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For those that had purchased the Sprint Touch Pro2 it was quite the surprise to find out that the GSM, although SIM unlocked, would not work with US service providers. In this video we demonstrate how to unlock the radios and then reflash the device with the correct US radios to be able to make calls under AT&T, T-Mobile, or any other GSM provider that utilize the GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS900, UMTS2100 bands (US 3G will not work).

The program that will unlock the SIM, CID, and radios is brought to us by HTC-Unlockers. Although the whole process takes a few steps and costs a little money it is well worth it. When the device is all unloked and the new radio is installed the data settings may need to be changed or added to use cellular data service. The program is donation-ware and costs at a minimum of about $15 USD. The correct US radios were spotted on XDA-Developers.

Funny I should post this, but XDA Developers have managed to find a way for everyone to download the pocketnow.com widget we launched yesterday, even if your location is outside US.

According to the source, you need to follow five steps in order to bypass location verification and successfully download the widget (you need to have Windows Mobile 6.5 emulator)
1) start the WM6.5 emulator from Visual Studio
2) start Marketplace
3) look for the widget and find it
4) download the widget into the emulator and provid Live ID
5) start Marketplace on device
6) Marketplace shows the message that pocketnow.com is ready to install.

(Source: XDA Developers)

Yesterday, in a case of confused identity, we reported that an enterprising hacker got HTC TouchFLO 3D UI working on a Samsung Omnia II. Today, it seems that another hacker got the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 panels to work on the HTC Touch Pro2.

You can read about how to get the XPERIA panels working on your HTC devices from XDA-Developers.

(via: Fuze Mobility)

While the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 is still being delayed, it looks like the device and its cousin the Omnia II may be getting TouchFLO 3D, the HTC home screen. The port of TouchFLO 3D is via unofficial means by enterprising users and does not come as an official solution from HTC. Users who wish to hack TouchFLO 3D onto their Omnia devices should check the local laws and regulations under their jurisdiction to ensure they are not infringing on copyrights and patents.

That said, the action of TouchFLO 3D was caught on video:

According to MobileTechWorld, it seems that the version of TouchFLO 3D is 1.3, the same version that appeared on the Touch HD a year ago and not the more recent builds we've been showing off here at pocketnow.com.

(via: MobileTechWorld)

The many variants of the widely released and popular Touch Pro2 have the same innards, but they all have different exterior styles. Regarding their battery cover colors, the unlocked Touch Pro2 is silver, Sprint’s is gunmetal gray with bright orange accents, Verizon’s is gray with a map of the world and T-Mobile’s is mocha flavored. The AT&T Tilt 2 seems to be the only Touch Pro2 variant sporting a black backing.

Even though most are satisfied in the user experience department, many people have expressed envy for one particular battery cover over another. This could obviously be linked to specific designs around the speaker grill, but it can also be due to distaste for the random color schemes selected by certain carriers. I have to admit, brown and orange are pretty strange color choices for these high end devices.

It’s hard to go wrong with a black finish when dealing with electronics, which is why some users are getting down and dirty by dyeing their Touch Pro2 battery covers to black (pictured below for Verizon and Sprint TP2). The process, which involves an inexpensive dye kit and a pot of hot water, seems harmless enough and the results look fantastic. Read on to see a video tutorial on dyeing the Touch Pro2 battery cover.

As previously mentioned, Verizon and Sprint TP2 users (PPCGeeks links) have taken it upon themselves to alter their battery covers. Using RIT dye (under $3) and some hot water, they were able to give their Touch Pro2s a more traditional look. The process takes about ten minutes and users seem to be quite happy. They claim that the dye doesn’t rub off once applied and you don’t have to worry about discoloring the camera and mute button areas because the dye doesn’t stick there. On the Sprint variant, the user was able to get rid of the orange accents. The Verizon Touch Pro2 has a mismatched back and front, so dyeing the back to black makes a lot of sense. Many users have watched the end result from afar; but now that there’s a video tutorial, I have a feeling many more will attempt to dye their devices. We always warn to proceed with caution when customizing anything, of course.

