Droid Hype

If you are using cloud storage currently, you are probably familiar with box.net. Similar to dropbox and other services, it allows you to store your data within the “cloud”. You can register for a free account and receive 5GB of storage, all for free. This is a great way to get your feet wet if you are new to this.

However, there are some of us who use these services to store everything under the sun and that 5GB doesn’t cut it unless you upgrade for a fee. There’s a small promotion going on right now for users of LG phones on Android. If you register or log in with one, you get upgrade to 50GB of storage. Yup, 50 whopping gigs.

To do this, find a user with a LG phone and log in with your account on the box.net app. You’ll be automatically upgraded to 50GB.

Or try this if you are on a rooted phone.

1. Make a backup of your /system/build.prop file.
2. Open your /system/build.prop file as a text file and edit (use root explorer or equivalent) the following lines to show this:

ro.product.manufacturer=LGE
ro.product.model=VS910 4G

Save the file and reboot. After that, log into your account on the box.net app and you’ll be upgraded. Once you are done, restore the backed up build.prop file and reboot to change back.

Better hurry, this promo ends on 12/31/2011.

[via XDA]

While we all wait for some Jug love (custom rom) on the new KL1 base for the T-Mobile Galaxy SII, I whipped up these mods to hold myself over. You’ll need Whitehawkx’s 2011-12-14 Stock KL1 deodexed/rooted rom for these to work. I have no idea if this will work on anything else, feel free to try, just make backups please.

Instructions:

1) Flash via CWM (root required)
2) Enable some or all animations under display settings if you want CRT

Volume wake – http://www.multiupload.com/EOG35CESLJ
Volume wake removal – http://www.multiupload.com/LWBUG08DEM
CRT Animation – http://www.multiupload.com/CEFHNXG0V7
CRT Animation / Batt % – http://www.multiupload.com/TMU3JDK0J9

One of my favorite roms on the Sensation 4G is Bulletproof 1.4, based on Sense 3.0. It has the right mix of tweaks and mods to make it smooth and quick in the heavily populated world of S4G roms. However, one thing that was missing from the rom is the ability to wake the phone via the volume buttons. The version based on Sense 3.5 has it, but not on this Sense 3.0 version. So like any rom junkie, I ended up messing around with the android.policy.jar file and manage to smali/baksmali edit the file needed to make this happen.

For your enjoyment, download the zip below (log in first) and flash it via your recovery. Cache wipe isn’t necessary but it won’t hurt.

There is no guarantee that this will work with any other rom. It’s also highly suggested that you back up your /system/framework/android.policy.jar file or just run a nandroid on your existing rom. This was done entirely on a stock BP 1.4 environment and has been tested on this rom specifically.

  Volume Wake for Bulletproof 1.4 Rom (284.9 KiB, 3 hits)
You do not have permission to download this file.

PS: If you have another rom you’d like this mod done on, I can run the edit for you. Just let me know what rom and what Sense version etc.

The LG Optimus V on the Virgin Mobile network is by far one of the best values in Android smartphone computing. Not only is the Optimus V an excellent entry/intermediate device, it’s also on one of the nation’s cheapest smartphone plans starting at $25/month.

Like it’s siblings, the Optimus V is very welcoming to custom roms and kernels. To get started, you’ll need to load a custom recovery so you can flash your desired rom and/or kernel.

The Xionia recovery ported over to the Optimus V is probably the most accepted and supported recovery at the moment. Just about every rom can be flashed using this recovery. To get started on your Optimus V, follow these steps:

Note: You must be rooted first. If you aren’t, look up the Gingerbreak app. The following steps assume you have adb working correctly and you have the correct drivers loaded on your computer.

Download the recovery zip:

  Xionia Custom Recovery for LG Optimus V (3.9 MiB, 151 hits)
You do not have permission to download this file.

1. There should be two files in the .zip file, flash_image and xionia_cwma_12518.4_virgin.img. Extract the contents to the root of your /sdcard.
2. Open up a command prompt, we’ll be using adb to flash the recovery.
3. Connect a micro usb cable from your Optimus V to your computer. Find the Superuser app in your app tray and open it. On your command prompt, Type “adb shell” and then type “su”. Immediately check your Superuser app, it should prompt you to allow access. Select remember and allow the access.
4. Type “mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /system /system“
5. Type “cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image“
6. Type “chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image“
7. Type “mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /system /system“
8. Type “flash_image recovery /sdcard/xionia_cwma_12518.4_virgin.img“
9. You can now issue the command “reboot recovery“, but I prefer to power down and manually enter recovery on the first try.
10. Power down the device. Then press and hold volume down + home + power. You can let go once the LG boot image comes up.

