Monday, May 2, 2011

Android Community

Android Community


ASUS Iconia Tab A500 Rooted [Plus a Step by Step Guide!]

Posted: 02 May 2011 10:19 AM PDT

It seems as though we’ve come to a point in this lovely Android timeline where it’s not if a device is going to get rooted, it’s not even when, it’s WHO will gain root. I suppose that’s a little bit of when in there too, but mostly who. In this case it’s monki-magic and his modified Gingerbreak apk (the original being made by Chainfire) – plus there’s a few more players, but we’ll get to that soon. What we’re rooting here is the ASUS A500 Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet and we’ve got a whole set of directions to offer up to you right here and now!

To attain root on this lovely new ASUS Android tablet, you’ve only to go through a few simple steps. It’s basically something you cannot possibly screw up, if you know what I mean. Stick with me through these written directions, then watch the awesome video that Francis Ford Coppola directed for us. Nice, huh?

[ALSO NOTE, BEFORE WE CONTINUE: Any and all of the following actions in this post are done of your own accord, Android Community and all its partners and workers and etc, especially Chris Burns, are not responsible for you breaking your device! That said, have fun!]

To begin, you must first own an ASUS Iconia Tab A500. This is vital. Then you may begin the following:

1. Download the modified Gingerbreak-v1.20.apk
2. Using either DDMS (found in your Android SDK tools) or microSD converter or card reader such as this, somehow or another get that apk file to your device. I’ve only ever tested it on the external SD, but you could test it elsewhere if you wish.

3. Turn your device to portrait mode and activate the orientation lock (located on your device right beside your volume dongle.) This is done because if you’ve got Gingerbreak open in landscape mode, it force quits. Not sure why, but it does.
4. Launch Gingerbreak-v1.20.apk
5. Open Gingerbreak app (the one you’ve just installed.)
6. Click the ROOT button.
7. Your device will load for a while, up to five minutes, and turn off and back on again. While this is happening, you may want to make sure your device is plugged in to a power supply and just go ahead and leave it alone until it’s completely rebooted and sitting there at the lock screen.
8. You’re rooted!

[VIDEO PROCESSING]

Now what?

Good question! First of all you should download Root Explorer. There’s essentially no better tool at the moment for looking through all your inner phone guts. From there, it’s up to you! There’s lots of different apps that work only in root, and you can do awesome little bits like apply a custom loading screen! Perhaps you’d like your very own Android Community boot animation?

Sounds awesome!

Also, there are a few more thanks to be given for this root situation, as written by monki-magic himself:

Thank you for your tools and time:
apkmanager; Daneshm90
apktool; brutall
Superuser honeycomb; j4mm3r
gingerbreak initial version ; Chainfire
The Android Exploid Crew for the exploit

Thanks you people for your help and input:
lou0611,dc13,maddler,nycbjr,seraphimserapis, it2steve, thor2002ro, rmgold & of course all of the team xda-developers

Special thanks to maddler for pointing us to the exploit
Chainfire for his apk version and work on gingerbreak

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HTC Thunderbolt update coming soon?

Posted: 02 May 2011 04:08 AM PDT

Earlier this month we reported that the HTC ThunderBolt was dropping the 4G connection to the Verizon network frequently. Verizon had said that an update was coming soon to fix the issue, and then we heard nothing more for a week or more. Apparently, that update is coming soon if a leaked ROM that turned up last week is any indication. The change log for the ROM shows a number of changes that are being made to the smartphone.

Among the changes are enhanced data connectivity to the 3G network. I would hope that enhanced connectivity also means that the dropping of 4G LTE signals is fixed too. However, nothing about 4G is mentioned in the change log. Other changes include SMS and MMS messages are now stored properly in the Messaging area, and tweaks were made to email.

The update also improves the timing for the device activation, and the Backup Assistant is displayed correctly in the Application menu now. Stability improvements to applications like Facebook, Kayak, Yahoo mail and more were made. The weather widget was also fixed to add an accurate location and GPS update loading was tweaked.

[via Android Central]

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Motorola says more Atrix-style laptop docks will be offered in future

Posted: 02 May 2011 03:33 AM PDT

The Motorola Atrix smartphone is a very cool device and one of the better Android smartphones on the market today. One of the things that makes the Atrix so cool is that the smartphone has that awesome laptop dock accessory that turns the smartphone into a fully fledged netbook that you can use for all sorts of work or play. If you want to know more about the Motorola Atrix, you can check out our full review of the smartphone and its accessories here.

That cool laptop dock for the Atrix is one of the compelling reasons for some people to buy the smartphone. That said we had mixed feelings about the dock and its functionality in some areas. Motorola has announced that it will be offering more of the laptop docks like the one for the Atrix in the future. We hope that it can make things work a bit better when the future docks finally come to market.

Often when companies like Motorola talk about “the future” they are looking far down the road. In this case, Motorola will be launching additional laptop docks in the second half of 2011 according to CEO Sanjay Jha. Jha also noted that the docks would cover an expanded range of devices and price points. Reading between the lines, I would expect a dock that works for just about all the high-end smartphones that is cheaper than the Atrix dock.

