Tips and Tricks
How to Change the “Waiting” Cursor
This is a fun little hack, but here is a caution: if you don’t consider yourself an intermediate or advanced user, don’t attempt this. It’s not the easiest.
Thanks to a post in the forum started by theDante, we now have a way to change the “waiting” cursor to any animation of our choice. Right now I have the Windows Vista blue spinner in the place of the boring circular thing, and it’s added a bit of charm to my phone.
How To Take A Screenshot
Whether you are a developer showing off your new application or an end user demonstrating a tip or a problem you are having, sometimes it is easiest to show what you are talking about. This is where screenshots come in. We mentioned it in our 6 Essential Freewares post, SmartSS is a screenshot capture utility. You can download it from LouTerrailloune.com. After installing SmartSS, access it from the Start Menu. Once it loads do not press ‘Exit’ instead press your Home key and then go to the program you want to take a screenshot of. Once you are at the screen you want press the * key. You might hear a soft beep.
Once you are done taking your screenshots go back to Smart SS (Start > SmartSS) and press Exit. You can find your screenshots in the My Documents folder saved as bitmaps. Enjoy!
How To Quickly Add an Appointment
This is a simple functional How To, meant to show you something you might not have known about your Shadow. I add appointments on a constant basis and they aren’t just long appointments. Many times I will set an appointment at the time I leave to go home to remind me to pick up something on the way.
When you press Start you are shown the list of installed programs. When in this view, if you press a number 1-9 it will access the program in that position.
So to quickly add an appointment in this case simply press Start > 6 to access the Calendar then you can press Menu > New Appointment.
Another way to access the Calendar is by assigning it to a Speed Dial key. Move the highlight over Calendar in the grid view and press Menu. Select ‘Add Speed Dial’ and choose a number. Now from the Home Screen you can press and hold the key you assigned and it will open the calendar.
Keep Up on New Windows Mobile Device
PDAdb.net is a fantastic resource for anyone that uses a Windows Mobile device. Not only do they have detailed datasheets on every Windows Mobile device ever released or conceived (and there’s been a lot of vaporware over the years…they’re all at PDAdb.net), but you can use the PDAMaster feature to filter out phones based on any parameter (screen size, device width, connection speed, etc).
They also add new devices every day, and you can monitor the new additions by looking at the left pane of the site where it says “New & Upcoming Models,” or by subscribing to the RSS feed.
To see more than you ever thought you wanted or needed to know about the Shadow, check out its datasheet. There is a “Detailed View” button on the top right for even more specs (did you know the Shadow has 8KB of Level 1 data cache?).
Kill the “Message Sent” SMS Notification
I text message a lot, but in Windows Mobile, there’s an annoying “Message Sent” notification that pops up three seconds after you send an SMS. If you go on to do something else on your phone after sending the text message, the notification can be bothersome and get in the way of what you’re doing.
ShadowMike has posted a way to remove this notification. To do so, use your registry editor to do the following:
Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Inbox].
- Create a New Key and call it “Settings”
- Click on “Settings” and create a New String Value
- SMSNoSentMsg = “1″ (without the quotes)
And…no more notification!
Alternatively you can download and install this cab to do the same trick smsnosentnotify
Yet Another Method to Watch Online Video
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If this keeps up we are going to need to create a category for all the Y.A.M.W.O.V.s people are finding. CyberBuddhah has come to the rescue again with an easy to use app that helps the Shadow make use of the RTSP protocol so more online video streams can be watched. In short you can finally watch videos from m.youtube.com.
Go to this thread on the streaming application and download the cab file to your Shadow. Install and restart your phone. Then open PIE (Pocket Internet Explorer) and type in m.youtube.com in the address bar (Menu > Address Bar). Selecting a video will begin automatic playback. Easy!
