CGFebTSX04

The european Galaxy S got rooted two days after it was released. The Captivate is basically the same phone without a Front Facing Camera so I'm sure it'll be rooted if not by exactly the same method. Currently, I'm using a Google Ion (HTC Magic) running a modded Eclair ROM and follow the devs on Twitter who make the custom ROMS. Some of them are saying they're picking this phone up or a variant of it since it'll be the most powerful Android phone once it comes out.

Also, they're saying the phone will be $199 with a contract and only $349 without a contract! The reps at ATT have confirmed it too: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?ui...4787#topic_top Check out the 2nd page.

The only disadvantage of this variant that I can see is the lack of Front Facing Camera and it won't have sideloading due to it being on AT&T. However, you can bypass this in two ways, 1) Rooting the phone and installing a custom firmware or 2) installing apps via ADB and a USB cable. The lack of flash is not too important because it has a night mode which is just as good or better than flash with the exception that you're not moving while taking the pic:

http://samsunggalaxysforums.com/show...ighlight=night

I've been using Android since Cupcake so I know the ins and outs of Android pretty well and its only beginning to see its full potential. Should be an interesting time for Android. Oh and if you haven't seen the gaming potential of the Galaxy S/Captivate then you should watch it on the link below:

http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-feat...n-quake-3-duel

Doom878

Welcome to the thread

wrxyboy

iTrader: (2)

im excited to see where android goes now. I was happy with what i thought was a good winmo system. But after having the Evo for a week and learning all that i can with the android platform. I see foresee great things.

CGFebTSX04

I had a Cingular 8125 back in the day which I ran custom WinMo 6.1 then 6.5 ROMs. It was a good phone but I have to say when I made the jump to Android it was leaps beyond WinMo. You should learn how to root and then you can run some custom ROMs which will speed up your phone even more than it is now and even save some battery life with the undervolting kernels they have out there. I know Cyanogen's team is making CyanogenMod 6 (CM 6 Froyo) for a good amount of Android phones out there and right now they're in alpha testing.

Oh and if you haven't heard about Launcher Pro (free in the market), I suggest you take a look at it. Its a very customizable home app launcher and its supposedly faster than the default Sense UI app launcher. You can always revert back at any time if you don't like it.

http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.fede.launcher

wrxyboy

iTrader: (2)

rooted and custom rom are up and running. So is the free wifi tethering.

CGFebTSX04

Nice. Yeah the phone rooted can do so much. And you can find all the apps on Google easy.

Here's Some shots of my Google Ion running a custom Eclair ROM with Launcher Pro (All the buttons on the bottom are interchangeable ):

Eclair Lock Screen


Home Screen


App Drawer 2D vs. 3D

wrxyboy

iTrader: (2)

^^^ nice. I have yet to figure out what apps i really want. Right now i been downloading the apps that most people recommend. Not sure what more i want but its good that we have a thread here we can share.

CGFebTSX04

I have about 80 apps installed on my phone. If I had a more powerful phone I'd probably be around 100+ apps. lol. But I can make a short list of apps that I think are definitely useful. Appbrain.com is a good place to see what are the most popular apps being downloaded right now but I can recommend a few free and paid apps:


Appbrain (Syncs your apps with their website which I think is easier to navigate than the useless Android Market's website)

Appbrain Fast Web Install (Sounds exactly like what it says. It'll install apps from their website to your phone like they showed off at Google I/O without having to wait for Gingerbread) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmIMg...layer_embedded

Autostarts (Turn on, off, apps from autostarting at startup. Can speed up boot times a lot! Have to be rooted to use.)

Barcode Scanner (Scan QR Codes and UPC codes)

Better Terminal Pro (Run Terminal commands on the phone so you can modify it on the fly without the need of a computer and USB cable)

Bloo (Facebook alternative. The developer is making Bloo Too but hasn't said when its coming out. I like this way better than the official Facebook app but it doesn't have a widget yet. http://fbandroid.wordpress.com)

Cachemate (Clears out cache of the browser, apps, etc. to speed up the phone every now and then. Have to be rooted to use.)

Camera 360 Pro (Has image stabilization and some LOMO effects)

Discovery channel

Engadget

Fring (For Skype and videoconferencing. If you have a Gizmo5 account +
Google Voice account you can use it for unlimited incoming calls via SIP.)

Google Goggles

Google Sky (I use this to show off the phone to friends. lol.)

Google Voice (Unlimited texting and free voicemail transcription.)

Handcent SMS (The best SMS utility in my opinion)

mSpot (Streams your iTunes music to your phone via 3G, Wifi, etc.)

LauncherPro Beta (Alternative Home app)

League Pass (Live streaming of NBA games (away teams) due to blackout restrictions. They haven't hacked the location verification yet.)

