Review: Vito Winterface

As the default interface of Windows Mobile devices becomes...

Very well written review Neil. I can't help thinking it's a bit of too much of an Iphone clone for my liking. The new HTC Today screen replacements are a lot easier on the eye.

I hope that will include 'at a glance' upcoming appointments. That was the killer for me on what was a great looking bit of kit!

I can't say anything at present because the details haven't been confirmed, but I understand that's one of the things being considered

I agree to an extent, but as WF develops I'm sure there will be some options to enhance the appearance more.

The new HTC front ends are excellent, but still limit you to using whatever is hard coded into their options. Thus, I use PocketTunes for music, Funcontact for Contacts and Netfront for browsing; none of these can be invoked from the HTC interface apart from using the Programs screen. WF does at least allow me to have an 'at-a-glance' view of message counts and simple launching of my preferred apps and regular contacts from one screen (or more if needed!).

You can also call up the WF screen with any app running by using the gesture, then quickly minimise it again as needed.

I must admit that I've never really used calendar functionality on the today screen, I always launch the calendar app and rely heavily on reminders.

Looks really good. The update sounds like it might be my cup of tea. If it does turn out to do the job, I think I'm going to go with the whole suite of 4 apps as the fun contact and SMS chat thingies have been tempting me for a while now.

I guess it depends what you use on your device. For me with the diamond I've been perfectly happy with the functionality I get from WMP, the built in contacts app and Opera for browsing. For this the Manilla sotware is excellent.

I have a Love/Hate relationship with this software at the moment and have uninstalled twice and then reinstalled. The big bug bears are

• swipe start - keeps starting when i scroll the screen horizontally.
• screen lock - just simply gets in the way.

However, it looks as if Vito will be making changes to these areas - look forward to seeing them.

What I do like is the nice simple screen that provides a quick action with one finger but still allows me to get to the standard today screen quickly - I use the red phone button to close it.

What I would realy like to see is the additional pages scrolling in a circular motion ie page 1 > 2 > 3 >1 and to be able to scroll left and right. Also a reset to original settings.

For people who would like a frontend interface but at the same time wnat to keep all the today plugins untouched and within easy reach this is a good solution.

That's what I was saying about development.

Vito have a potentially strong application on their hands here.

Listen to the user base and a few tweaks and I think it will be a sticker on my device because, as you say, the Today screen sits one button press behind it....

I'll be keeping an eye on updates.

I'm definitely liking it on the Athena & Kaiser... I've got a page full of contacts a finger swipe away...