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Dec

Android, Evolved - MIUI Beta #5 Coming December 31st. If You've Never Witnessed MIUI, This Is The One To See [VIDEO]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, News, Videos

The MIUI custom ROM has pushed the limits of creativity and customizability ever since it was unleashed a few months ago by Chinese developers, seemingly out of nowhere. At times, you can't even recognize that this is actually Android, which, I suppose, is actually a compliment to Android itself. If it didn't resemble the iPhone UI so much at times, I would have probably enjoyed it a lot more, but nevertheless, it's incredible to see what a smart group of talented people can come up with when they put their minds together.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics.

Dec

How To: Customize Your WidgetLocker Lockscreen

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Development, News

Many people who use custom themes or launchers are familiar with WidgetLocker. What many people don't realize, though, is that customizing WidgetLocker itself is a fairly straightforward task. Better still, there are plenty of existing customizations available, meaning that you have to do little more than shove your modified .PNG files into the APK.

_{Before / After}

Dalton Gore - better known as @colormeandroid - is responsible for gathering the individual mods and creating the guide. While the guide is a little too light on details for newbies, it does provide the luxury of choices - he provides instructions for 5 methods:

How to apply the images:

Personally I recommend using APKManager!

Dec

Fresh ROM v3.5 For EVO 4G Is Out With The Newest OTA, Radio, WiMAX, PRI And Improved Battery Life

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, EVO 4G (Supersonic), News, Sprint

It's no secret that my EVO 4G runs a custom ROM called Fresh - it is one of the best EVO ROMs, free of bloatware and full of tweaks that make it fast and efficient, while keeping stability rock solid. The developer, flipz, is very good - he's responsive to Sprint OTA updates and bug reports and usually sorts out any issues in a matter of days.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

Due to the recent EVO OTA (3.70.651.1), flipz just released the newest version of the ROM, currently 3.5.0.1, also containing the latest HTC kernel, which is said to do wonders to the battery life.

Dec

Android Devs To Manufacturers and Carriers: It's Not Rooting, It's Openness

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, News

The Android dev team has generally been assumed to have a passive stance on rooting and unlocking Android devices. That is, do it if you want - we won't stop you. And there's certainly evidence abound supporting this - Google's Nexus One could be unlocked via a simple ADB (Android Device Bridge) command: fastboot oem unlock. The same is true of the Nexus S.

Of course, it only makes sense - Google doesn't want to put any unnecessary barriers between Android developers and the open source OS, especially on developer phones.

But a new post on the official Android Developers Blog shows that team Android is a little more concerned with how their operating system is being used than some of us may have previously assumed.

Dec

CyanogenMod 6.1 Comes To The Dell Streak, Gives Us An Idea Of What 5-Inch Tabletphones Should Be

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Dell, Development, Froyo 2.2, News, Streak

Froyo for AT&T's version of the Dell Streak has certainly been long in the making - and it looks like it AT&T still isn't ready to release it - but users who simply can't wait any longer now have an option, albeit an unofficial one.

CyanogenMod 6.1 Alpha has just been ported over to the 5-inch tabletphone, and while the experience is said to be imperfect as it stands, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, and hardware acceleration are reportedly all in working order. Despite some minor issues, perhaps what you'll find at the download link below is also what the device should have with way back when in August...

Dec

Kite UI Is The Next Mind-Bending Android UI Concept, Looking For More Coders

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, News

Despite the frequency with which I check the XDA forums, I'd never heard of Kite UI before today. You may think that another UI alternative is the last thing Android needs, but give Kite UI a glance and you'll realize it's pretty mind-blowingly awesome... or at least, the concept video makes it look that way.

At the moment, the project is still in the process of being coded, but the team is looking for help. Yesterday, they released a teaser video that provides a brief demonstration of what they have in mind, and it looks damn impressive. Check it out:

Think you've got the coding know-how to help speed this on its way to reality?

Nov

Set Custom Ringtones And Vibrations For Different Contacts' Calls, Messages, And Emails Using WhoIsIt

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Development, News

WhoIsIt is a new twist on an old classic: setting custom ringtones for certain contacts (or groups of contacts). The twist is that you can assign custom ringtones and vibrations for Gmail, SMS, and MMS, on a per-contact basis. Not too shabby, especially for a free app. Other features include:

* Ability to setup VIP contacts for Gmail, SMS, and MMS
* Allow VIP contacts to ring / notify for Gmail, SMS, and MMS even when in Silent mode
* Announce incoming caller and SMS/MMS sender
* Define different volume / vibration profiles
* Widget for easily switching profiles
* Tasker plugin
* Disable LEDs on a per-profile basis
* Ringleader integration

At the moment, the app is still in public beta at version .92.

Nov

CyanogenMod 6.1 RC1 Now Available For T-Mobile G2/HTC Desire Z

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Desire Z (Vision), Development, G2 (Vision), HTC, News, T-Mobile

Exactly a week after getting rooted and only a few days after getting its very first CyanogenMod nightly release, HTC Desire Z and T-Mobile G2 owners can now upgrade to RC1 (release candidate 1), bringing it up to speed with the rest of the devices supported by the CM team. Apparently, these guys move at light speed.

G2/Desire Z owners should consider themselves lucky, as Cyanogen himself owns a G2 and maintains this CM branch - that's when you know you are in good hands.

Not much has changed in terms of installation instructions, so I'll jump right into it:

This version is a release candidate, but you will find it stable for everyday use.

Oct

How To: Create A Customized Android Phone 7 Theme - Part 2

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, News, Tips & Tutorials

Yesterday, I told you how to use pre-made icons to create a custom Android Phone 7 theme. Today, I'll walk you through how to create your own icons in Adobe Photoshop. I'm going to assume you have at least a basic understanding of Photoshop.

Estimated time required: 15 minutes for the first icon, and 2 minutes for each subsequent icon.

Difficulty: Low if you've used Photoshop before.

What You Need

Adobe Photoshop
The .PSD templates (included in the full ZIP, linked)

Getting Started

Rally The Troops

Before we begin making the icons, you'll need to make a list of what Apps you want to have immediate access to.

Oct

How To: Create A Customized Android Phone 7 Theme - Part 1

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: November 7th, 2010

About a month ago, XDA-Devs member newone757 created a really great theme based on the one used in Windows Phone 7 - hence the name, Android Phone 7. He was kind enough to post the image files, a template image, and a short how-to, as well. I've taken the personalization a step further and created icons to fit my needs, and now it's your turn.

This theme was made for, and written using, a high resolution device (EVO 4G - 800x480). It hasn't been tested at lower resolutions, although it should work. For lower resolutions, you may want to consider using fewer icons on each screen or manually resizing them in Photoshop once Part 2 is available.