Thank you so so much, sucks being a noob at something. Rooting is the way to go then, guess I just read some sites that made it seem terribly bad. I remember first unlocking iPhones when they were introduced and you could severely screw it up but it didn't stop me so why should it now ha

Yeah the Transformer is awesome. Been using the Revolver ROM with Clemsyn Kernel and have it overclocked to 1.4 GHz. Its so stable at that speed. I haven't tried 1.7 yet just because I don't see the need for that speed yet. The latest updates ASUS pushed have been great for the Transformer. GPU acceleration has greatly improved since 3.1 and I'm wondering how much better it can get with ICS. Supposedly, ASUS will be sending out the update right after Christmas and I think they'll deliver as their updates have been on point so far.

The first thing I always do when I get an Android device is root it immediately. The easier it is to root, the more likely it'll have a huge dev following. Flashing custom ROMs gets addicting as well. After a while, you get the hang of it and you can practically have a new ROM each day with the proper apps and backups. It makes you feel like you have new phone each time. lol. Ever since buildbot went down for Cyanogenmod I've been flashing all these other ROMs and so far I keep coming back to Ice Cream Sandwich. Not sure what it is with ICS but its not the fastest ROM, its just more cohesive. Can't explain it yet. lol.


With all of that said, Motorola locking bootloaders is a big issue when it comes to custom ROMs. So you might want to consider other manufacturers that don't lock their bootloaders if you really want to see the true potential of rooting and custom ROMs such as the Nexus phones. XDA guys have found ways around the locked bootloaders but it really does dampen the whole experience until they can fully unlock the bootloaders. Motorola did say they were going to allow bootloader unlocking by late this year but I'm guessing they're gonna push that as late as they can. lol.

Galaxy Nexus pre-orders starting at 12AM tonight?

:sad:

^Lol. It'll come. Everyone is saying December 8-9th is looking like the release date. Verizon is probably still recovering from the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and don't want to take any thunder away from that. They also probably didn't announce it earlier because they would have to put it on sale as well.

Google Maps just got updated with Indoor Google Maps for Airports, Malls, etc:

http://youtu.be/P42INh3QATs

Source: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/...s-mapping.html

I wonder how well GPS works inside certain indoor buildings though. I know this feature would've helped a lot when I was traveling to get to my connecting flights so I could find the fastest way to my next gate.

Been waiting for two months for an upgrade. Been eligible since beginning of October. Sucks they won't even let us know when!

Looks like P3Droid just got a confirmation date. He's pretty legit and has had the Verizon Galaxy Nexus for a while now:

https://twitter.com/#!/P3Droid/statu...14727915175936

https://twitter.com/#!/P3Droid/statu...27981852917760


The first quote is in Epoch/Unix code which translates to a 12/8 release date for Verizon. Pre-orders are still being discussed and may or may not happen. With that said, its not official until Verizon announces it but it looks like any time now with all the press shots being leaked from their stores.

Carrier IQ :run: Looks like this app comes installed on a bunch of phones. It logs all your keystrokes.
<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T17XQI_AYNo?version=3&feature=player_detailpage">< param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T17XQI_AYNo?version=3&feature=player_detailpage" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>

^Yup. Another reason to root and install custom ROMs. lol.


For the people that must stay on stock ROMs, check out TrevE's (same guy who made the video above) CIQ blocker app:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...&postcount=109


Most of the features do require root and a $0.99 donation for a key is needed to get the full features (i.e. completely block out the logging short of installing a custom ROM).

An easier to follow guide on how to remove CIQ. Note that not all phones have CIQ installed. Custom ROMS definitely don't have it as they're usually barebones already:

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/12...er-iq-rootkit/

^ they need to find the people DIRECTLY responsbile for that application being installed on end user headsets and bring them up on wiretapping charges...

I hope they do. Here's an article trying to lead that way. Hopefully, more news organization will pick it up. They tried to shut TrevE down with a cease and desist the first time around and I'm glad he sought after the EFF's assistance to get out of that one instead of backing down like most people would've done:


http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygree...ions-of-cases/

wow watching that video series by Trevor shows that that software LOGS EVERYTHING that the phone does and I do mean EVERYTHING.....

