Give Your Cell Phone Its Own Halloween Costume

In case you didn’t get the note, it’s Halloween. While most of your cell phone activity is limited to prank calling, directions and pictures you hope don’t find their way to Facebook on Halloween, why not dress it up a little and let your technological companion join in the fun. Hey, if people can do things like this to their pets, you can put a free Halloween theme on your phone. Check out the links below for some of the staff’s favorite free, Halloween-themed cell phone downloads.

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Halloween Theme Pack (PocketPC) – Give everyone a rest from having to look at pictures of your kid or your dog on the front of your cell phone and download this theme pack to re-skin your interface with something a bit more festive.

Pocket Brains Halloween Edition – It’s the same memory game you grew up with but with a few tricks and treats added for Halloween. Okay, so in reality it’s not that cool, but if you’ve got kids then you’ll probably see some use out of it. Our opinion: Just download the free trial. It only includes four different boards, but that’s about how long your kids will play it before they get distracted by something shiny.

Halloween Themes for BlackBerry – Don’t worry BlackBerry users, we didn’t forget about you. BlackBerry Theme Park has a modest assortment of Halloween themes for you to download.

Well there’s a few to give you a head start before your evening festivities. Check ‘em out and get back to us on what you think. And if you find any additional ones out there, let us know. Happy Halloween everyone!

Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm Launch Party

Verizon sponsored a pretty big event last night in LA to serve as the launch party for the BlackBerry Storm. While the Verizon phone itself doesn’t actually launch until Nov. 15, the event put four demo units in the hands of a few hundred lucky citizens in LA. Oh yea, did I mention the Foo Fighters were there as well? Sure, that might have boosted attendance a little (or a lot), but impressions of the phone were overall pretty high.

Ironically enough, there were very few actual BlackBerry users at the BlackBerry launch. Blogs noted a heavy dose of iPhones, BlackJacks and LG’s being used in line. I guess you can take that one of two ways: there aren’t very many BlackBerry users (which is highly unlikely considering it’s still the leading manufacuter in the U.S.) or, the more probable scenario, RIM has finally made a device to infiltrate the mainstream consumer market.

BoyGenius has the full report on the shindig with a complete suite of images to make you feel like you were actually there. Unfortunately, there’s no audio from the Foo Fighters concert, but we’ve included some YouTube-esque concert footage below so you can feel like you were there.

Samsung and Palm’s Offspring?

No, that’s not the Palm Centro with Windows Mobile. It’s Samsung’s latest offering in Europe and with a nod of approval from the FCC, we wouldn’t be surprised if it hit the other side of the pond as well.

Currently, it’s being billed as the Samsung C6620 and is listed as an exclusive phone to the Italian cellular provider TIM. Unlike the Epix, this phone doesn’t have a touchscreen, but it’s still a fully-capable smartphone running Windows Mobile 6.1. I’m guessing this could go to some of the other carriers as an alternative to AT&T’s exclusive Epix.

The inside’s pretty nice – basic but nice. The outside, like the Centro, is either love it or hate it. If you loved the design of the Centro, but you thought the keyboard was a little too cramped and hated the idea of using Palm’s antiquated OS, then this might just be the phone for you.

We’ll let you know as soon as we hear more about its stateside release. Until then, you’ll have to make do with the Palm Treo Pro.

BlackBerry Storm – What You Need to Know

The world’s rumbling about BlackBerry’s latest entry into the touchscreen world. Before you start camping out at your closest Verizon (or Bell), we thought we’d give you a quick rundown of why there’s so much hype behind “another” smartphone and why we’re so excited for November 15 (hopefully).

• Click Through – BlackBerry’s answer to Apple’s multi-touch on the iPhone. While there is very little difference between “clicking” and navigating on an iPhone, BlackBerry wanted to make sure its users know the difference. With “Click Through” you have to physically lift your fingers and repress to make another selection. While it sounds more tedious, it’s actually quite responsive and significantly cuts down on the mis-strokes and lack of precision we had to get used to with the iPhone. Check out this video to see what we’re talking about.
  
• SureType – Pearl users are used to SureType and its word-matching greatness and, luckily, it’s coming to the Storm. When the phone’s in Portrait mode and you are typing an e-mail, you can enable SureType to enlarge the keyboard buttons and cause fewer mistakes. Of course, you can also TYPE AN EMAIL IN LANDSCAPE MODE if you want. I’m sorry, was that in all caps? I wonder why…
  
• BlackBerry Apps – BlackBerry’s third-party applications have never been as numerous as their competitors, but for what they lack in quantity they make up for in quality. BlackBerry apps have always been of the highest grade and their incorporation into the phone and the operating system is almost always flawless due to RIM’s stringent demands and standards. We’ve already discussed a new IM service that we’re excited to see coming to the BlackBerry app store and we can only expect even greater things to come.
  
• “Tactile” Feedback – When you press something, the image on the screen pushes back and then rebounds like you actually just pushed that part of the screen in. Combined with the click sounds, it’s a great optical illusion that really makes you think you’ve pressed a physical button. While current touchscreen users may be used to not having it, I think this will make for a much easier transition for physical keyboard veterans. If you don't believe me, check out the world's worst customer-reaciton video below and watch people ooh and ahh...and chuckle nervously.

These are the four things we’re most interested in, but we can’t lie and say there aren’t any limitations. If you’re looking to view anything and everything on the Web then you might want to try and find an unlocked iPhone. While the browser’s improved from the Bold and BlackBerry’s past attempts, it’s still somewhat barebones compared to other offerings. Also, the lack of Wi-Fi will be a dealbreaker for a few people. This is a feature a lot of people expect in a high-end, top-tie smartphone, but sadly it’s not there on the Storm.

Be sure to check out the Verizon Web site for some great shots and feature explanations as well as more ridiculous marketing videos! How many of you are planning on lining up on launch day?

Samsung Epix Review Round-up

The Samsung Epix has landed on AT&T’s network and, with an increase in attention toward BlackJack’s supposed successor, the new phone is being labeled as a budget-minded iPhone/Palm alternative. With a touchscreen, a revised WM 6.1 Professional interface, 3G, Stereo Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS, the Epix looks like the must-have Windows Mobile smartphone from the carrier – but is it everything its name implies?

Reviews have it so-so. Most are saying it’s a great phone if you need one, but you shouldn’t throw out your old BlackJack or WM 6.1 device for it. The optical mouse is a vast improvement over the Omnia’s and the addition of Wi-Fi and the skinned, customizable homescreen is a nice facelift on the aging Windows Mobile platform. The downside? The frame seems a bit cheaper than the previous BlackJack’s and the keyboard has some stiffness that may or may not ease with extended use. We love its support for 32GB microSD cards by the way, even though the card would cost more than the phone.

Check out the reviews below for a more extensive run down of Samsung’s latest addition to AT&T’s lineup.

CNET's Review

WMExperts' Review

InfoSync's Review

PocketNow's Epix/Palm Treo Pro Comparison