[via Engadget]

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Android Market offers more freebies [study]

Posted: 02 May 2011 12:29 AM PDT

According to a new study, the Android Market has passed Apple iTunes in offering more free applications for smartphones and tablets. Google’s Android Market offers 134,342 free applications while Apple has about 13,000 fewer. The study also predicts that within five months, the Android Market will be the largest applications store, period, followed by iTunes and the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace. What’s interesting is that Blackberry, which once dominated the smartphone category is now a distance 4th, only beating out Nokia’s Ovi Store.

And with the recent addition of the Amazon App Store for Android, Blackberry’s 4th place position is likely to slip even further. Amazon’s Android AppStore has fantastic features include one-click checkout, free app of the day, and a virtual Android interface to test drive apps. And Amazon is also sweetening the deal, as we mentioned last week, but offering $25 in AppStore credit with the purchase of select Android handsets.

There is one bright spot in the study for Blackberry though. Hitching a ride on the Android wave, well, sort of, Blackberry is predicted to join Google as mounting some serious competition in the tablet market. That makes Apple’s dominance in tablets short lived at about a year. And with 58% of the most popular publishers developing apps for non-Apple products, it’s easy to see why both companies have reason to smile.

[via Wireless Federation]

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Israeli company offers Kosher Smartphone

Posted: 01 May 2011 04:54 PM PDT

I admit, I’m not Jewish, much less Orthodox. But I do have several friends who observe the sabbath whom this new “smartphone” could be beneficial for. It’s called a “Kosher, Sin Free Smartphone,” and it’s being developed by a company in Israel. The phone provides no internet access, no Facebook, no text messaging or email.

No word on if it’s an Android handset or not. And frankly, I’m not sure what can be considered “smart” about it, since it has no connectivity outside of phone calls. And even then, if the user takes a call on the Sabbath (which is traditionally from about sunset on Friday evening until about sunset on Saturday night) the user will be socked a hefty $3.70 a minute. And that’s just the physical cost of violating the Sabbath!

But at least the phone comes “Orthodox friendly,” with Yiddish menus and traditional Jewish folk tune ringtones. Pity it has no app store for downloading prayer apps and the digital Torah. Now that could be useful. But at least it shows that a faith that’s around 4,000 years old is keeping up with the times!

[via DVice]

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House of the Rising XOOM [Fan-Made Video]

Posted: 01 May 2011 04:27 PM PDT

There comes a time in every contest’s life where an entry stands out so hard that I’ve GOT to post it up in the main feed. Here at Android Community we’ve got a XOOM giveaway going on where you enter by “liking” us on Facebook and posting on the wall. Each entry is considered equal, a random contest with random winners chosen, but this did not stop Android Community fan Jan Jorgensen from writing an epic re-telling of the House of the Rising Sun. Behold a masterpiece of Android fandom!

The lyrics to this song are listed below, but not before a bit of text from Jorgenson himself right about now. Jorgensen! Fantastic effort, my man!

You know, just writing a comment didn’t feel like enough to express the generosity of Android Community and Nvidia. So I present (very embarrassed, I might add), “House of the Rising Xoom.” Set to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. Forgive the sound/video/singing/playing quality. I am a hobbyist at best.

-Jan Jordensen

And the lyrics run thusly:

There is a site up on the web
Android Community
It is perfect for Android fans
And God, I know, that’s me

The only thing you need for speed
Is Nvidia Tegra 2
And if the Xoom’s not fast enough
Nothin’ will satisfy you

I’ve got one hand on my Droid 2
The other on my mouse
I may need to grow a third hand
If a Xoom comes to my house

So mothers, tell your children
To sing a song like me
Don’t just write about dual-core
Generosity

There is a site up on the web
Android Community
It is perfect for Android fans
And God, I know that’s me

Best song ever!

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XDA forum sets sights on HTC Sense to Samsung Galaxy Tab

Posted: 01 May 2011 03:07 PM PDT

It’s almost a digital Island of Doctor Moreau. You know, the book about the mad scientist who crosses humans with animals? Well, users of the Samsung Galaxy Tab are exploring porting the HTC Flyer ROM. The idea comes from the fact that both the Flyer and the Galaxy Tab have the same screen resolution (600 by 1024).

So what could be the motivation for this experiment? Well aside from giving the older tablet new life with a Gingerbread update, it’s also to see if the latest HTC Sense 3.0 UI will expand it’s usefulness. In fact, someone has already leaked the image dump.

And some are looking to perhaps use a Sense port for the Samsung Nexus S since it has the same basic hardware. And since several XDA Developers are rising to the challenge, it’s only a matter of time before a working ROM pops up. Meantime, users can always load up an HTCSense Theme with LauncherPro which XDA Developer Sys73R says emulates Sense pretty well. This is a project we’ll definitely want to keep an eye on.

[via XDA Developers Forum]

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