SPB Mobile Shell Hits Major Upgrade With Version 5

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.spb.com/press/pressreleases/2010/spb-mobile-shell-5.0-arrives-brings-support-for-symbian-and-android-along.html' target='_blank'>http://www.spb.com/press/pressrelea...roid-along.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Major updates to the new version include a new 3D engine and an improved social networking integration. The former means support for new types of eye candy effects such as 3D Media Player, 3D Photo Viewer, 3D Weather, dynamic 3D widgets and more, while the latter involves message, contacts, photo and status sync with popular services, namely Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn...One important innovation in SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 is the Natural Interaction Engine which includes support for G-sensor and multitouch, a dedicated Feedback Engine providing realistic visual and haptic responses, and a Physics Engine responsible for the real-world behavior of all objects."</em></p><p>&nbsp;<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1266296436.usr14226.jpg" style="border: #d2d2bb 1px solid;" /></p><p>Among the alternative UIs available for Windows Mobile, SPB Mobile Shell was among the first and the best.&nbsp;It hits version 5 with some major improvements that take it to another level, though I wonder about the resource requirements for all the extra functionality and eye-candy you're getting with this version. The other major news with version 5 is that SPB has now ported Mobile Shell to the Android and Symbian platforms, a timely move given the&nbsp;UI lockdown coming in Windows 7 series phones (and maybe the reason for skipping a version number). There's no news on pricing, upgrade rights,&nbsp;or availability yet (it isn't even available from SPB's own store)&nbsp;though v3.5 retails for $29.95 (<a href="http://store.windowsphonethoughts.com/product.asp?id=10499&amp;n=SPB-Mobile-Shell" target="_blank">affiliate link</a>). I'll update this post when those details come available.</p><p><strong>Update:</strong> Mobile Shell v5 has been spotted on the upcoming <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/toshiba-tg02-hands-on/" target="_blank">Toshiba TG02</a>. Still no word on pricing or consumer availability, but scuttlebutt has it we're looking at a Q2 2010 release.</p>

[Chris Sacksteder]

Interesting they went from 3.5.3 to 5.x . . . guess an upgrade won't be free for current users. I like 3.5.3 a lot but it is a little buggy.

[Stinger]

There's two reasons for the number skip:

1) 4 is an unlucky number in parts of Asia.
2) No-one wants an SPB Mobile Shell 4 skin on their phone.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

There's two reasons for the number skip:

1) 4 is an unlucky number in parts of Asia.
2) No-one wants an SPB Mobile Shell 4 skin on their phone.

It's not unlucky, it's deadly;)

The chinese character for 4 is close in pronunciation with the chinese character for "death". So you'll find plenty of buildings in these parts with a 13th floor, but none with a 4th.

[Pdaholic]

There's two reasons for the number skip:

1) 4 is an unlucky number in parts of Asia.
2) No-one wants an SPB Mobile Shell 4 skin on their phone.

Foreskin. Nice. I truly LOL'd at this post. Thanks for the laugh!

It is amazing how superstitious folks can be.

[Markus_Mobile]

Update: Mobile Shell v5 has been spotted on the upcoming Toshiba TG02 (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/toshiba-tg02-hands-on/). Still no word on pricing or consumer availability, but scuttlebutt has it we're looking at a Q2 2010 release.


I wish it was already Version 5, but we only have Version 3.5.x installed on our TG02 Devices so far :-). Altohugh it uses the 3D-Acceleration of the Snapdragon, which was not possible yet on the Tg01 (at least not without some Registry editing... ) it´s still the "old" Version...

Regards

Markus