Samsung Omnia's Custom User Interface Available for all Windows Mobile Devices!

The geniuses from the XDA-Developers have done it again!
This time it's the beautiful user interface of the Samsung Omnia.

I reviewed this UI couple of times in the past, and I think it's very different from the usual shell applications. I'm not sure how expandable it is for more widgets but no doubt it is an innovative concept.

The XDA-Developers is a brilliant site where all the best WinMo applications in the world can be found (and for free - here's some of the things you can find there).

Sakajati just released the Omnia UI and it can be installed on any Windows Mobile (5/6) device!

Here's a video demonstrating the UI concept:


To download - click here.

HTC Dream - Is that what we dreamed about?

Hell no! It can't be true.

'Y' just sent me a link to EngadgetMobile with some pictures of the HTC Dream (First device to run Google's Android OS).

I've got to tell you: either I don't get excited anymore about new stuff coming out, or something went terribly wrong in HTC's / Google's labs...

Take a look at this picture: it used to look nice... BACK IN THE 70's!

The device itself does not look as "sexy" as other HTC stuff, and the user interface looks "OK", but nothing more than that.

Now let's have a look at this one: this is better, but what happened to the keyboard?

This is not the way a cutting edge device should look like.

Rich people used to have these kinds of phones in the early episodes of the 'Love Boat'

Some more pictures from EngadgetMobile:

Does it sound like I don't like it?

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - Delayed to December?

There's a lot of excitement around Sony Erocsson's XPeria X1 device which was scheduled to be released soon (around September).

According to EngadgetMobile, this will be delayed to the end of 2008 or even January 2009.

Looks like it's a new fashion to delay things (Bold, Nuvifone, Android) up.

(Maybe they are replacing Windows Mobile with the Android?)

SpoonDo! - Available next week!

I spent the night modifying stupid things like the colors, icons and actually most of the cosmetic issues of my new freeware: SpoonDo!





All I need to do now is pack it up in a CAB file and upload it to my site (spoontools.com).

SpoonDo! is a finger friendly Tasks manager.


It integrates with Pocket Outlook and presents the tasks in (my opinion) a much better view.

Here's some more screenshots:








Comments are more than welcome!

Recommendation: Improve your Windows Mobile Files Exploring with fExplorerExt!

I found this one in a great blog for mobile freewares called OldSAP.

This is an amazingly useful extension to the default files explorer of Windows Mobile.

One of the most annoying things in Windows Mobile is the poor files explorer.

With so many required features missing, no wonder people are looking for alternatives.

This extensions sits on top of the default explorer which is cool because you don't need another tool for that.

It adds a lot of good features such as:

- 3 different views options (list, details, and icons).

- The details view enables sort (only ascending though) by different columns.

- Preview of the selected image files (not bugless but nice)

- Tree based folder selection (as seen in the picture below)

- Show extension option

- Easy shortcuts creation

And many other goodies!

Give it a try!

To download - click here.

Garmin's Nuvifone - delayed?

According to a statement released ahead of Garmin's Q2 earnings call, the company says it will be delaying the release of its Nuvifone (AKA: the best looking device ever which will probably never be released...) from late 2008 until the first half of 2009.


2009?


2009???

Men will live on the moon by 2009!

Microsoft Windows Mobile 9 will be released in 2009!

Somebody in the US might buy a Nokia by the year 2009!!!

Google's Android might be released by 2009... (OK, you are right, it won't...)

I can't wait that long!!!

We want nuvifone right now!

Bring us nuvifone immediately!
(so we can say it looks amazing and nothing works and get back to our Palm Treo Pro...)

HTC Diamond vs. iPhone - the battle continues

iPhone people are continuing to create useless but cool apps such as the ones below.
It seems like the Diamond people are starting to fight back with some nice games just for HTC Touch Diamond, using the g-sensor/accelerometer.

So far it looks like iPhone stuff are still better...
(Judge for yourself)

iPhone iDial video demo:

iPhone Guitar:

iBeer for HTC:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=412667

UMPC - Here to Stay?

They are small, they are portable, they hold your personal information, and no, they are not smartphones - they are UMPCs!

Here's a nice article claiming that mini notebooks are here to stay.
I personally tend to agree with it.

SpoonTools in TreoCentral

Thanks Brian Hart for including SpoonTools in your tip of the week.

This kind of feedback really makes my day!

Link:

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/1766-1.htm

Interesting Report about Mobile Web Browsing

I found this interesting report from AdMob, based on statistics of number of web requests done from mobile devices.

Like always, it's interesting to see how Nokia is dominating most of the world and at the same time - does not exist in the US...
Here's some interesting figures:





Notice that Palm and HTC has 6% of the smartphone traffic each, while RIM has 11% and iPhone has 4%.

When looking on a view based on OS - (wold wide) - Windows Mobile is currently number #2 still leading over RIM.




