Autostereoscopic 3D Clamshell Android by Sharp

Brandon Orndorff
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Autostereoscopic 3D Clamshell Android by Sharp

Sharp has announced it is not the first clamshell Android but it’s the first one that features Autostereoscopic 3D. It’s called the Sharp Aquos phone the Hybrid 007SH.  It also has a 16 megapixel camera with HD video recording, a micro-HDMI port, Blu Ray recorder connectivity and a lot more. This one’s Japan-only for the time being.  Flip phones have never been so sweet.

Aquos Hybrid 007SH Features Full Spec listing:

  • Android 2.3 Gingerbread
  • 3.4-inch naked-eye 3D LCD touchscreen with 854 x 480 resolution
  • 0.7-inch OLED sub-display
  • 16MP CCD camera with 1,080p–720 HD video recording support
  • Waterproof body
  • IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0+EDR
  • GPS
  • Digital TV tuner
  • Digital wallet function (Felica/RFID)
  • Infrared port
  • Micro HDMI interface
  • Blu-ray recorder connectivity
  • MicroSD/SDHC slot (shipped with a 2GB card inside)
  • W-CDMA, GSM
  • Dimensions: 113mm H x 51.8mm W x 19.3mm Thick, weight: 140g

We are interested to see how this phone does and when it will be available in the US.

 

How to Root Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Brandon Orndorff
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1
How to Root Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Gingerbreak Root method for Android Phones

The GingerBreak APK is a way to gain root access on GingerBread.  What the app does is:

The APK puts the right files in the right place to run the exploit
The APK runs the exploit
The exploit attempts to attain root access
The exploit remounts /system as read-write and runs the installer script
The installer script installs the su binary and superuser APK, and reboots

Installation of Gingerbreak

Enable USB Debugging mode on your phone (settings … applications … development … check USB Debugging mode)
Make sure USB debugging is enabled
Make sure you have an SD card formatted and in the phone
Transfer the APK on the phone and install it (download the apk here)
Open the APK and press the root button
Wait a few minutes and the device will reboot, be patient it can take a while (10 minutes or so)
Make sure the Superuser app is install and working

You now have your Gingerbread phone rooted Using the Gingerbreak method (this also works for tablets)

 

As always Android Advice is in no way responsable for the use of this information or apk file.  You root your phone at your own risk.

 

Original Article can be found at: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1044765

Android ROM Manager

Brandon Orndorff
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Android ROM Manager

ROM Manager is an App that allow you to install custom ROMs.  One of the great things about Android is the freedom that you get with the devices and the fact that 20 people could have the same device and none of their home screen or color schemes look the same.  You can match your phones style to your own and install any ROM you like easily using ROM Manager.  This being said you will need Root access to your phone.  To find out how to root your phone search here on android advice for your phone.

scan code to install ROM manager
Scan code to download ROM Manager

Features:
* Flash your recovery to the latest and greatest ClockworkMod recovery.
* Manage your ROMs via a handy UI.
* Organize and perform backups and restores from within Android!
* Install ROMs from your SD card.
* Install your favorite ROMs over the air!

Premium Version:
* Premium ROMs
* Receive notifications for when your ROM is updated!
* Automatic backups
* Install from QR Code
* Web Connect
* Support

Troubleshooting:
Droid users: Stuck at the “M” logo?  Flash an alternate recovery and flash back to ClockworkMod.
HTC Users: Flash recovery not working? Try fastbooting a recovery on.
Droid X/2/Pro Users: You must run the Bootstrap application first to use ROM Manager.
Samsung users: You must flash a Clockwork compatible kernel first

If you are using of have used ROM Manager please let us know what you think and any issues or great responses you have about it.  We have used it for quite a while and have to say that we have little to nothing bad to say about it and recommend using it to anyone who doesn’t want to bother with file system and terminal commands.  As with all apps there will be the occasional bug but we will share them with you if we notice any as well as how to avoid them in the future.

How to Install Custom ROM’s on Android

Brandon Orndorff
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How to Install Custom ROM’s on Android

Reasons to Install a Custom ROM

While there are many reasons you would want a custom ROM the most important is the fact that the Android OS offers so many features that are turned off by either your Carrier or Device manufacturer.

