Originally Posted by pocketnow

The Zune-like Titanium interface for Windows Mobile 6.5 is insanely fluid and gives users access to a bevy of features. Just like with any interface, however, the visual appeal can become a little too familiar, leaving the user looking for other options. What better way to spice things up than with a custom theme? Not just any theme, but one that actually transforms the interface into something else.

If you’re running Titanium and want some Sense action of the Hero variety, you can download/install a theme that will alter Titanium into just that. It doesn’t necessarily have the customizing abilities of the real Sense UI, but it certainly does hold its ground on the visual side of things. Continue reading to learn more about “Titanium-Hero Sense UI.”

The popular Hero look can now be integrated with Titanium via a theme and some plug-ins. It’s still early in development, but it is functional. There’s a learning curve as far as setting up the interface goes, but everything’s pretty simple after that. The main home panel encompasses the Hero clock with flipping animation, current weather, calendar shortcut and the famous Sense menu bar. You can swipe left or right to get to a detailed 4-day weather widget.

Messaging and programs can be reached from the right and left buttons, respectively, on the menu bar. From the program launcher, you can connect to custom Twitter and music panels. A neat thing about the music panel is that it can be used with either S2P or Nitrogen. There is also a settings panel that houses wireless connections, wallpaper, sound profile and other system related widgets. The lock screen has been skinned too.

Since the project is pretty much in beta still, there are some bugs. Unfortunately, it’s only available for QVGA and VGA (pictured below) devices. I wouldn’t be surprised to see support for WVGA soon, considering this was originally a QVGA only project. If you’re using a WVGA display and are interested in Titanium-Hero, it wouldn’t hurt to give the developer a nudge on his thread. Head over to XDA-developers for the files.

Full article can be found here

Originally Posted by Softpedia

HTC Hero, the most attractive handset running under Google's Android operating system the Taiwanese mobile phone maker HTC Corporation has released on the market, will soon see an update to the Android 2.0 (Eclair) version of the platform. While this has been rumored for the past few days, now it is almost official, as HTC announced the update over its Twitter account.

Those HTC Hero owners out there who were waiting for the Android 1.6 flavor of the operating system to come to their handsets won't see this happen, as the device will jump to the just announced / unveiled Android 2.0 variant. According to the news, the update should come to the phone as soon as the HTC Sense solution is optimized for the new OS flavor.

Here is what HTC's customer support said in an email to androidguys regarding the updates for the device: “The Hero will not be receiving the Android 1.6 upgrade, it will however get the 2.0 one. Do note however that we do not have a confirmed release date for this upgrade, all I can recommend at the moment is that you keep yourself updated by visiting our website regularly as the latest information will be available to view from there.”

The aforementioned tweet is further proof that the Taiwan-based handset maker will deliver an Android 2.0 update for the HTC Hero and will skip the release of Android 1.6. For what it's worth, this does not sound like bad news, only that those hoping to receive Donut in a matter of days might have to wait a few weeks before Eclair arrives.

In related news, we learn that the Android 2.0 flavor of Google's OS has been brought to a T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream). The videos below will show you just how the device can handle the new OS version, brought to it via a cooked ROM from XDA developers. Basically, it shows that the good old HTC Dream can run under the new platform.

Click through to Softpedia for the videos here

Originally Posted by Pocketnow

The official Facebook app for Windows phones from Microsoft has been recently updated from version 1.0.0.7p to version 1.1.

The application appeared also in Marketplace with the version number 1.1 and it is downloadable for free. Unfortunately they forgot to change the version number from 1.0.0.7 inside the application (About) to version 1.1 but according to XDA Developers who have analized the files, we're facing a new version which contains newer files and also some new languages.

Pocketnow article can be found here

Originally Posted by Pocketnow

One of our readers, John, sent us a tip on what could be the next iteration of the threaded text message screen. While we don't have confirmation that there will be an update to Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional before Windows Mobile 7 hits the market, the screenshot below along with some builds we have explored before have us pondering what Microsoft is up to.

In this latest build, 23071 to be specific, the threaded conversation view SMS window shows the time and date of the message, something that isn't enabled in the carrier release of Windows Mobile 6.5 that happened on October 6.

The keys along the bottom are not part of the operating system but are part of FingerKeyboard 2.