The tables above prove if you still had doubts that HTC are dominating the Windows Mobile market.

Read the full report in here.

HTC Continues to Rock: Introducing the S740

Trying to break the world record with over 50 new devices in 1 month, HTC has a new Windows Mobile Standard handset.


HTC S740 is a none-touchscreen device running Windows Mobile 6.1 standard edition.
The phone has 2 sets of keyboards, as you can see in the pictures.






Visit http://www.htc.com/ for more information and screenshots.

3D Alt Tab - A Visual Tasks Manager for Windows Mobile

Cool.


This Tasks Manager is called 3D Alt Tab and it has a nice concept, especially if you prefer using ALT+TAB (when working on your PC) than using your mouse.





The idea is simple - you assign a hardware button to this application, and when clicking on it - the task is being switched (between all the application which are in minimized state).





[If you are asking yourself what is a minimize state in Windows Mobile then you are probably a novice - so here's a secret: when you think you just closed an application - it's not really closed. Instead, it is entered into en endless queue of minimized application with no easy way to bring it back on... This application (such as many other tasks managers out there - can help...]



See full thread (and download link) in the XDA Developers.

Total Commander for Windows Mobile (freeware)

If you are familiar with this logo:

Then you probably are/were using Total Commander.

In case you didn't know - there's a version for Windows Mobile which is completely free!

Main features are the famous multiple views and also a built in zip functionality.

Try it out!

Download link: http://www.ghisler.com/ce.htm

Samsung Omnia (Unusual) Unboxing

Told you it's one of the greatest devices out there!

The 01 Phone - is it a joke?

Probably some sort of a joke or a trick.

According to this site - there's going to be a new phone soon.
The name is 01 (but he is not a number! he is a free phone!)


I don't believe it myself, but still I'm going to check it out in 27 days...

Link: http://www.the01phone.com/

Peek - a new device just for email

Well well well... isn't that awkward...

A device which looks very nice, designed just for emails...

Here's what they are writing in their site:

"Peek is a super thin and stylish device that lets you take your email with you and stay connected. With Peek service you get unlimited email for a flat, low monthly rate. Totally easy.
Sound interesting? Peek will be available this fall in stores nationwide."

I have a suggestion for improvement:

How about we move that side wheel and turn it into a trackball?

Oh, and while doing it, let's add some phone capabilities to the device and call it ...

hmmm... how about... Cranberry?

Peek website

Tweak of the day: How to change the default Wait Cursor in Windows Mobile?

Easy.
Go here.
Download this.
Install the CAB.
Start MWC (Marshall WaitCursor2)


Select your wait cursor from a list:






And that's it!


Marshall who's been a frequent contributor over at XDA released a new version of his MWC application. This is really a good one!


Links:
Information Page:
http://www.marshallskins.ilbello.com/php5/htdocs/smf/index.php?topic=18.0

Download Links (expand the tree nodes and click on the relevant item)
http://www.marshallskins.ilbello.com/php5/htdocs/downloads.php

Oh, and as usual, don't forget to Donate to the guy who worked hard for us.

SpooNotes Video in YouTube

Nice,
I just found that FreewarePocketPC.Net created a short video about my freeware: SpooNotes.

I think the video does not show all the capabilities, but it's nice that other sites are pointing to it.





Here's a video from my site demonstrating the camera picture (remember the film Memento?):




To download the SpooNotes click here.

Who's Producing the Palm Treo-Pro?

According to my sources (just kidding, I don't really have sources…) - the manufacturer behind the Treo Pro is no other than... HTC.



Many people already know that HTC used to produce older Palm devices, and according to the digitimes HTC is also the one behind the Sony Ericsson XPERIA.

With so many great devices being made by HTC - I wonder why I end up not liking the ones with their own brand… always seems more fancy than practical.

Android Emulator Video

Found this nice video in the MobileCrunch.

Take a look:

Exclusive Pictures of the Palm Treo Pro - only in the Mobile Spoon!

If (like me) you are spending valuable time reading blogs I assume you noticed that all the technological/mobile blogs were overloaded with images of the new Palm device (the Treo Pro).
While most of them were based on some pictures Palm "accidentally" released before the official announcements, we in the Mobile Spoon managed to put our hands on some exclusive pictures from the new Palm wonder!

I am proud to present to you the Palm Treo Pro as you will not see it in any other blog!

Treo Pro in the Sunset Rock



Treo Pro in a Linkin-Park concert
(we always knew Treo was a rock fan – but 5th row?)



Treo Pro on the red carpet as Paris Hilton's spouse
(you can find better than that Tro Pro!)



Treo Pro finishing third in the Olympic games!
(no steroids found yet)



And this is the most amazing picture:

Palm Treo Pro being sold in an Apple store!?!?!




