For those of you who like reading them there book things on yer phones, but don't like installing the latest Manila/Sense from HTC, you can now just install the standalone reader.

Thanks to Mr.X, with a simple .cab file you can be up and reading various books on your WVGA device with a standalone version of HTC's eReader. (Scan the MS Tag below for direct download).

Going further, Patcat007 over at XDA has compiled 300 free books from ePub. Just download the five .zip archives with all the books, extract to your device and use the free indexer to sort and browse your files.

Not too shabby folks, not bad at all!

For the few of those with the hard-to-find LG eXpo (more on that later), there are three interesting applications hidden within \Windows that may be of interest:

• GPSViewer
• wifiEngMenu
• TascalRegEdit

GPSViewer/GPS Utility is a simple app that shows you the number of satellites found and their strength, all in a nice graph form. (Of note is excellent GPS reception and accuracy on the eXpo).  It also gives your current speed, albeit in km/h.  Still, not a bad diagnostic tool.

"WifiEngMenu" is an advanced WiFi diagnostic tool that gives a ton of information related to your current network, including transmission rate test, WWM PS test, signal strength, etc.

Finally there is Tascal Registry Editor, a common (and ancient) freeware registry application. While nothing special, it's nice to have it readily available.

To access these apps, the first two (GPS Viewer, WifiEngMenu) require you to find them under \Windows and create a shortcut to the Start Menu. To make that easier for folks, we'll include the shortcuts for you to download directly: just unzip to \Windows\Start Menu and you should be all set.  For the Registry editor, find "TascalRegEdit.cab" under \Windows and simply run and install. A shortcut will be created for you to use directly.

Download to your device here.

Although the LG eXpo is a very capable device (see full review), in fact it's one of my favorites right now, it does have some ... quirks.

One of those, and we're not joking, is no email notifications. That is, there is no listing under Settings --> Sounds & Notifications for email or even SMS, for that matter.

We're not sure why that is the case, or how that passed AT&T's testing, but it is what it is and needless to say...it's annoying. (We even had a question on during the last podcast),

To address this, I threw together the registry entries to bring back SMS and Email notifications as I know this bothers quite a few folks out there, myself included. This will enable sound, vibrate, pop-up and even LED support on the eXpo for SMS and Email.

Simply use Microsoft Tag to scan and download the .cab to your device, run it, soft reset and you're good to go. Or you can just click and download directly here. Enjoy!

It's pretty well known that the HTC HD2 (Leo) had a wee camera problem with some odd colors showing up in the center.

That has been addressed via a patch, which is available now.

Of course, what would be the fun of having a patch for one device and not trying it out on another?  Not very much.

Turns out if you apply the .cab'd version to the Verizon Imagio (see review) it greatly speeds up the auto-focus -- as in cuts the time in half as well as just general quickness of the camera app. Image quality is said to be the same and no one is reporting any negatives, so if you've done a fresh backup give it a go.

And for the record, we did try this on our Sprint Touch Pro 2 and saw no difference ;-)

Download the .cab here.

XDA Developers has done it again. You’re probably familiar with Google Voice and what it does for you. One of the features that Google Voice offers is free SMS messaging. The problem is that it is a pain to create a message from within Windows Mobile. This is where those fine folks at XDA come along.

In his first post ever, msullivan offers “Google Voice Easy SMS”; which despite the unimpressive moniker, gives Google Voice users access to functionality that was previously inaccessible while mobile. This software uses your data connection and Google Voice account to send SMS messages without counting against your monthly allotment.

Easy SMS does require .NET Compact Framework 2.0 (3.5 is also available), a data plan, and obviously a Google Voice account. The software interfaces with your contacts and allows you to send to multiple recipients at once. For those of you who routinely see black helicopters (and we’re not saying that they’re not there) Easy SMS connects directly to Google’s servers using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).

Google Voice Easy SMS is free, and msullivan states that his software will be released as open source once he gets a chance to comment his code and get it cleaned up so that the rest of us can make sense out of it.