Linpack (Benchmark your phone)

Neocore (Benchmark your graphics card)

NitroDesk Exchange for Android (Awesome for Exchange e-mails. Very flexible and easy to set up.)

NBA GameTime

PDANet (Full USB Tethering if you can't or don't have root.)

Pkt Auctions eBay (This is miles better than the official eBay app)

Quadrant (Another phone benchmark app)

PhoneMyPC, RemoteVNC, or RemoteRDP (access your PC from your phone)

Root Explorer (File Manager to move files around and install apps. Need root to modify system apps but will work without it.)

Shazam

Skyfire

SlingPlayer Mobile

Swype

Titanium Backup Pro (Get the license, it makes reinstalling apps so much easier when changing roms)

Touiteur (Twitter client)

Wifi Analyzer (Helps you diagnose your wifi router to see if there's any channel traffic from other routers around your area)

XDA

Vlingo (Voice command app thats a lot better than the stock voice recognition program in Android)

Yelp



Like I said, not all of these are free but if you use google you can find them easily. Just add apk if you catch my drift :wink:.


Task killers aren't recommended for the newer Android phones because ever since Eclair, Android automatically closes apps that aren't being used when it needs the free RAM. It likes to harvest apps to the free RAM but that doesn't necessarily mean the app is running. Its just sitting their idle waiting to be launched. So you won't get any benefit with one. It may actually make the phone more unstable. I would use it only to close apps that are giving you a hard time. Other than that, use it sparingly if at all.

Dr. Colorado

Interesting. When I loaded Open Advanced Task Killer it significantly increased my battery life.

WRXY, I turned off 4G and I guess with the uses I have for the phone (texting, phone, Epocrates, ESPNews) have also increased battery life without compromising speed.

I believe there may be some draining of power as the Evo constantly searches for 4G and noticed that at least where I live there is constant fluctuation between 4G and 3G.

Skyfire is great, thanks for the heads up

What do you guys think of the free Antivirus download from the Market? Gimmicky or useful?

CGFebTSX04

If the task killers are working for you then keep using them. For the most part, its actually using up more battery every time you kill the apps than letting them idle. But you can't argue with results if thats what you're seeing. Personally, I use one on my phone but only because I have very limited RAM 128 vs. the Evo's 512 MB. But if your phone becomes unstable, you know why.

Check out the HTC Evo Facebook page on how to save some battery under the Discussion tab: http://www.facebook.com/evophone?ref=ts
Yes, leaving 4G, GPS, Bluetooth, and syncing on will drain battery really fast. Use them only when needed. Also, cycle your battery. There is a discussion in the Facebook on how to do it. A lot of people are getting a lot better battery life after doing it.

Finally, yes those antivirus apps are a gimmick. They do nothing and are developed by antivirus companies hence they make you think you 'need' them. Also, I'm not sure if you guys know this already, but, the Android Market allows you to try apps for 24 hrs. If you don't like the app, get a refund. Just make sure you return it within 24 hrs. Just in case you were curious about an app.

Dr. Colorado

^Thanks for the info!

CGFebTSX04

I don't think I'm allowed to post where I find paid apps besides searching but if you'd like to know, PM me.

If the moderators think this is against the rules, please let me know and delete this message. Thanks.

wrxyboy

iTrader: (2)

Rick i too am having a hard time holding a 4g signal so i turn it off unless i know im going to be at a place that has a good 4g signal. One more thing that i know which has really helped save my battery was to root (hack) the phone and load a custom rom (os) that has alot of the sprint bloatware taken out. Im able to go about 12 hours with moderate to heavy use. I wish the phone was usb mini instead of usb micro. I have so much chargers from previous htc phones that used the usb mini that i could use. But i did just buy (6) 6' usb micro cables so i can keep one in all the usually places and have extra if i need them.

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the hit baack bro! I know ur busy... this thead just kinda blew up and I got lost in the mix for a minute... just been so worn out... combo of heavy food, too little sleep, too much rain and humidity...
calgon, take me awaaaaaaay!

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

OK, we now have an official Android dude on board, this should be really good... I already like how the info is comming down the pipe qwik... If i dont get an AD phone soon, I might have to leave this thread...

Thanks for joining up CG!!!

CGFebTSX04

Haha. Yeah, I usually lurk in the Ramblings but I love tech stuff. My girlfriend has a 3GS and the phone's UI is smooth but its so boring and bland. I think I'll stop there before this becomes a iPhone vs. Android thread.

