Themes are a fun way to turn your device into something other than a work machine. I now have an aquarium on my Pocket PC and a unicycle on my Smartphone. I can spend hours watching my fake fish, and I don't even have to remember to feed them.

Take a look at this nice article from the Microsoft's windows mobile web site:

I downloaded several themes for my Pocket PC with Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition. Sometimes the theme would load easily onto my device, other times I'd have to play around with it. Here's what to do if it doesn't 'just happen.'


Change Your Pocket PC Theme
You've downloaded your theme and saved it to your desktop computer.
* Open ActiveSync on your desktop computer.
* Click Explore.
* Open the folder the theme is stored in on your computer.
* Drag the theme from your PC folder to the device folder open in ActiveSync.

To use the new theme on your device:
* Tap Start > Settings.
* Select the Personal tab.
* Tap the Today icon.
* Select the Appearances tab.
* Select the name of the theme you want.
* Tap OK.

One of my favorite screen downloads is the animated screen. The animated screens may use more battery life, but they look so cool. I installed Black Aquarium by DavidTheme. To get the theme to animate, you need a special application. I used FlashDash. FlashDash not only animates themes designed for the Pocket PC, it gives you other options, such as icons on the Today screen that show how much juice is left in your battery and how much memory is left on the device. It also has tabs at the bottom that allow you to navigate quickly through the programs and settings on your Windows Mobile powered device. To use it you also need to download Macromedia Pocket Flash player.


Use Your Own Picture on the Pocket PC

If you want a baby picture or family photo on your Pocket PC screen, you need to transfer the picture to your device using ActiveSync.
* Open ActiveSync on your desktop computer.
* Click Explore.
* Open the folder the picture is stored in on your computer.
* Drag the picture from your desktop folder to the device folder open in ActiveSync.

Note: You can drag it into the My Pictures folder if you want to keep all your images in one place.

On your device:
* Tap Start > Settings.
* Select the Personal tab.
* Tap the Today icon.
* Select the Appearances tab.
* Select the picture you want. Even if you're using your own photo as a background, you need to select a theme. Pick a neutral one so it won't interfere with your background image.
* Select Use this picture as the background.
* Tap Browse to locate the desired photo.
* Tap OK.


Change Your Smartphone Theme


I decided to design a screen for my Smartphone using Ruttensoft's Homescreen Designer 1.3.2, which is available on Smartphone.net. You will need .NET Compact Framework 1.1 installed on your desktop computer to use the program.

Smartphone Skin
I synched my Smartphone to my desktop computer and got busy designing my homescreen. The program pulled up my third-party plug-ins so I could use them to customize my homescreen. I picked a background picture that I had taken earlier with my Smartphone camera. The program let me play around with font colors, the date format, the time, carrier name, profile, just about anything that was on my phone. After I was finished, I clicked on the 'Perform selected process's' button (their typo!). It loaded without a single glitch. Once I saw my new screen on my actual device, I wanted to make some changes. That was easy too. I made the changes, pushed the button, and there it was.

You can find plenty of themes at Smartphone.net, or look at the theme generator for Smartphone 2002 on our site.


Use Your Own Picture on the Smartphone

You can also put your own image on the Smartphone home screen. The image needs to be on your desktop computer.
* Open ActiveSync on your desktop computer.
* Click Explore.
* Open the Storage folder.
* Open the Applications Data folder.
* Open the Home folder.
* Drag the image from your PC folder to the Home folder.

On your device:
* Press Start.
* Select Settings.
* Select Home Screen.
* Under Background image, scroll until you see the image you want.
* Select Done.

Change Your Tune

Ringtones are popular. And why shouldn't they be? There are singing ringtones, voice ringtones, and music ringtones from your favorite singer. There are pop, classical, and rap ringtones.

Once you download the ringtones, this is how to get them on your Smartphone:
* Connect your Smartphone to your desktop computer with the USB cable.
* Open ActiveSync on your desktop computer.
* Click the Explore button.
* Double-click the Smartphone icon.
* Open the Storage folder.
* Open the Application Data folder.
* Open the Sounds folder.
* Drag the ringtone file into the sounds folder.

Disconnect your device.
* On your device, press Start.
* Select Settings.
* Select Sounds.
* Scroll through the ringtone choices and select the ringtone you downloaded.
* Select Done.

Musical Match

Match a ringtone to all your contacts. How about playing the Adams Family song when your odd Uncle Harold calls? Or maybe Austin Powers whenever an unwanted suitor rings up. Handango sells individual ringtones or packages, including some 'normal' sounding ringtones for business use.

To assign a ringtone to a contact:
* Press Start.
* Select Contacts.
* Select the contact you want to assign a ringtone to.
* Press Edit.
* Scroll down until you see a textbox for 'Custom ring tone.'
* Use the navigation buttons on your phone to scroll through your choices until you find the ringtone you want to use.
* Select Done.


Applies to: Windows Mobile powered Smartphone or Pocket PC
Tested on: Windows Mobile 2003