Amazing…


I had to blur the man’s face because he asked to remain anonymous, but since this blog does not have red lines, here’s the original picture:

Coming soon to SpoonTools.com - SpoonDo!

In a couple of days I will be releasing a new tool called 'SpoonDo!'.

I created this tool for myself actually, in order to better manage my daily tasks.
The idea is to have a better user interface for the Outlook Tasks in Windows Mobile.
The User Interface is finger friendly, and gives all the required functionality.
It also gives better viewing of the daily tasks, sorted by priorities and due dates, categorized by subjects.


Few screenshots:








SpoonDo! will be available (for free) in couple of days in the SpoonTools site.

Good news for all of you WinMo fans out there – it seems like in some areas in the world, Microsoft’s good old OS is still doing OK.

Unlike in the US, where RIM is dominating the market (with 44.5 percent market share last year), in Asia, Windows Mobile is making much better.

"But in the Asia-Pacific region, Windows Mobile devices hold stronger market penetration, at an estimated 6 million devices shipped last year—while RIM's was under 1 million, according to Springboard Research.”

Original post in here.

Here’s a nice article I found in Brighthand.com about the different approaches of the different mobile OS.

The article talks about iPhone being a completely closed system, giving the software developers the benefit of knowing exactly the target OS and the on the exact devices.
This is the same concept RIM created with the Blackberry (although few different devices instead of 1).

On the other extreme – Google’s Android – a completely open operating system. This will give unlimited flexibility, and since the source code will be available – companies will even be able to create sub versions of the android if they wish.
This is the strength of the Android, but can also end up as a problem, when talking about new versions, causing a variety of problems, limitations and modifications…

In the middle, we have Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Symbian.
Both are not open source, but they have many different capabilities which are being implemented differently per different devices manufacturers (HTC, HP, Samsung). And this is why you can see different features implemented differently between HTC and HP (for example).
Palm, Inc. is following RIM and Apple and is in the process of creating a proprietary Linux-based operating system for its consumer-oriented smartphones. Generally called either Palm OS II or Nova , this will debut next year.
Palm is also creating Windows Mobile devices such as the Treo products.

Nokia and the whole group of companies that use the Symbian OS are going the opposite direction by taking Google and the OHA's path. The Symbian OS is going to become completely open soon.

Kevtris - a free Tetris game for Windows Mobile

When I was young and useless, I used to play the Tetris and compete against my family.


Then came more versions of the game with additional blocks and I lost my interest.

OK, maybe it's because of the fact that my highest score came last after all my family members and my dog...)



Now that I'm old and useless, it's nice to see that there are still versions of this great game.

(We still love you Tetris!)

Kevtris is not new, and a well known Tetris game with nice features and good UI.

So, in case you haven't seen this one yet - put your hands on it, and make yourself useful whenever you are invited to a boring meeting.



Kevtris can be downloaded from here!

Visit Kevtris blog in here

PalmTreoPro.com

Some people knows how to capture opportunities on time...

As you all noticed, there's a serious Treo-Pro-Rush.
And now, there is an official site!
The PalmTreoPro.com includes nothing but Treo-Pro stuff.

Why didn't I think of it first?

And here's a first video of the new device...

Looking for a Face Warper/Melter for Windows Mobile?

I guess the title of the post is going to annoy a few people, as I don't actually know one.






I saw this post in the MobileTech Addicts:
Seems like the Symbian FaceWarp application is not alone, and iPhone has a similar application called: Face Melter. (can be purchased from here)



I am looking for this kind of application for a while now - for Windows Mobile.


If you know any - please let me know!



Big things rely on it!

History of the QWERTY keyboard

I had a talk with a friend the other day about the layout of the buttons in the QWERTY keyboard.

So first, do you know what it's called a QWERTY keyboard?
(well, I'm sure you do, if not, try to type the name...)


Apparently, the QWERTY keyboard layout was devised and created in the early 1870s by Christopher Sholes, a newspaper editor and printer who lived in Milwaukee.

The original layout of the early versions had an alphabetical order, but it was changed in order to reduce the frequency of typebar clashes.

Funny, isn't it?

No?

Not funny?

Not funny and not interesting?

OK, so skip to the next post then...

But just in case, there is more information in here...)

Iris - a free Internet Browser for Windows Mobile

I found this post about the Iris Browser in one of my favorite blogs: the TiltSite

I immediately downloaded Iris Browser and found that it is working a bit slow, but very useful. The animation is not perfect yet, (you need to slide your finger and only after a while the page will start moving), but has some really innovative animation when moving between page to page...

The browser also has a nice page review pane which resemble the Opera Mini concept – which I like.

Many features are already fully functional (mouse cursor, zoom, full mode, desktop mode, mobile mode, etc.)

