Using the Pictures Application
The best way to do this on the Pocket PC (Windows Mobile 2003 or later) or Smartphone (Windows Mobile 2003 or later) is to use the Pictures application. First copy a JPG image to your device. Find the image you want in Pictures’ thumbnail view and select it to display it in full-screen view. Edit the picture if necessary and then pop up the Tools menu and select “Set as Today Wallpaper…” Adjust the Transparency level (lower numbers for a more solid image) and tap on the OK button to set the image as your Today screen background. On the Smartphone, open a full-screen view of the desired image in Pictures & Videos, press the Menu button, and then 5 to edit the image. When you’re finished, press the Menu button again, and then 3 to use the image as your Home screen. This allows you to select the part of the image you want to use as the background and adjust the transparency level. (The lower the transparency, the more solid the image—lower settings work best.) When you’re done, press the Finish button.
Selecting a Background Image
You can also select a background image for the Today or Home screens using the Today / Home screen setup utility. On the Pocket PC, press Start > Settings > Today; on the Smartphone press Start > Settings > 4 Home Screen. Then select the background image options. Note that you cannot adjust the transparency level using this method and the resulting background image, especially on the Pocket PC, appears washed out in many cases.
Selecting a Different Theme
Another way to change the Today screen image on any Pocket PC (2002 or later) or Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone is to select a different “theme.” Individual themes include a color scheme for menus and a background image for the Today screen. On the Pocket PC, you select themes from the Start>Settings>Today configuration utility. On the Smartphone, you select themes from the Start > Settings > 4 Home Screen utility. ThemeChanger (http://homepages.inspire.net.nz/~gambit/) is a free program that makes it easier to change Home screen themes on the Smartphone.
You can download additional themes for free (or for purchase) from PocketPC Themes (pocketpcthemes.com), Web McDeb (mcdeb.com), and other sources. WM Themes (wmthemes.com) has Pocket PC and pre-Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Home screen themes. Finally, Smart Phone Themes (smartphonethemes.com) is a great source of pre-Windows Mobile 5.0 Home screen themes. (More Themes sites are listed on our Best Sites Web page: pocketpcmag.com/_top/bestsites.asp).
You can even create your own themes for free using Microsoft’s free desktop PC Theme Generator (microsoft.com/canada/windowsmobile/wm07/downloads/themegenerator.mspx). Note, however, that this program was designed to communicate with earlier versions of the Pocket PC. You should be able to create themes for later Pocket PCs, but won’t be able to use the auto-download feature to transfer the new Theme to Pocket PCs running Windows Mobile 2003 and 5.0. For those devices, you’ll have to manually copy the new Theme file to the Windows Mobile device using File Explorer. Microsoft also offers Theme Generator for the Smartphone (microsoft.com/canada/windowsmobile/wm07/downloads/smartphone.mspx), a desktop PC program that creates Home screen themes for pre-Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphones. (Note that the auto-download feature does not work with Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphones—you have to manually copy the theme file to the device using File Explorer.)