[via TiltMobility]

So awhile ago I picked up a nifty car mount for my Touch Pro 2 (on eBay) and lo and behold it has a cut out for the camera. It also swivels, so it is actually easy to get an almost completely clear visual path with the lens.

In short, this is how a Touch Pro 2 works as a in-dash video camera. On top of filming yourself driving through a blizzard, we suppose it's also good if you are in an accident or want to record some yahoo driving erratically.

And if you think I drive fast, I'm from New England and live New York ... that's how I roll.

Either way, it's kind of fun.

One e-mail standard that Windows Mobile has been missing since day one is IMAP idle--an advanced form of the IMAP standard.  The idle version is essentially push e-mail and it's very popular (Gmail officially supports it) as it is quick and is pretty good with battery life.

Fixup over at XDA has taken the open-source IMAP Pusher Service and made a handy WinMo client--one that also supports multiple IMAP Idle accounts.  He points out some interesting drawbacks in using Exchange Gmail too:

1. Almost all mail servers now support IMAP idle, including Gmail, while AS only works with MS's proprietary Exchange server.
2. Gmail's AS push is still not reliable enough to be practically usable. It does not let you use your own domain as reply email address. When you delete a gmail message in AS, it goes into Achieve instead of Trash.
3. AS does not support multiple accounts. You can use both AS and xImapPusher at the same time on the same phone.

To setup, have your IMAP account setup already in Outlook; set it to check once daily.  Install the xImapPusher .cab to your device (soft-reset for good measure), run the 'Accounts Config' followed by running 'xImap Pusher' application.  You should then see your data-arrows activate and begin pushing your email.  You also need to have .NET CF 3.5 installed.

Downside is there is no scheduler, so you'll have to remember to turn it off (run 'xImap Pusher' again) if you don't want it checking.  Still, we've been using it for a few hours now it seems pretty solid and simple to us, so give it a shot.

For those of you running WM6.5.x, you will have noticed that the volume on-screen slider is not the the standard HTC one.  Turns out, Microsoft has been playing with the volume hooks and HTC's skin is no longer compatible. 

Instead, we're left with the functional but ugggggly old-school windows volume rockers.

One solution is from XDA member Ponchofiesta (love it) who has a new app that improves the graphics tremendously.  The app is still in early beta, so expect some bugs and you need to have .NET CF 3.5 installed. Make sure you lend a  hand with feedback.

Still, once stable enough, this is something ROM chefs can cook right in and make it all bettah.

Alternate solution?  SetVolume 0.7.

[via Technology Paradise]

A few days ago we reported that a new version of Microsoft's My Phone was available.  Unfortunately, for some,  it also introduced a new bug: the inability to sync your SMS messages (something Tiger Woods would be happy about).

Luckily, a registry fix has been found:

• Go o HKLM\Software\Microsoft\My Phone
• Change the registry value “DisableSMSDataType” from “1″ to “0″

Seems easy enough and we're sure someone can .cab this up if you don't feel like touching your registry (though see our guide on the how-to for a quick primer).

By the way, sound off in comments if you experienced this bug. On our custom ROM, we never saw this and this "fix" wasn't pre-installed.

[MobileTechWorld via TamsWMS]

One annoying side effect of the Touch Pro 2's slide-out keyboard is magnets in close proximity tend to wake the phone. And if you don't have a screen lock, your battery could be heading south right quick.

Magnets often are found in your favorite phone cases — specifically the side pouches with the flap. Having your TP2 in one of these can cause it to power-on randomly, draining your battery throughout the day. (This is an issue we found during our initial reviews of the Touch Pro 2.)

A simple fix for this is to disable the "slide to wake" feature of the Touch Pro 2. What this refers to is if the phone is off and you slide the keyboard out, it'll wake up. It's actually a smart feature as the only reason you would slide out the keyboard is if you were to use it.  However, this mechanism relies on magnets to pass under the screen and trigger it.

Cool, eh?  Unless you  have a case with magnets, then it's a nuisance.

To fix, simply download and run this .cab file or manually alter these registry values:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\KEYBD]
"SlideWakeup"=dword:00000000

Thanks BigD5 for the tip!