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A $250 Android netbook that comes in colors of sherbet?  Engadget says we'll be able to buy these for around $250 in July or August. I was made aware of this video, once again, by Scott Webster at AG.

Insert standard, long-form disclaimer here - the translation of which is this: you, and you alone, are responsible for what you do to your phone. Not knowing potential consequences is no excuse. Modding voids the manufacturer's warranty and can easily destroy your handset. It is a shameful, sordid, unholy waste of your time.

You will find no tech support or culpability for bricking at PD.

Anyway, though I've decided to be pretty vague about how this stuff is accomplished, I figure the least I can do is point you all to the resources I've found most helpful and offer some notes on my experiences. A Google search brings back a confusing maze of posts that overlap and link to different files - many of which are outdated.

So, here is the best tutorial I have found: How-to- Root, Hack, and Flash your G1 from the xda-developers forum.

You can follow it until you reach "And now, the last step!" This is the point where you choose an image (version of a modded Android) to run. Don't choose one there. For the best and latest, go to Haykuro's blog. His instructions pick up where I told you to stop in the first tutorial. Actually, step one in Haykuro's how-to is what you accomplished at the xda forums if you followed the instructions properly.

As Haykuro states, you will need to include the Alt+W step when flashing your first modded Android image. This WIPES your phone (everything go bye-bye, SD and SIM data excluded). But future updates should not require this. Still, the water is murky, the changes are swift, and you never know what might happen in the modding world. I was happily running the JF hack, thinking I'd be auto-updated with the most recent images indefinitely. Then JF wrote a post referring people to Haykuro - as he is busy with other projects.

A wipe is often the best way to solve modding problems, which you will run into if you decide to play around with this stuff. So regardless of what the latest image promises, be prepared to lose it all. Search for Nandroid if you want complete phone back-ups. I'll get to that in another post.

Clicking on Haykuro's builds link will take you to a Google code project page. As of 04/28/09, the links near the top (ADP) are the official developer phone versions released by Google on 04/27/09. These are the most recent snapshot of Cupcake. (Thanks to @androidrights for letting me know what's up with all of these builds.)

The legacy builds below those are designated G for Google, H for HTC, and A2SD for those that are modified to allow installing apps to your SD card with a $1.00 program from the Market (free at xda devs). The Z versions support Chinese characters.

The A2SD builds require an ext2 partition after the FAT32 partition on your SD card. That scenario gave me trouble even though I have the partitions set up correctly, so I'm sticking with the top legacy build for now, and I'll be posting a video about it tonight. I'm keeping the partitions, and will give it a go later on.

These builds are dropping too fast for me to try every one immediately after release, and I don't have time to mess around this week. I'll get to the ADP early next week, or to whatever the image-of-the-moment is at that point.

Clarification: the ADP builds offer the latest tweaks and performance enhancements, and are therefore closer to the final Cupcake release. Still, they are not perfect and some features are non-functional. For example, root functions were quirky at first, but are being resolved quickly. These problems could vary from person to person. No IM other than Gtalk and the inability to delete messages in the email app are examples of some experienced problems. The legacy builds (which is what I'm running) also have root access and come from Cupcake, but are missing some recent adjustments. They too have issues.

Understand that updating your radio is done separately from the build, and by following the same steps - rename the radio file to update.zip, move it to your SD card, and reboot in recovery mode by pressing Home + Power. Then Alt+L, Alt+S.

SKIP THE ALT+W PART FOR RADIO CHANGES - it wipes your phone. The old radio, in case you want to fall back, is found under section II.c. here. The latest is at Haykuro's Google code page (look below the legacy images). Old radios work with the official RC33 and JF 1.42, the new radio works with Haykuro's images.

Last I heard from @johnashtonedgar - Android enthusiast and all-around knowledgeable guy on these builds - was that @Haykuro is working on including tethering and some other things that can't be found in the Google build in his own images. We'll keep you posted. Maybe that stuff will be available by my next mod.

If you haven't picked up on this yet, messing with your phone in this manner will cause UNEXPECTED RESULTS that can differ from the experiences of others. I have some apps that no longer work, and I cannot adjust the in-call volume. It also takes upwards of five seconds for my screen to rotate in response to the accelerometer - not because it 's delayed, but because it's doing this weird, jiggly, G-Shimmey dance transition thing. The Market forgot at least one of the apps I've purchased. Watch my video tonight.

