Windows Mobile's interface is getting better all the time, but it could use some help. Swooping to the rescue are interface replacers like Spb Mobile Shell. With integration for Facebook photos, intuitive navigation, and widget customizations, Spb's mobile interface alternative go a long way toward making Windows Mobile engaging.
The professional view sports a clock and weather widget, your various voice mail and message in-boxes alarms, and the calendar on a glossy background whose maroon default you can change. Below is a contact icon that opens your contact list. Newly added Facebook integration lets you pick among your friends' profile pictures, select from your phone's media files, or snap a new image. The app also has a launcher that pops up a skinned view of your recently used apps, plus shortcut icons to take you to your full program list, the settings, and the task manager.
Another icon on the main screen displays a stylized 3D carousel of screens to swipe through. Or, switch over to the Lifestyle layout built for casual use. Here you're able to change the background and add widgets, like a battery meter, a mini media player, the weather, and clocks. You can drag and drop them around the screen to place them where you'd like. This view also supports an expanded screen, where swiping to the left or right reveals two more panels as large as your main screen. While spacious in theory, widget packrats will find ways to clutter it, and some may never use it at all.
Spb Mobile Shell navigates smoothly and intuitively, and the app goes a long way toward making Windows Mobile interfaces engaging and attractive. The color settings should be easier to get to, but the biggest drawback for some may be the price. The $30 is more than most cosmetic apps, but the trial download gives you time to decide if the sleekness is worth the dollars. It's tempting at the very least.
Compatiable Devices
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, GSmart MW700, GSmart MW998, GSmart i350, GSmart t600, GSmart i300, GSmart i120, GSmart i128, GSmart i, g-Smart, Asus MyPal A696, Samsung i780, Velocity 103, Velocity 111, Cellcom HTC 6800, Cellcom Palm Treo 700wx, HTC Touch Diamond, Samsung Omnia i900, HP iPAQ 614, i-mate JAMA 101, i-mate Ultimate 8502, HP iPAQ 211, i-mate Ultimate 9502, HTC P3470, HTC Advantage X7510, E-TEN glofish X650, E-TEN glofish M800, Toshiba G900, Toshiba G810, Toshiba G910, Asus P750, Asus P527, Asus P735, Sharp EM-ONE S01SH2, HTC P6500, HTC 6800, Palm Treo 800w, Sharp WS020SH, HP iPAQ 910c, O2 XDA Atom Life, MiTAC Mio A501, MiTAC Mio P360, MiTAC Mio P560, T-Mobile MDA Vario III, Toshiba Portege G900, O2 XDA Orbit II, Datalogic Kyman, MWg Atom Life, MWg Atom V, MWg Zinc II, MWg UBiQUiO 503g, Asus MyPal A626, Asus MyPal A686, E-TEN glofiish X600, O2 XDA Comet, O2 XDA Star, Vodafone VPA Compact IV, Vodafone VPA Compact V, HHP Dolphin 7900, Opticon H 16A, Opticon H 19A, Psion