Double click does not zoom in/out yet, hopefully it will in future versions. There are still some bugs: for instance, the hattrick.org site (a free soccer game) did not work properly.

In addition, I encountered some errors while playing around with the freeware.

Nevertheless, I recommend you download the Iris Browser and try it out while it is still free!

And also, keep the following link (http://www.torchmobile.com/products/) and stay tuned with updates and new versions of the Iris browser.

Enjoy!

SpoonTools.com - Visit the new website!

I'm happy to announce that the SpoonTools website was re-designed!

I would like to invite you all to visit the freeware's site and download the free tools.



http://www.spoontools.com/






Enjoy!

Support us!

The Mobile Spoon and SpoonTools.com were both created for non-profitable purposes.

If you enjoy reading the Mobile Spoon, find the information helpful and would like to make a donation to express your feelings – you are more than welcome to do so.

If you already downloaded the SpoonAlarm, SpooNotes or any other freeware from the SpoonTools website and find them useful - express your gratitude by donating.

The amount you donate is entirely up to you.
The donation can be done safely and secured by clicking on the PayPal button.

Thank you for your support and encouragement!

Palm Treo Pro - what do you think of it?

I found some more pictures of the exciting new comer!

While I'm sure this is going to be my next handheld device, I wonder about the reason why Palm had to place their Treo logo just in the most important area of the phone (below the screen) - right where your finger is supposed to press some buttons...

What do you think of this bizarre design?

Fring - a great multi-messenger freeware

Couple of weeks ago I posted about free messengers for Windows Mobile.
Recently I started using Fring more often and it's really good!

Fring™ is a mobile Internet service & community that enables you to access & interact with your social networks on-the-go, make free calls and live chat with all your fring, Skype®, MSN® Messenger, Google Talk™, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo!™ and AIM®* friends using your handset’s internet connection rather than costly cellular airtime minutes.




The application is still a beta, but has a very nice design which is working cross platform.


Here are some examples:



Fring on Windows Mobile:



Fring on iPhone:


You can download fring from here.

iContact - a great contacts freeware

Ok, I have no idea how I missed this one, but I guess its better than ever...

iContact (by Doug Melton) is probably the best contacts freeware out there, it combines a finger friendly user interface with great lookup mechanism. All in an iClone look and feel.

If you don't have it yet - this is the time.




Link: http://www.supware.net/iContact/

Configuration Options: http://www.supware.net/iContact/config/


Different Skins: http://www.supware.net/iContact/skins/

Palm Treo Pro!

Palm is still alive and kicking.

While other manufacturers are creating great looking devices with innovative user interface, Palm continues with the "standard" devices.

The reason I still like the Palm devices is that they are always fast, stable, have great battery life, and give great user experience (from the form factor, to a great QWERTY keyboard, just the right shortcuts, and of course - performance).

If your device is mainly used as your phone - you can count on Palm that it will be a useful one.

Mobile sites are reporting that the Treo 850 is probably now called Treo Pro.

It seems like Palm put it on their website and then removed it.

Here are some nice screenshots - this is going to be my next device!

Presenting the Silver iPhone Surfer

OK, so the journey after the Mobile Super Heroes continues, during the past few weeks we had a poll: If the iPhone was a super hero, which super hero was it?

You voted (not so many votes I might say…) – but, it will not stop me from continuing with this stupid game.

So – for your votes:
Number #3: The Thing
Number #2: Batman
Number #1: The Silver Surfer!

So here it is:

The Silver iPhone Surfer!




I assume one of the reasons for your votes is the great web-surfing experiance that the iPhone brings. Probably the best of all mobile devices. But other things such as look and feel, smooth edge etc are also good reasons...



If you are not familiar with the Silver Surfer - here's a nice video:






Related posts:
The truth about Blackberry
The Amazing Windows Mobile Hulk

The Incomplete Guide to Mobile Form Factors – Part #3

OK, so after reviewing some of the common form factors in my previous posts, here's a full list of Windows Mobile different form factors!

(click to enlarge)

Notice that all of the ones in the picture are running Windows Mobile. I believe no other platform has so many form factors which means that after selecting your favorite platform, you still need to select the best device for you - based on your personal preferences.

For previous parts of this incomplete guide see below:

Part #1

Part #2

Is that the Android? (I hope not!)

Rumors again...
Found this video presenting an ugly looking white device running ugly looking... something.

They claim it's HTC Dream running Android.
I certainly hope it's just a film taken few years ago...

Video:

I Am Rich - on your iPhone!

Seems like someone has managed to smuggle in a really crappy application to the iPhone AppStore...

"I Am Rich", a $999.99 app from Armin Heinrich, is a software that just displays a red gem on the phone's screen - how sweet.

If you want it, I'm selling it for only $10,000, no warranty.

Thanks Amir for the link!