:wtfsick:

MIUI Ice Cream Sandwich Preview:

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7...znug2df.th.jpg http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/4...s4xsa3x.th.jpg http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/5...lqkloq7.th.jpg http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/124...2dqlwl8.th.jpg http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/8...nzhehke.th.jpg http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/4...iiu4in5.th.jpg


Source: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...3693779&type=1

Doesn't look too different. The music player still looks good. I guess for the most part, most changes will be in the frameworks.

Wow that is definitely not cool

Things like this make me want the Samsung Galaxy Nexus Prime even more. I have always wanted a phone specific car dock so I can hard wire in a charger in my car. Especially now that I have hands free built into my car as well.

http://cdn.androidcentral.com/sites/...s-car-dock.jpg

More accessories shown here.
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsun...-images-videos

Now only thing is they better fit the Verizon version since it is slightly thicker or I will be pissed. That will be like the same way Verizon users got screwed on HTC accessories with the 6800, TouchPro, and TouchPro2 phone because the Verizon version was slightly different.

The XDA guys have said the thickness difference is very minimal (~0.5 mm). So much so that most cases are being built using dimensions of the LTE version and fit in the GSM version which is thinner without any issues.

http://youtu.be/GvTXe9XlRV0

The car dock looks very useful but the other ones not so much. What's surprising to me is that audio is being outputted through the 3 prongs? If so, that's pretty cool. Also, I don't understand why the Horizontal dock has no HDMI output and is rotated the wrong way while the HDMI docking station is Vertical and outputs HDMI which will mainly used in landscape mode. :confused: Also because its rotated the wrong way, I don't know how most apps will react to the rotation as most games and media players are coded to rotate only 90 degrees and not 180 degrees.

Looks like some Google employees are starting to receive Ice Cream Sandwich for the Nexus S:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/12...ing-has-begun/

Verizon needs to release the Galaxy Nexus already so we can get a proper drop for the Nexus S from Google. They most likely won't release the Nexus S ICS until after the Galaxy Nexus gets some time with it.

:yum:

Ive run the alpha builds and theyre pretty smooth. Cant wait for the CM9 nightlies to start.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,6557172.story

;aokjfe;oaIefj

stupid google!! Give it to me!!!

Read
 

Good article posted by Joshua Topolsky

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...2CO_story.html

And I agree with the things he says and that google needs to put a tighter leash on Android to provide a better experience for all their phones. Right now I would say only a handful of phones actually offer a true Android experience.

There's a new version of Swype and I'm having problems updating, it won't even let me use the old version. So, I have no Swype at all. Says "error parsing package" :scratch:

Have you removed the old version then installed the new one?

So... what exactly is a "true Android experience", a rooted Android device? If so, then I'm not sure that "true Android experience" is the phrase I would use. In the hands of a typical end user the benefits of rooting your phone are minimal. Or is "true Android experience" something else?

The Android or Google Experience phones are those running vanilla Android. The Nexus phones, the G1....

Non Android/Google Experience phones run Motoblur, Sense, Touchwiz and so on.

This ^ Knightrider

First and foremost we dong get bloated software that can slow down phones. We dont get a shitload of apps that we can't uninstall. And well especially for ICS google worked hard in keeping a consistency, but that may be destroyed with third party launchers and such.

I agree, but up until ICS, Android didn't appeal to the civilian user. ICS is almost there, and a big huge step, but I think once they refine that into the next version of Android OS, some manufacturers will still put their own skins on it.

The latest Motoblur skin on Gingerbread actually works better than stock Gingerbread and resembles some of the awesome aesthetics found on ICS.

I still can't decide what new phone I want between the Rezound and Nexus. Anyone else still on this debate? Yes I know it is hard to compare with one not even being out.

I wish I could get HTC widgets on bare ICS and then I would be happy. I love the HTC Weather app from Sense 3.5.

I will also be interested to see how improved ICS menus are cause I have always used HTC devices in which sense goes far into the menus. I really want a car dock though and the larger screen but the camera is concerning. If the 5mp cam is as good as my current 8mp cam in my Thunderbolt then I will be happy. Don't need an upgrade just don't want a down grade.

If you aren't into modding and don't care so much about getting updates right away, get the Rezound. I hear the Rezound's display is amazing mainly due to its 4.3" screen while still packing a 720p display. However, the weather and calendar widgets are easily replaceable with apps in the market that have skins to look fairly similar and arguably more functional and more customizable than the widgets that come with Sense:

https://market.android.com/details?i...bHdpZGdldHMiXQ..

https://market.android.com/details?i...N5d2lkZ2V0cyJd

https://market.android.com/details?i...GR3aWRnZXRzIl0.

https://market.android.com/details?i...2V0cy5jb3JlIl0.

https://market.android.com/details?i...Y2FsZW5kYXIiXQ..

