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Sep

The Kindle Fire HD And Second Gen Kindle Fire Both Have Locked Bootloaders

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, News

So, you were thinking about picking up a Kindle Fire HD, rooting it, and throwing a ROM on it for an impressive $200 tablet? Turns out that idea may not work out as well as we initially thought: both the Kindle Fire HD and the second gen KF have locked bootloaders. Bummer.

This may not mean that custom ROMs are impossible on these devices, only that it's more improbable.

For those who may not know, the bootloader is responsible for checking the firmware's signature before a device boots. In this case, if it doesn't match what Amazon says it should, then it simply won't do anything.

Aug

[Leak] HTC Droid Incredible 2 Gets Its Own Ice Cream Sandwich ROM Based On Leaked RUU

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Incredible 2 (Vivow), Leaks, News

It looks like another one of HTC's handsets (besides the Thunderbolt) has gotten a Sense-ified Ice Cream Sandwich ROM of its own – today, XDA user nitsuj17 posted a ROM for the Droid Incredible 2 (aka vivow) allegedly based on another leaked RUU from HTC. Readers may remember the Incredible 2 as being among devices officially slated by HTC to receive Ice Cream Sandwich "by the end of August," so this leak's timing isn't too hard to figure out.

The ROM, which carries Sense 3.6 over top of Ice Cream Sandwich and software build number 7.01.605.01, is the stock HTC fair you may expect, but with a few tweaks ranging from root to removal of HTC's inconvenient app association settings.

Aug

[Update: Newer Firmware] Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Firmware Leaks With New Notification Bar And Google Now, Available To Download Now

Posted by John Thompson in Galaxy S III, Jelly Bean 4.1, Leaks, News

We saw a video yesterday of a Samsung Galaxy S III running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, with a revamped notification bar and access to Google Now. Fast forward 24 hours, and you can now get hold of that firmware yourself to try it out on your very own Galaxy S III.

Update: A newer firmware I9300XXBLH4 got leaked over at XDA by Samsung-Updates.com. It's an OTA (meaning incremental update) that applies directly on top of I9300XXBLG8/I9300OXABLG8/I9300XXLH1.

The folks at SamMobile have managed to get hold of the image, which is a slightly different build to the one shown in the video yesterday.

Aug

You Want This Homemade Android Arcade Cabinet - No, That's Not A Question

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News

Arcade cabinet mods are certainly nothing new. Ever since the kids of the late 70s and early 80s grew up into the adults of the late 90s and early aughts, the internet has been filled with folks building wooden boxes around computers and joysticks. Today's example, though, uses an Android tablet and a Tatsunoko vs. Capcom fight stick for what might be one of the cheapest, easiest-to-replicate Arcade cabinets around.

Unfortunately, the creator of this particular mod hasn't included instructions on how to follow in his footsteps (yet), but the cabinet does appear to be fairly straightforward.

Aug

CyanogenMod: Nexus One, Desire, EVO 4G, Incredible, Hero, Legend, Xperia X10, And Many More Won't Get Official Updates Past CM7

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Development, News

The day that many ROM enthusiasts have been dreading has arrived: the CyanogenMod Team has announced the end of life support for the original Nexus One, along with other first-generation Snapdragon devices, including the HTC EVO 4G, [Droid] Incredible and Desire and others. None of these devices have official builds of CyanogenMod 9 (though plenty of independent ROM developers have done their best) and they won't be getting any CM updates beyond the 7.X Gingerbread branch.

The reason is a limitation in the media libraries of most of these devices, as well as a general lack of on-board storage in the second generation of Android hardware.

Jul

ASUS Releases Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 Bootloader Unlock Tool: Get Your ROM On In 1080p

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in ASUS, News, Transformer Pad Infinity

The original Transformer was one of the first tablets to capture the imagination of the Android community, and three iterations later the family continues to be popular among modders and ROM enthusiasts. The latest and inarguably greatest member of ASUS' tablet family, the Transformer Pad Infinity, now has infinitely more options when it comes to aftermarket ROMs and modifications. The company released the TF700 version of their bootloader unlock tool, and interested users can download it from the ASUS support website. The release comes almost exactly two months after the cheaper Transformer Pad 300 got the same treatment.

The tool is in the form of a standard APK file.

Jul

Verizon's Galaxy S III Has Been Rooted, Custom Recovery Flashed Despite Verizon's Lockdown

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy S III, News, Verizon Wireless

Of the four major US carriers to receive the Galaxy S III, Verizon is the only one to lock down the bootloader. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. Nevertheless, enterprising hackers over at XDA and RootzWiki have successfully managed to circumvent the lock, achieve root, and flash ClockworkMod recovery. If you're on Verizon and anticipating owning a Galaxy S III, congratulations: your phone is yours again.

The process is laid out on both sites. Achieving root seems to be a fairly simple process if you're familiar with Odin (a common, easy-to-use tool for flashing Samsung devices).

Jun

Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) ROMs Released For GSM And Verizon Galaxy Nexuses

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Galaxy Nexus, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Ah, the joys of owning a Nexus device. In what has to be some sort of record, Jelly Bean ROMs for the GSM and Verizon Galaxy Nexuses have been released and are ready to flash. And thanks to the Nexus being a dev device, getting the builds up and running is actually extremely simple.

For the GSM variant, just download the ROM, do a full wipe, and flash the ROM via Clockwork Mod Recovery. A root fix and updated radio can also be flashed via CWM. If you have the Verizon version, do a full wipe, flash the ROM, and flash SuperSU.

Jun

[Update: Galaxy Tab 8.9 Too] Official CM9 Nightlies Arrive For The International Galaxy S III

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy S III, Galaxy Tab 8.9, News

Last Updated: June 19th, 2012

CyanogenMod 9 may still be a ways out, lending some credence to the claim that upgrading from Gingerbread to ICS is a very long endeavor. However, if you're willing to live your life on the bleeding edge, and you own an international Galaxy S III variant, then the time is right for you: CM9 nightlies are now available for your device.

This is, of course, still an early build, so expect some bugs along the way. CM9 has still not reached release candidate stage yet, which is itself still a few steps away from stable release. The adventurous and the knowledgeable need not concern themselves, though.

May

Official CyanogenMod 9 Nightlies Come To Three More Variants Of The Galaxy Tab 10.1: Verizon, WiFi + 3G (Unlocked), And 10.1v

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 10.1v, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Last we heard, CyanogenMod 9's interaction with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 line was limited to the variants shackled either to T-Mobile or to WiFi. However, the CM team has been hard at work, and as of yesterday, the following three editions of the 10-inch tablet have been granted access to the CM nightly kingdom:

Verizon's Galaxy Tab 10.1 (SCH-I905) - Download: p4VZW
Unlocked WiFi + 3G Galaxy Tab 10.1 (GT-P7500) - Download: p4
Galaxy Tab 10.1v (GT-P7100) - Download: p3

Definition: A "nightly" is a cutting-edge release that is built on a daily basis, usually at night after a full day's worth of new code has been committed.