Other Reasons include:

  • Significantly better performance in most cases
  • Custom Boot Options
  • Themes Support in most cases
  • Full control of your phone

 

Please keep in mind before installing custom ROM’s that rooting your phone may void your warranty and installing custom ROM’s will obliterate it.  There are many options for flashing most phones back to stock in the event you need to take it in for a fix or any other reason you may have.

 

Installation of Custom ROM procedure:

YOUR PHONE MUST BE ROOTED (if your phone is not rooted please search Android Advice for how to root your phone and follow those steps beforehand.

  • Create a backup of your phone – Use an app like Titanium Backup for this then download the ROM Manager app from the market
  • Open ROM manager and click “Flash ClockworkMod Recovery” before anything else this lets you create a backup of your current ROM before continuing
  • When ready to download a custom ROM click “Download ROM” in the ROM manager App. There are many ROM’s available but the best we have found at this point is CyanagenMod.
  • Once you are done your phone will reboot into a fresh installation of the new ROM

After the new ROM is installed you will see new options in your settings, backgrounds, themes,   We can’t stress enough to make a backup before installing a new ROM.

As always this article is for your education and we in no way are responsible for your actions.

 

CyanogenMod for android phones

Brandon Orndorff
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1
CyanogenMod for android phones

While there are many mods or custom roms out there for Android, being the nature of open source platforms.  CyanogenMod is by far the most used and supported that we have found.

Some of the great features that this ROM has are:

  • Lockscreen Gestures – Gestures is the ability to “draw” out anything you wish onto your lock screen which will then launch an application or phone activity that you associated with that action.
  • Phone Goggles – Phone Goggles provides to the end user the ability to filter its outgoing communications and avoid any unwilling call or SMS to be sent.
  • Open VPN – With OpenVPN, you can: tunnel any IP sub network or virtual ethernet adapter over a single UDP or TCP port, configure a scalable, load-balanced VPN
  • Incognito Mode – For times when you want to browse in stealth mode, CyanogenMod offers the incognito browsing mode.  What this does is not save browsing to your history and deletes cookies after leaving incognito.
  • Themes Support – Theme manager lets you build a single apk that can theme the ENTIRE system.
  • DSP Equalizer – Gives enhanced sound processing capabilities. A simple application called DSPManager is provided to adjust the new audio parameters such as bass boost

CyanogenMod is designed to increase performance and reliability over Android-based ROMs released by vendors and carriers such as Google, T-Mobile, HTC, etc. CyanogenMod also offers a variety features & enhancements that are not currently found in these versions of Android.

 

Currently supported devices that have been tested are:

Google Nexus One, Google Nexus S, HTC Desire GSM, Sprint EVO, T-Mobile G2 (Desire Z), HTC Incredible, HTC Desire CDMA, HTC Desire HD (Inspire), HTC Hero GSM, HTC Magic (Mytouch), ZTE Blade, HTC Hero CDMA, HTC Legend, T-Mobile myTouch Slide, T-Mobile myTouch 4G, HTC Wildfire, AT&T Aria, Motorola Droid, Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Click (Tattoo), Geeksphone One, z71 Variants, Motorola Quench (CliqXT), LG Optimus 2x, Advent Vega, Viewsonic G-Tablet, B&N Nook Color

Android is better than iPhone!

Brandon Orndorff
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0
Android is better than iPhone!

Many people try to compare the iPhone to Android Devices.  While we are a bit bias there is really no contest when it comes to the ability and user capability of android devices.  Android offers the ability to customize almost every aspect of your experience.

We will start by talking about a couple things people complain about when switching from the iPhone to an Android Phone.

  1. Visual Voicemail – The iPhone has a visual voicemail system built into the device as a standard feature.  Android phones can have this feature easily and free by downloading free apps that offer the same service.  One of these services are Youmail which you can read about and download in one of our older articles.
  2. Popup Text Messaging – The iPhone when receiving a text message gets a popup window on their phone that allows them to read and reply to it.  While Android phones do not have this feature by default there are also apps for this that create the same user experience.  One of these services are SMS Popup which you can read about and download in one of our older posts.