The past few days have been centered around iPhone news, particularly concerning Verizon Wireless - news that Verizon may launch an iPhone this summer, or in 2010, or when LTE rolls out, or not at all.  No one really knows - well, apparently an important group known as "those familiar with the matter" know, but they can't seem to make up their minds as to when this mythical device will fall out of the sky and into Big Red's lap.

Another interesting rumor has come to light, and yes, it's by those same people "familiar with the matter" - but it does take the light off of Apple's pride and joy ever-so-slightly.  According to an article published in The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft and Verizon are in talks to launch an iPhone rival early next year.  Codenamed "Pink," the device will run a version of Windows Mobile and will most likely offer Windows Marketplace for Mobile, adding new software capabilities for what will be a touchscreen-only device.  What's more, the device manufacturing will be managed by Microsoft, but designed by an outside firm.

The iPhone rumor could be feasible when LTE takes hold, but it's highly unlikely during CDMA's remaining lifespan, which is what the USA Today article eluded to.  To Microsoft, all we have to contribute is a resounding "it's about time!"

I'm going to try to unload all of the news, rumor, speculation, and prominent opinion that has been working its way through the cracks of the Internet over the last few days, but I'm sure I'll miss a bit or two - hence the parenthesized, "almost."

First thing's first. Unstrung reports that pre-orders for magic begin in the UK today, while Android Authority sets the pre-order delivery date as May 5th. Early ordering will get you £5 off of the monthly plan. All sources are pointing to this Friday for in-store sales.

Now for all of you G1 owners; you want to know what's up with Cupcake, correct? Check out this feature walk-through video.  Cool, eh? Well, it isn't all sunshine. Read an article at Android Community to find out what the update is doing to current applications. I can confirm that some of my own have stopped working.

I am not running the official release - but what was (at the time of this posting) Haykuro's last rooted build. He has since posted the official Google Cupcake release for developer phones. I haven't switched because I like having root. After the update the Market forgot a couple of apps I purchased, but that's for another post. Here's a Tech Crunch post on the backward compatibility issue.

According to Beta News, the average G1 owner could see the true, final Cupcake image this week. I think I'll just wait for confirmation before I stand behind this one. I'd still cautiously offer what I hope is the conservative estimate of June.

One last sprinkle of rumour for you: Averatec CEO Tae-Hyun told CNET that they are releasing a 10-inch netbook in Q3 with a surprise OS that is a "merger of cell phone and PC technology." I'm not going to spend too much energy on that one. These guys love playing with us (a vague reference to P.R., upstarts, and OEMs - not CNET). 

The image Noah posted of the Samsung i7500 was certainly the best view we had seen of the OEM's first Android device at that point, but nothing brings a product into the realm of the real like video, right? Well, it's no masterpiece, but a series of images shown in rapid succession has popped up. I first saw it at Android Guys.

How carefully was this planned out? "O.K., a super blurry pic, then a high-rez image, then a half-baked video..." Next thing you know, it'll be turning up in the background of reality t.v. 

Nextel sent Noah two MOTO i9 Stature phones, so he got a little crazy with the Direct Connect feature.

Virtual boobs, fart simulators, fake beer guzzlers — I once thought these were tasteless app ideas for the iPhone. But these all look like high-brow entertainment next to an Apple-approved app called Baby Shaker.

What the Baby Shaker is all about is basically what the name implies. When the little simulated baby in the app cries, the user shakes the phone until red Xs appear over the baby's eyes, indicating that it was successfully silenced.

I don't know what's more unbelievable — that someone had the nerve to create such a disgusting app or that Apple approved it. The company apologized for it (acknowledging that it was "deeply offensive") and promptly removed Baby Shaker from the App Store. But the question is, how the heck did it get accepted to begin with?

The company already had a bad rap for a questionable App Store approval process that flummoxed developers and customers alike. Now, it just seems like there's no criteria at all — just someone back there throwing random darts at a list of candidates.

The pendulum on my love/hate relationship with Apple has definitely swung in the negative direction. In fact, I'm nearly ashamed to admit being an Apple customer — so much so that I was tempted to turn in my iPhone over this debacle.

All this took place, oddly enough, last week, just as Apple celebrated its 1 billionth app downloaded from the App Store. Although I was previously envious of the winner, 13-year-old Connecticut native Connor Mulcahey, and his $13,000+ worth of prizes, I (almost) feel sorry for him. Instead of a fun, exciting 15 minutes of fame, his big win gets linked to a nasty situation involving simulated baby murders.