In theory, you should be able to apply other colors from RIT, though black seems to be the favorite. Since it works on the Touch Pro2, and because users of the Touch Pro and Diamond have dyed their backs in the past, users of many other HTC devices should be able to dye their back covers as well. It’s interesting that users not only want to customize what’s behind the screen, but also the outside of their devices. If only HTC, with cooperation from carriers, let you customize Windows Phones like they do the Android driven HTC Tattoo...

Note: although there seems to be a high level of satisfaction from users who take on such a task, we still recommend that you acquire a spare battery cover before attempting to dye anything.

Mobile Shell 3.5 is one of the most customizable user interfaces for Windows Mobile, but there are still limits on what you can do. Although you can add widgets and shortcuts of your choice on multiple panels, some aspects of the shell are stationary and can’t be easily adjusted. For example, the “menu bar” at the bottom of Mobile Shell, which is an important component of the UI, is designed to be used for access to the launcher and contacts. These buttons are forced on the user, whether they want them or not. You have to manually edit files to change the bar, which can be quite cumbersome for the average user. Another way is to wait for custom themes to be built for MS3.5, but again, that’s tailored for the creator, not you.

What if we don’t want a launcher or contacts button at the bottom of the shell? Perhaps, some of us would prefer to have access to weather, agenda or no launch buttons at all. The carousel is another good example. What if we want to add or remove specific panels without having to manually edit the registry? Well, thanks to ShellExtension, we have an easy to use customizer for the menu bar/carousel found at the bottom of Mobile Shell. Continue reading to learn what can be personalized.

ShellExtension, from XDA-developers, can adjust the menu bar and more in Mobile Shell 3.x. You can select how many (0, 2 or 3) and which buttons you want placed at the bottom of the UI. The customizing can be applied simultaneously to both the Professional and Lifestyle layouts or you can set separate menu bars for each layout. So, say you want to retain the launcher and contacts for the Lifestyle screen (maybe even add an agenda button between them), but prefer to keep things clean on your Professional screen by removing all the buttons. ShellExtension will allow you to do that. I’ve removed the menu bar buttons from my layouts because I found that there is a ton of redundancy within the UI. Now, I have extra real estate for shortcuts where the menu bar buttons would normally sit.

You can also change the text and icons for buttons on the menu bar, which adds a personal touch to the UI. As mentioned earlier, panels on the carousel can be added or removed to your liking. Up to 10 panels can be added to the Lifestyle and Professional layouts as well. For a full list of options, please see the feature set below.

To install (recommended with a clean copy of MS 3.5):

- Download ShellExtension from XDA-developers
- Unzip the folder containing 2 files and place it anywhere on your device
- Run ShellExtension and start customizing
- If you decide to uninstall, please see XDA-thread for details


ShellExtension has the following options:

• Auto detect of spb version 3.0.1 and 3.5 (extra functions for the 3.5 version)
• Change the number of menu buttons for both (Pro and Life) and their functions
• Change the number of menu buttons to 0, 2 or 3 (With 0 buttons you can put widgets on the menubar.
• Changeable functions: Launcher, SPB Menu, Favorite Contacts, Weather, Weather conditions, Agenda, Time, Profile, Task manager, Wireless manager, Phone Profile, Backlight, Call logs, SPB Contacts, Contact carousel, Today, Lifestyle and Professional Home
• The Launcher V35 and Contacts V35 are still changeable by the SPB menu
• Change or remove the text of the buttons
• Local versions of SPB Shell retrieves the correct local button text (if not changed by the user)
• If you know the right number for a menu icon, you can change that too
• Change the number of Lifestyle and Professional screens from 0 to 10
• Change the number of Fav. Contact screens from 1 to 10 (if 1 is selected the left and right functions are functional)
• Full control over your carousel screens, remove screens you don’t want and/or add (Task manager, Wireless manager not in SPB version 3.5 , Profile manager and Backlight)
• Change the text to your own text of these carousel screens
• Add or remove the menu bar with “back” button for Task and Profile manager
• Add or remove the recycling bin in the edit menus
• Program text in (English, French, Greek and Dutch) according to you SPB shell language
• Easy updating qa_layouts.dat with your own manipulated xml files
• Make the folders editable or removable (Extra buttons)
• Change the dialer contacts button to your choice
• After the changes, ShellExtension restarts the shell automatically

In case you are using A_C's popular S2P (Slide2Play), tPRO has released a new version of his skin for this software, as the author states, for those of you who would prefer the professional styling of TouchFLO before the default candy graphics.

tPRO skin supports VGA, WVGA, QVGA and WQVGA screen resolutions and enriches the aspect of Slide2Play with latest Rhodium (Touch Pro2) Manila (TouchFLO3D) graphics. Download Slide2Play skin and extract the contents of the archive to your PC and transfer tPRO.cab to your Device and install it.