Blackberry Thoughts - Week #3

Captain's log, stardate 2817.6. (that’s today…).
Starship 'Mobile Spoon' was diverted from scheduled course due to unplanned events related to aliens attack called: SpoonAlarm.
We have survived those events.
Purpose of today’s log: to confirm some new discoveries regarding Blackberry.

OK, that’s enough with this Star Track cr<beep>ap.

As you remember, 1 month ago I decided to start using a Blackberry device for learning purposes.
I found that this is truly a great phone, with obvious mail capabilities.
I’m still an amateur, and as such, I’m now still learning the basic stuff.

You can find my previous reports in here:

Blackberry Thoughts - Week #1

Blackberry Thoughts - Week #2

In today’s report, I will unveil some of the discoveries I had in the recent week.

Theme:
Changed the default one, and I wanted to show you all my new cool theme but unfortunately there is no way to take screen captures from a blackberry device.
(Windows Mobile has this – and it’s one of the must have tools everyone should have)

Screen Capture tool:
Oh how I love freewares!
Few seconds after I decided to look for a way to take screen captures from my Blackberry – I found: Rove’s Mobile Viewer (http://www.rovemobile.com/products/freeproducts/mvb/overview/).
This is a great tool if you need to present your phone screen in presentations.
So here it is: my first downloaded Blackberry theme: yippee!

Blackberry Desktop Manager
I downloaded BDM from here (http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/).
I’ve got to admit that at first, it looked OK, but after trying it some more – I don’t see a great use of some of the features.
From the main tool you can launch the Roxio Media Manager, and from this media manager you can launch the Roxio photo suite (why do I need this application in the first place?).
But, in general, I can say that this tool give the things I was looking for – a full control over my device.

One comment though: what’s with those bugging password alerts? Heck, let’s say I stole this device, OK? I already entered the default password and managed to get it – why should I repeat it every 2 minutes?

Installing Applications from the Desktop Manager
Sweet!
(At last… I get want I want… give me some freewares rrrrright now! rrrrr)
The concept here is simple, not the perfect user interface but working like a charm.
I managed to install few applications on my device, (will post about them separately), and now I feel I can actually start using this.. blackberry thing… as if it’s a real handheld!

(All I need to do now is find some decent freewares, because so far all the ones I tried were… a bit too… simple?… not to say… useless?… not to say… primitive text based applications?… not to say… things I did when I was a student?... not to say… test tools? )

But, I will keep trying!

And of course – as always - post about it in my next report!

HTC TouchFlo uses open source code!?!?

Well well well...

If it ain't a scoop - I don't know what a scoop is!

(which is true, I have no idea how a real scoop looks like...)

According to Johan Sanneblad - "If you go to “Settings” and scroll down to “About” you will see a list of copyright notices from the various technologies used. This list however does not explain what the product does, and in some cases it does not even describe the full product name (e.g. the Vincent OpenGL ES renderer is listed as “OpenGL by Hans-Martin Will”.

Nice!

It seems like I'm not the only one stealing code form the internet!

(Oooops... )

Johan even extended the research and list the names of the open source components:

Boost, FreeImage, Lua, Luabind, Vincent 3D Rendering Library, STLport, RapidXml, SWIG and more...

(You won't find that in Samsung Omnia!)

Unlock your phone without unlocking... your phone...

Strange title I know, but this is exactly what SIMable does.

SIMable is an ultra thin chip, that is being attached to a real SIM card, and can somehow fool your phone into thinking that it's unlocked...

According to Mr. Mobile: "Whilst mobile phone unlocking is not illegal, it will in most cases invalidate the handset's warranty. SIMable requires no handset interference and thus theoretically the full manufacturer's guarantee remains intact".

Can I have a SIM card that can fool my Treo into thinking it's the new Samsung Omnia?

(check out the list of SIMable's supported devices in here)

Enable remote debugging for .Net Compact Framework applications

This post is more of a private note for one of my coleages who sent us a bug - about not being able to debug some addins of a Windows Mobile application.

So Imry, this post is for you, and let's close this bug, shell we?

Here's a quote taken from the great blog: MobilityMetro:

Start the Remote Registry Editor
Connect to your device
Enable attach to process support
In the left hand pane, expand the device
Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Expand SOFTWARE
Expand Microsoft
Expand .NETCompactFramework
Expand Managed DebuggerIf this key does not exist, you will need to create it
Right click on .NETCompactFramework
Select New > Key
Type "Managed Debugger" (without quotes)
Click Ok
Set the value of AttachEnabled to 1If this value does not exist, you will need to create it
Right click on Managed Debugger
Select New > DWORD Value
Set the Name to AttachEnabled
Set the value to 1
Click OK

Full post in here: http://blogs.msdn.com/mobilitymetro/default.aspx

Android - More Delays?

I was looking to post about some interesting Android stuff, and all I could find is that things seems to be working slower than expected.

