BlackBerry Theme: “Transitions”

Mobile users can watch the video here

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that custom “bottom dock” BlackBerry themes were the “it” thing with theme developers anxious over a UI layout that seemed rather simple. After watching the clip above, you can truly see how quickly BlackBerry themes have progressed in the relatively short time span of 1-2 years. The particular them showcased above was created by “Z Man Designs” and is titled “Transitions”. If you like the idea of organized and neatly arranged UI’s, you’re definitely going to want to give Transitions a look.

It’s by far the most innovative and unique BlackBerry theme to date. I’m really liking the animation effects as they do awesome job of covering up the aging qualities of the bone stock BlackBerry UI and OS. As far as organization is concerned, the theme breaks apps into four main categories: Apps, Messaging, Media, and Settings. As you scroll between the four categories, sub-categories and apps are displayed with crisp icons and smooth animations.

Given how cool this theme is, it comes off as a steal for only $2.00! I’d gladly give Zach a couple more dollars for a job well done. If you like Transitions and have your own unique theme idea, you may want to try your theme building chops in the “Transitions Contest”. It’s certainly worth your while as the winner will receive free Z Man Themes for a lifetime! An all around awesome deal from an awesome theme developer.

• Z Man Designs

CrackBerry

Does HTC “needs to take care of WinMo”?

Those hoping to see HTC do as Motorola and pass up WinMo 6.5 and instead climb into bed with Android while the world waits for WinMo 7 will be sorely disappointed. According to a recent interview conducted by alibaba.com, HTC’s CEO Peter Chou stated that while the market and their customers in particular are eager for more Android handsets, the company [HTC] has to “take care of WinMo”.

It’s kind of disheartening really. No one should take care of WinMo except Microsoft. If they can’t get the OS in line in-house, there’s nothing a 3rd party manufacturer can do. No amount of lipstick and pretty UI skins can cover up what Microsoft has failed to do — truly innovate WinMo.

HTC, like many other hardware manufacturers, have struck deals with Microsoft to support Redmonds mobile OS. Contracts aside, why a company would willingly spend so much time, money, and marketing prowess on what is essentially a minor upgrade seems silly. Motorola whom is in the worst spot right now, clinging to life, finally realized what the market wanted and went all Android, declaring that they were skipping WinMo 6.5 because it wasn’t anything special and that they’d re-look at the Windows Mobile scene come version 7. It’s the first smart decision they’ve made in a long, long time.

I didn’t expect HTC to just cut off WinMo high and dry as they’ve had a rather length relationship. But HTC’s decision to push ahead with WinMo 6.5 and even possibly hold back on releasing certain Android versions of exclusive WinMo 6.5 handsets is a very poor decision. I can guarantee Android better serves the hardware than WinMo in it’s current form. Android is the face of new, modern mobile technology while WinMo is nothing more than a poster child for old, washed up, and un-innovative. I’m hopeful that Microsoft can bring something exciting to the table come 2010 with Windows Mobile 7. But that’s a long way from now and both Apple and Android are moving ahead quick. Can Microsoft anticipate the other guys’ next moves?

So I beg the question: “Does HTC really need to “take care of Microsoft”?

Coolsmartphone News > alibaba

Mario: In the flesh!

Ever wonder what Mario would look like naked….and running? Word from Peach is that the great Italian 8-bit man we’ve all come to love is moving on from his video game life to a more lucrative “side business”. From the picture above I’ll let you come to your own conclusions. So long innocent childhood memories of Mario. We’ll miss you…

OhGizmo! > Geekologie > Kotaku

Is Android too inefficient?

In the wake of Android 2.0′s grand public unveiling, everyone is talking up how this is the Android we’ve been waiting for. With a truck load of new and exciting features, Android 2.0 is the most competent competitor to the iPhone and iPhone OS yet. So why does it need to get better? I’ll lay it all out right from the start: Since the iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G are powered by a 400MHz processor, why is it that they run circles around not all, but most Android phones, phones with processors roughly 30% faster clocked at 528MHz?

Now there’s one thing that needs to be highlighted and taken into consideration. The iPhone OS is not built for multi-tasking, therefor all the resources go towards only one (or a few when considering the in-house Apple apps) app at a time whereas with Android you could have many apps running simultaneously. With multiple apps open at once comes the obvious negative effects such as slow downs and other performance obliterating instances. If Android is so great and modern, shouldn’t these issues be cleared up already?

Many people, myself included, have started to cast Android as a “modern WinMo” of sorts in that Android is quickly encroaching into WinMo territory and spreading to countless devices built by many manufacturers. Much the same way Windows Mobile is received in the mobile world — one OS licensed to many vendors. The only difference is that Android is much relevant and lusted after.

With the issue mentioned above, Android’s seemingly laggy performance on even speedy hardware shoots a warning flare across my face. While I love how Android is overtaking the market and giving users options when hardware is concerned, I’m left with a nagging worry in the back of my mind that just as Windows Mobile suffers from poor hardware utilization, Android is too heading down that path. Take for example Windows Mobile 6.5 running on the few 1GHz Snapdragon powered beasts we’ve seen leaked so far. While indeed fast and snappy — snappier than pretty much everything else — if you were to take Android or the iPhone OS and run it on a processor clocked between 600-800MHz, the same performance could be seen. Again, it’s the poor management of hardware resources.

