AT&T Tilt / HTC Kaiser tips

Your Tilt comes loaded with game demos and bloatware. Load a couple apps and your phone starts nagging you with an error message that storage memory is full. Unlike older Pocket PC's, storage memory and program memory are two different memory pools that cannot help the other regarding free space. First, uninstall game demos from your JAVA midlet manager but holding the stylus down on each icon and choose UNINSTALL when the menu pops up. Also, Download a program called CLEAR TEMP. The first time I tried this program, it cleared about 30 Megabytes from my 128 Megabyte storage memory!



There is another way to remove bloatware. You can find the CLEAR STORAGE icon under PROGRAMS > TOOLS. This will revert the phone back to factory state. Afterwards, there will be a phase called INSTALLING CUSTOMIZATIONS where the AT&T specific software is installed via script. You can reboot the phone at this point, thus preventing the customization/bloatware script from installing. Reboot by sticking the stylus in the small hole next to the memory card slot.

Just like a PC, you can download and install software to the phone. There are 3 ways to install software:

1. INSTALL ON PC: If the download is an EXE file, run the EXE on your PC while the phone is connnected via USB cable. Activesync (The program running on your PC that syncs outlook contacts, email, etc) will install the software on the phone. You may have to check the phone's screen to see if there are any additional steps. Most of the time, you just have to approve the software install on the phone's screen and tell it OK to restart phone if restart needed.

2. INSTALL ON PHONE: If the download is a CAB file, copy it to the phone through windows explorer or copy it to a MicroSD memory card. CAB file = setup.exe. Run CAB file from phone and approve install. Remember, you can access the phone from your PC - while it's connected - through windows explorer by either clicking the EXPLORE button on the Activesync window, or just open MY COMPUTER and then scroll down to MOBILE DEVICE.

3. USE INTERNET: Many times, you can just visit the page using the phone's web browser and download the CAB file directly to the phone. You can also send CAB files as an email attachment to the phone.

You can uninstall software by going to SETTINGS > SYSTEM > REMOVE PROGRAMS. This process is similiar to removing programs on a PC.

To find software to download, google WINDOWS MOBILE DOWNLOADS. One of my favorite sites is freewarepocketpc.net.

Why did they even bother installing adobe reader LE on the tilt? Since it does not support "reflow" you can't read a damn thing when viewing a PDF file in its native format on the tilt's screen. Instead, download the full mobile version here - choose MOBILE under OS and POCKET PC under VERSION. It can coexist with adobe reader LE since you cannot uninstall that program. Make SURE you install the full adobe reader to your PC first, as this will install the activesync converter so that PDF files will be converted by including reflow "tags" - this makes the PDF word wrap much like webpages. Having the reflow option enabled turns the tilt into a highly effective ebook reader since the font size can be increased while still being able to word wrap.

SmartTouch is a windows mobile app that lets searches and lookup be done via SMS Text message rather than internet connectivity. There are many website "widgets" that let you do different things, and you can download additional ones. The google widget alone is worth this download - It lets you query showtimes, weather, product pricing, phone numbers, directions and more! Because text message are almost instantaneous, the program almost appears to be using the internet, but it's actually not.

There is a MAME - Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator - program that will run emulated arcade games under windows mobile. It is called PocketCultMAME. Make sure you get the .5 work in progress version (with much more compatibility) and not the .4 version (less compatibility and more need to reboot locked screen) for best results. PocketCultMAME is not an install, but rather unzip the contents to a folder on the phone or storage card to create the files and folders.



You will have to aquire some roms/games to play and the software will emulate an exact arcade game. Seach for your favorite games at romnation.net or google them ie dkong.zip. Bittorrent sites will also have MAME roms in huge "sets" containing every rom in existence. Download rom files and place them into \ROMS folder on the phone - their ZIP format is OK. For instance the Pac-man rom is named puckman.zip. Be aware you will have to do your own testing to see whether a specific game can run. Many do not due to video issues with such as small screen at the tilt's. Most do not sound well so you will probably just want to leave sound disabled in the menu. You will need to configure the buttons under CONFIGURE > DEFAULT OPTIONS then the CONTROLS tab.