According to the WMExperts, it seems like the Android “is not able to attract enough developers because toolkits offered by Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Research in Motion (RIMM), and Nokia’s (NOK) Symbian software group, have sucked up software developers’ attention."

Hmmm... Never heard this excuse before...

SensorMaze - Free game for HTC Diamond

Apparently it is possible to create applications using HTC's sensors API.
It is not a formal API, but this won't stop the people from the XDA-Developers...


First game is called SensorMaze.


It seems like it's the first version of the game and the developer is still working to improve it, but hey - let's support him by downloading his freeware!



Link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=413531

New 'Touch' applications - for free!

A young kid once said that if others are imitating you, you probably did something good.

Up to 2-3 months ago, people created Launch applications that looked like the iPhone.

Well, guess what, I'm kind of had it with the iClone user interface. A collection of moving icons, that's all. Once you click on an icon - you get the exact same old WinMo look and feel.

HTC on the other hand, combined a Launch application with a wrapper that wraps the "phone" functionality (phone, contacts, calendar, pictures, media).

You can argue about the performance, or whether some specific features are optimal or not - but this is much better than just launch icons!

So, couple of months went by and now there are many freeware out there giving the touch experience:


MusicFlo:
This freeware does exactly what HTC TouchFlo is supposed to do.



Full screen Interface,
Tap and add Programs, Contacts, and Favorites
New Tab bar and slider
Weather Tab (data from Accuweather)
S2P controls on a pop-up control panel (slide your finger from the bottom of the screen up)
Get Icon from most programs
Supports png transparency for Program Icons
Fully customizable graphics (all pics found in \Program Files\MusicFlo)
Size and position of Program and Contact buttons now on config.xml

See a video demonstrating MusicFlo:


Link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=403815


ThrottleLauncher 0.9.3 Beta
ThrottleLauncher is a finger friendly launcher app for Windows Mobile 5 and 6, It replaces the today screen with a TouchFlo like interface containing a horizontally scrollable row. The application is fully configurable through xml files. The rows can contain several type of items like icons, clock, text, photo dialler, recently used applications etc


See ThrottleLauncher in action in this short video:



Link: http://www.throttlelauncher.com/portal/

TouchXperiance:
This one is not an HTC TouchFlo clone, but it give a lot of "touch" functionality.
TouchMenu has various built-in menus :
All Programs (Start Menu replacement)
Active Programs (Task Manager)
Recent programs
Favorite programs
Settings (Control Panel)
Documents
Favorite Websites
Contacts
Messaging
Appointments
Tasks
Calls (Call Log)
Communications (Comm. Manager)
RSS feeds
Power Actions
End Actions
One Touch Settings

Click here for a nice walk through with few videos.

Here's one of the video demonstrations:



Link: http://www.touchxperience.com/

SpoonAlarm - Summary of your requests

OK, so after getting so many mails and comments (here and in other forums which apparently posted about it as well!) - here's a summary of the things I thought was important:

1. Recurring Alarms - should be possible to configure some days off (weekends). Currently it can be done manually, but you wanted it to be pre-configured.

2. More configuration parameters to the snooze: total snooze time and intervals between snoozes.

3. Start with low volume and make it higher each snooze (I would turn it into setting few different songs, don't you think? so if you are a Faith No More fan you can start with something like 'Easy', and then move on to something like 'Midnight Crisis' and if that doesn't work - go to one of their heavy stuff... )

4. Do something about the repeating OS notifications (I found some articles talking about that problem - believe me - it's not a bug in the SpoonAlarm, and some devices don't have this problem, but still - I will look for a way to bypass that).

That's all - keep sending me your feedback!

See you all in SpoonAlarm 3

Top Visiting Countries Widget

In case you are reading the Mobile Spoon through an RSS reader, you probably haven't seen this one.

I just added a nice widget showing statistics of the top visiting countries.

Currently it shows that most visitors come from the US (around 30%).
Number 2 is Italy and then comes France, UK, and Australia.

I wonder if it means that Windows Mobile is more popular in those countries or maybe it's something in the culture of reading blogs?

SpoonAlarm - first week's performance

Around 8,000 downloads, this is the statistics of the new SpoonAlarm in just one week.

(Not including downloads from other sites who simply took the CAB and placed it in their servers - so I cannot monitor it...)

I already received many requests for improvements...

(May need to start working on version 3 soon...)

If you still havn't got the SpoonAlarm - you may still be sleeping - Click here:

http://spoontools.com/index_files/Page1220.htm

Motorola Alexander

Couple of days ago I posted about the reveal of HTC Victor, a different edition of HTC Touch Diamond.



Today I found some rumors about a new Motorola device called Alexander!
This device supposed to have 8 mega pixel camera and a drop down QWERTY keyboard!
(read more...)



And now...