Originally Posted by pocketnow

Look what we’ve found, a working CAB of Windows Marketplace for WM6.1! Do the guys at XDA-developers work quickly or what? Although there were reports of Marketplace not being available for WM6.1 for another month or so, it appears that won’t be a problem anymore. Simply install the CAB from XDA-developers, click on Marketplace from programs, go through the installation process and then you’re good to go. To confirm it works fully, I went ahead and signed in with my Windows Live ID and downloaded/installed a free program (on a Touch Pro2). Enjoy!

Original article here

Originally Posted by redmondpie

Two fresh new builds from 230XX and 234XX branch of Windows Mobile 6.5 are out, courtesy Da_G of XDA-Developers.com. These new leaked builds (Build 23060 and Build 23420) were compiled on 28th September 2009 and brings some minor improvements which are listed as follows:
Changes in Windows Mobile 6.5 Build 23060 and Build 23420:

• Email folder in Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile gets new colored icons.
• Improved browsing experience on Internet Explorer Mobile.
• Definitely more faster and responsive than the last leaked Build 23053.
• Faster boot time.
• Build 23420 has the new contacts app.
• Build 23060 has the menu eye candy but not the new contacts app.
• Incorporates the updated GUI from the later COM3 builds into COM4.
• Better memory management.

Those of you who are feeling adventurous can go ahead and try out this latest Build on your Windows Phone capable of running Windows Mobile 6.5. For download links, Google or Bing is your friend. If you have tested this build and have spotted a change that we have missed then please let us know about it in the comments section below.


You can find the original article here

Originally Posted by softpedia

Windows Mobile 6.5 has just seen some new builds leaked into the wild and that add to the series of builds that we've already seen available for download in cooked ROMs for some of the WM-powered mobile phones out there. Among the new builds for the OS, we can count Build 23049, spotted a few days ago, as well as Build 23052 and Build 23412, which have popped up recently on the xda-developers forums.

Following the leaked Windows Mobile 6.5 Build 23047, which came around with a series of finger-friendliness touches, as well as with a series of user-interface changes, the Windows Mobile 6.5 Build 23049 also includes a series of visual changes. Thus, those who will try out this build will enjoy square soft keys, a somehow darker theme, as well as better integration with Manila 2.5 (HTC’s TouchFlo3D UI).

The next in line is Windows Mobile 6.5 Build 23052, which can be admired with an HTC Hero Android-like look . The build can be seen on the xda-developers forums here, and seems to come with stability improvements, as well as with speed enhancements. In addition to the theme changes, it also comes with a relocated start menu, and might soon surface in a series of cooked ROMs, though none has been announced until now, it seems.

Another build that emerged on the forums at xda-developers is Windows Mobile 6.5 Build 23412, which surfaced in a cooked ROM for HTC TouchHD, and that also includes a series of visual changes, as well as some improvements in speed and stability. While we do not encourage you to install these builds unless you know what you are doing, we do recommend you to take a look at the screenshots below to make an idea of what they look like. A video with WM6.5 Build 23412 is also available.

As many of you might already know, for it has been said a few times before, these leaked builds and ROMs do not show what the upcoming Windows phones will deliver to users. The Windows Mobile 6.5 OS that will come to the market starting with October 6 is based on a previous build, while the new ones mark the path towards a WM 6.5.1 flavor that was already rumored to come to handsets at the beginning of the next year, before the next-generation Windows Mobile 7 makes an appearance.

Screenshots and video are located in the original article here

Originally Posted by Gizmodo

Would-be American Hero buyers, look at the bright side: Before Sprint's version even ships, HTC will have ironed out most of the problems with the original. Like the slowness! Which you can now murder, to death, with an update. News of this magical speed salve got Hero users, current and prospective, a wee bit excited last week, but the lack of a firm release date beyond "soon" kept us all on edge. Well, the update is making its way out as we speak across HTC's international sites. A direct link isn't yet live on HTC's British site, but rest assured: Someone over at XDA has already cobbled together a custom, English language ROM based on the new update, available now.
Or, you know, you could also wait a little while—probably just a few hours—for the official English update to go live on HTC's site.

Original Gizmodo article (including video) here
You can find the Slashgear article here