Teklogix iKon, Socket SoMo 650E, Socket SoMo 650M, iPAQ 614c Business Navigator, Sprint Palm Treo 800w, T-Mobile Ameo 16GB, Vodafone VPA Touch, HTC Touch Pro, MiTAC Mio A702, Asus M536, Asus P320, E-TEN Glofiish M750, E-TEN Glofiish M810, E-TEN Glofiish V900, General Mobile DSTW-1, g-Smart MS800, g-Smart MS820, g-Smart MS804, HP iPAQ 914c, HP iPAQ 214, T-Mobile MDA Vario IV, T-Mobile MDA Compact IV, T-Mobile MDA Touch Plus, Dopod 838 Pro (WM 6), Audiovox PPC 6700 (5.0), HTC P3600i, Airis T620, HTC S640, Palm Treo Pro, Qtek 9000, Qtek 9100 (5.0), Daxian T32 (X999+), O2 XDA Ignito, Sprint HTC Touch Diamond, T-Mobile MDA Pro (5.0), O2 XDA Diamond, Sprint PPC-6700 (5.0), Asus P522w, i-mate Jasjar (5.0), g-Smart MS808, Orange SPV M5000 (5.0), Motorola MC75, Honeywell Dolphin 7850, HTC Touch HD, Honeywell Dolphin 7900, Palm Treo 700w, Verizon Palm Treo 700w (5.0), AT&T Samsung Epix, Verizon Samsung Omnia i910 , Verizon Samsung Saga i770, Verizon HTC Touch Pro, i-mate K-JAM (5.0), HTC P3400, Dopod 838 (5.0), LG Incite CT810, Dell Axim X51v (5.0), HTC Touch 3G, HTC Touch Viva, HP iPAQ Data Messenger, Asus P565, HTC Max 4G, E-TEN glofiish X610, E-TEN glofiish X900, HP iPAQ rx1950 Series (5.0), O2 XDA Zest, Samsung Saga i770, Samsung Epix i907, HP iPAQ 912c, AT&T HTC Fuze, RoverPC Pro G7, HP iPAQ rx 4200, Trimble GeoXM, Softbank X01T, Verizon XV6700 (5.0), Asus Galaxy 7 P835, Dopod D600, Dopod Touch Viva T2222, Dopod S1, Lenovo, Orange HTC TyTN II, O2 XDA Zinc, O2 Xda Exec (5.0), Asus P552w, Sprint HTC Touch Pro, Alltel HTC Touch Pro, Dell Axim X51 (5.0), Verizon HTC Touch Diamond, Alltel HTC Touch Diamond, O2 Xda Atom (5.0), HP iPAQ 212 Enterprise, HP iPAQ 111 Classic, T-Mobile MDA Vario (5.0), E-TEN M600 (5.0), AT&T / Cingular 8125 (5.0), O2 Xda mini s (5.0), HP iPAQ hw6900 series (5.0), TDS Nomad, HP iPAQ 112 Classic, T-Mobile MDA (5.0), E-TEN glofiish DX900, Acer DX900, Dopod 900 (5.0), Acer n311 (5.0), Dopod 818 Pro (5.0), Vodafone VPA Compact II (5.0), HTC Touch Diamond 2, Vodafone VPA IV (5.0), HTC Touch Cruise 2, E-Plus Pocket PDA (5.0), Acer F900, Acer M900, Mio A701, Asus MyPal A636 , i-mate JAMin (5.0), Mio A201, Verizon HTC Touch Pro 2, T-Mobile MDA Compact II (5.0), Qtek S200 (5.0), i-mate 810F, Mobinnova Ice, Gigabyte Gsmart S1200, Orange SPV M3000 (5.0), E-TEN G500 (5.0), Garmin Nuvifone M20, Qtek G100 (5.0), Motorola A3100, Motorola MC5574, Orange SPV M600 (5.0), Nautiz, HTC Touch Pro 2, HTC Touch Fuze, Toshiba TG01, Samsung B7610, T-Mobile Touch Pro 2, Alltel Palm Treo Pro, O2 Xda Neo (5.0), HP iPAQ hx2100 Series (5.0), HP iPAQ hx2400 Series (5.0), HP iPAQ hx2700 Series (5.0), HP iPAQ hx4700 (5.0), HP iPAQ hx4705 (5.0), Asus P550, Asus Galaxy Mini, Dopod CHT 9100, Dopod P660, Dopod D802, Dopod S600, Emobile Emonster S11HT, Emobile Touch Diamond S21HT, HP iPAQ 610c, Dopod P860, HTC Atlas, HTC Elfin, HTC Hermes, HTC Love, HTC Kaiser, HTC P3490, HTC P4351, HTC P4550, HP iPAQ rw6828, HTC