On the Samsung Omnia software blog, I keep going back to the same subject: reviewing apps that change the look, feel and, above all, the usability of your mobile device. Usability is a real Achille's heel on Windows Mobile, especially on the Omnia. I've said it so many times before, the Windows Mobile's default interface is fugly, impossible to control properly without the stylus and, above all, hard and complicated to get things done.
The Samsung Omnia app I bring you today will probably solve 80% of the usability problems you have with your phone. This amazing app is called SPB Mobile Shell 3 and - you've guessed it - is developed by the same team as SPB Backup 2 reviewed here earlier. I know I should have suggested this software a long time ago, because it really is such a radical departure from the boring Windows Mobile interface. But I'm doing it now, so let's see what SPB Mobile Shell 3 has to offer.
SPB Mobile Shell is, as the name suggests, a shell; a finger-friendly one. It will cover up Windows Mobile's fugliness and provide you with awesomeness, completely replacing the traditional today screen. You will get two alternative today screens: the "Professional Home" and the "Lifestyle Home". The Professional layout doesn't dick around, you get a big digital clock, weather forecast, day of the week and month, instant notification and one-button click access to email, SMS, call logs and sound profiles, alarm info, appointments and even a calendar. The Lifestyle layout is a completely different concept, introducing the ability to have multiple pages easily accessible with the flick of a thumb and customizable with widgets to your liking: shortcuts to applications, contacts, incoming items like calls and sms, wireless manager, weather, battery and backlight information, media player controls, calendar and a selection of analog and digital clocks. On the Lifestyle Home you can also change the background, which is actually a wide image that scrolls to the right and left along with the widgets. You can also change the color theme, which will affect the whole system.
On top of both home screens you also get the following screens: a program launcher, a call log viewer, a contacts list viewer, a favorite contacts list, a weather screen, a two-week appointment list, an alarm and time zone info screen and also a ringtone configuration screen. All of these screens are accessible via links from the home screens or widgets, because the SPB Mobile Shell works great as a whole. But in case you want to access one of these panels directly you still have two more ways to do that: one is the carousel view (or dodecahedron), which will scroll through all the screens sequentially, the other is the tiles view which will present thumbnails of all the screens for you to pick the one you want.
If you download SPB Mobile Shell 3 you will also get other lower-profile improvements, but which are very important nonetheless: there's a task manager, the ability to replace the Windows start menu with the SPB launcher screen, access to all the phone's settings directly from finger-friendly gesture-optimized screens, and if you need to, you can always bring up the traditional today screen in case there's some plug-in you really need to use once in a while. There are so many things packed on this Samsung Omnia app that it's hard to mention them all.
SPB Mobile Shell is about making your phone perform better and faster, but it will also make you phone look great. This best-selling software deserves all the attention it gets.
The Samsung Omnia app I bring you today will probably solve 80% of the usability problems you have with your phone. This amazing app is called SPB Mobile Shell 3 and - you've guessed it - is developed by the same team as SPB Backup 2 reviewed here earlier. I know I should have suggested this software a long time ago, because it really is such a radical departure from the boring Windows Mobile interface. But I'm doing it now, so let's see what SPB Mobile Shell 3 has to offer.
SPB Mobile Shell is, as the name suggests, a shell; a finger-friendly one. It will cover up Windows Mobile's fugliness and provide you with awesomeness, completely replacing the traditional today screen. You will get two alternative today screens: the "Professional Home" and the "Lifestyle Home". The Professional layout doesn't dick around, you get a big digital clock, weather forecast, day of the week and month, instant notification and one-button click access to email, SMS, call logs and sound profiles, alarm info, appointments and even a calendar. The Lifestyle layout is a completely different concept, introducing the ability to have multiple pages easily accessible with the flick of a thumb and customizable with widgets to your liking: shortcuts to applications, contacts, incoming items like calls and sms, wireless manager, weather, battery and backlight information, media player controls, calendar and a selection of analog and digital clocks. On the Lifestyle Home you can also change the background, which is actually a wide image that scrolls to the right and left along with the widgets. You can also change the color theme, which will affect the whole system.
On top of both home screens you also get the following screens: a program launcher, a call log viewer, a contacts list viewer, a favorite contacts list, a weather screen, a two-week appointment list, an alarm and time zone info screen and also a ringtone configuration screen. All of these screens are accessible via links from the home screens or widgets, because the SPB Mobile Shell works great as a whole. But in case you want to access one of these panels directly you still have two more ways to do that: one is the carousel view (or dodecahedron), which will scroll through all the screens sequentially, the other is the tiles view which will present thumbnails of all the screens for you to pick the one you want.
If you download SPB Mobile Shell 3 you will also get other lower-profile improvements, but which are very important nonetheless: there's a task manager, the ability to replace the Windows start menu with the SPB launcher screen, access to all the phone's settings directly from finger-friendly gesture-optimized screens, and if you need to, you can always bring up the traditional today screen in case there's some plug-in you really need to use once in a while. There are so many things packed on this Samsung Omnia app that it's hard to mention them all.
SPB Mobile Shell is about making your phone perform better and faster, but it will also make you phone look great. This best-selling software deserves all the attention it gets.
| SPB Mobile Shell 3 download compatibility | |
|---|---|
| Samsung i900 Omnia | Download available |
| Samsung i910 Omnia Verizon | Download available |
| Samsung i8000 Omnia II | Download available |
| Samsung B7300 Omnia LITE | Download available |
| Samsung i8910 Omnia HD | Download not available |
