', and overall is more efficient. Note the 385k installer (down from 732k)! 



2. Re-worked home screen plugin. New plugin interferes less with your device's home screen.



3. User settings for new content checking frequency. Checking for new Slam content is by far the biggest hit to your phone's battery. You can now change this from the default of every 10 minutes. So, if you set this to 20 minutes you will be saving almost half of Slam's battery usage. You can even set Slam to 'Manual' checking and then just use the Send/Receive command when you want a content update. To access the frequency settings, select Menu -> Options -> Check for New Content from the Slam home screen.
   
   Important: Except in the case of 'Manual' checking, Slam maintains the same content checking behavior of frequent checking (every 30 seconds) after any activity (e.g., you send or receive a message) until the activity dies down at which point it goes back to your specified check interval. In our opinion, this approach strikes the best balance between preserving battery and keeping you up to date on Slam content.

Do note that these changes do not affect the performance of the application itself. Here we are focused on minimizing impact on your phone. However, we threw in a few other changes, including support for the address book when inviting people to a Slam.

Download the new build here (www.msslam.com/slam.cab).

If you are already running Slam, you will need to remove your current version before installing the new build. To remove Slam: exit the application via Menu -> Exit from the main Slam screen, turn off your Slam home/today screen via your device settings, then remove Slam via your device's Remove Programs function. Sometimes programs are hard to remove. If necessary, restart your device after exiting Slam and removing the home/today screen, then just delete the Slam folder using File Explorer. (Slam removal instructions also available on the about Slam web page.)

  -- Slam Team