بعد از ارائه نسخه iPhone از نرم افزار محبوب فتوشاپ (تقریبا یک ماه قبل)، شرکت عظیم Adobe نسخه‌ای را هم برای موبایل اندرویدگوگل به بازار ارائه داده است. این نسخه که با تمامی مدل‌های gPhone موجود سازگاری دارد به کاربر اجازه ویرایش و به اشتراک‌گذاری عکس‌ها را می‌دهد. همچنین کاربر می‌تواند از 2 گیگابایت فضای رایگان سرویس Adobe’s online استفاده نماید.

برخی از امکانات این نسخه عبارت است از:

• بردین، چرخاندن و تصحیح رنگ‌ها با استفاده از لمس صفحه
• تغییر فوکوس یا سیاه و سفید کردن تصاویر فقط با یک کلیک
• وجود مرورگر عکس برای مشاهده عکس‌های آنلاین

برای کسب اطلاعات بیشتر می‌توانید این ویدئو را مشاهده نمایید.

The title of this article reflects what the banner ads proclaim. In the sense that "arrived" means the Droid is available, yes, definitely, they are available. In the sense that "arrived" means the Droid is coming into its own? Perhaps … if you can tell a Droid from an Android from a Chrome.

Droid, as you are probably aware, is simply one piece of hardware put out by Verizon that is running Google’s Android OS, an open-source mobile operating system. So, Droid runs Android just like other phones out there, but it also has competitive features. It even has some features that are better than the iPhone, like turn-by-turn voice directions and a camera flash. These are important, since parity, in this game, does not a winner make.

Mike Elgan makes a very well-reasoned analysis, however, that shows Android phones are behind on brand appeal and purchase-decision simplicity – two of the three factors that he believes decide success in the smartphone business.

But wait there’s more! Google is also working on the “gPhone,” a Google-branded phone that may share similarities to Android but will be its own Google-branded experience. Phones running Android will compete with the gPhone. Now how is your brand appeal? And purchase-decision simplicity? Out the window, clearly.

If that wrinkle is not enough, Google co-founder Sergey Brin is now saying that Chrome OS (a cloud-based thin computer OS) and Android OS will eventually merge into one, according to Brit tech site Electricpig.co.uk.

Confused yet? Me too. It’s a shame Google didn’t just use its exceedingly-recognizable brand for everything. If the platform (whatever it’s called) is solid, and the features are available, Google’s mobile tech will play a huge role in the future of smart phones.

Here are the current global standings, by market share, as of Q3 2009 (according to a Gartner study):

1. Symbian: 44.6%
2. RIM (BlackBerry): 20.8%
3. Apple iPhone: 17.1%
4. Windows Mobile: 7.9%
5. Android: 3.5%

My prediction? In one year’s time the iPhone and Android will be engaged in a battle for third globally, and second fiddle to Blackberry in the United States.

Google va lansa propriul telefon branduit la inceputul lui 2010, care va reflecta viziunea companiei privind modul in care ar trebui sa fie un dispozitiv de telefonie mobila , informeaza TechCrunch.

Noul telefon Google va fi vandut direct sau prin intermediul retailerilor. Se pare ca dispozitivul trebuia sa fie lansat de Sarbători, dar termenul a fost amanat pana la inceputul lui 2010.

Aparatul va fi produs de o companie specializata in productia de dispozitive telefonice, sub brandul Google si dupa conceptul impus de companie.

Ca si iPhone-ul de la Apple, dispozitivul va reflecta propria viziune a Google despre cum ar trebui sa fie un telefon mobil.

Potrivit unor informatii neconfirmate, constructorul telefonului ar putea fi o companie coreeana, cel mai probabil LG. Lansarea va fi sustinuta de un amplu efort de promovare.

Articol preluat din: www.tehnopol.ro

The rumors have abounded for a few months now whether Google is making hardware and will be launching a smartphone in the near future; the head geeks at Google are supposedly running around their offices in Mountain View with beta devices attached to their belts.

What’s next?  YPhone?  MPhone?  (that’s Yahoo and Microsoft in case you wondered).  There are rumors that a sleek, slick, google-built smartphone will hit after the new year with a big marketing splash in January since they missed the holiday season.  Google’s Andy Rubin, head Droid-head, stated they aren’t building hardware and interested in competing with customers, but since most likely a Korean company is doing the manufacturing, google technically isn’t ‘building’ a smartphone.  Hmmm….what’s the diff, right?

The other slant on the GPhone rumors, is that it will be a data-only device using VoIP for voice calls and not using the carriers cellular networks.  This would allow them to ‘not compete’ with customers….can you say ‘Google Voice?’

Blah Blah Blah…..sounds like a politician being interviewed…..what’s the real story on this and what’s fact and what’s fiction?

This will certainly be a watched topic and with Android coming out in competition against Apple’s iPhone, plus Verizon taking shots at them as well with the ‘iDon’t’ commercials, could Google really be readying a 3rd salvo in the kick Apple where it hurts saga?  Sit back, grab some popcorn and let’s see how this sorts out.

