[Touch Pro, Fuze Themes and Apps] burnblue:
not hate, but..

I was way happier with my Blue Angel. That's supposed to be weird, isn't it?

After the Blue Angel, I didn't see any phones for a long time that I wanted to upgrade to. When HTC moved in the direction of Kaiser and Tilt, the smaller screens were too much for me as I don't use a stylus. Eventually I needed a new phone so I did do my research, and the Touch Pro was the most beloved phone out there. I knew it had a lot of flaws like the directional pad, but I got it because the Touch series is probably the most well-supported group on XDA-Devs.

Well here we are. First, I like having buttons and a d-pad, but HTC must have decided that these aren't necessary anymore. The Touch Pro 2 won't even have a d-pad. Second, I'm mad it took the iPhone's success for large screens to become fashionable again. Still, I like how the Fuze's surface is flush which makes it usable.. I could not handle the Tilt. I'm also mad that HTC decided that headphone jacks are useless. I mean, they have the perfect hardware in so many different phones, why can't you just make one phone that has all the good features? It's a conspiracy, I tell you

Anyway, to the software. In truth, since I've been using Titanium with the CComm and Notifications plugins, I'm really happy. My home screen is beautiful and I'm free from the monolith that is TouchFlo3D. At the same time, I'd like to echo the sentiment of the OP.

Where are the apps?

Maybe I've just grown up, but in my Blue Angel days there was never a day I wasn't fascinated by a new download. Since the Touch came out, the entire development community turned to tweaking TouchFlo3D, and making screen-lock tools that respond to the g-sensor. Both in freeware and in the commercial stores, all that's available are new "touch" interfaces, duplicating what's already on the device: contact managers, calendars, app launchers, alarm clocks, etc.

Now when I say "every" and "all" above, I'm exaggerating, but I hope you see what I'm getting at. I want new functionality on my phone, not another PointUI. I said "maybe I've grown up" because nowadays I never feel like downloading an app if it's not something I'm going to find useful often -- that means I almost never get games, etc. I've gotten used to the idea that my phone can do anything, and I think it's with this new focus that I look at app collections and see how much differentiation they lack. Another Twitter app, another tracking app.. all ugly. That's when I realize that Apple might seem better able to back up their "there's an app for that" than WinMo (though I know better).

The problem of course has nothing to do with the Touch Pro individually. It's a combination of factors led by HTC design a few years ago: screens got smaller and VGA (so people started spending more time on touch interfaces), and we got new features to play with (GPS, accelerometers, light sensors). Development is now very device-specific. Apple is attracting developers not just because they think they might get rich, but because they have a standard platform to develop on.

I'll take the diversity of Windows Mobile any day, and I salute the efforts of those who give us their hard work for free. I just can't wait until we get used to these devices and start making things that are more attractive and useful, rather than tech demos. Some of that is happening, but there's much more potential. Hopefully Microsoft standardizing specs for WinMo 7 will help.. and incorporating Silverlight for development will make things even better.