Now for the functions that you will get with Android that leaves iPhone behind the technology curve.  The below features once you have you will never want to go back to the restrictive iPhone again.

  1. Alternate Keyboards – From text predictors likeSwiftkey to the innovative like Swype, you have a lot of different keyboard choices on Android. The iPhone has other keyboards, but they’re usually separate apps that require you to import text to another program it’s just the kind of system-level functionality that’s hard to get around.
  2. Custom Home Launchers – Third party launchers can add all sorts of extra features to the home screens of your device, like gestures, different kinds of shortucts, and even low-level settings that can help speed up an older phone. Whether you’re using the super-fast LauncherPro or the customizable ADWLauncher, third-party launchers add new configuration to your device.
  3. Widgets – There’s no substitute for the convenience of having a big weather widget right on your home screen, or a music widget to show you the currently playing track. Even more useful are the to-do list widgets, which is not only effective but necessary from people, as they don’t require you to actually look for your to-do list they’re always reminding you of what you need to do. If you’ve jailbroken,you can get widget-like apps for the iPhone, but you can only put them on your lock screen not the actual home screens that you’re always swiping through.
  4. Removable Storage & Battery -Android phones have the ability to take out, swap, and upgrade your battery and SD card. If you find that you’ve maxed out the storage on your iPhone, you’re pretty much out of luck, whereas with an Android phone you can pop in a new SD card and have more storage to play with. Similarly, you can swap out a spare battery for longer trips or even get an extended battery that’ll help your phone go longer without charging.
  5. Open Market – While the iPhone has their app store Android devices can download and install apps from anywhere on the web.  Android devices come with the Google Android Market on them but there are others like the new Amazon App store and App Brain that allow you to use them.  Also if a developer want to let you download directly from them that option is there.
  6. Custom ROM’s – Being open source people can take it, tweak it all over, and install their version instead of the one that comes with your phone. There’s little limit to how much you can tweak your Android experience. As with launchers, these give you a lot of system-level tweaks that you just wouldn’t be able to get this easily on other platforms. Whether it’s tweaks that speed up your phone or features like FM radio, custom ROMs are without a doubt one of the biggest advantages to Android.
  7. Flash – Flash is everywhere you go, and when you’re forced to view the web without it, you realize how much you actually rely on it day-to-day. Whether its accessing fully Flash web sites, watching Flash videos, or playing games, having Flash installed on your phone and tablet lets you access a lot of things you otherwise couldn’t have.

Ultimately as we talk bad about the iPhone, they are great phones.  Our point here is that unless you want the out of the box phone without any customizations you will want to move to Android.  iPhones are great no doubt but despite their popularity the customization is just not there.

Droid Charge Recovery Tool

Brandon Orndorff
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0
Droid Charge Recovery Tool

The Droid Charge doesn’t seem to have an easy way to recover once you have an issue with the OS.  There is a tool available though get your Droid Charge back to the stock platform if you have no other choice.

Why Recover your Droid Charge?
To be honest we all love Android but with freedom there is also the chance you can mess things up or install something that you just can’t figure out how to get rid of.  Even those aside most of us like to root our devices and we wont even go over all of the issues that can cause if your not careful.  So here it is, an easy way to get your Droid Charge back to its stock “out of the box” condition youself.

Droid Charge Recovery Boot Tool:

  • Download Droid Charge Recovery Boot Tool
  • Unzip to any place on the computer
  • Connect phone in USB debugging mode
  • Open Droid_Charge_Recovery_Boot_Tool Folder
  • Click on Droid_Charge_Recovery_Boot_Tool batch file
  • Follow directions as prompted on screen

This tool was not created by Android Advice and we don’t take any responsibility for its use.  This recovery tool is here strictly in the event you have no other choice. (although I don’t see any issues with it at the moment).

<a href=”http://droidxcon.moregeekforless.com/Droid_Charge_Recovery_Boot_Tool.zip” rel=”nofollow”>Download Droid Charge Recovery Tool</a>

Keep in mind that when doing anything like this there is a risk of damaging your device.  This being said we have attempted this twice on the same device from start to finish to test it out and everything went smooth.  Make sure however that you have some backup plan in the event there is an issue.  You can also post any issues or questions you have here in the comments and we will do our best to help so that the process to recover your Droid Charge is as seamless as possible.

