OK, so Steve has a new favourite theme - and it seems that PiZero is experimenting with new ways of distributing his excellent themes: Earth is a new addition to the Nokia Ovi Store and appears for S60 5th Edition (touch) phones only. It's artistic and yet lightweight, with default icons to save RAM. Worth a look - there's a graphical preview below.
Read on in the full article.
This "new addition" has been on my 5800 for a few weeks. Got it from Ovi store and it's free. Nice to see that the satellite night view shows Europe rather than the default North America.
I will download this theme later today, but for me what seems to be the most useful thing in this theme
is the alphanumeric dialer, i hope so, as far as the above pics suggest.
Oh no! may be not. I was wrong, the image is of text writing, not dialer. I am looking for themes with
alphanumeric phone dialer, as it is very imp. in US.
I downloaded this one some one month back, i have no clue why aas team didn't spot it hence its outdated for me, nevertheless its a good theme.
I posted the item as news because a) PiZero only just announced it himself and b) it was shown as new in the Ovi Store itself.
Hey, as usual, quit complaining - if you guys think you can spot stuff earlier than us, **help us out** by emailing sightings of new software and services in - we'll give you credit etc. [email][email protected][/email] or [email][email protected][/email] etc.
As said to you on twitter Steve, and confirmed by Yash, when Ovi Store lists "New" Items, they are not always new. This theme has been in Ovi Store for a few weeks now, and I had installed it to my N97 when first become available, but its now been deleted, as its now well known, that this particular theme causes countless issues on the N97, mine included. Slows the device down, and randomly crashes the device too.
"its now well known, that this particular theme causes countless issues on the N97"
That's not true. I extensively test my themes for at least a week before publishing, and never noticed any slow down or crashes on my n97 with this theme that also don't have custom icons. People always thinks that when the phone crashes, it's due to the theme. The fact is that n97 is underpowered for its needs, and can crash with almost any themes. You guys must understand that thememakers do not work with code, that is automatically compiled by Carbide.ui, but only with graphics, and graphics cannot alter the software of phones. So every problem you have with themes is only due to your phone and how it interacts with the code generated by Carbide.ui. It's not the fault of thememakers.
Pizero wrote:"its now well known, that this particular theme causes countless issues on the N97"That's not true. I extensively test my themes for at least a week before publishing, and never noticed any slow down or crashes on my n97 with this theme that also don't have custom icons. People always thinks that when the phone crashes, it's due to the theme. The fact is that n97 is underpowered for its needs, and can crash with almost any themes. You guys must understand that thememakers do not work with code, that is automatically compiled by Carbide.ui, but only with graphics, and graphics cannot alter the software of phones. So every problem you have with themes is only due to your phone and how it interacts with the code generated by Carbide.ui. It's not the fault of thememakers.
I can report that I use this on a 5800xm and it has been perfect and solid with no problems, as expected with V40 firmware, really very good. I never normally use themes, but make an exception for this one because it looks so good on a black phone.
Pizero wrote:"its now well known, that this particular theme causes countless issues on the N97"That's not true. I extensively test my themes for at least a week before publishing, and never noticed any slow down or crashes on my n97 with this theme that also don't have custom icons. People always thinks that when the phone crashes, it's due to the theme. The fact is that n97 is underpowered for its needs, and can crash with almost any themes. You guys must understand that thememakers do not work with code, that is automatically compiled by Carbide.ui, but only with graphics, and graphics cannot alter the software of phones. So every problem you have with themes is only due to your phone and how it interacts with the code generated by Carbide.ui. It's not the fault of thememakers.
Several reports have come across to me on twitter over the last couple of weeks about this theme causing problems my friend. I'm actually a big fan of yours, and was currently documenting gathered information to email you about this theme, as there is something clearly not right with it sadly.
I can confirm, I too extensively test various applications, themes, and performance procedures on my N97, and have probably hard reset, and formatted the mass memory more times that I care to mention, and this is due to Beta Testing various Official Nokia applications, and third party developers applications, and utilities.
Back to your Earth Theme, I will gather as much information for you regarding the problems users are experiencing, and try and find out if there is some kind of pattern, whereas users share some kind of conflict with another installation, and will get back to you.
I too have had no problems with 'Earth', apart from a glitch in Micropool - which doesn't like quite a few themes 8-)
Pizero - please keep us informed if you get to the bottom of these issues and produce an updated theme! 8-)
Nokia N97 "Connecting People" - to Apple
Haha @ snoFlake! Too true my friend!
Can't believe something as simple as a theme could cause problems with Nokias "Flagship" phone *Rolls eyes*.
