01-05-2005, 09:00 AM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Best Today Screen - Vote Now!
Two months ago, we posted on the "Best Today Screen" contest hosted by SBSH Mobile Software and Lakeridge Software, the two companies behind the famous PocketBreeze and WisBar Advance applications. The winner of the contest receives a Dell Axim X50v, with second and third receiving a Sandisk 512MB SD Card and a $50 Handango gift certificate respectively. It's needless to say, those prizes are fantastic. With the high number of entries, it has now come down to the final seven, and now it's your turn to decide! Pocket PC Thoughts is happy to be hosting a poll to collect votes which will ultimately help determine who the winners are.
You will see the seven finalists' contributions below. Links have been provided if you wish to download the skin for your device! Note that trial versions of PocketBreeze and Wisbar Advance are linked above if you do not have them installed.
Fluid+
Download Fluid+ here.
Code Opus Rose
Download Code Opus Rose here.
Royale Redux
Download Royale Redux here.
Sketch
Download Sketch here.
Glass
Download Glass here.
Whistler CE
Download Whistler CE here.
Wooden Heart
Download Wooden Heart here.
Once you have looked over the seven skins, please vote for your favourite in the poll. Voting ends on February 1, 2005. The winners will be announced on February 5, 2005.
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01-05-2005, 02:06 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 102
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I really hate to be unenthusiastic, but I don't love any of them.
I like the concept of Wooden Heart the best I think, but the red and green text is hard to read (which somewhat defeats the point of a Today screen IMHO). Did SBSH override the text colour settings of the designers or were those colours specified as part of the competition?
Code Opus Rose has a dreamlike quality to it, but the pink borders at the top and bottom are a bit sickly for my taste.
The others just seem too cluttered or hard on the eyes.
Anyway, a Today screen is in the eye of the beholder after all, I was just hoping to see some really arty designs. Full kudos to the artists involved for customising their devices, and also the developers for offering such generous prizes.
I imagine I am going to get hassled to post my Today screen now - it isn't very original, I use normal themes shipped with Pocket Breeze and Pocket Plus  .
/\dam
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01-05-2005, 02:22 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by sheik
I imagine I am going to get hassled to post my Today screen now
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*Hassle, hassle, hassle*  (Just kidding)
Each to their own opinion, I guess. I also like a clean today screen (and desktop, for that matter), and there are ways to make it look less cluttered. Personally, I think most of these screenshots aren't cluttered at all. It could be worse. Sometimes, the causative factor of the problem of a cluttered interface resides in the background itself. A poorly chosen background can create this optical illusion.
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01-05-2005, 02:26 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 258
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I agree... I have seen nicer looking Today screen designs. Of all these, Code Opus Rose is the best (but its a little too pink for my device).
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01-05-2005, 02:38 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 24
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Code Opus Rose is the best in the group
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01-05-2005, 02:38 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 92
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unenthusiastic
I was hoping for greatness, but I have to agree. Not much here that hasn't been done many times before. I suppose it must be difficult to come up with something fresh and still have it be functional. Of these contenders, my vote goes to Sketch. It is a little busy, making it less than easy to read the text on the today screen, but I like the full screen aspect of it and the "sketchy" quality as well. FWIW - I've been using Juni's "SPB Fruity" theme for the last couple of months (a long time for me to use the same theme).
(edit: in retrospect, I hope I haven't hurt anyone's feelings with my criticism. All of these are better than I've been able to do on my occasional attempts to make a skin. Being a musician myself, of course I always hope to blow everybody away with my creativity, but often it's the constructive criticism I end up appreciating the most.)
another edit: I take it back. Juni's suggestion to try them out seemed reasonable, after all, I've downloaded and installed more than a few that looked great on the webpage but sucked dirt on my iPaq. So, I tried them. There's a plain version of Sketch (without the colored graphic in the bottom right) that looks really nice on my iPaq (as long as I use a nice dark font on PB). I vote for Sketch.
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01-05-2005, 03:21 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 450
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Whistler CE for me
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01-05-2005, 03:43 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,734
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Can I agree that none of them really sets me on fire. I wanted to post this earlier, but did not want to hurt anyone's feelings. 
I am quite disappointed that the least original one is getting the most votes, in this case the Royale Redux. Its just another Windows XP skin, isnt it.
The Wooden Heart looks like it may have taken the most work, but its much too dark for for my tastes.
I voted for Glass, at least its bright and a bit different :|
Surur
PS: when is some-one doing the Magneto skin
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01-05-2005, 04:04 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 194
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Regarding text colors on the skins, all text colors can be fully configured inside PocketBreeze, I guess I had to select better font colors for some of the skins.
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01-05-2005, 04:06 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 17
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For me, the bests are Royale Redux and fluid. But there is a problem with Royale Redux: the background isn't compatible with wm2003se/landscape. And, mos't of wa graphics in different status are the same bitmap.
So, for me, liquid is best.
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Linear Mode