(Via: XDA Developers)

We've posted about the initial release of the Android port for the HTC Touch HD. Well, looks like the project is moving forward with the release of the second Alpha release.

In Alpha 0.2, the Android build has been changed to 1.5, audio is advertised as working in all applications and GPRS seems to be working too - with the need of manual APN Settings.

If you want to take it for a spin, backup your SD Card (or use an empty one), extract all files of the archive to the root of the SD Card and run haret.exe.

(Via: XDA Developers)

We've posted about how to Get Sense UI on Windows Mobile and introduced mobilecustom.fr's Sense Revolution for SPB Mobile Shell 3 but unfortunately it was not compatible with the update of Mobile Shell.

Sense Revolution 3.5 is an adaptation for SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 which makes it fully functional. It is available for VGA, WVGA, QVGA and WQVGA resolutions and what you need to do is completely uninstall SPB Mobile Shell, reinstall it and install the Sense Revolution cab according to your device resolution.

If you want to give your device a Windows Phone look while booting up, try the splash screens available for VGA and WVGA resolutions custom created by XDA Developers, which look very nice!

Download and install the cab according to your screen resolution, after which you need to soft reset when prompted and at the next startup you will see a nice Windows Phone animation instead of the let's say default HTC one.

(Via: XDA Developers)

From the developer of omniano - the band in your pocket, comes a preview of a currently unreleased but under heavy testing application that will serve as a digital compass only for the Samsung Omnia II. Watch the video of OMPASS in action after the break!

There are no details indicating whether this application will use normal GPS or special hardware inside the Omnia 2, but if you happen to own one, make sure to check back as we'll report as soon as it hits.

(Via: XDA Developers)

In this video we demonstrate the new semi-official Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM for the Samsung Omnia II (i8000). The new ROM has many improvements to the Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM that the device was released with including threaded text messaging, newer games, and better utilization of the Omnia II’s hardware. This is probably one of the best device-specific Windows Mobile 6.5 ROMs I’ve seen. All the programs work and unlike a ROM that has been “cooked” this one does not contain any less-than-stable programs.

The ROM comes courtesy of Secany from MoDaCo.

Links of the ROM:
1/ OCTAN 2.1
2/ Baseband phone part
3/ Part 1 (78643 KB)Part 2 (78643 KB)Part 3 (78643 KB)Part 4 (78643 KB)Part 5 (78643 KB)Part 6 (39260 KB)

Guide included.
Language contains: English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Russian, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Finnish, Danish, Polish, Swedish, Dutch.
Choose what language you like before upgrading. The files must be combined back together with a program like HjSplit.

Secany has requested that the files only be downloaded from the links above and that nobody creates any other mirrors. Please understand the risks of flashing a phone with any ROM, and that improper execution may render a device inoperable.

Titanium is the name of the sliding interface of the Windows Mobile 6.5 Today screen. The interface can be easily skinned to accommodate a variety of plugins, colors, and designs.

Over at XDA, they've put together a showcase of about 25 different skins for Titanium. Most of them can be installed by doing the following:

1. Install the CAB on your deviec
2. Go to Start>Settings>Today>Items and uncheck "Windows Default"
3. Hit OK
4. Go to the same screen and check "Windows Default"

With the recent release of SPB Mobile Shell 3.5, users are scrambling to check if older customizations still work with the latest and greatest version. Of course, anytime Mobile Shell is updated, it always opens the floodgates for users to create new custom widgets and themes. The first widget pack is in and it’s looking rather sweet. The pack seems to focus on condensing multiple widgets in an effort to create more room for customizations. One of the included widgets is a custom clock & battery combo widget that makes it easier to keep an eye on your power status. Read on to learn more about the color coded battery and the other space saving widgets included in this pack.