But seriously, you won't be disappointed in it when you try it out. Yes there is a learning curve but what phone doesn't? In actuality, I think Android at its current state is probably the most user friendly it has gotten and even more so with the Sense UI by HTC. I remember back in the Cupcake days everything was hidden behind a menu, etc. The Evo 4G is an amazing phone and if I wasn't stuck on AT&T I'd be all over that phone. Although, I have to say the Samsung Galaxy S Pro is slowly winning me over. That phone is gonna be a beast.

Hummingbird > Snapdragon. Samsung's Hummingbird processor is actually the same processor in the iPhone 4 but clocked at 1 GHz and in 45 nm meaning its more efficient power wise. The PowerVR-SGX450 is a 45nm version of the iPhone's PowerVR-SGX535 so once again, its power efficient and pushing out the same amount of polygons if not more. Samsung isn't playing around with their upcoming phone.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon Adreno is no match to the PowerVR-SGX450 thats why if you see the gaming comparisons, Samsung wipes the floor on the Nexus One, Evo and all other Snapdragon phones which use the Adreno. The Droid X is running a TI OMAP 3630 processor which is comparable to the Hummingbird but it will be running a PowerVR-SGX30 for the GPU so its not too far behind. If I had to rate the phones now in terms of pure performance, it would go like this:

Samsing Galaxy S > Droid X > Evo = Nexus One = Desire

Android is making some great strides and its accelerating fast. Froyo is supposed to come out soon to the other phones and as fast as the phones are right now, they're only gonna get faster as Google implemented JIT into Froyo which will allow it to interpret code 4-5x faster than it currently does! Of course this won't be for every app but it will speed up the whole experience overall.

Doom878

Hah don't worry I have a 3GS and recognize the power of the android side

CGFebTSX04

Don't know why I never saw this thread at XDA until now but here's a list of some awesome apps for Android being updated every now and then:


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=698851


Definitely take a look at their list to see some cool apps and games for Android.

Dr. Colorado

Gesture Search is siiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!

Free App allows me to go to contacts, use the touchscreen to scroll the first letter of the name, i.e. "J" and then list of contacts starting with J comes up. Can scroll 2nd letter in name, etc. Touch contact to dial #.

CGFebTSX04

I hear TiKL is another awesome app. It makes the phone act like a Nextel phone with the Push to Walkie Talkie feature. It doesn't use any minutes either since everything is through 3G or 4G and its instantaneous. Haven't been able to test this out cause I'm actually out of the country at the moment.

http://www.androidtapp.com/tikl-touch-to-talk-ptt/


Also, for those who are using SkyFire. I don't know if you already know this, but, you can actually use SkyFire to watch streams on sites that do TV streaming via flash. It encodes the media on the fly so you don't need Froyo to watch flash videos. So let's say you wanted to watch the World Cup on your phone, you can use SkyFire to encode the stream live.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/06...android-phone/

mcflyguy24

Got my HTC Aria yesterday day afternoon and have been playing with it and was browsing Android forums for hours last night. All I got to say is DAMN so glad I finally got a real phone and I amazed at where Android is going and how much phones can do now. Someone on XDA dev already released a root for my mid-range phone which I really wasn't expecting. I'll have to learn how to get it on the phone so that I can get rid of the ATT crap and be able to sideload. Anyhow glad we have this thread here

Also thanks for all the info you've provided so far CGFebTSX04!

mcflyguy24

Works great! This is now what I am using every time I want to call someone.

CGFebTSX04

Android is a different beast. It basically becomes whatever time you want to put into it. If you want it to be basic, it can stay basic. If you want it to be advanced, you can make it advanced. Thats what I love about it. When I first got my phone, I automatically rooted it and have never ran a stock ROM on my phone ever. lol.

I don't know why AT&T is crippling their phones but I guess its to make the iPhone look good. From what I remember, they're using the same method they used to root the MT3G Slide. Eugene and Wesgarner who made the root went through a lot of different methods to get that one to work. lol.


You can sideload/install non market apps without the need of root via ADB. Read the section that says "How to Non-Market .Apk Application on Google Android G1 Phone":

http://www.blogsdna.com/1939/how-to-...d-g1-phone.htm

Basically, you will need to install the Android SDK first. You will need this if you're gonna root so might as well learn how to install and use it. You run everything through the terminal or command prompt (depending on whether you have a Mac or Windows) via ADB commands. You can install, uninstall, enter shell via ADB.

lightjak_tsx

CG2PROJECT

A MotoDroid user here.

Rooted Froyo 2.2 - BuglessBeast [Stable] ROM FRF84B
OC'd with ChevyNo1's Ultra Low Voltage Kernel 1.25 GHz
C_01.43.01P Baseband
Smoked Theme with LauncherPro
1580 Quadrant Benchmark Score

I LOVE MY DROID.