Meanwhile, plenty of other Apple-related news came through the wire over the weekend, including another rumor about iPhone coming to Verizon and two new devices that may or may not debut from the company (which I'll cover in a separate post). I do wonder if any of it was leaked intentionally from Apple's PR folks to distract from the Baby Shaker situation. If so, then it was a smart business move — but it certainly doesn't give them any humanity points.




[Wired via iPhone Hacks]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s second largest cellphone maker, today unveiled the I7500, its first Android-powered mobile phone. With the launch, Samsung becomes the first company among the global top three mobile phone manufacturers to unveil an Android-powered phone.

“Samsung is among the earliest members of the Open Handset Alliance and has been actively moving forward to introduce the most innovative Android mobile phone,” said JK Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Communication Division in Samsung Electronics. “With Samsung’s accumulated technology leadership in mobile phone industry and our consistent strategy to support every existing operating system, I believe that Samsung provides the better choices and benefits to our consumers” he added.

The I7500, a touch screen smartphone, offers a 5 megapixel camera and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, that gives users access to all of Google’s services.

Samsung said that the phone would be available in major European countries in June. No word on pricing.

Spam text messages can be a problem for mobile phone users. Just like annoying marketing calls, you can receive text messages from different companies on your mobile phone at odd times. If these unwanted text messages start coming regularly, they can be a real pain. Most service providers provide call blocking capabilities, but they do not provide services which can help you block spam text messages. This is when mobile phone users look for alternatives which can help them block unwanted SMS Text messages and spam text messages.

Mobile phone users may also need to use a phone utility to help them block unwanted SMS text messages from an ex or from an annoying co-worker. In other cases, a parent might be interested in blocking unwanted text messages on their kids mobile phones to guard against bad influences or to protect them from spam messages which could be harmful to them. Companies can also use these mobile phone utilities to monitor the activities of their employees and to block unwanted text messages on company provided mobile phones to save on mobile phone bills.

TextGuard is a handy mobile phone utility which allows SmartPhone users to effectively block unwanted text messages on their mobile devices. The utility has been developed for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry users to help them secure text messages which are sent and received on their mobile phones. The utility monitors and tracks all messages and archives them on a central server, which is accessible for later retrieval through a website admin panel. TextGuard offers 3 different plans designed for individuals, businesses and corporations.

Once you download and install the utility, you can login to the website with the provided user name and password and access your account. You will see a record of all incoming and outgoing text and email messages saved on the server. Call records are also saved on the server, allowing users to block certain numbers if they do not want to receive text messages or calls from them. The server provided easy access to all the information, which can be organized and retrieved later on. Users can quickly and effectively block any numbers to stop communicating with the. The utility is not only handy in terms of blocking unwanted spam text messages, but it can also help you keep backup of all your communications, which makes it extremely useful for businessmen, who might want to keep a backup of all their daily activities. The archived data also acts as a backup and can help you in cases like mobile theft or lost or stolen mobile.

Users can register online on the website at www.TextGuard.com and download the 30 day free trial of the software.

So I found this kind of funny.  @Palm_Inc just tweeted about some Pre-related song or something, so I followed the link. 

 

The link took me to a blip.tv video (note: we use blip to host our iTunes-bound videos).  The video is a promotional thing that someone named Molls made about how Palm showed her the Pre and waiting for it to come out is like falling in love with someone.  Or something like that - I don't know, I'm too old to understand these kids with their Internet videos.

This vid is chock full of Pre Luv - to the point where I'm guessing Palm offered Molls a free Pre or something in exchange for making the clip.  Anyway, at the end of the vid there's a link to Molls' blog - www.themollsshow.com - which is a Tumblr page.  The best part of it all?  Once the Tumblr page loads, the first thing you see, smack in the middle of the page?  An Apple logo!  ROLFMPO!  (That's Roling On the Floor Laughing My PRE Off, for you n00bs).

Molls' Tumblr blogs is a bunch of links surrounding an embedded player showing the latest episode of her vlog.  The static image begging you to click-to-play the vids is of a rainbow Apple logo tatooed on someone's ankle. 

Was this a PR gaffe on Palm's part, or a sign that Molls is changing her allegiance from iPhone to Pre?  Either way, it looks like Palm's spending at least a few bucks targeting the tween market in anticipation of the Pre's launch.  Whenever that might actually be.  Meantime, Apple gets some more free publicity on a competitor's dime ... which is more or less how they roll.