HIDE13 M2D (WM build 28002) by Nicklashidegard

Just updated my rom to build 28002. Not much has changed. There is more free ram (extra 4-5MB in M2D) for those who do heavy multi-tasking. Earlier builds usually achieve around 48 MB.

As in Nicklashidegard's previous roms, flicking through the start menu is a joy, with no accidental clicks. You do have to install FTouchSL to get smooth scrolling in areas such as Email and WM's FileManager (if you do use it).

Titanium is included and starts up by default, so don't worry that you've downloaded the wrong rom. Just go to settings--home to enable TouchFlo. Advanced Config is finally included in this release. NoData would be a good inclusion though. The included M2D Operator Settings tool enables a second launcher tab and allows you to add programs to it.

Screenshots:

Info and download @ Modaco

NaviMapper - Offline Maps for Windows Mobile

Free GPS mapping software are not that common, those which come with maps are even harder to find. NaviMapper breaks this trend by offering users the ability to download maps from online sources like OpenStreetMap.

The bundled NaviMapper software runs on your PC and offers an easy way to download maps to your mobile device. Downloaded maps can be easily copied to your phone for navigation without a wireless connection.

To define a region to download map data for, simply click and drag. The right button allows you to pan around the map. A search box allows you to instantly jump to a particular area. In the screenshot, a search for New York centered the map there.

Download times can vary, at the highest zoom levels, it may take a while. The good thing is that NaviMapper does not clutter your device with thousands of map files - it creates a single database file - very neat indeed.

The mobile client was fast to pick up my location using GPS. Panning around the map was a smooth experience, showing the advantage of offline maps compared to online ones.

A separate feature allows you to track your movement. Information such as distance travelled and speed can be recorded and saved.

More information and download:

NaviMapper on xda-developers.com

Free to use, donations encouraged.

Opera Mobile 10 Beta Released!

The beta version of Opera Mobile 10 has just been made available for download. This follows the earlier release of Opera Mini 5 Beta.

Speed and Responsiveness:

I've tested this latest version briefly, and my informal tests support Opera's claims that this new version has better performance in terms of rendering speed and responsiveness. Loading up Neowin's homepage took a full 10 seconds less on this beta release. Strangely, enabling the Turbo mode resulted in slower load times on my wi-fi connection. I didn't face any serious slow-downs even with a few websites loading in background tabs. Memory usage hovered around 1 MB plus.

Rendering and standards support:

There's no support for embedded Youtube videos though, you'll instead get a link that opens the video stream in Windows Media Player. Rather than that, images and text are rendered smoothly, and remains easy on my eye despite the 400x240 resolution of my Omnia i900. Opera gets top marks for accurate display of websites. Just for fun, I ran the Acid3 test -you can see the results in the screenshot. Not that bad, huh?

Bookmarks and saved pages

The new speed dial feature offers quick access to your favourite sites. You also have an option to add more bookmarks and create folders to organise them. You can save versions of a webpage for future reference.
The find-in-page works well, allowing you to jump through matches. All matching terms are highlighted.

Conclusion:

Though it may be a beta version, this version of Opera Mobile takes a few steps in the right direction. The interface remains uncluttered and touch-friendly, and general responsiveness has improved. Inclusion of flash support would be a good addition though. (Perhaps flash could be enabled for a few specified websites, while pesky flash ads on others would be blocked?)

More information and download:
Opera Mobile 10 beta

Editing Windows Mobile Registry with CeRegEditor

Some hidden tweaks for Windows Mobile requires one to edit certain registry entries. There's not really a regedit program on Windows Mobile by default, so how does one go about doing this?

CeRegEditor offers an easy way to edit registry entries, offering the ease of doing so on a Windows computer. A warning first though, making the wrong changes to your device can cause problems. However, most of the tweaks on various sites are well tested, so there shouldn't be any issues if you make the changes as stated.

Do note that you may need to run the program with Adminstrative rights, or else you may receive a "Unhandled exception raised! Error message: Failed to set data for..." message. CeRegEditor does its magic through an ActiveSync connection.



The interface of CeRegEditor looks very much like any other registry editor for Windows. A registry tree panel on the left allows you to navigate Windows Mobile's registry with ease. You can define favourite keys which you use often to save time navigating. Handy options allows one to make a cab file out of registry values, and also make a backup. One can also search through registry keys and compare snapshots of registry entries.

CeRegEditor is free for both private and commercial use, a pleasant surprise considering its functionality.


Download:
CeRegEditor

Converting Videos with Badak

The Omnia has awesome support for many file formats. However, it may have trouble playing high-resolution videos without some noticeable lag.

Badak is a free application for Windows that allows you to convert a wide variety of videos to a format supported by the Omnia. I started using it to convert videos for my iriver clix II player, which only supports 320x240 videos. Badak's flexibility allows one to define the exact output format. Conversion speed is among the fastest of the free encoders I've tried.

Badak uses a slightly older version of mencoder. You can easily download a newer version and overwrite the one in Badak's installation folder, set to C:\Badak by default.



Here are some recommended settings:

Video bitrate: 500
Resize : 400 x 240
Encoder: OpenDivx



Download:

Badak (5427KB)

Getting Back Handwriting Support after Installing Custom Roms

Many custom roms don't include the transcriber input that allows you to write words anywhere on the screen using a stylus. I've mirrored the cab file for the transcriber here, just install and you should see a new input option.

A reminder: to change the input method, tap and hold the keyboard icon on the bottom bar.

Download: Mediafire (837.53 KB)

HD2 Remix for M2D (WQVGA)

Just a remix of some skins:

Leo and Hero skins by Zubnik
With a few new weather icons by me : )

Download: Mediafire

Leo/HD2 theme for M2D (WQVGA), original release by Zubnik

Zubnik from the modaco forums has done a fantastic work porting the Leo aka HD2 theme over to M2D for the Omnia. I've edited some of the weather icons (especially for our friends experiencing cold weather to make the set complete. That means no more misaligned weather icons ; )




















 Couldn't test all the weather states though, so drop me a comment if you notice something's wrong.

Download:

Mediafire (5.7 MB)

Thanks Zubnik for his great work!

Leo Theme for M2D

Just realized there were some problems with the Leo skin for M2D, that were not fixed with the step highlighted in the previous post.

Working on a fix now, will release a fixed version once I have permission from Zubnik, the originator.

How-to: Fix misaligned Home tab weather icon in M2D

Is the weather icon on the home tab of your Manila 2D misaligned?

Source: weirdo from modaco forums

Here are the steps to fix it:

1. Tap the area where the weather icon should be (below clock)

2. Choose "Update now"

Black Mozaic Skin for Nitrogen Player 0.3+

A theme I've made not long ago, with a touch of the Zune's  interface. Enjoy!

Features:
Tap left/right side of volume bar to change volume.
Tap top centre zone to minimize player.

Download from WMSkins
Download from Mediafire

Comments? Suggestions? Drop me a note below.

Ryrzy's M2D rom build 23506 (11 Nov 09)

Just installed Ryrzy's Manila2D rom. It's been stable and smooth so far. M2D starts up pretty quickly too.

How to get the complete look below:
ROM: Ryrzy's M2D build 23506
M2D Skin: Leo by Zubnik 
WM6.5 theme: Robert_Batman_Blue

Nitrogen Skin: Black Mosaic by Yours Truly ;)
Screenshots:

Test

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