If you see the blue lettered Xionia recovery, then you have installed your recovery correctly. First order of business is to make a nandroid backup under the backup and restore menu. Use the up/down buttons to navigate and the camera button to select. The back button will bring you back to the previous screen if you get lost.

Now go download a rom or kernel and try it out!

The Droid Incredible (Dinc) and the Tmobile HTC G2 share the same type of battery. However, in the Dinc battery’s stock form it will not fit without a quick 30 second hack. If you take a look at the battery, you will notice that the charging leads are flipped backwards compared to the G2. The only thing preventing you from flipping it around and inserting the battery are two notches on the left and right of the battery.

Take a small pair of cutters and simply snip off the little tabs. Then flip the battery around and you got yourself another battery that fits in the G2. Try a test fit before cutting and you will see exactly where to snip the tabs.

So why bother doing this when the G2 has batteries readily available?

I’ve grown to really like the 1800mAh battery from HTCExpress. Although it states that it’s for the Evo, it will fit the Incredible and now with this hack, the G2. Keep in mind your battery door will not fit right because of the size. Some people have suggested that you can remove the label that is wrapped around the battery to make the battery door fit. I didn’t bother trying this since I am using the Otterbox Commuter case. I just left the door off and the Otterbox slipped right over it without a problem. This keeps the size as close to stock as possible, but with a larger battery.

With this setup, I am able to get roughly 15hrs of heavy use with sync on. Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.

Viewsonic recently released the Gtablet to the masses at the $399 pricepoint. With a dual core Tegra cpu, 512MB of ram and 10″ of screen real estate, this tablet has a lot going for it. However, right out of the box it is probably by far the worse OS and/or UI I have ever used. If this tablet was given to me as a gift with no option to change the stock OS, I would try and re-gift it. It is just that bad and then some.

So what’s so great about this tablet then? Custom roms. There’s nothing locking this system down, so there are already a few roms available that really improve the functionality of this tablet. Trust me, the difference is night and day and all kudos go to the folks on XDA Developers for really pushing this tablet forward.

Let’s get started shall we?

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After being on a Droid X for about month, I felt something missing. Only after I went back to a Droid Incredible today did I realize it was the ability to flash kernels. I happily loaded up KingKlick’s BFS#5. With overclocking speeds built in, interactive governor, loads of speed increments, undervolting and a slew more options, it’s a phone nerds best friend. This is what I’ve been missing and it’s a damn shame this kind “openness” is disappearing it seems.

This is not really Droid related by any means, but it’s a testament to the drive some of these developers have in making their devices, theirs. Some folks were worried that the T-mobile G2 would be locked forever preventing a permanent root. There was the Visionary app which had a semi-permanent root where it re-rooted on every reboot for you. However, this morning permanent root was achieved.

As always, here’s the specific forum post over at XDA with the IRC log. Expect a how-to shortly once they get this perfected for the masses. Did the HTC source release help move this along? Either way, G2 users rejoice.

There are a number of digital clocks on the market, but none are as simple and sleek as dclock. However, the only downside is that in stock form, there’s no way to make the background transparent. After some searching, it looks like someone on XDA gone ahead and done everyone a huge favor.

Feel free to jump over to that thread to grab the .apk or download below. Install via your favorite file manager.

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It looks like there’s really nothing that a locked bootloader can hold back. A few days ago, a method to overclock the Droid X was released and it works perfectly.

This has been tested and it does indeed overclock your Droid X’s CPU. I’m currently running at 1.1Ghz with undervolting. That’s right, not 0nly am I running faster than the stock 1Ghz, I’m doing it with less power (54 vsel). I’m hoping this combo yields some savings in the battery department.

The argument of whether or not overclocking is useful or not will not be detailed in this post. Just bear in mind, it does carry a risk and you can toast your handset or send it into an endless boot loop.

Basic adb/terminal knowledge is definitely a requirement. Some background in overclocking will make this easier as well.

It’s not at all difficult and many folks are now clocking in insane Quadrant scores with the bump in CPU speed. I have the basic install guide as well as a quick write up on how to customize your speeds.

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