How To Change the Skin on the HTC Tattoo

Everyone likes to make their phone unique by adding custom ringtones or wallpapers. The HTC Tattoo takes this to the next level by letting you change the external skin of the device. There are lots of different skins to pick from, or you can even make your own using sites like garskin.com.  Of course, this isn’t really a new concept. Nokia did this almost a decade ago and it was a big success back then. Although, Nokia only allowed for the changing the front face of the phone, while HTC Tattoo allows for changing the complete skin of the device, front and back.

In order to remove the existing case, you will need to start with taking off the battery cover. Then hold the phone with the screen down towards your fingers, and the bottom of the device up so your thumb can easily push up on the bottom part of the back. Push along one side of the phone and it should pop off. You will then be able to wiggle the bottom plate off of the phone.

Once the entire back is off, hold the device in both hands with your fingers on the screen and your thumbs on the back. Then start at the top of the device and carefully use your thumbs to press the edge of the front plate forward towards your fingers. Work your way down each side of the phone. The area around the bottom of the phone is the hardest to get off, but if you already have the top off, it should come pretty easily.

To apply your new skin, simply follow the same process in reverse. Again, around the bottom of the phone is the hardest part of putting the front back on. I’ve found that it always requires more pressure that expected to get that part to snap into place.

And that’s all there is to it. Enjoy!

Custom Theme Generator for Windows Phone

Earlier, we posted about adding custom wallpaper to your Windows phone. In that post, the wallpaper was a custom Windows Start button that was meant as your desktop wallpaper. If you’re looking to further customize your phone so that it’s you from top to bottom, then you will want to check out the Microsoft theme generator.

The theme generator is for Windows Mobile 6.5 devices only.  First thing you need to do, is pick your device from the rotating images. Then you can select the color you want to use, followed by the wallpaper image. You can even upload your own image and zoom/crop the image as you see fit. Once you have it just the way you like it, you can save it as a CAB file to your computer and pass it around for everyone to enjoy. You can also send it directly to your phone using an SMS message. It’s free and it’s cool. It’s worth checking out. Build a theme and share it here with us! I would like to see what everyone is capable of creating with this tool.

Custom Windows Start Button Wallpaper on your Phone

Everyone loves to customize their phones in one way or another. Clinton Fitch has a tip on how to build your own custom Windows Start button wallpaper and then getting that on your phone. The end result looks pretty cool. The wallpaper is customized to your interests and then loaded up on your phone. I just wish they had more mobile choices when making your Start button wallpaper.

Head over to Clinton’s web site and get all the details on how to get this setup.

Customize the New Sliding Panel Home Screen on Windows Mobile 6.1

I’m sure that everyone with a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard (non-touch screen) device has been busy playing with the new sliding panel home screen. The question routinely comes up on how to modify the panels and their order as well as add new panels. The answer was easy – simply edit the corresponding xml and registry settings. Unfortunately, the answer may have been easy, but actually doing it can be difficult for some.

Enter CHome Configurator from mind of tlogix over at Smartphone: Nuts & Bolts. This utility will ease the pain of customizing the new sliding panel home screen to your liking. CHome Configurator allows you to add new panels, and modify or delete existing panels without having to mess around with xml files and registry settings. Best of all, this utility is FREE! So you can easily and affordably customize your 6.1 home screen. Now, I would love to see a home screen theme that takes advantage of the sliding panel design. Who’s up to that challenge?

Once you’ve download the 2 CAB files (one for the application and another for the Icon Pack), copy them to your device and install them. Both of these CAB files are pretty small and I would recommend installing them to the device and not the storage card. I’m sure it might be possible to place them on the storage card, but you wouldn’t want to risk any problems using the home screen if the storage card becomes corrupt or is removed.

So, download CHome, customize your home screen and share with us the changes you made. I’ll be playing around with it over the course of the next couple days and I’ll post back with the additions and changes that I’ve made.

One thing to note; If you are running a Windows Mobile Professional device, this application will not work for you. The sliding panel home screen is available on Standard (non-touch screen) devices only. This is due to the fact that Pro devices do not use the same XML based configuration for the today screen.

Free Halloween Ringtones From Microsoft

It’s getting close to Halloween and why decorate just your house when you can outfit your smartphone as well. Microsoft has released a collection of Halloween themed ringtones and wallpapers. I didn’t care to much for the wallpapers, but the ringtones are actually pretty good. Check them out for yourself – they’re all free to download (with registration). There’s also a large number of non-Halloween related sounds and images. So if you’re simply bored with what you have, it’s a worth while place to visit.