^Those are just some examples. LauncherPro has some widgets that are visually the same thing as the Sense Widgets as well. There are also lockscreen and theme replacements in the market to make your phone look like Sense as well in the market that come very close short of porting a Sense ROM.



With all of that said, I would still recommend the Nexus. It will get the updates first and you know it'll have a big backing by XDA if Google stops supporting it. The Rezound has a good following since its made by HTC but it won't have support like the Nexus phones from XDA. If you still want Sense in the future, the Nexus phones usually get ports of the Sense Roms even though they weren't made for them. Its a matter of when not if as all Nexus phones and other phones have a variant of Sense ported to them so long as their bootloader is unlocked. Sense has also become a big bloated skin. Its the biggest one out of all the skins consuming a lot of RAM that you would normally get on another phone and HTC hasn't been prioritizing battery life with all of that bloat.

I've also been using ICS for a little more than a week (its an alpha but almost everything works, missing Video recording and a few other things) and Gingerbread just feels old every time I go back to it. A lot of the things skins have filled in for end users has been gapped by ICS. I think that most skins will actually look the same as they do now and just incorporate the ICS framework much like the MIUI leaks have shown. :2cents:

One last thing, you can "rent" a Rezound now and return it by January 15th if you want to try it out. I think you just pay a $35 restocking fee to switch phones. The Nexus is supposed to drop on the 8th. They're saying pre-orders are coming on the 6th but nothing confirmed yet.

Get the Nexus. I don't like Samsung but given the choice between Rezound and Nexus, I'd get the Nexus 10 out of 10 times.


The Nexus has a cool car dock and it's camera is definitely better than the Thunderbolt's.

Nexus Packaging for Verizon? Seems like its coming any time now.

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/05...ging-pictured/

Local verizon store told me they would be in stock and available to purchase on the 9th. He even brought me out some cases to show me for size reference.

Yeah I am already actually using some of those widgets now as I am currently running LauncherPro on my Thunderbolt. The only widget I liked on my friends Thunderbolt with custom 3.0 sense rom was the inside the weather app with its graphs and charts it had but it isn't a huge loss especially if the Nexus phones eventually do get Sense roms I can play with.

The I like the fact the buttons are not included with the Rezound cause it means you get to use all of the screen resolution. Any chance the buttons with hide away while using things like the web browser and watching movies on the Nexus Prime?

I do get that Sense is becoming bloated and a huge memory hog. I can't believe how long it takes to boot my Thunderbolt compared to my friends X2. His is like 20 seconds top and mine seems like well over a minute to boot.


Well if that turns out true I will probably pick it up on Thursday but it will be my first non HTC phone in over 6 years.

The car dock is my main selling point actually right now. I just want to get it and hard wire it in the car and put the phone in the left bottom corner of my windshield and call it a day. Do all my calling through the navigation system in the car.

Well going to go see if they have the Rezound at my local store so I can play with it since I am leaving work. Hopefully I won't be tempted to take it home with they do.

The buttons have three states: 1) Always visible, 2) Fade into small gray circles, 3) Disappear and allow full screen to be used. The third state is limited to certain apps at the moment, YouTube and Google Videos I believe. Otherwise, the buttons are in the first or second state. I'm sure as apps get optimized for ICS, those buttons will become more and more in the third state. There are apps that allow you to hide the status bar in Honeycomb to make full use of the screen and I wouldn't be surprised if they make one for ICS.

The Meizu phone is finally being released on January 1st with some really nice specs:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/05/d...uary-1st-with/

Specs:

1.4 GHz Dual Core Exynos processor (Slightly faster than the Galaxy S II)
1 GB of RAM
4.0" 960x640 resolution (292 PPI)
8 MP f/2.2 lens rear camera
0.3 MP front camera
Pentaband 3G
$470 Unlocked


For the price and the specs, this is a pretty good price. Since its a Pentaband phone, it'll work on AT&T and T-Mobile.

Google wallet not gonna be on the verizon galaxy nexus. Shouldnt be a surprise since Verizon, Tmobile and ATT are supposed to create their own, Isis or something like that. But I'm sure xda people will get it working.