The fact that it has to use default icons to "save ram" is absolutely pathetic, I feel sorry for all the N97 owners I really do, having to micro manage everything they do just to keep the phone running even going as far as having to turn BASIC functionality off (Facebook Widget) give me a break. What a joke, yeah, Symbian's an amzing OS like, REALLY efficient. Ha.
Hey Pizero, great theme nonetheless, have you never thought of venturing outside from Symbian like Android, WM or for jailbroken iPhones? I think you'd do great in any of those scenes 😊
Sorry for my rant above, just think the N97 is a joke
Looks really amazing on my n97. Thanks!
Running Earth theme quite happily on my N97, don't have to micro manage N97 particularly either.
Yes it's common knowlege that the N97 due to a lack of a dedicated graphics chip can struggle at times with themes that have graphical backgrounds....but at least my N97 will let me choose a theme if I wish, unlike the iPhone!!
I also run themes with custom icons quite happily so less of the N97 bashing thank you. Both the N97 and the iPhone have there merits.
not there for n900..would be nice...
Hey Leon, what has the iPhone got to do with the N97? Why bring that up lol? I wasn't comparing the N97 to the iPhone?
J3st3r wrote:Hey Leon, what has the iPhone got to do with the N97? Why bring that up lol? I wasn't comparing the N97 to the iPhone?
What other phones do Apple make? You responded to snoFlake "drving people to Apple" by writing "Too true, my friend". So there is your link.
Maybe as a result of the limited memory in the 97 mini, but I also experienced the Earth causing some latency on my device. I am totally in awe with the theme, but I think the inadequate 97 mini has caused me to not use the theme.
If I am working with other applications at the same time, it causes the device to be even more sluggish.
i downloaded this theme yesterday to my vf branded n97 mini, installed... Looks great but phone just doesnt seem right now? Bit jumpy. And when i turned it on this morning and was asked for my pin i had no star or hash keys on the number pad.
@ pizero - I agree with you that it's a deficiency in the hardware of the N97 that causes the slowness and lag when using themes other than the defaults. I also agree that it's incorrect to blame themes for all of the crashes as the device is inherently buggy, even on v21 of the firmware.
@ Leod_UK - The argument that the N97 can be themed and the iPhone can't is tired, I'd rather have a stable device that can do what the manufacturer marketed than a device that doesn't live up to the marketing and is as unstable and problematic as the N97.
@ snoFlake - "Nokia N97 "Connecting People" - to Apple" lol, you could probably also add "or to Android".
froschy wrote:@ Leod_UK - The argument that the N97 can be themed and the iPhone can't is tired, I'd rather have a stable device that can do what the manufacturer marketed than a device that doesn't live up to the marketing and is as unstable and problematic as the N97.@ snoFlake - "Nokia N97 "Connecting People" - to Apple" lol, you could probably also add "or to Android".
The constant harping on about how bad the N97 is is also getting tired, to quote you. The fact is that there are many N97 owners out there who are very happy with their phones, and are also happy that they can do so much more than they can with an iPhone. You're right that the iPhone is more stable than the N97, but it is also crippled in comparison, something which may people overlook...,
OT
@froschy Hi to AAS - how's the morass on the Nokia boards? Just too much posting there for me.
@ buster - First off let me say that if you're happy with your N97 that's great.
While it's true that no device is perfect and different devices will suit different requirements, after spending a premium on the N97 I feel entitled to have gotten a more capable and competent device. Regardless of what OPK and Nokia think there are still serious problems with the N97 on v21 of the firmware which may never be resolved due to the poor design decisions and then releasing the device when they must have known that it wasn't right.
Due to these problems with the device using third-party themes has a deleterious effect on performance and stability of the device. So my point still stands and I don't think you should have to choose between customising your device and performance/stability.
There are some great themes out there designed by the likes of Pizero, etc... but I always end up removing them because the phone becomes even more unreliable.
@ snoFlake - just the usual but with a lot less discussion of the N97, IMHO mainly because owners have given up and purchased another device.
[QUOTE=froschy;461534
@ Leod_UK - The argument that the N97 can be themed and the iPhone can't is tired, I'd rather have a stable device that can do what the manufacturer marketed than a device that doesn't live up to the marketing and is as unstable and problematic as the N97.
".[/QUOTE]
Can you show me where to get a stable device? Because I can't find one. My iPhone certainly isn't it.
Again, I know that some themes can make your phone less stable and considerably slower. However, as long as the themes are free, it's not a big matter as people can simply switch back to default theme when they get tired of their phone performance.
The real problem is when people purchase my Premium Themes; I often get complaints and sometimes chargebacks by people who think that my themes are defective 😞 but I have no power to fix this kind of issue!