I would like to unveil that the Mobile Spoon has received some reports...
...About Samsung's new secretly hidden device called:



Grischa Sochoy Junior.






To download Grischa's specs don't click here...

Or here...

Or here...

Leisure Suit Larry on your Windows Mobile Phone

If you are older than 20 years old, and you had a computer when you were a youngster, you are probably familiar with the classic game: Leisure Suit Larry.

(if you're not, then this post is probably not for you...)

For many kids, Leisure Suit Larry was a role model.

He is the complete luckless looser who (almost) ends up with sexy females, almost scoring for dates.

And now, we can all return to our childhood with this great funny game.

Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail retails at $9.99 from WinPlay, and is compatible with both Smartphone and Pocket PC devices.

The Incomplete Guide to Mobile Form Factors – Part #2

Hello again!

In this part of the guide I will present devices with QWERTY keyboard!

Many people like this kind of form factor as it enables easy typing.

All the the keys are in place, the key size is pretty big comparing to the Candybar style, and life is great!

But is it really so great?

I think it has 3 small problems: one – you always need to open it, which is somewhat bothering.
The second problem is that you need to hold it with 2 hands to make the most out of it, where in fact the Candybar devices can be completely activated using one hand.

Last, if you are looking for a classy looking slim device - keep in mind that a QWERTY keyboard usually makes it thick.

Side Sliding QWERTY:

I think this one is the most common QWERTY based devices.

Side Sliding QWERTY (Tilt Screen):

The famous Tilt! One of the most successful Windows Mobile devices

Up-Sliding Screen with QWERTY Keyboard:

Motorola Sidekick:

Down Sliding QWERTY:

I never used one of these but it looks interesting, even though I don't see the benefit of having to pull down the keyboard and yet steal half of the screen size for the d-pad buttons.

Additional Form Factors with full QWERTY keyboard:

Clamshell QWERTY with Rotating Screen

Detachable QWERTY:

Previoud posts of this incomplete guide:

http://mobilespoon.blogspot.com/2008/08/incomplete-guide-to-mobile-form-factors.html

The Incomplete Guide to Mobile Form Factors – Part #1

I received some requests from people asking me to write about different form factors in handheld devices.
It’s not a subject I’m an expert in but I decided to do some homework and post about it in the blog.

I will do it in a series of posts called:

The incomplete guide to Mobile Form Factors!

As you already know, there are many different devices. The differences are not only in the OS, processor and communication, it’s also in the form factor. Different people have different flavors and it’s hard to make one device which will fit everyone’s taste.

In addition, there are interesting concepts about how different form factors fit different tasks such as talking, reading, writing, etc.

Here’s a nice image that describes different principals in a form factor design:


So let’s begin with one of the most popular form factor called Candybar.

Candybar: (taken from Wikipedia):
The candybar (or brick) design is a popular mobile phone form factor where the device is a rigid cuboid in shape but small enough to be placed into a pocket.
It is so-named because it resembles a candy bar in size and shape. This form factor is widely used by manufacturers such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson.
(Wikipedia obviously forgot Windows Mobile manufacturers here...)

OK, so let’s examine different types of the Candybar form factor:

Candybar QWERTY:
Probably the most popular form factor. Used in Blackberry devices, Palm, Motorola etc.

It can come with or without touchscreen.

Examples:

The advantage of the Candybar QWERTY is that you have a full keyboard, which is always available.
The problem with this design is that it means smaller screen size comparing to the ones with no keyboard at all.

Candybar SureType:
This form factor is very similar to the previous one, except it has less keys in the keyboard where each key holds 2 letters.
This model is used in Blackberry pearl, I had a pearl device for few weeks and the typing was far less convenient for me than a regular QWERTY keyboard.
I think this form factor can be very convenient as a phone, but not for long typing.

Candybar T9:
Same as the above but with even less keys (this one has a T9 keyboard similar to simple cell-phones)
This form factor is rarely used for Smartphone devices because it’s not optimal for typing tasks such as mails. (Unless you are a teenager)

That’s it for this part of the Incomplete guide to Mobile forms Factor. More posts to come.

Microsoft misses the 20-million-license goal?

According to different reports, Microsoft failed in reaching 20 million WM licenses in the last fiscal year which ended June 30.

Microsoft response hinted about the fact that device manufacturers did not perform as they should have according to the plan.

"The OEMs give us predictions as to when they'll ship the devices, and I don't want to put them in the dunk tank, if that's a phrase, by implying that they didn't stay on time. That's confidential conversations that we have."

Nevertheless, Microsoft reported an increase in the market share (Increase of 2 percentage, to nearly 13 percentages of the world smartphone market).

My thoughts: With the new line of products from Samsung, HTC and Palm – I believe Microsoft is going to have a good year.

