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May

Android 4.2.2 ROM Leaked For The International Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4 Goodies Contained Within

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Android OS, Galaxy S III, Jelly Bean 4.2, News, Samsung

Good morning, Galaxy S III users. Want to start off your week with a spiffy new software build? Then the folks at SamMobile are happy to oblige. They've got their hot hands on a leaked build of the Android 4.2.2 (JDQ39) update for the S III, packing the standard Jelly Bean 4.2 upgrades and more than a few features back-ported from the newer Galaxy S4. The flashable ROM posted to the site isn't exactly official - it's cobbled together from dumped files - but flashing it via Samsung's Odin software won't void your warranty.

Some of the features already spotted in the leaked ROM include the lockscreen, driving mode, Voice Controls, an updated Settings app, gallery, S-Voice, new screen modes, and a bunch of other software and visual tweaks from the TouchWiz build first seen on the Galaxy S4, as well as a host of new settings and the Smart Watch widget.

Apr

[New App] Nandroid Manager Gives Rooted Users Full Control Of Their Nandroid Backups

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you're the ROM flashin' type, there's a good chance you have quite a few Nandroid backups floating around on your SD card. While those are undoubtedly handy to have around, they're really only good for one thing: restoring. But what if you only need one specific thing from said backup – like one app, a text message, or your call log? Then the process becomes much more complicated – you have to create a backup of the current setup, restore the old one, backup the needed info, and restore the backup you just made. Annoying.

What if there were a way to pull specific info from a Nandroid, though?

Apr

CyanogenMod Developers Add Official Support For Oppo Find 5 As First CM10.1 Nightly Goes Live

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Find 5, News, Oppo

Oppo Find 5 is one of the sexiest Android phones in recent history - just take a look at some of the photos in our review published earlier this year. At $499.99 ($569.99 for the 32GB variant), it's also cheaper than most unlocked high-end modern devices, yet it manages to pack a quad-core 1.5GHz Krait, Adreno 320, 2GB of RAM, a 1080P 5" display, a 13MP camera, NFC, and a 2500mAh battery.

One of David's main complaints in the review of Find 5 was the software. As of today, this bullet can be crossed off if you're the adventurous kind not afraid to dabble in flashing custom ROMs.

Mar

Koush's Open Source Superuser App Goes Live In The Play Store

Posted by Cody Toombs in Applications, Development, News

In an almost superhero-like act, Koushik Dutta (a.k.a. Koush of ROM Manager fame) has pushed his completely rewritten Superuser app to the Play Store just 15 days after first announcing it on Google+. This version introduces several improvements upon the original Superuser. In the last two weeks, the feature list has grown to include fully functioning multi-user support, secure PIN protection, and support for the x86 and ARM architectures. Additionally, the interface has been revitalized with a clean looking Holo theme and a tablet UI.

Koush didn't stop there – he also added a feature to make root-seeking apps more visible.

Feb

Sony Offers Xperia E Owners The Chance To Test Out Experimental Firefox OS Build

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, News, Sony

The Xperia E, Sony's low-end Jelly Bean-powered smartphone which was announced back in December may have another trick up its sleeve yet. The manufacturer is offering owners of the device the chance to test out Mozilla's fledgling Firefox OS on the device via a downloadable ROM. Meant for "advanced developers," the ROM comes with a few warnings from Sony, chiefly that you should know what you're doing before you get started.

The ROM is thus far labeled "experimental," and comes with its own set of limitations: for starters, there's no radio connectivity. This means no cellular, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth capability. Additionally, the SD card "might be unstable" and touch screen sensitivity is not fully calibrated.

Feb

Koush Releases Free, Open Source Superuser App With Support For Multi-User, Tablet UI, x86/ARM, PIN, And Effort For Apps To Declare Root Permission

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Development, News

Koushik Dutta, the author of ClockworkMod Recovery and such iconic Android apps as ROM Manager and, more recently, Carbon, has decided to tackle a new subject that is also very dear to the Android community - Superuser and root access control. Koush's latest app, now in beta and coming soon to the Play Store, is called simply ClockworkMod Superuser.

How Is It Different?

How does the new Superuser compare to the existing Superuser by ChainsDD and SuperSU by Chainfire, both very respectable root gatekeeper apps? There are indeed several important differences, the most important one being that Koush's Superuser is open source and free, with code available in his Github repo for thorough examination.

Feb

Secure USB Password Manager myIDkey Zooms Past $150,000 Kickstarter Goal

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, News

We don't often cover Kickstarter campaigns – after all, the platform is flooded with entries that may not be worth mentioning, or are dead on arrival. Sometimes, though, a gadget comes through that exceeds expectations, and the myIDkey is one of those.

myIDkey is a voice-activated secure USB drive that manages your passwords. Across all devices. Oh, and it has a fingerprint scanner. The project has absolutely demolished its $150,000 funding goal, reaching (at the time of writing) $164,126 with twenty seven days left to go.

The handy USB device looks to give you a "key to all your devices," connecting directly through USB to your PC or via Bluetooth to your mobile device(s).

Feb

[Update: TWRP Support Added] ROM Manager Adds Support For Delta Downloads

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Development, News

Update: Over the course of the evening, ROM Manager was updated yet again, to version 5.5.2.0 - this time adding support for the TWRP recovery, which is undoubtedly a feature many users have been wanting for some time. Just update ROM Manager in the Play Store and you'll have it.

ROM Manager, one of the most useful and versatile tools available for a consummate ROM-flasher, got an update today, bringing the app up to version 5.5.1.9. The update brings just two changes – a bug fix, and something much more significant: support for delta downloads.

For those who are unfamiliar with the term, "delta downloads" are like the Play Store's smart updates, CyanogenMod's built-in update system, or the files users can download with CyanDelta – bite-size update files that only pack the things that have changed since your ROM's last build.

Jan

Sprint-Galaxy-S-III-Google-Wallet-Preloaded-2GB-RAM-Dual-Core-S4-Preorders-Up-June-5-Release-On-June-21-A

Sprint Pushing Small OTA Updates To The Flash And Epic 4G Touch

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Epic 4G Touch, Flash, News, Sprint

A couple of small OTA updates - both of which are primarily bug-fixers - are making their way to the Flash and Epic 4G Touch on Sprint this morning.

Flash owners, you can expect LED blink timing improvements, camera enhancements, better text input with Swype, and a tweak to the information provided in Settings > Applications > Running applications.

The list is actually shorter for the Epic 4G Touch, with only two things in the OTA: it adds Sprint's Connection Optimizer, and brings some security updates. Exciting, I know.

You can see if the update is available on either device by heading into Settings > About phone > System Updates > Update firmware.

Nov

Mozilla Wants To Bring Flash Back To Your Phone With An Open SWF Runtime - About Ten Years Too Late

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

I know. You thought Flash was long gone. You mourned the relationship and moved on. Having made peace with the past and exploring a bright future, you were ready to start a new life with HTML5. Now, thanks to Mozilla, your ex has come calling, bringing back all those old memories. But enough with the metaphors. The organization behind Firefox announced Shumway, an open SWF runtime project, today. With this, the company hopes to bring compatibility for Flash content back to the web, particularly on mobile. A lofty goal, given that Adobe, creator of the Flash format, isn't keen on that last part.