HedoneDesign | BlackBerry themes

Khorsia says:

Small Arms Fire and Other Party Ice-Breakers

Whenever I see a new Hedone theme en-route to it’s place amongst the world’s most impressive pieces of electro-art, I have to wonder “where the hell did that name come from?” The names alone make you want to pay $50 just for the very privilege of being able to see and, during holidays, they will even allow you to type it up to 14 times. Ambos is the name of my pool-boy (he just isn’t aware of it yet), for gods sake (if you’ve SEEN the guy who makes these themes, you would understand). The artfulness is almost painful – like good art should be.

One of my BIGGEST kvetches (yes, I said it) in reference to about 98% of all themes is that they suck the life out of your BlackBerry faster than a D.C. lobbyist. The standard “Precision” theme (standard AT&T military issue for Combat Cloggers) not only has a memory leak that would make Oliver North proud, but I NEEEEEED to charge my BlackBerry (9700 in case you were hanging on my every word to discover what cyborg-device, I mean, BlackBerry, I had) every night or the damn thing dies a very painful and most spectacular and dramatic death as only any device of mine could – think Britney Spears tap-dancing in an explosives factory. I was out doing missionary work (as I am prone to do given that Mother Theresa and I were PRACTICALLY twins) and hadn’t charged my phone in about 2-3 days (I tend to lose track with the glow from my halo giving SUCH an awful glare on my watch). It was still running at about 30% battery power. The ONLY thing that had changed on my BB in the last week was the theme change. I had not installed or run anything different than I always do (you know, computing applications and such for that time that I was attempting to weaponize skittles – damned things just wouldn’t arm…), soooo… by process of elimination (and with the help of my LOVELY assistant here, Borghilde), it HAD to be the theme. Depending on your usage of your device, I am sure this will or will not vary and don’t even know if this was an INTENDED effect, but it IS an effect nonetheless. I have repeated the “experiment” a number of times now and each time there was a measurable difference in the life of my battery as well as the amount of memory I had left at the end of the day (which, at times, takes a few days).

Ambos is another visual stunner that doesn’t lack in pure ability and function. User-definable (as always) icons, with the exception of the “usual suspects” that are built-in to the theme, a drop-down sub-menu (with the icons mentioned). The theme is one that crosses the lines between visual allure and an edgy down-to-business feel to it. If you’ve ever thought of a piece of electronics or hardware (such as a car) as sexy or attractive, this precisely the kind of feeling that Ambos gives. The font and colors are different from the usual fare using burnished yellow and blue tones for accents/highlights (trust me, this works – much in same way that the laws of physics do not apply to Bumblebees, the laws of “the ordinary” do not apply to Hedone).

Another thing that gets under my skin like Cayenne in the KY is when the icons all look like they were stamped out using the “Icon-O-Matic Craporama Picture Maker” and, again, this theme doesn’t follow the norm. I can actually TELL what button I am pushing… How many of you have had to run your trackball/trackpad OVER an icon to try and figure out what the little picture what trying to tell you like some kind of BlackBerry Indiana Jones? I see you with the hand up…

Now that you’ve spent the last week and a half reading this missive, the bottom line is this – if you are looking for a incredibly well-constructed “BlackBerry Couture” level theme that won’t turn your BB into an amnesia patient with psychotic tendencies (any more than the owner, mind you), this is “the one” (like Neo) for you.

SheldonBK says:

Looks terrific. I may be missing it (on this page or elsewhere) but I don’t see where the pre-defined icons are identified.

MissHarper404 says:

Great theme.
Its very appealing to the eye.
However… the missing date on the home screen makes me want a refund.
It’s amazing how something so simple was left off.
I’m hoping someone will reply and tell me how to turn my frown upside down…