Amazing Free Image Viewer - PocketCM ImageViewer

For a while now I'm looking for a way to read comics from my handheld device.
Not that I'm trying to replace the joy of purchasing a new comic book, but still, I would like to have the option to read stuff from my phone.

I've tested few image viewers, and set some high expectations from them.

The requirements:
- Finger friendly UI
- Easy way to zoom in/out and move left/right
- Powerful zoom (need to be able to read the comics text when zooming into the image).

So far I didn't find anything perfect, and most of the freewares I've tried did not have a good zoom.
Today I installed the new PocketCM ImageViewer.

I just finished testing it and I think I found the best free image viewer for Windows Mobile!


Here's some pictures to explain why I simply love it.


Screen #1: Folders list
- Nice scrolling, great animation, no search/filter but:
- You can select a folder (using the star) and mark it as favorite! hi hi! Great!

Screen #2: Thumbnails view inside the folder - see my Transformers comics.

Screen #3: Animated view - you can see your files, move them easily etc.

Great stuff, the movements are a bit too delicate, and sometimes it moves a bit more than expected.

Screen #4: Image view:

Here you can zoom in/out, rotate, move, etc.

Very good performance, my only issue is that again it is too delicate and reacts too easy.

I guess I'll get used to it pretty soon.

Screen #5: Zoom view - see how sharp it is! I can practically read the text.

(most viewers do not have this capability...)

Great freeware - I think the developer did an amazing work!

Time for me to eat Burek...

Download the application from here:

http://www.pocketcm.com/downloadfile.php?f=ImageViewer-0.9.cab

SpoonAlarm 2.0 - few improvements are now available

OK, so first - thanks for all the supportive feedback of many of you!
I received many mails and some comments here in the Mobile Spoon blog, and most of them were really great (few were not... but it's OK too)

For the last 48 hours people all over the world tried the new version of the SpoonAlarm and sent me some useful comments. (thanks again!)

I've listed the comments and performed some changes accordingly.

Here's the list of modifications I've made:

1. Tray icon. Apparently not everyone thought it's cool to have a shortcut to the SpoonAlarm in the tray. Some said they simply never use their today screen... So now you have it in a setting - you can select to use a tray icon or you can hide it. I will probably use it myself, but if some of you don't need it you can simply turn it off.

2. I found that if you are using SPBPocketPlus - trying to select an MP3 file will give an empty list. I have no idea why or how to fix that, but as a workaround, I've added a way to view "All Files" in the list. I hope it will solve the problem.

3. People told me that they cannot see all their subfolders when browsing for an MP3 file, it's true, and frankly, I looked for a way to change that in the internet but couldn't see anything that can solve the problem. It seems like a WinMo limitation. I found forums with people complaining about it - not sure I will solve it.

4. People complained about automatically loading the SpoonAlarm on startup - I removed it. Instead I run a small hidden utility just in order to make sure the next alarm is alive and kicking (because I found that in some devices, the alarms are cancelled on soft reset - so this small tool solves the problem).

5. Default snooze time was changed to 10 minutes, for some reason I set it to 1 hour, which is a lot even for people who spent their nights working on freewares...

6. Uninstall #1: (but please don't uninstall!) the uninstall now removes not only the exe files but also the installation folders. (but don't uninstall!)

7. Uninstall #2: Uninstalling while alarms are on will create a strange behavior but it has a reason - Windows Mobile has this feature of repeating the last "notifications" after soft reset. I guess it's because it wants to be on the safe side. Try to set a meeting, and after dismissing the popup reminder - soft reset your device and you will see that the reminder pops up again! Try to soft reset again and the reminder will keep appearing. The same works with the SpoonAlarm. If you soft reset your device while the alarm has just went off - it will keep playing. The right thing to do in this case is to simply close the alarm, wait 3-4 minutes and then uninstall and restart the device... I tried it on 3 different devices (Treo, HP and Symbol) and it working.

That's all, thanks for all the help, enjoy your SpoonAlarm!

Oh, almost forgot, the link to the new(er) version is here: Click to Download

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Blackberry KickStart

Here's a video I found in EngadgetMobile about Rim's KickStart.

According to the reviewer, the trackball is sunk thus less comfortable, (and the trackball is one of the most important things in the usability of blackberry devices...)

In addition, it seems pretty annoying to open the handheld with only one hand. They say it's OK, but from my experience with these kinds of cell-phones I doubt if it is.

The OS has some nice improvements (specially around Internet browsing) but I still think that the older models are better.

Full review in here:

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/07/30/video-blackberry-kickstart-8220-flip/

Video:

HTC Touch Pro Video

I found this nice video about the HTC Touch Pro.
As you may have noticed, I don't like the diamond so much, not because I don't think it's an AMAZING LOOKING device, but more because I must have keyboards and the diamond miss that.

Looks like the Touch Pro could be the perfect device for people like me...

Video: