The Awesome Bell UI for Touch Diamond and Touch Pro

Bell, a carrier from Cananda, has created an interface for the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro (see this flash demo) that has a similar concept to TouchFLO 3D, but is much better in my opinion. The idea behind these new breed of interface replacements for Windows Mobile is that the user should is able to get vital information and access important programs quickly (and in a visually pleasing way) from the Today screen, without dialing down into the Start menu, or running through the Programs list.

The Bell UI takes this a step further by not only including ways to launch programs and access messaging and contacts, but adds the "Bubble" interface, which is a series of widget-based apps that you can flip through. Bubbles include news, weather, next appointment, photos, and the like. From what I've seen, there is no way to add new Bubbles, but the current selection is quite comprehensive. Also added through the Bell UI is the system notification area that pulls down like a window shade, and offers a comprehensive look at system status from any screen. Nice.

If you want to get this loaded on your Touch Diamond or Pro, it will take some work, but it's not too difficult. Head on over to the thread at XDA-Dev and download the ZIP, which includes four CAB files. Send them all over to your device, and run them in this order: cert.cab, bell_uixb0.cab, bell3.cab and express.cab. Finally, reboot, then go to Start > Settings > Today > Items, uncheck TouchFLO3D (if it is turned on), and check BellUI. To complete the look, go back to the Appearance tab and choose BellUI_Default. Thanks to UnReaL for the tip (from our HTC Touchscreen forum).

Update: the XDA thread mentions that this will work on all VGA devices, not just the Touch Pro and Diamond. Awesome!