P5500, HTC Pharos, Verizon HTC Touch, HTC Herald, HTC P3700, Lenovo ET600, HTC TyTN, O2 XDA Atom (WM6), O2 XDA Serra, HTC Polaris, Asus MyPal A639, Samsung SGH-i740, Samsung SCH-M490, Samsung SCH-M495, Sharp WS011SH, Softbank X01HT, Qtek 9600, Softbank X04HT Touch Diamond, Palm Treo 750v, Softbank X05HT Touch Pro, AT&T / Cingular 8525 (5.0), Vodafone v1615, Asus Solaris, Palm Treo 700wx, Sprint Palm Treo Pro, Vodafone v1520, Fujitsu Pocket Loox C550, Fujitsu Pocket Loox N500, Fujitsu Pocket Loox N520, Fujitsu Pocket Loox N560, Fujitsu Pocket Loox T810, LG GM730, Fujitsu Pocket Loox T830, O2 Xda Trion, T-Mobile MDA Vario II, HP iPAQ rw6815, Acer X960, Samsung Mondi, AT&T LG Incite, Grundig GR980, Mio P550, Toshiba T-01A, i-mate JASJAM, HTC Pure, HTC P3600, HTC P3300, Orange SPV M3100, Samsung Omnia II, Samsung B7300 Omnia LITE, BenQ P51, Samsung i760, Verizon XV6800, T-Mobile MDA Compact III, AT&T HTC Tilt 2, LG Monaco, HP iPAQ rx5915 (5.0), O2 Xda Orbit, HTC HD 2, E-TEN Glofiish X500, Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2, AT&T HTC Pure, HTC P4350, Dopod 838 Pro (5.0), HP iPAQ rx4240, AT&T HP iPAQ K3, T-Mobile Compact V, Mio P350, Acer n310, Verizon Samsung Omnia II, HP iPAQ rx5935, HTC Whitestone, HP iPAQ K3, Palm Treo 750 , T-Mobile Ameo, Vodafone VPA Compact GPS, Mobile Assistant XPA S200, LG GM 750, Asus P535, E-TEN Glofiish M700, Grundig GR660, HTC P3350, HTC Advantage X7500/7501, HTC Touch 2, AT&T LG Monaco, Sony Ericsson Xperia X2, i-mate JAQ3, i-mate PDAL, HP iPAQ rx5700 series, Dopod D810, HTC Wizard, HTC Tilt, HTC 8525, O2 XDA Flame, HTC XV6900, HTC P4300, Acer n300, Pharos Traveler 137, O2 XDA Guide, Samsung i710, Alltel HTC PPC6800 , HP iPAQ rx5900 series, HTC Touch, Verizon HTC Touch Diamond 2, T-Mobile Wing, Inventec K871, Pharos Traveler 619, HTC Mogul, Sprint HTC Mogul 6800, Acer neoTouch s200, Sharp WS004SH, Vodafone v1640, Verizon HTC Imagio, Vodafone v1605, Acer beTouch E200, Vodafone VPA Compact S, Motorola MC35, HTC Imagio, Vodafone VPA Compact III, T-Mobile MDA Touch, Orange SPV M700, O2 Xda Nova, O2 Xda Terra, i-mate PDA-N, Sprint HTC Touch Diamond 2, i-mate JAQ, i-mate JAMA, Asus MyPal A632, HTC Tilt 2, Acer beTouch E100, Pharos Traveler 127, TMN Bluebelt, Dopod M700, Dopod C800, Dopod P800W, O2 XDA Diamond 2, HTC P6300, Dopod U1000, Motorola MC9090, Symbol MC70, RoverPc C6, TerreStar Genus, AT&T TerreStar Genus, LG GM730F, Motorola MC5590, AT&T Palm Treo 750, UBiQUiO 401, UBiQUiO 501 , UBiQUiO 503G , Alltel UTStarcom PPC6700, Alltel Palm Treo 700wx, Verizon Palm Treo 700wx, Sprint Palm Treo 700wx, Sprint IP-830W, Verizon Samsung i760, LG KS20, Pharos GPS Phone 600, Pharos Traveler GPS 525+, HTC TyTN II, AT&T Tilt, Sprint HTC Touch, Pharos Traveler 535, i-mate Ultimate 6150, i-mate Ultimate 8150, HTC Touch Dual, Asus P526, HP iPAQ 110/114, HTC Touch Cruise, Verizon XV6900, Alltel HTC Touch, HP iPAQ 210, O2 Xda Stellar, O2 Xda Argon, E-TEN Glofiish X800