The great thing about Mobile Shell is that it lets you add widgets and shortcuts on pages until you’re content or you run out of room. For those of us that like to pile on widgets and info on the primary panel, this can be a problem – even with a WVGA display. Enter XDA user matthewhypolite’s widgets. The coolest widget is the clock & battery combo widget. Okay, so it isn’t exactly just one widget, but you combine a couple custom widgets to create a beautiful masterpiece. The battery, behind the clock, changes colors as your power drains (blue, green, yellow, red). This makes glancing at the battery status easier and it adds to the overall look of MS 3.5, at least more than the default battery widget.

Up next, we have the Birthdays widget. By default, MS 3.5 only gives you two choices, large (they call it small) and even larger. The former skin has a strange shape to it that just takes up unnecessary vertical space. Matthewhypolite’s version makes it more streamlined, so that it doesn’t stand out as much from the surrounding widgets.

The other two widgets are for calendar related items. The task and appointment widgets provided after a clean install of MS3.5 are great, but they take up too much room. Once again, matthewhypolite comes to the rescue with some modified widgets that create extra space for additional shortcuts. Check out the screenshot below and you’ll notice there’s plenty of room for shortcuts using these widgets. You can view a comparison between the default widgets next to the modified ones on the creator’s thread.

Unfortunately, this widgets pack is only available for WVGA screens (QVGA is being worked on). In the coming days, the creator also plans to modify the battery widget with alarm and/or date info. In fact, he seems pretty open to evolving his widgets, so be sure to stay tuned to his thread. Grab these widgets from XDA-developers.

To install:

- Download the Widgets 1.0 CAB (zipped with other files) from XDA-developers.
- Install and then soft reset.

To uninstall:

- Go to remove programs and uninstall as usual.
- Then run the widgets 1.0 cleaner (included in zip file) right after.

Note: In case you missed it, Daniel Webster found a cool theme for MS 3.5.

GoodThings2Life is a regular at PPCGeeks who often helps other Windows Mobile users overcome obstacles related to the OS. Last year, he became quite popular among the community for creating a cleanup package for the Touch Pro, which basically cleaned house on the stock ROM. To clarify, he packaged together tweaks, registry edits and other changes that improved the Touch Pro experience straight out of the gates. So when he recently purchased a Sprint Touch Pro2, many users started hounding him for an updated package. Naturally, he decided to answer the requests by releasing an easily installable cleanup package for the Sprint, Verizon and Telus Touch Pro2s. So what exactly does the Touch Pro2 Cleanup package do? Read on to find out…

Touch Pro2 Cleanup essentially trims the fat from the OEM customizations. GoodThings2Life claims, “Installing this will make several modifications to your Touch Pro2 configuration to make it perform faster, have relatively stable battery life, and still provide a functional experience.” The package applies many of the tweaks and registry edits that we would normally have to apply manually – one by one.

Remember last week’s article on disabling Push Internet to save 10MB of program memory on the TP2? This package includes the registry edits necessary to free up that precious memory and much more. In fact, the cleanup package will make over 60 optimization adjustments, which are fully listed below. Some of them are minor annoyances remedied for better usability, while others are major enhancements that save memory or speed up aspects of the experience. Not sure what some of the tweaks mean? Read through the thread and you’ll likely find your answer. If not, drop GoodThings2Life a line in there and he’ll likely respond soon after.

Whether you’re new to Windows Mobile or you simply aren’t ready for ROM cooking, you may find this package quite useful. Even advanced users will find this quick essentials tool beneficial while they wait for the first batch of CDMA Touch Pro2 ROMs to be unleashed. It certainly is a time saver. You can grab it from PPCGeeks, but be sure to read the full post before continuing with installation. Also, if you decide to install Touch Pro2 Cleanup, make sure you install the appropriate one for your carrier. Don’t forget, this tool should only be applied to the Sprint, Verizon or Telus versions of the Touch Pro2.