Hoping to dual boot Ubuntu next month or so.

mcflyguy24

Ubuntu has a phone OS? I have been so in the dark these days. Shit's crazy.

CGFebTSX04

Its actually full ubuntu on the phone. lol. Android is Linux based so Ubuntu just needs to be compiled for the phone to run.

http://www.slashgear.com/dual-bootin...video-0893348/

mcflyguy24

Jeezus that's crazy. So like the whole desktop environment and everything would be on the phone? I just saw that people are running android apps on ubuntu linux computers now. I think this is going to make netbooks take off in a new direction since everything uses such little resources to work. I know literally nothing about linux, but am thinking about trying it soon in dual-boot with win7. Ubuntu looks sexy as hell with that cube thing on the desktop.

mcflyguy24

Downloading root right now..dun dun dun. Crazy this phone was released on Sunday and rooted by Tues the same week...now I just gotta learn how to do this properly without fucking things up.

CGFebTSX04

Yeah. If you watched the vid to the end, anything that can run on Ubuntu can run on it. Think wifi packet sniffers and WPA/WEP crackers, essentially a mobile hacking unit if thats what you want plus more. He said his goal is to allow the phones to become web servers in the future using Ubuntu on them. So instead of building towers to run a web server you can run it all from your phone. Pretty cool idea.

CGFebTSX04

Here's a good guide on how to install the Android SDK and use ADB:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=532719

Very helpful and it will help you understand what the commands mean and how to use ADB to its full potential. You might want to read this before rooting if you haven't already.

mcflyguy24

My god. I think the implications for massive crime could be there as well. But damn you could build your own cell phone based intranet for yourself and a few buddies too if you wanted. Pretty crazy..

mcflyguy24

Thanks have been looking all over that site for info on how to actually use ADB now that I got the SDK and the root I need. I'm not gonna try this tonight, but prob by the end of the week once I'm totally sure I understand what I am doing. I've only had the phone a day and don't want to screw it up, will def back up everything in the original rom first too.

CGFebTSX04

Yeah I would take it one step at a time. For now I think you should at least install ADB and get it running. That's usually the hardest part actually. The rest is just dragging files and hitting the update button. And installing ADB on your computer/laptop cant mess up your phone. Maybe your computer/laptop. jk. lol.

mcflyguy24

Will do that and start playing around with the switches, ect. There is def a learning curve I must overcome before I'm totally comfortable with rooting my phone. I want to be able to tether for free and sideload apps though damnit! I think I'm actually more upset knowing that AT&T gimped my phone (like they do to everything) that anything else and want revenge.

CGFebTSX04

I have one more for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVjoKvy-YZg

Watch how he roots his phone. The method used to root the MT3G Slide is the same method for the Aria. The only differences will be the file used. The vid will help you get an idea of how to root the phone.

CGFebTSX04

Oh one last thing. I noticed you said you wanted to tether with your phone. Assuming you still have the unlimited plan, you can do it with PDANet without having root. The only limitation would be that it can only be done via USB tethering. To do wifi tethering you need root.

AT&T actually blocked the app from showing in the market. That's why you have to trick the phone. Remove your sim card and connect to the market via wifi and search for PDANet. It should show up now. Download and install it. Then place your AT&T sim card back in. It should remain installed. When you're done with that, download the client on to your computer:

http://www.junefabrics.com/android/download.php

Follow the setup guide and it should install some USB drivers for the phone. You should be able to tether now.

PDANet is free for a trial period then you'll have to pay for a license if you want to surf websites with https. If you don't surf any websites with https, then the free version will suffice.

Of course this is only as a means until you root when you can do a full wireless tether without limitations. I think I've posted enough for the day. lol.

CGFebTSX04

Just got Froyo! Still in pre-release phase but Cyanogen just released his almost stable build last night. Will be playing with it for the next couple of days to run it through its paces.

Here it is at first boot:


For the Evo guys, Cyanogen just got his Evo and should be releasing his Froyo for the phone soon. His main phones are the Nexus One, MyTouch 3G and Dream so they get priority.

CGFebTSX04

Wow. Google is really trying to bridge the mobile world with the cloud. So many small changes in Froyo but they all put everythng into the cloud. They even have little prompts on how to do things like they should've done before. I guess its becoming more user friendly.


The New Search Widget: It asks you if you want it to sync with your search history on your desktop!


App Drawer (ADW.Launcher default vs. Galaxy S/iPhone Style):


New Market:


I wanted to try the Chrome to Phone feature but they said its broken in this build. Guess I'll try it when they get it done.

mcflyguy24

Thanks for the youtube link. The direction that guy was using in the video are the same ones I got from the xda developers forum. I've got all the files I need now to do this now. Just need to grow some.