05
Sep
luminescence

Exclusive: Samsung Fascinate Live Wallpapers Leaked, Available For Download

Posted by in Applications, Development, Exclusives, Fascinate, News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless
Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Today, Jamezelle and I ripped apart the leaked system dump from the yet-to-be-released Verizon Samsung Fascinate and patched together six live wallpapers that are not present on other Galaxy S devices.

Like the previous Galaxy S live wallpapers, these must be flashed from a custom recovery, which also means you need to be rooted.

Download the zip below and flash it through your recovery menu like any other flashable zip. Depending on your device, the flashing process may take a minute, so just sit back, relax, and let your phone do its thing.

Do NOT try to unpack the zip and install the .apks manually - they rely on a special library packaged within the update.

30
Aug
image

Motorola Charm Rooted Via Universal Androot

Posted by in CHARM, Development, News

Good news for the 12 people who have managed to get a Motorola Charm - Universal Androot works perfectly well. For the uninitiated, Universal Androot is exactly what it sounds like: an app that can root a whole slew of Android devices (disclaimer: it doesn't unlock /system on all of them, though). Instructions are pretty simple:

  1. Download the latest version of the program from this XDA post to your computer.
  2. Copy the file to your SD card.
  3. Find and install it with your file browser of choice (I choose Android Mate in the market, or you can use Astro). Don’t forget that this ability is only enabled if you check the Settings > Applications > Unknown sources option.

23
Aug

[EXCLUSIVE] Report: [UPDATED] Google's Android Market License Verification Easily Circumvented, Will Not Stop Pirates

Posted by in Development, Exclusives, Videos
Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

[Update: 8/24/10 @ 7:45 PM EST by Aaron] Tim Bray responded to Justin's article, but seems to have misunderstood the goal. Thus, Justin has written a follow-up article here.

Preface

This article was not written to teach people how to pirate or ridicule Google's Android License Verification Library (LVL) that handles communication with Google's Android Market Licensing Service.

I am very much against piracy, and very much pro-Google. I have spent more time researching copy protection for my applications than development of the applications themselves.

I would like to thank:

  • the author of Star Hunt for allowing me to use his application in my demo video
  • the author of Tasker for allowing me to use his application, which has the best implementation of LVL I found, in this article

Both of these applications are available in the market - I highly suggest you give them a try.

14
Aug

EXCLUSIVE: enTourage Releases Kernel Source For The eDGe - AndroidPolice & Co Release Root Instructions

Posted by in Development, eDGe, enTourage, Exclusives, Tips & Tutorials, Videos
Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Those of you who actually managed to get your hands on an enTourage eDGe dualbook ebook reader/tablet/notepad device thingy (it's been in low supply lately) and have been waiting for it to be rooted just got your wish. Colin O'Dell and myself with the help of Sean and Jamezelle were able to root the eDGe, with full adb access.

How We Did It

No exploit or hack was needed. We were able to decipher the developer's debug password and use it to enable adb, which just so happens to be running as root.

What It Achieves

This root finally opens the eDGe to developers, enabling the debug bridge and allowing root apps to be used.

26
May
sysadmin-mug

New Series: SysAdmin Apps

Posted by in Applications, Tips & Tutorials

As a System Administrator (sysadmin), the first class of applications I look for whenever I buy a new smartphone are those which can help me do my job when I’m not sitting at a computer, or at least keep an eye on things.

tux

I had started working on an article about sysadmin apps, but as I began writing, the article grew too long to be practical, so we decided today to split it into pieces, and publish it as a series of articles, featuring one application, or creative way to use an Android-powered device which can make the life of a System Administrator a little easier.

20
May
Image courtesy of http://androidheadlines.com/

EXCLUSIVE: Unofficially Confirmed Froyo Features, Post-Day-1 Of Google I/O [Google I/O Blitz Coverage, Day 1]

Posted by in Exclusives, News
Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

What a day this has been at the Google I/O!

I have run around and talked to numerous extremely interesting people, including Googlers who have hinted (nothing is official until it's announced tomorrow and, of course, they could be trying to trick us) and pretty much unofficially confirmed some very interesting details about Android 2.2, also known as Froyo.

Performance

First up, I have confirmed that JIT will definitely be included. As we already broke earlier, simple benchmarks show a 450% improvement in speed over Android 2.1 Eclair, due to JIT.

But this is just the beginning. JIT can't help performance everywhere and in some situations has no effect at all, such as I/O operations or while running native code.

17
May
image

Exclusive: Could These Features Be Coming To The Next-Next Generation Of Android Market? [Leaked Rumors]

Posted by in Exclusives, News
Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

We get a lot of tips and leaks in our tips@androidpolice.com email (which I encourage you to use if you want to alert us of any unreleased news). Some of these leaks are pure conjectures, some make sense but have no foundation or proof, and some… some sound pretty credible.

Today, we have one of those leaks, and even though there is no proof that this information is true, I have reasons to believe that what the source is saying is not a lie.

The Leak

In 2 days, on May 19th-20th, the long-awaited Google I/O conference is going to be commencing in San Francisco, with all kinds of announcements about the future of Android expected, such as the details of Android 2.2 FroYo, Flash 10.1 on Android, FroYo speed improvements, wireless tethering, and Android Market updates.

13
May
EXCLUSIVE: More Information And Pictures Of Android 2.2 Froyo's Tether And Built-in WiFi Access Point/Mobile Hotspot Capabilities

EXCLUSIVE: More Information And Pictures Of Android 2.2 Froyo's Tether And Built-in WiFi Access Point/Mobile Hotspot Capabilities

Posted by in Exclusives, News
Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Yesterday we brought you exclusive benchmarks showing the amazing speedups achieved by the Android team in Froyo 2.2, and today we're back with some more juicy info.

Today, TechCrunch finally broke the news of the USB Tether and WiFi Access point/mobile hotspot capabilities, built right into the core of Android 2.2 Froyo.

TechCrunch posted 2 pictures, which some claimed could be fake, and provided no further information.

I am here to tell you they are not fake, and to provide more exclusive pictures obtained by AndroidPolice.com.

I can also confirm that testing the WiFi AP/mobile hotspot feature was successful, with a couple of WiFi enabled devices hooked up to the said access point running on Froyo and all able to access the Internet just fine.

11
May
EXCLUSIVE: AndroidPolice.com's Nexus One Is Running Android 2.2 Froyo. How Fast Is It Compared To 2.1? Oh, Only About 450% Faster

EXCLUSIVE: AndroidPolice.com's Nexus One Is Running Android 2.2 Froyo. How Fast Is It Compared To 2.1? Oh, Only About 450% Faster

Posted by in Exclusives, HTC, News, Nexus One (Passion)
Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Upcoming Frozen Goodness

Folks, we have a Nexus One. We also have Froyo. In fact, we have the two mixed together in the most delicious frozen-yogurty Android 2.2 kind of way you can imagine.

Not much has been officially released by Google about Android 2.2 - probably less than any other release to date. We all have a hunch about some new features but Google wouldn't officially confirm or deny any of them, other than the one about Flash 10.1.

They're saving it for May 19th-20th, and we're OK with that.

However, one of our team members has been playing with a Nexus One running Froyo for about a week now, getting more and more visibly excited every day.

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