List of Tweaks:

1. Import SDK Certificates for easy software installs
2. Install the following files features:
- Default Opera.ini file (See details later in the list)
- 1% Incremental Battery Driver (REQUIRES YOUR OWN TASKBAR MOD!)
- ATI_D3DM Driver (Provided by At0mAng)
- Inbox Enhancement Plugin (Delete All, Mark All as Read)
- HTMLNOTE.DLL (Fixes the WM6.1.21052 SMS/MMS "Mark as Read" bug)
- Threaded SMS Enhancement (Doubled height of text entry)
- psShutXP (Enable Power Button Press-and-Hold)
- Remove HTCStartUp, PKG, and poutlook from \Windows\Startup (frees up resources)
3. Set all Temp file paths to \Temp
4. Set IE Cache/History file paths to \Pocket.IE
5. Set Outlook file paths to \Pocket.OL
6. Set the Talk Press-and-Hold button assignment to None
7. Set the End Press-and-Hold to Airplane mode
8. Set the Keyboard type/repeat rate to Fastest settings
9. Disable T9 Autocorrect Functions
10. Enable Vibrate on Press functions
11. Enable Soft Vibration mode for Vibrate on Press functions
12. Prepare Classic Autocorrect Functions (NOT ENABLED! ... YET!)
13. Enable Roaming Only mode
14. Enable Fast Call Disconnect mode
15. Disable Roaming notifications
16. Disable Flight Mode sound effect
17. Enable GPS fixes
18. Set the "descriptions" for CDMA phone services to be descriptive
19. Set the default Notifications
- This fixes several options being grayed out.
- Also increases the Reminder alarm repeat to 4 minutes.
20. Disable Taskbar Clock (all screens)
21. Enable Taskbar Battery (all screens)
22. Set the Today Timeout to 1 hour
23. Disable HTC Taskbar Notification Manager
24. Enable HTC Taskbar Volume Manager
25. Set the Voice Command defaults to Bluetooth friendly and least disruptive notifications
26. Enable Voice Command Call Recording menu option
27. Disable Voice Command (until you enable it in Control Panel)
28. Set the audio levels to 16-bit Stereo mode
29. Enable Bluetooth High-Quality Audio mode
30. Enable Auto Gain Control mode
31. Disable Security Prompts on software installs
32. Disable Error Reporting
33. Disable Feedback Reporting
34. Set the Power Management functions to battery friendly defaults
35. Enable Power Management optimizations
36. Disable Wake-Up on Keyboard Open
37. Enable 4-Column Programs/Settings view
38. Enable finger friendly scroll-bars
39. Enable ClearType in Landscape
40. Enable ATI Direct3D Driver
41. Enable Large GlyphCache settings
42. Enable Large FileCache settings
43. Enable Fast SD Card settings
44. Set the Bluetooth defaults to battery friendly settings but still high quality audio (DOES NOT enable Bluetooth radio!)
45. Enable ActiveSync USB mode with Advanced Networking as default (optimizes use with Vista and Windows 7)
46. Disable Sent SMS/MMS Notification
47. Enable increased text message height in Outlook view
48. Enable Inbox Enhancement plugin (Mark All Read, Delete All options)
49. Set the default Email, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks defaults to most informative views
50. Set the Opera tab limit at 5 tabs
51. Enable Java/JavaScript in Opera
52. Enable Opera forced exit via "X" button (preserves memory resources)
53. Set the IE and Opera default home page to Google
54. Set the Internet Explorer defaults to optimal performance
55. Enable Internet Connection Sharing
56. Enable Weather/Stocks Data Download when Roaming
57. Disable Weather/Stocks Data Download Automatically
- This should dramatically preserve battery life.
58. Disable Push Internet Service*
59. Disable ResProxy, CMGuardian, SqmUpload services*
- These free up about 20% of system memory
60. Set the default order of HTC Manila tabs
61. Set the default programs for HTC Start Menu Programs list
62. Enable all available Camera modes
63. Enable G-Sensor Enhancements
64. Enable Task Manager "Always Close with X" mode

Notes: you will find full installation details on the thread linked above. We always recommend to perform full system backups. Though, it's probably a good idea to install the package directly after a hard reset. If you see an adjustment listed that you don't like, just ask GoodThings2Life for the appropriate registry edit and maybe he'll provide it for you. Please keep in mind that Touch Pro2 Cleanup is a basic essentials tool that aims to make as many enhancements as possible without having to flash to another ROM.