Samsung Exhibit 4G & Gravity Touch 2 Coming to T-Mobile

Brandon Orndorff
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Samsung Exhibit 4G & Gravity Touch 2 Coming to T-Mobile

Samsung “Hawk” – Exhibit 4G

Product Features:

  • 21 Mbps HSPA+
  • 1GHz Hummingbird Processor
  • 3MP back w/flash + VGA front


Product Benefits:

* One of T-Mobile’s fastest Android Smartphones running on AL4GN so you can get your entertainment instantly from anywhere.

* Preloaded premium games, including Bejeweled 2, Scrabble and Doodle Jump

* Easy to use smartphone essentials full web browsing, e-mail, maps/navigation and Facebook.

Launches: June 8, 2011

Dealer Price: $325

 

Samsung “GT2” – Smart

Product Features:

  • 3.2″ touch screen with full slide out keyboard
  • 3MP camera with LED flash
  • Android 2.2 Froyo

 

Product Benefits:

* First Android device for the Galaxy brand that is optimized for texting (including group text)

* Impressive 800 MHz processor give you advanced performance for faster download speeds and smoother game experience.

* Provides Rich messaging and web browsing at an economic price point.
Launches: June 8, 2011

Dealer Price: $225

 

The Samsung Exhibit seems to be a phone on par with the others that have come out thus far.  Although this being said there is nothing that I see making either of these phones unique from the many others out there.  While these are both good phones neither are great.

 

AT&T Enabling Sideloading

Brandon Orndorff
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0
AT&T Enabling Sideloading

Anyone with an AT&T phone will tell you that the network speed since the newest update has made their network one of the fastest in the industry if not the fasted.  The only drawback that most people have relayed is that AT&T phones don’t allow side loading or installation of non-market apps.  Once of the largest issues is with the Amazon App Store which gives away free paid apps every day.  AT&T users have been left out of this unless rooted until now.

Today AT&T has announced that they will be enabling sideloading on select devices.

The select devices that will include the update are the HTC Inspire 4G or Aria, or a Samsung Captivate, keep an eye out for the updateon these Froyo devices. Also the new Samsung Infuse 4G already has sideloading enabled.

We hope that they will push this update to all of their android devices but currently only the ones mentioned will receive the update right now.  Wel will keep you informed about the future phones that will be added to the list.

Ma Bell has officially informed their developers to no longer lock out sideloading on future phones.

UPDATE: All AT&T Phones how have sideloading enabled and will no longer lock them.  There is an option that is in your settings called “Unknown Sources” where you can easily allow installation of applications from either other websites or markets like the Amazon App Store.  I would recommend that after installing apps from third party locations that you re-enable the lock for increased security.  This being said apps like Lookout mobile security will keep your device safe even if the device allows external installations.

If you have a device that seems to not allow sideloading or the installation of Android apps from locations other than Google Play we would like to hear about it so that we can make others aware of the restrictions.  Even with their seemingly slow start we think AT&T is one of the best carriers for Android devices second only to maybe Veizon when it comes to signal and service.

Whats new in Android 3.1

Brandon Orndorff
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Whats new in Android 3.1

UI refinements

The new Android 3.1 OS adds a variety of upgrades and improvements to make the user interface more efficient to use.

UI transitions are improved throughout the system and across the standard apps. The Launcher animation has been improved for faster and smoother transition to and from the Apps list. Color, positioning, and text improvements make the UI easier to see and understand. Accessibility is improved with consistent audio feedback within the UI and a new setting to let users customize the touch-hold interval.

Navigation to and from the five home screens is now easier — touching the Home button in the system bar now takes you to the screen most recently used. Settings offer an improved view of internal storage and show the storage used by more file types.

Connectivity for USB accessories

Android 3.1 adds platform support for USB-connected peripherals and accessories. Many input devices (keyboards, mice, game controllers) and digital cameras can now be connected. Applications can build on USB support to increase connectivity to almost all USB devices.  Users can interact with the application to control powered accessories such as robotics controllers; docking stations; diagnostic and musical equipment; kiosks; card readers; and much more.

The platform’s USB capabilities rely on components in device hardware, so support for USB on specific devices may vary and is determined by device manufacturers.

