At last count I have approximately 100 web site logins, IDs and passwords. In addition, I've got credit card, airline reward card and bank account information. My brain can't hold all that information effectively. At best I can only remember the user IDs and passwords for my main e-mail accounts so I can at least check mail on the road. So how do you keep track of all the other information effectively and keep everything safe and secure from prying eyes? In a data vault of course.

I'd bet that most people have a sheet of paper with their web banking passwords and other sensitive information tucked underneath a keyboard or in a file folder in a desk drawer. Maybe some of you have web passwords and personal information listed in a neatly organized word processor document or spreadsheet utilizing the typically flimsy password protection built into Microsoft Word and Excel. Unfortunately, thousands of laptops are stolen each year from businesses and homes and the easiest way for crooks to get at your sensitive information is to get their hands on that piece of paper or to hack your word document or excel spreadsheet. If you want piece of mind therefore, the best way to protect your personal information is by making using of a portable data vault.

SplashID for Blackberry was tested on a laptop running Windows XP Professional together with a Blackberry 7130 handset. Installing the software on our laptop was quick and easy. The software consists of two main components: a) the SplashID desktop manager which installs on your PC or Mac, and b) the SplashID mobile application that is installed on your handheld device. We found the supplied PDF user guide very helpful in getting the software loaded correctly on our Blackberry 7130 and I recommend that you follow the instructions to assist with your handheld device install. If you have a previous version of SpashID for Palm or one of the other variations for another mobile device you can have them run independently as the installer will create a separate folder in your Program files folder on the hard drive to keep track of device-specific data. SplashID uses an extremely secure 256-Bit encryption method called Blowfish

The SpashID Desktop user interface is designed to be very easy to use. You can store almost anything of importance from birthdays to combination numbers and serial numbers to clothing sizes. Other items that you can store include banking information, calling cards, credit cards, e-mail accounts, emergency contacts, airline rewards, insurance info, memberships, phone numbers, prescriptions, vehicle info, voicemail passwords and web logins. You can even categorize your entries as personal or business and define them as you like.

Entering data is simple and you have the option of adding notes and having SpashID generate a secure password for you. SplashID is supplied with 63 category icons, making it easy to identify your data with easy to recognize symbols. I find that locating information is much easier when an icon is used as an identifier. Operational simplicity is the key and the user interface has been designed to be accessed via the Blackberry thumbwheel. All of the SplashID options and commands are accessible using the thumbwheel and activation button to add items, edit, set passwords, and mask/unmask passwords.

The Blackberry handheld portion of SpashID contains an exact duplicate of the information that you entered in the PC/Mac desktop component, except that the handheld interface is scaled down to make better use of the small screen. Enter information on the handheld and it will be updated in the desktop component at the next sync and vice versa.

Cons: We really didn't find any.

Pros: Relatively small installation footprint on your PC and mobile device. Multi-platform support. Great value for the money. Records are very customizable. Impressive importing capabilities from previous versions. You can access important information while away from your PC. SplashID is a superb software tool to help you keep and protect all your personal information on your handheld device and PC. Palm OS, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile and Symbian versions of SplashID are customized to take advantage of the various hardware controls (scrollers, d-pads, etc.) found on each device. SplashID is a secure, useful product. Highly recommended.