I have very good performance (minus sound) with Donkey Kong Junior, Berzerk, Frogger, MS Pacman, Pac-man, Mr Do! Zaxxon, Joust, and Mario Brothers on the tilt (using .98 version roms). For some reason, Donkey Kong is a no-go, even despite trying the repair the rom with Romcenter repair utility.

Other MAME offerings for the pocketPC which I have not tested on the tilt/kaiser are MAMECE3 and iMAME. PocketcultMAME is actively developed as opposed to MAMECE3 and iMAME (no new postings on these pages for several years), so in the future, I predict this will become the definitive mobile MAME program.

On the tilt's today screen, the two softkeys are set by default to calendar and contacts. You can change the program these are set to by using the program Softkeys.

On my tilt, I have the softkeys set to the HTC action screen and the HTC endkeys program. More on HTC programs below.

Forget about Pocket Internet Explorer that comes with the tilt. It tries to use scaled down mobile views of websites that aren't satisfying to look at or navigate through. Try another browser that can show full-screen zoomable web pages like Opera Mini (version 4 or higher) or Skyfire . You can even download these directly from the phone. On my tilt, Opera Mini froze during install, but when I checked the Java Manager, the icon was there and the program works normally.

On the AT&T tilt, enhancement programs that HTC created were removed from the stock build. It's a shame, because these HTC enhancement programs are superior to their windows mobile counterparts in quality, look, and finger-friendliness. You can install these on the tilt - or any phone with windows mobile.

Some examples are the HTC Camera Album, the HTC audiomanager, and HTC action screen. By default the AT&T Tilt comes with a mini homeplug today screen plugin. The HTC HOME version has many more icons, including weather forecast and XP style theme, plus a sweet customizable clock that takes up about a third of the screen. If you use the HTC Home version of the plugin, you can customize it quite nicely with the HTC Home Customizer.

These enhancements are way cooler than the windows mobile counterparts. There are close to 20 of these programs. You can download them all in the one place here.

Don't pay for the Telenav GPS software. Just download the free Windows Live Search for mobile for mobile. You can enable a view where it shows overhead pictures - beware this downloads a lot of data though. I can zoom in and see the roof of my house, and what corner of the house I am in. All for free!

There is also the free NAV4ALL which has a voice that can guide you turn-by-turn, much like a Tom-Tom.

There is a freeware utility that makes the windows mobile start menu behave more like the start menu from windows XP. It's called Quick Menu. To install, create a folder called QUICKMENU under the PROGRAM FILES folder of your tilt, then extract the files from their RAR format into that folder. Then run the quickmenu.exe file in that folder - this will allow the program to replace your start menu. You will likely have to disable the battery indicator as it covers up the task manager icon in the upper right - this can be done by going to QUICKMENU > OPTION(S).



To uninstall, kill the quickmenu.exe program with any task manager, then delete the QUICKMENU folder you created.

There is a utility out there called ShantzTodayChanger that can be setup to rotate your today screens. I have mine set to change daily so every day I look at my phone the today screen and menus are different. My configuration screen is shown here.

There are developers and hobbyists out there that have created thier own firmware for the tilt/kaiser. There are even programs you can use to create your own customized version - complete with your added mobile programs. There is one fellow named Dutty that has really popular tweaked firmware. Check out his downloads here - note: there is a download section at bottom of his page that has a windows explorer type of interface. Flashing firmware is only for the technical minded as you will need to follow a string of technical steps. Keep in mind, there is a low possibility of turning your tilt into an expensive paperweight if something goes wrong - so be warned!

There is a program called Kaisertweak that lets you change settings you normally don't have access to. Yes you need this! For example, the Tilt supports higher HSDPA internet speeds - depending on if it is available in your area - but HSDPA is disabled in the software for some crazy reason, so you only get the lower speed 3G with factory settings. Kaisertweak can enable the HSDPA setting. You can also change settings so that battery life is changing connection behaviors of the phone. Each setting gives a explanation and recommendation that gives you info on what exactly you are changing.