Rumors have circulated over the past couple of years that Google is going to release their own phone – separate from the Droid phone – with their Android operating system. These rumors have most recently popped up on CNet. Now, I have heard mostly good things concerning the Droid phones, but I must admit I’m a bit wary of a completely separate phone designed by Google.

Unfortunately for me, I was “blessed” with an iPhone with a 2-year contract by somebody who I no longer have any contact with. Also, my iPhone is mostly redundant, due to the fact that I own an iPod Touch, which is an outstanding music player. So with the iPhone, I get all the great features of the iPod Touch with the added feature of dropped calls. For 80 dollars a month. I have one more year before I can get out of my contract.

So, I’ve got a year before I really need to decide on a new phone. At this point, I’m almost ready to assume any smartphone will be better than the iPhone. I mean, they have to be better…right? Please? For the love of God, please?!

Alright seriously Google, now you’re just trying to get a rise out of me right?

I just got done coming to terms with waiting until mid-December for the HTC Passion release and now you have to go and do something like this. Like the holidays aren’t stressful enough.

Here, in no particular order, is why I’m not going to take this seriously and my decision is going to be made in December based on the Passion versus the Droid.

• Google hasn’t said a peep about it and have in fact said quite definitively that such a product would not exist within the last few weeks.
• Chances are even if something like this did release in the next few months it would not be on Verizon. (Although if this thing comes out for AT&T I may actually be physically ill as I’m going to have to hear about their having both the iPhone and the gPhone.)
• Even if Google is basically dictating everything under the sun on this device, so what? I don’t know what about that would make it any better than what’s coming out of Motorola or HTC.
• The alleged partnership is with LG, not that they are bad, but I’ve had LG phones and meh is what think of them creating my high end smartphone.
• Honestly I’m just tired of waiting, at some point you have to bite the bullet and make your move and play the cards your dealt and dance with the one that brung’ you and etc….

Alright, I’m the calm center of the universe again and I’m going to go back to trolling for Passion news.

What about the rest of you, are you biting?

Update: TechCrunch is reporting that the phone may be purely data driven using VOIP for voice duty and they are sticking with AT&T or T-Mobile as the carrier. If that actually proves to be true I really will be at peace with the device as AT&T in the middle portion of the country where I live and would leave the gPhone little more than a glorified paperweight anytime I left wifi.

Most people by now have dismissed the fact that Google’s once-rumored GPhone is software in the form of the Google Android operating system, but word has it an actual piece of hardware is in the works. Apparently, the Google Phone will be even more exciting compared to the already delectable Motorola Droid, which goes to say a whole lot. Google won’t plunge head long into manufacturing the handset but will instead rely on a major mobile company – this while Google is in full control where design and specifications are concerned.

Es ist eine der hartnäckigsten Behauptungen im Markt und taucht immer wieder auf: Dass eines Tages der Markenname Google auf einem eigenen Android-Handy prangt.

Diesmal steht LG im Verdacht, nicht einfach nur ein weiteres Android-Handy zu basteln, sondern es exklusiv im Auftrage von Google für Google zu tun: Auf Basis des Modells GW620 werde es eine schlanke elegante G-Variante ohne Minitastatur (nur virtuell), mit superschnellem Snapdragon-Prozessor geben, sollen Quellen dem Branchenportal TechCrunch gesteckt haben. Für nächstes Jahr sei der Produktstart  geplant. Dann hätten die übrigen Handyhersteller genug Zeit und Vorsprung gehabt, ihre Android-Modelle im Markt zu platzieren.
Google solle sich definitiv um einen südkoreanischen Hersteller bemüht haben. Das schließt HTC also aus. Und Samsung spielt den Teilelieferant beim Apple iPhone, daher bleibe nur LG übrig. Der Hersteller ist längst schon Mitglied der Android Open Handset Alliance. Klingt also alles relativ nachvollziehbar – muss aber längst nicht stimmen… [Ralf]

[TechCrunch]

Googles Antwort auf neues iPhone: G-Phone 2

Samsung bringt DivX aufs Android-Handy

Jüngstes Ger(i)ücht: Google Music Service

Mit dem Segen von George Lucas: Motorola Droid

Android: Handys werden knapp

Madoco  的 ROM 試了有一天多，感覺很一般。系統不定時出現很大的延遲， 差不多全體癱瘓個幾十秒也不是沒有…估計是 Kernel 正在進行記憶及 Swap 之間的資料交換。 Swap 建在 Class 4 的  SD 卡上，按Android 的內部資料流量來說應該還能應乎才對…也許 Embedded Linux 在處理器及資源的限制下，實在不應用到 Swap；同時也應驗了 GalaxHero ROM 作者對” Swap 是系統效能的殺手”的說法…

用上 Madoco 前還試刷了 Galaxo 及 GalaxHero, 為的就是試一下帶 compcache 的系統反應。不過沒有完全按指示，換成歐版的 II5 baseband。配合港版 ZHII4 的結果就是兩者都卡在開機畫面(似乎在bootloader卡死了吧..?)，邊玩 Dragon Age 邊等下，過了一個多小時還是不變…可惜。或許試過 Madoco 後再老老實實按 Steps 重刷一下。

未來希望有支援 compcache 的 ROM 發佈出來吧。畢竟 swap 到壓縮記憶體也鐵定比 SD 快，同時 compcache 主頁內的 Android 試用回響也好像很不錯，搞得我有點期待。

順帶一提，Madoco 跟 Nandroid 也許相性不太好，暫時也不知是 swap 問題還是 Customize 所致。 我是先裝 Madoco，以 nandroid backup 後剷掉刷GalaxHero/Galaxo， 然後剷掉再速試國人的完美港版，最後再 restore 那備份。結果是 Madoco 的備份有問題，起初估計跟完美港版的 bootloader 不兼容，故先以 Odin 完全地刷入官方港版，灌了無敵 recovery image 後再 restore 也不行。最後用上初期以官方 Rom 為 base 的 backup 才行。然後再以 recovery mode  刷入 Madoco。

還有，終於找到其他 Keyboard 替換內建的那個低能貨。用過 iPhone 的人去用 Android 內建的 Keyboard，不扔機子也鐵定氣死(如我)。 這兩個替換品分別是 Better Keyboard 及 AnysoftKeyboard。 前者功能可能是最強，操作及方便感也最貼近 iPhone 的，更有大量不同 Skin ；可惜本地 Market 下不到 ( 卻找到一大堆 Skin…莫明其妙)。後者則可從 Market 下載，功能及外型也不差 Better Keyboard 很多，免費開源又簡單，嫌煩的人最佳選擇也。也可惜 Lime 不能換別人的 Keyboard 用…他那跟內建的比也是五十步百步之流…-_-

可能受制於機體記憶量限制(128MB only, while HTC Magic w/288MB), Galaxy 在介面(由其撥打電話的面版) 的反應都頗不很順暢. 國外有些網友就利用 Swapper, 尚試把 SD card 當成 swap, 期望運作反應有所提升. 然而在 Galaxy 可是白費工夫的, 起因在於其 kernel compile 時根本沒有包含 swap 功能在內, 而 Swapper 所做的只是呼叫及使用一般 Linux 的 swap 功能而已. 除了自行篇譯, 網上尚有兩個所知有支援 Swap 的 cooked rom 套件:

• Madoco.com 網站製作的 ROM, 最新版本為 v1.2, 而停止開發
• HDblog.it 網站的 ROM (Bounty build?), 主要作成 Galaxyo 及 GalaxyHero, 這版本以 compcache (壓縮記憶體內的data) 取代 swap. 按他們所講 swap 會大幅犧牲系統性能云云.

我暫時只試了 Madoco , 時間尚短也沒啥結論…然後就會再試 GalaxyHero, 看看用上 HTC Sense 後有多慢．

Original source by 國內網友 : 毛毛

應是最簡單方便快捷的方法…

现在Android的机型越来越多了~哈哈~发展潜力不言而喻~
想到当初刚入手G1的时候，还有着“边用边学英语的功能”，只能感叹现在的孩子太幸福了

为方便各位新入手I7500的Android新手来获ROOT，我写的还是很简洁的，争取让他家一目了然，而且还能使用ADB哦！

开工！

先来下载这个重要的压缩包：

内含了能让ADB正常使用的驱动、新版的Root以及Recovery image文件！

稍等片刻就可以看到你已经成功的获取了ROOT权限了！

Origin source

首先準備些工具…

第一步，把下載的檔案解壓后放到C:/裡，（為求方便使用）

第二步，開始==>執行，打CMD后按enter。會彈出一個命令提示字元（忘記了簡體XP裡面叫什麽了）

第三步，在CMD打

cd..

cd..

連續兩次(即回到root)

然後再打

cd tools

然後再繼續打

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

這裡打完后先別按ENTER，留著待用

做到這裡，大家暫時停一下，準備以下的功夫

將I7500先連上數據線（不是連電腦，是將數據線先插好在I7500上）

然後按下“Power + Call”按鈕，進入fastboot模式，這時候立即將I7500的數據線連接上電腦。

并切換到CMD視窗，按下ENTER

當提示recovery.img寫入后，就關機

跟著按下i7500的“Volume Down + Call + Power”按鈕，進入Recovery模式

然後在CMD視窗，打下以下的命令字元后按ENTER

adb shell mount -o remount,rw /sdcard/
adb shell rm /sdcard/rectools//RECTOOLS.tar.gz (only if it’s an update)
adb push RECTOOLS.tar.gz /sdcard/
adb shell sync

大功告成，最後重啟，完工

自上次 Samsung Galaxy 怨言分拆的一點 Review…

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講一下三叔同步軟件既7事

• UI 外表好靚, 但係用 performance 換返黎既! 唔該套 library 唔惦就唔好玩呢家野啦.
• 出個 drive browsing list 都要成十來秒…CLS.
• 過相個 part 有得做 batch resize. 但係低能到不行. e.g. 揀 800×600, 結果係直度既相強行拉闊晒!
• 白痴到極 #angry3
• 話有得用藍牙連接又係呃_人, 隻電話本身都唔受駁, 簡直誤導人
• 轉戲個度好, build in convertor叫方便
• 其他功能睇到想做一站式處理, 但係操作反應好慢, 無心機搞(我只係要同步….同步呀!!!)

如果知部機配套係甘6+1, 真係唔貪個 display 同相機.
家陣好似貪果盆中計 feel, 好想囉返去加錢換 Hero 算 -___-

關於 Android 的不滿

• IP跟AP/hotspot 的設定分開, 呢個又係不明所以既設計. iPhone 係 set once and forget, Android 重要人去到邊就手動改一次 ip config. 做成自動 profile 真係甘難? Windows都 _ 左十幾年重係甘, 點解新出世既 android 又係甘架? 重有 VPN 去鬼左邊呢? 甘都要靠 3rd party 搭救??
• 辨別曾連接過及自動連接 Wifi AP 既能力, 同 iPhone 比有如低能同常人之別. Android 係 Wifi 連線中如因故斷線, 或進入待機模式後, 絕不要期望短時間內能自動重接, 定要人手干預, 重新開關 Wifi 先有望. 係, 唔係<得>, 係<有望(可能)>…有時佢會見到曾連接過既 AP, list 住 remembered 但係又唔連過去, 大佬真係蠢到要 click 佢先識駁.  相比 iPhone , 好多呢 d 濕濕碎碎野都識自動波, 減少用家因煩鎖設定而感到煩厭. (我就因為 Android 甘戇居而好煩厭)
• Virtual Keyboard 7 到無朋友.  自動糾正功能被動又不準確; 鍵盤每個掣 Size 已經細 (Android 機 Display size 細過 iPhone…), 對按掣感應亦相當差, 連低能的糾錯能力, 手大如我痛不欲生, 打字簡即係受罪, 浪費生命一樣.

  p.s. 幸好有比得上 iphone 的 Better Keyboard 及 AnysoftKeyboard代替.前者同 iphone 既打字感幾乎無分別, 後者則只係差少少. 然而前者本地無法從 Market 下載, 假如嫌煩用後者就好.

• 打電話個版面反應唔爽, 似乎無推到最高priority執行, 呢個唔知邊個既錯.
  一部 Smartphone 搞甘多花臣得黎, 都唔好忘記電話本質, 係要打得出收得到先得架. 打電話按個掣都要等一陣, 簡直係倒退.
• 唔知個 OS 既 Priority 點分, 由打電話到 back to home 都好窒…唉. 對系統架構有認識既人, 都知 System vital/critical 既 service/app 會被派予更高重要性, 以免一般程式發癲, overload 及非法執行時奪走系統的基磋運行力而引致系統癱瘓(即無晒反應, 頻臨崩潰). 難得係 Android 同 iPhone OSX 亦係同父異母血統 (前者似係 Linux based, 後者 BSD Unix based), 表現可差甘鬼多. Google 開發同微調上真係要再加 200%-300% 勁先得. 相比佢地其他 Web App., Android 可謂最渣最唔成熟.

其實好多功能同操作經歷, 都係被 iPhone 的方便同體貼性寵壞.
iphone 出左甘耐亦多用戶認同其操作方式, 設計上自有其過人之處. 後來者唔比佢好, 或者以佢作起跑點競爭, 真係好難理解. 或者部份開發者完全不認同 apple 的心思吧…

本為新玩具到手而喜悅的內容，卻因過渡時的悲劇(Orz…)而刪掉。
以下恐佈經歷來自向友人的敘述…

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我的跳船記 [由 iPhone 2G 改搾三叔銀河號機械人]

話說自己一向用開 PDA, 自從有 iphone, 部 th55 就榮休退隱博物館.

其間留意過不少 PPC\WM 幾, 舊個D就不提了, 然而就算勁如 x1,
仍因 WM 先天各種殘疾, 浪費大好硬體, 仍然令我卻步.

後來 G 社推出機械人, 睇落似搞開放式 iphone osx, 不過第一水機價炒味濃, 當然就睇定d再算.
等下等下, 祖師爺 HTC 都出到第 3 代, 其他廠亦陸續出招;  更重要在多左人玩同討論, 軟件量亦激增,
心想係時候出手. 研究過 HTC magic 及三叔 Galaxy 兩者後,
受”圖畫美麗~顏色秀麗~立體甘滯~ ” 既因由而投奔銀河…

然已..投奔過程從無想過甘痛苦, 一波未平一波友起…而且極為黑仔…

=========================熱情的分隔線=========================

話說買機當晚, 打算 sycn iphone 準備過 phonebook.
點知 sync 完就成個 phonebook 唔見左! 當下心內大驚 , 左巢右挖backup….
用旁門左道搞一大輪都唔惦, 搞到成 5am…
第二日, 返到 office 搵到份新 D backup 就搞惦左, 但係成日就離晒魂……..

跟手係 itune 過埋 phonebook 去 outlook, 再由三叔同步軟件食返.
諗住惦啦掛…. 點知隻 software 望唔到部電話, 搞到收工都唔知咩事.
返到屋企再磨一輪先知, 因為 set 左 “connect as mass storage only” XYZ@#%!@!
disable 後, 又諗住實食無黐牙… 到埋門一腳, 個同步選項話部電話<不支援>!
WTF???? 又出咩問題??? 上網再 search 一大輪, 得出了驚人結論 : 三叔應該在同行中作出史無前例(?)的6+1事.

“在產品中附帶的同步軟件, 並不支援同捆的機體”
WTFIGO????有無搞_錯????? 甘樣賣野都得? 真係把幾火!!!!

谷住道火之餘, 都要硬住頭皮整下去…諗到將 contact export .csv 再sync入電話.
點知三叔個軟件 export 出既.csv,  field 名係獨家村, google 認唔到… 甘不如直接係 outlook export 啦…
好不幸地, “你未裝export csv plug-in 呀老友” 既msg box 彈出…
甘咪裝返囉…誰知試左幾次都係中途有error..
頂佢唔順, 決定返 office 再戰 (大佬唔使訓咩…Orz)

可_可惜, office 隻outlook 又係無 plug-in, 又係重裝中途死, 黑仔過土人 … 唯有重裝.
真係頂佢個_ , 重裝又無事窩!!  zY!@R!#$$^!@#…
終於 gmail 認到了, 重 feed 得好靚仔, 諗住有覺好訓啦掛…
然而, 絕招好野更係留到最後…

當晚打算整理好 app 同 setting, 然後行埋 my backup 就大功告成.
就黎 set 完之際, 部機 Hang 左!!!
甘.. 呢 d 機 hang 唔奇, reboot囉…不過部機就進入”全自動無間斷 reboot “既輪迴狀態….你重可以點呢#um2
又被逼研究一輪, 結論只有有 hard reset 佢, 即係….之前裝既所有 program, set 既所有野都要由頭來過.

算唔算白忙呢? #um2  Orz………..
就算重 set 係 1-2hr 內完成都好…我都好灰, 完全無乜用新機既興奮

=========================灰燼的分隔線=========================

又講下三同步軟件既6+1事

• UI 外表好靚, 但係用 performance 換返黎既! 唔該套 library 唔惦就唔好玩呢家野啦.
• 出個 drive  browsing list 都要成十來秒…CLS.
• 過相個 part 有得做 batch resize. 但係低能到不行. e.g. 揀 800×600, 結果係直度既相強行拉闊晒!
• 白痴到極 #angry3
• 話有得用藍牙連接又係呃_人, 隻電話本身都唔受駁, 簡直誤導人
• 轉戲個度好, build in convertor叫方便
• 其他功能睇到想做一站式處理, 但係操作反應好慢, 無心機搞(我只係要同步….同步呀!!!)

如果知部機配套係甘6+1, 真係唔貪個 display 同相機.
家陣好似貪果盆中計 feel, 好想囉返去加錢換 Hero 算 -___-

關於 Android 的不滿

• IP跟AP/hotspot 的設定分開設定. 呢個又係不明所以既設計. iPhone 係 set once and forget, Android 重要人去到邊就手動改一次 ip config. 做成自動 profile 真係甘難? Windows都 _ 左十幾年重係甘, 點解新出世既 android 又係甘架? 重有 VPN 去鬼左邊呢?  甘都要靠 3rd party 搭救??
• 打電話個版面都唔爽, 似乎無推到最高priority執行,  呢個唔知邊個既錯.
  一部  Smartphone 搞甘多花臣得黎, 都唔好忘記電話本質, 係要打得出收得到先得架. 打電話按個掣都要等一陣, 簡直係倒退.

其實好多功能同操作經歷, 都係被 iPhone 的方便同體貼性寵壞.
iphone 出左甘耐亦多用戶認同其操作方式, 設計上自有其過人之處. 後來者唔比佢好, 或者以佢作起跑點競爭, 真係好難理解. 或者部份開發者完全不認同 apple 的心思吧…

thought i may as well type up my experience of rooting my gPhone -to inform, enlighten and mebbe even educate anyone thinking of doing the same.
this is not a ‘how to’, but a ‘this is how i did it’. there are a few different ways of rooting and modding, but this is how i did mine.

before i start i want to make clear that anyone undertaking such a risk commitment does so at their own risk and is nothing to do with me. i am not responsible for bricked phones, delusions of grandeur, the current economic downturn or global warming.

ok, ass well and truly covered, i shall begin.

a bit of background- the reason that i decided to root my gPhone was as follows- as well as generally loving tinkering around with such shit, a couple of months back an official OTA Android update borked my phone (read previous posts) and it looked like the only way out was a factory reset (ie wipe everything and hope for the best)… some ’solution’ huh? so, as addressed before in a few posts, the official Google ’support’ was laughable and i was relying on the community for answers. which is pretty much how it goes when rooting. the major drawback that puts people off (aside from numpties bricking their phone cos they don’t know what they’re doing) is the ‘oh it’s nothing to do with us anymore’ reaction when Google (or whomever) realise that you have shunned their stock builds for something shinier. so yeah, losing official support- “oh no, how will i cope?” &lt;/sarcasm&gt;
so with that decision made, the main problem lay in the catch 22 that i needed to back up my important stuff (contacts, texts, etc) before i would wipe my phone, BUT i couldn’t get to said stuff until i rooted my phone (which involves a wipe) because the daft-ass privileges on the gPhone mean that you can’t even READ the onboard storage (and therefore copy anything off it)…

so yeah, a bit stuck. until, after much much research and going-in-circles, i stumbled across an app called ‘instant root’[1]. this app utilises an exploit in the bluetooth stack that can give a user root privileges WITHOUT HAVING TO REFLASH YOUR PHONE. now this is major w00t, as i could then copy my texts database from my phone to be replaced after the ensuing shenanigans.
(yes, i was skeptical about a one-click app giving root, but it did indeed work. it says in the readme that it will only last until the next update, but it did exactly what i needed, so i was happy. also, apparently this exploit has been closed in donut (v1.6) so it may not work from now on)

so, i have my texts database copied to my memory card[2], my bookmarks backed up using ‘bookmark backup and restore’[3] and my contacts backed up with a free beta version of Sprite Backup[4] NOT using gmail sync. gmail sync appears to only sync one way. i turned it on (having never used it before now) to back up my contacts and instead of copying my phone contacts to my gmail it started removing any contacts that weren’t in my gmail… not much damn use if you ask me!

with everything backed up, and me having (temporary) root privileges, the fun can begin. i hooked my gPhone up to my computer via a USB cable to transfer the stuff i’ll need, and so i can grab screengrabs (using DDMS) for this post. i transferred the apk installer for a program called ‘flashrec’[5] (allows you to flash a bootloader recovery screen that will allow you to flash a new rom) and a rom image for the Cyanogen Mod[6].

now follows the notes/screengrabs that i took as doing it.

installing flashrec from my sdcard using appmanager.
the time is 16:59.

backing up my recovery image. so far so good

now flashing the new recovery image.
the time is 17:01.

it’s done.

turning my phone off, then rebooting to the bootloader by holding down the home button as i boot back up.
the time is 17:02.

shit. i get an error when making a nandroid backup.

quick google around and no joy.
decided to reboot phone as normal, and check my sdcard for a) space and b) corruption.
the time is 17:16.

sdcard seems to have enough space and doesn’t say it’s corrupted.
to be on the safe side, freed up some space. now have about 150mb free.
made sure there’s plenty of space on my phone too. have around 20mb free
now reinstalling flashrec.

ok, rebooted back to bootloader screen, performing nandroid backup
the time is 17:24.

backup complete! must not have been enough free space.
the time is 17:26

performed ‘wipe data / factory reset’. nearly shed a tear.
selected ‘apply any update from sd’ then chose the CM recovery image zip
is now happily unpacking/installing away
the time is 17:27.

‘install from sdcard complete’
the time is 17:29.

rebooting now, hopefully to Cyanogen goodness.

after a few tense minutes staring at the G1 bootscreen i am greeted by the cyanogen one. so far so good.

and eventually the google set up / sign in to account screen
the time is 17:34

phone finishes booting up into my new Cyanogen-flavored Android OS.
the time is 17:36
total time spent rooting (not including time spent figuring out the nandroid error): 16 mins

so there you have it. my experience of rooting my gPhone. i’ll spare you the hours spent putting my texts, contacts, bookmarks, apps etc back on there.

[1] ‘Instant Root’, an app by neilandtheresa, removed from android market, so just google it.
[2] texts and mms database located at /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db, mms attachments stored in /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/app_parts
[3] Androlib page for Bookmark Backup and Restore
[4] sprite backup no longer in beta, paid app available in the market or google and you may find the apk for the beta (note don’t use beta one, you want beta two) (different backup file format)
[5] google it.
[6] www.cyanogenmod.com – custom builds of the Android OS, utilising the features released in dev branches (ie gets new features before the official builds) basically full of root goodness

Fecha: 25 de octubre de 2009

El rumor sobre un nuevo servicio de Google de tipo musical se ha desbordado esta semana, máxime cuando Google esta enviando invitaciones para un evento de lanzamiento de algún producto que se celebrará el 28 de octubre en Hollywood. En primer lugar, y para quien no lo sepa, Google no es una empresa novata en esto, ya tiene un servicio bastante competente exclusivamente para China sobre música donde se pueden buscar canciones, escuchar alguna de ellas, comprar, etc. Quien esté interesado lo puede visitar (e intentar entender) en esta dirección.

Pero la apuesta de Google es este caso podría ir más alla y podría dirigirse a hacer una dura competencia a servicios ya establecidos como Rhapsody, Spotify, Amazon o iTunes. En principio en este servicio se podrían descargar canciones, escucharlas por streaming o ambas opciones a la vez y Google habría tenido una intensa labor en las últimas semanas llegando a acuerdos con los grandes sellos musicales americanos. Inicialmente el servicio se ofrecería sólo para el mercado americano y tendría soporte completo para la plataforma móvil Android.

Pero hay otros rumores, como el de Greg Sandoval de CNet, que apunta a que Google va a lanzar en realidad una plataforma de nombre One Box que ofrecerá fragmentos de canciones, biografías de grupos y artistas, videos y la posibilidad de comprar música en sitios como LaLa o iLike, pero en este caso se trataría de un servicio orientado a ofrecer funcionalidades de búsqueda enfocada al mundo musical, sin meterse en lo que es la venta en sí de música que derivaría a otras plataformas.

Así las cosas, el tipo de servicio que se va a prestar es todavía una incógnita. Particularmente apostaría por algún tipo de servicio derivado del actual Gaudi (Google AUDio Indexing) de Google Labs que permite localizar fragmentos musicales en videos de YouTube. Utilizando las capacidades actuales de Gaudi, y la capacidad de sus mótores de búsqueda, se puede generar un buscador musical bastante potente con capacidades adiconales de combinar autor, biografía e incluso sitios de compra. Esto explicaría por otra parte el secretismo de la operación ya que Google no ha hecho trascender prácticamente nada sobre esta nueva herramienta al ser un desarrollo interno y limitado.

¿Y lo siguiente de Google? El Gphone, a final de año, seguramente fabricado por HTC.

AndAppStore has launched a payment system that allows Android developers to list pay-for applications and provides the ability for applications to verify purchases at runtime. This provides developers with the ability to ensure that even if their application is copied they can take measures to prevent their application offering the full range of functionality to users who have not paid for it.

The payment system makes use of PayPal which allows developers to specify the price of their application in different currencies (if they want to) and allows users to choose to purchase in a currency they are comfortable using. The use of PayPal also means that developers can benefit from the added fraud prevention methods that PayPal offers.

AndAppStore, unlike other application directories, do not charge a fee for paid applications which means that once PayPal have deducted their fees developers receive 100% of the funds, making AndAppStore the most profitable per paid sale Android application directory currently available to developers.

More details can be found in the application submission page available to registered developers at AndAppStore.

The future of social computing is in the integration of various services and technologies – but the fun is already available now. Here’s a nifty demo of the integration of cloud computing’s services with increasingly powerful mobile computers (smartphones or netbooks). Developers can take advantage of far more computational power both locally on the device – faster, cheaper processors thanks to Moore’s Law – and computational power residing on networked data centers.  Think of a business or social activity, and thanks to platforms like the iPhone, Android, and the new Windows Phones, “There’s an app for that.” Or there soon will be.

This quick little demo feels like nothing fancy today – but ten, even five years ago it would have seemed like sci-fi. In fact it’s available now, and uses a new Windows Phone, in this case a Samsung Intrepid, making use of Tellme software from Microsoft integrated with Bing Search web services. The demo intregrates some longtime technologies in their state-of-the-art condition today using cloud-services delivery:

• Speech-to-text
• GPS-enabled location-based services
• Web search
• Voice-enabled dialing
• Social media (crowdsourced ratings integrated in search results)
• Hardware UI (a dedicated TellMe button on the Samsung Intrepid phone)

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Photographed by George Arriola

Beautiful Issey Miyake ad campaign. Sushi pleats, fun.

– License

Previously on ‘Ranting About the Iphone’:
ok, so it’s become somewhat of a running joke amongst my colleagues that i still don’t have an iPhone. especially considering how evangelistic we all are about Apple shiz in general.

the points i keep having to reiterate are that compared to my (rapidly becoming less) beloved gPhone, there are still some ways in which the iPhone is quite severely lacking. a couple of these have been remedied in the time since i made my initial decision between the two, ie cut-n-paste, MMS and a decent (ish) camera (in the S at least), BUT there are still a few major gripes.
namely:

• the iPhone OS not only being closed source, but the app store being ruled with an iron fist, leading to many cool apps being straight up denied. not a problem with an open-source OS like Android.
• lack of non-system background processes, meaning apps can’t be doing shiz when they don’t have focus (eg checking feed updates etc etc). i’ve read that this may change in future iterations, possibly allowing one app at a time to be ‘authorised’ to operate in the background. we’ll see
• no hard keyboard

now the latter is the one that i keep having to justify to people when making these points (ok, gripes)… there’s just no substitute for actually tapping at keys. when i got my first pocket PC (an XDA mini) that was the one thing to which i couldn’t adjust… then the MDA Vario came along and solved the problem.
as far as i’m concerned, the gPhone has a nice balance between nifty hardware ‘borrowed’ from each major competitor- the screen of the iPhone, the keyb of the Vario (etc) and the trackball of the Blackberry. so until the iPhone gets a keyboard that will always be one thing that makes me go “yeah but…”

so, to the point of this post. is there any chance of it getting one? well, my intrepid reader, read on…

Episode IV: A New Hope
the first glimmer of hope came in the form of some dude getting a jailbroken iPhone to pair with the Apple bluetooth keyboard.
not as portable as a gPhone, but it’s a start, right?

Proof of Concept?
next up was the report of a new Apple keyboard that would house a dock for the iPhone, looking very pretty but with no info on if it’d happen. looks to be a concept with no uptake. shame really.

apparent concept for Apple keyb with iPhone dock

getting there
then there were claims from 2008’s Macworld expo of ‘the first bluetooth keyboard to be compatible with the Iphone’, even pictures of the thing… but at the time of writing, the ‘BTKeyMini” still isn’t on McAlly’s website, nor anywhere to my knowledge.

pic of the 'BTKeyMini' keyb

so, the idea is there, the product isn’t. TBH the above keyb doesn’t even look that portable compared to, say for example, the folding keyboard for palm devices circa 2001/2…
what we need is something about the size of the iPhone itself… enter this next fellow.

hack the planet iPhone
here’s a nifty video of someone who’s taken an external keyboard for something or other (looks like half of a databank) and hacked it to an iPhone… while i don’t pretend to understand how it was done, it was done. so it’s possible.

ooo shiny.
now to make it look nice. enter ‘Planet Mat’ and his concept for the ‘iPhone Elite’… notice the nice retractable keyb…
or at least something like his second idea (more along the lines of what i was originally envisaging) of an add-on keyb- part peripheral, part case. like this:

concept for an iPhone add-on keyb

isn’t it lovely?

so yeah, where the crap is it people? get to it!

things i have noticed while writing this post-
1) this was supposed to be a brief ‘i wish’ post. oh well.
2) no matter how many times i type it i still type ‘keyboard’ as ‘keybaord’. dammit.

Many famewhores dream of the coveted celebrity personal assistant gig.  The prized 100K a year, jet setting around the globe and becoming family with an A-lister. Then there is shit like this, “Personal Assistant wanted to help with texts!”  I didn’t studder.  For some odd reason I keep imagining a messy Upper East Side Office with papers and magazines strewn everywhere. A real bachelor pad. Of course when our pasty, plump and hairy friend (who’s allegedly too busy to check texts)  hits the door a plume of  weed smoke will choke you out.  But, you’re hard up for cash and its just assisting with texts. Inside you go!  First, you spot the “Spudz Mckenzie looking dog.  In your head you think ” Even his dog looks high as hell! Keep looking around and there’s your new boss in a a picture with his boo. “Girl has granny chin settling in!” You reach your hand out for that Palm Treo and… you say ” You know what I don’t think this is gonna work.” And you book it back out the door and down the stairs like you’re gonna miss the last train. Every easy job isn’t worth pursuing! Personal Texting Assistant
Date: 2009-08

Looking for a assistant to help in texting duties -

replies
deleting texts
alerting of new texts
reading texts
filtering text

I get 40 – 50 texts an hour, I cant handle my workload plus texting responsibilities. My phone gets too full and needs deleted every couple hours. This is a full time position and you must be where ever I am at, because my phone is always with me. Serious inquiries only.

* Location: Baltimore
* Compensation: 10.00 hr
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

ok so aside form the bug that noone seems to give a shit about, my dialer storage is still growing exponentially and causing me other problems, so i’ve decided to submit a bug report for that too and see if anything actually happens…

here’s a copy of the issue i’ve submitted on the android code site:

nothing showed up in a search for “dialer storage” so i’m starting a new report.
my dialer storage used to be around 3/400kb and since the recent ’security update’ a few weeks ago it’s been growing larger every time i look at it.
it currently stands at 10mb which IMHO is way larger than it should (or indeed used to) be.
all of the space taken up is in the ‘data’ portion (total:10mb, application: 0mb, data:10mb), and the ‘clear cache’ option says 0kb and is greyed out.

i haven’t added any custom ringtones for people recently (ie any time near experiencing this issue), and in the time i’ve been experiencing this behavior i’ve added maybe three contacts at most (no extra info, pics, ringtones etc)

aside from being an annoyance, it keeps bringing up the ’storage space low’ warning. which has now caused its own set of problems.

resultant problem 1:
i have recently found out that while the ’storage space low’ warning is showing, the phone will not sync. which means that over the last week or so (yes i’ve now got to the stage of ignoring the warning, as i’m not prepared to lose any more apps i actually would like to use just because a part of the OS is growing) i haven’t been getting my gMail and i’ve been missing events in my calendar. not good.
is the ‘not syncing while storage space is low’ thing a bug or a really daft feature?

resultant problem 2:
since getting the ’storage space low’ warning AFTER the recent ’security update’ i now have all of the issues detailed in the thread here:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2949
i have had the storage space warning before the update and never had any problems. everyone in this thread has had problems starting with a combination of two things- the recent update and subsequently getting low storage (for whatever reason)

this bug report has been declined, for reasons unknown.
a pretty crippling bug is being ignored, meaning lots of people are left with the choice of a pretty much useless phone, or losing all their data.
not much of a choice IMHO.

so to reiterate- my point is that through one bug my storage space is growing and taking over my phone.
this bug is combining with an apparent bug in the recent update, and has now caused another issue that makes my phone gradually more and more unusable, one that is being ignored by the support team.

any info on either of these bugs, or how to make my phone usable again (without the standard response of ‘master reset’, losing all my data is NOT a viable option) would be greatly appreciated…
cheers!

ps- random (hopefully useful info)-
had handset since: aug 2008
carrier: t-mobile
never rooted / otherwise messed with
firmware: 1.5
build no: CRC1

link to my new bug report on the google code site:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3505