It’s understandable and given that the approach WinMo and Android are employing in licensing to many hardware manufacturers means more diversity at a slight trade off for tight integration. This tight integration is perfectly highlighted with the iPhone and iPhone OS. No surprise there. Though not all is lost. With the Moto Droid freshly announced and tested across the interwebs, we can see just what a close relationship between hardware and software achieves — perfection. Is Android 2.0 and the Moto Droid perfect? Far from it. But it’s pretty damn close and the closest Android has come to perfection so far.

Is Android doomed to a fate of Windows Mobile syndrom — slow, archaic appearance, and inefficiently programmed for life? Not a chance. The Android community is an active one. One that is constantly on the forefront of mobile OS technology. Android developers and programmers of all circles need to continue this forward push to keep Android progressing with the best. Efficiency just can’t be left behind.

I want Android to proliferate as Windows Mobile has done. I want to see it succeed. But I want it to do so without building the old, outdated stigma that has veraciously attached itself to the aging and lacking Windows Mobile OS. Understand what I’m trying to say? Agree? Disagree? Let’s hear it.

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AT&T “suggests” bloggers/tech community buy into their BS

Not content with paying off government and coating them with lies, it appears AT&T has moved on to us bloggers and the tech community as their next target. Only problem is, we have a brain and are capable of seeing past their PR nonsense. Everyone knows AT&T’s network blows epic amounts of private parts. From the north to the south to the east and to the west, the experience is the same. Their network is riddled with holes, over-taxed towers, and even the possibility of an improperly configured network. Naturally, because of all of the negative criticism, AT&T has been working in overdrive on damage control. After their not uncommon though sleazy attempt at “rallying the troops” to protest any Net Neutrality bills, AT&T is moving to us, the bloggers and individual citizens to spread their PR BS full of lies and false promises. What exactly am I going on about? Continue on. In response to an article IntoMobile’s Stefan’s Constantinescu wrote about AT&T having in improperly configured network, a few feathers were ruffled. The resulting message from AT&T:

Hey Stefan,

Saw your post and wanted to get you a response – we don’t think there’s any merit to the observation you passed along. Would you mind adding this to the post? Feel free to attribute to me or the company …

Also, noted your comment about cell sites – we’ve talked publicly quite a lot about the improvements we’re making to the network (7.2 rollout, increased backhaul to our sites, etc.) – but we also said we plan to add more than 2,000 sites this year.

Thanks,
Seth Bloom
FH for AT&T Corporate Communications

“The AT&T wireless network is designed and engineered to deliver the highest possible levels of capacity and performance. Our standing as the nation’s fastest 3G network is validated by multiple third-party testing organizations on the basis of millions of drive tests annually.”

“We believe that recent online speculation regarding AT&T wireless network configuration settings is without foundation. Allegations in these posts regarding packet loss network settings are incorrect.”

Are AT&T employees, in this case their PR employees that incompetent? All they need to do is spend 10 seconds on Google or any AT&T forum to see people are fed up with their failure of a network. The tech community is a place that they will find very little sympathy if any. Yet they have the nerve to talk up their sub-par network and suggest we bloggers edit our criticisms and talk up their failures? Words escape me. Stephan’s response was classic — putting them right in their place and basically telling them to STFU:

I’m not going to copy and paste your marketing message to my blog post. Good luck getting other blogs to follow your request.

In a way, AT&T sort of succeeded because I reposted their message into my post. But as you can see, it’s far from praising as I’m using it to further degrade their network and credibility. I may be mean. I may be too excited about this. But I’m far from the only person who hates AT&T and their pathetic attempts to hide their shortcomings — of which their are many. Are you just as disgusted or are you becoming desensitized? I keep telling myself that with enough of these little “incidents” becoming widely known, maybe AT&T will wise up and learn when it is and isn’t ok to blindly defend yourself.

AT&T take note: Your network sucks. Your policies suck. Your PR’s cookie cutter comments and attempts to get intelligent people buy in to your propaganda suck.

IntoMobile

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Human Task Manager [Humor]

After the more somber tone below involving two crazies of the world, how about a little nerdy humor to get your morning back on a happy note? Forget the coffee caption if your life doesn’t depend on it…*raises hand*. If my brain ran Windows, I’d be petrified of sudden blue screens, ie: strokes. *ponders for a moment* Yikes!

Gizmodo > Abstruse Goose

Stranger A misdials Stranger B. Shooting ensues…

What the hell is wrong with people? As soon as someone finds an answer feel free to share it with the rest of us. In the meantime, be sure you get who your calling all sorted out before you actually start dialing, especially if you live in or near Savannah-Chatham, Georgia. After one man misdialed another, the two for some reason started a heated argument which quickly escalated into a nice get together session in a CVS parking lot at 2:30am in the morning. After they had said their hellos and good-byes, what was there left to do? Shoot each other of course. *shakes head* If you’re ever feeling all murderous because of a few stray texts/misdial, maybe you should get your head checked out…

Cellular-News