How to Install Those Free Mobile Java Games
I’ve had a few requests about how to install those free mobile java games we mentioned previously. There are two basic methods, OTA and via PC. The preferred method is OTA (Over the Air) and Via PC should be second choice. Read the full article for the details › Continue reading
6 Essential Everyday Freewares
These aren’t power toys, or even hard to setup. They are just freewares that I have found essential to the Shadow’s everyday use. They fill several needs nicely while at the same time enhancing the power of the Shadow. They enable me to communicate via chats, photo and voice messaging, find my way, take screenshots of the device screen, find the time easier, use the Shadow as removable storage, manipulate zip files, edit the registry and even use FTP sites. Read on for a short description of these fine applications. › Continue reading
How To Measure Your Connection Speed
This works over the EDGE connection or WiFi and is great for a quick check of your data speed. Simply point your mobile browser to text.dslreports.com/mspeed and discover your speeds at your favorite locations. If you want to test this over a good wifi connection use the larger file sizes. If you get an error telling you the speed is too fast simply choose the next larger file size until you get solid response. Enjoy!
How to Remove Those Scroll Bars
Scrolls bars take up a lot screen space and really aren’t necessary if you know your device well. CyberBuddah from the forum was smart enough to come up with a way to remove the bars using a registry editor. Here’s how:
Using a registry editor:
Go to: HKLM/System/GWE:
Set the following values
cxHScr=0
cxVScr=0
cyHScr=0
cyVScr=0
And if you don’t want to totally remove the scroll bars, but thin them out a bit, you can set these values:
cxVScr=3 (original 6)
cyHScr=3 (original 6)
How to Adjust Sound Profiles
In Windows Mobile you can modify your sound profiles to your likings. Most phones come with several default profiles but you can edit these so they work for you. On the Shadow there are five profiles Normal, Vibrate, Silent, Outdoors, and Automatic (accessible by holding down the Home button). I decided to change my Outdoors to a Sleep profile. Here is how that was accomplished.
Go to Start > Settings > Profiles › Continue reading
How to Use Google Reader More Efficiently
Sometimes, when reading RSS feeds on your Smartphone you come across links that just don’t load well on the tiny screen. This is where Google Reader comes in really handy. If you haven’t already create a Google Reader account (use your gmail if you have one) and import your favorite feeds from your favorite browser.
While browsing a story in Google Reader on your Windows Mobile phone that you want to read from the PC, scroll to the bottom and ‘Star’ an Item (or press the * key on your keypad). This item is now EASILY retrievable from your desktop PC just like that!
Now on your desktop PC go to reader.google.com and on the left click on ‘Starred Items.’ This will bring up all the items you ’starred’ on your mobile. I found this feature to be very handy when a link had too many images to bring up quickly, when I found a post with some detailed information I wanted to check on, or when it linked to a page full of interesting stuff (like our forums).
If you haven’t already, sign up for our RSS feed.
Hope this enhances your mobile experience!
How to Import vCards (.vcf) Files in Vista
This Tutorial is for Vista Users that wish to import vCARDS to their Windows Mobile phones. This will work for all versions of Windows Mobile. There are 3 methods described here so be sure you read them all.
If you are making the transition from a system that uses .vcf files for contacts or just need to import some there are a few methods. The sure fire method is to use Microsoft Outlook. A free trial is available for download (it also comes on the CD that comes with your Shadow). Once you have Outlook up and running simply go to File Menu > Import and Export > Select the option ‘Import a VCARD file (.vcf) and click Next
Select the .vcf you want to import and click Open. This only allows for one vCard to be imported at a time.
If you want to import several files at a time or can’t use Outlook for some reason these other methods should also work.
Here’s How to See the Clock on Every Screen
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If you use your Shadow as much as I do then you probably find yourself going to the home screen often to see the time. Download the Clock On Top with 12 hr Format file, extract the .cab file and execute it on your Smartphone. After installation turn your phone off then back on. You should see it on every screen except the home screen (it has it’s own clock).
For those of you that are wondering what the Russian text says, it basically asks if you want to turn the clock off. So once it’s running you don’t need to mess with it anymore.Â
Thanks to Joe for sending this in. Enjoy!
Update 16Mar2008 Clock On Top with 12 hr Format
Some More Neo Screen Goodness
From the forums, ShadowMike shows off some skills with a simplified installer for the Neo theme he has been working on. If you want to get in on the action check out the thread on FullScreen Neo Theme Release. He even threw in some iPhone themes. From his description:
“This is going to be released in 2 different versions. 1 Version for those that want to quickly install this and the 2nd version will be for those who want to continue working on this theme and edit the images to their liking. all images will be grouped for easier editing.”
There are other backgrounds available and with some editing you can easily change your own backgrounds.
A big THANKS to ShadowMike for this cool addition.
