26
Jul
CyanLogo_huge11_thumb

CyanogenMod users rejoice: Cyanogen and the CM team are continuing to work feverishly to get CyanogenMod 6 into official release territory.

CyanogenMod 6 Release Candidate 2 ROMs for the Nexus One (and unofficially, the Droid), Dream, Magic, G1, and the MyTouch 3G are now available for download, along with Release Candidate 1 for the HTC EVO 4G.

Nexus One/Droid

Nexus One CM6 RC2 Download links (This will work on a Motorola Droid as well, see this CM forum post):

21
Jul
HTC EVO 4G Owners, Here's A Battery Tip For You: 2 Extra 1500mAh Batteries + Battery Charger For $10, AndroidPolice Tested And Approved
Last Updated: July 23rd, 2010

EVO 4G is notorious for its battery problems - they've been plaguing the phone since before it even came out. I personally don't think the battery life is too drastically different from the Hero, for instance, but it's still pretty bad. Chances are that if you want to last through the day, you won't.

Update #1: These fit the HTC Hero too! (Thanks to @xMPoly for the tip)

Update #2: Fit the Droid Incredible perfectly as well! I wonder if it's good for all HTC phones.

There are countless battery tips out there, most of which either don't do anything or force you to turn off so much of your phone's functionality that you might as well buy an iPhone (ziiiiing?).

21
Jul
Nexus One Sold Out

As we warned was imminent, the Nexus One is no longer available directly from Google, as supplies have been exhausted. Google.com/phone has been replaced with a simple message directing customers to a help center article outlining carriers that supply the device. Carriers will continue to sell the device until their own stocks are depleted.

nexus-one-gone-550x285

The Nexus One online experiment was considered a flop by most, but the phone’s hardware was a huge step forward for Android at the time and ignited a flurry of powerful, high-end Android phones that followed in its wake. It is still the only phone officially running Android 2.2, and remains formidable in terms of hardware even though it’s nearly 6 months old.

20
Jul
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If you happen to be an HTC Hero owner on Cellular South, today is your lucky day – an update to Android 2.1 is now available for you to download. Unfortunately, it’s not the easy an over-the-air update - you’ll have to download it yourself and wipe all your data (factory reset) – but, in my opinion, it still beats running Cupcake. The update includes the following features:

  • Picture and video messaging capabilities [Pics feature required]
  • Android Market™ with access to latest 2.1 apps
  • Turn-by-Turn Google Navigation
  • Preloaded Facebook™ app with
    enhanced Facebook sync
  • Preloaded YouTube™ app
  • Enhanced Bluetooth support
  • Voice Dialing
  • Improved Phone Search
  • Improved alarm/bedside clock
  • Multiple Gmail account support
  • Improved Battery Meter
  • VPN support
  • Enhanced ActiveSync support for Microsoft Exchange
  • Additional Gestures: Pinch home screen to see thumbnails of all 7 hero screens, dial contact by drawing letters of contact name
  • Enhanced Device Setup Wizard

All the instructions can be found in few videos on Cellular South’s website.

16
Jul
Unrevoked 3

Unrevoked, a tool that brought the ability to run applications that require root and originally developed for the HTC EVO 4G and HTC Hero, was just updated to version 3.

Unrevoked 3

With this new version 3, Unrevoked finally brings a 1-click root solution to the HTC Droid Incredible that also allows you to flash a custom ClockworkMod recovery, custom ROMs, and take backups of your phone with Nandroid Backup.

Compared to version 2, you no longer need a previously rooted phone - Unrevoked 3 roots for you.

The only thing that Unrevoked doesn't do is unlock NAND permanently, meaning you won't be able to write to the system partition after the OS boots and therefore won't be able to uninstall various carrier installed garbage apps.

15
Jul
htc_desire

Android is getting some love from the great white North: the HTC Desire is coming to Canada on Telus.  The Desire features:

  • Sony SLCD 3.7” HVGA screen at 800x480,
  • 1GHz Snapdragon processor
  • 5 MP camera with flash and video recording
  • 3G (850MHz and 1,900MHz bands)
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1
  • MicroSD slot with support for cards up to 16GB

Telus is also throwing in an 8GB microSD card for good measure, and the device will be running Android 2.1 with HTC’s Sense UI. Can you spot the difference between Telus’s Desire and the original? HTC has apparently chosen to start using SLCD screens on the device in place of the AMOLED display the European version possesses, presumably to make sure production capacity is high enough (due to the AMOLED “shortage”).

14
Jul
SimpleRoot OTA 1.47.651.1 Edition Now Unlocking Root And NAND On Post-OTA EVO 4G Phones

This article mentions rooting and flashing of custom ROMs. If you’re unfamiliar with either term, hit up our primers here and here for additional information

Remember the 3-click SimpleRoot app that brought full root, including permanently unlocking NAND (that's something unrevoked doesn't do), to your EVO 4G? I sure do, as that's exactly how I rooted my EVO. However, If you applied the latest god forsaken EVO OTA, you may have found that that version of SimpleRoot no longer worked.

Fear not, jiqqaman, the app's developer, recently released an updated version, this time containing 4 steps. It works with the EVOs upgraded to 1.47.651.1 like a charm.

13
Jul
htc desire radio fm

Ever since HTC released its version of Google’s Nexus One, the Desire, people have wondered why Google haven’t given the N1 any FM Radio capability. The HTC Desire uses the same Broadcom chipset as the Nexus One, so why does one have FM Radio and the other doesn't?

Official Word

Asked about this at their I/O conference, a Google rep said the company had no plans to bring FM Radio to the Nexus One and told everyone to turn to the hacking community for support, as there are a number of custom ROMs out there for the device.

Android Community Steps In

After six months of waiting, it appears that our wishes have finally come true, as a member at xda-developers, named intersectRaven, has released a kernel which, when utilized by ROM developers, gives us FM support on our Nexus Ones!

13
Jul
htc aria

Nobody was happy to learn that the HTC Aria would be locked down in the same way as its predecessor, the Backflip, and be unable to install non-Market apps. Fortunately, HTC has given Aria owners a sort of “fix” through an update in their desktop client.

The newest version of HTC Sync for Aria (which you can download for Windows here) gives users the ability to load an APK onto their phone, which means they now have access to a host of new apps that are not available on the Market. However, HTC did previously stress that the update would not include this feature, so you may want to update in case this feature is removed in the near future.

10
Jul
froyoincredible
Last Updated: July 13th, 2010

While its author openly claims the ROM is far from perfect, most Incredible owners would probably be happy to give this new ROM, codenamed Sky Raider, a whirl simply to see what Froyo+Sense feel like on their rare, practically extinct, phones.

While have not yet tested Sky Raider ourselves, the installation should be familiar to most rooted Incredible owners who have flashed a ROM before.

Note: this ROM appears to require a full wipe (system/user data or “factory” reset).

Download

Sky Raider 1.0 Beta for HTC Incredible:

Directions:
1. Download the ROM from the link above
2.