Expanded Recent Apps list – For improved multitasking and instant visual access to a many more apps, the Recent Apps list is now expandable. Users can now scroll the list of recent apps vertically to see thumbnail images all of the tasks in progress and recently used apps, then touch a thumbnail to jump back into that task.

Resize Home screen widgets – Users can now resize their Home screen widgets using drag bars provided by the system. Users can expand widgets both horizontally and/or vertically to include more content, where supported by each widget.

Support for external keyboards and pointing devices – Users can now attach almost any external keyboard or mouse to create a familiar environment. One or more input devices can be attached to the system simultaneously over USB and/or Bluetooth HID in any combination. When multiple devices are connected, users can manage the active keyboard and IME using the keyboard settings that are available from the System bar.  When pointing devices are connected, users can interact with the UI using point, select, drag, scroll, hover, and other standard actions.

Joysticks and gamepad support – To make the platform even better for gaming, Android 3.1 adds support for most PC joysticks and gamepads connected over USB or Bluetooth HID.  Users can connect Sony Playstation™ 3 and XBox 360™ game controllers over USB (but not Bluetooth), Logitech Dual Action™ gamepads and flight sticks, or a car racing controller. Game controllers that use proprietary networking or pairing are not supported by default, but in general, the platform supports most PC-connectible joysticks and gamepads.

Wi-Fi networking Improvements – Android 3.1 adds better Wi-Fi features, to make sure that users and their apps can take advantage of higher-speed Wi-Fi access at home, at work, and while away. A new Wi-Fi lock lets apps keep high-performance Wi-Fi connections when screens are off. This is great when you play continuous streamed music, video, and voice services for long periods, even when the device is idle and the screen is off.

Users can now configure an HTTP proxy for each individual Wi-Fi access point, by touch-hold of the access point in Settings. The browser uses the HTTP proxy when communicating with the network over the access point and other apps may also choose to do so. The platform also provides backup and restore of the user-defined IP and proxy settings.  The platform adds support for Preferred Network Offload (PNO), a background scanning capability that conserves battery power where Wi-Fi needs to be available continuously.

Updated set of standard apps – The Android 3.1 platform includes an updated set of standard applications that are optimized for use on larger screen devices. See Below:

Browser
The Browser app includes a variety of new features and UI improvements that make viewing web content simpler, faster, and more convenient.  The Quick Controls UI, accessible from Browser Settings, is greatly improved. You can now use the controls to view thumbnails of open tabs and close active tabs, as well as access the overflow menu for instant access to Settings and other controls.  Support for popular web standards such as CSS 3D, animations, and CSS fixed positioning to all sites, mobile or desktop have been improved. It also adds support for playback of HTML5 content. You can now save a web page locally for offline viewing, including all styling and images. When visiting Google sites, an improved auto-login UI lets users sign in and manage access when multiple users are sharing a device.  Page zoom performance is also dramatically improved, making it faster to navigate and view web pages.

Gallery
The Gallery supports Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP), so that you can connect your camera over USB and import pictures to the Gallery with a single click. The app also copies the pictures to local storage and provides how much space is available.

Calendar
Calendar grids are larger to be read easier and improve touch-targeting. Also you can create a larger viewing area for grids by hiding the calendar controls. Controls in the date picker are redesigned, making them easier to see and use.

Contacts
The Contacts app now lets you locate contacts easier using full text search. Search returns matching results from all fields that are stored for a contact.

Email
When replying or forwarding an HTML message the Email app now sends both plain text and HTML messages. This ensures that the message will be formatted correctly for all recipients. Folder prefixes for IMAP accounts are now easier to define and manage. To conserve battery power the email application now prefetches email from the server only when the device is connected to Wi-Fi.

Enterprise support – Users can now configure an HTTP proxy for each connected Wi-Fi access point. This lets administrators work with users to set a proxy hostname, port, and any bypass subdomains. This proxy configuration is automatically used by the Browser when the Wi-Fi access point is connected, and may optionally be used by other apps. The proxy and IP configuration is now backed up and restored across system updates and resets. To meet the needs of tablet users, the platform now allows a “encrypted storage card” device policy to be accepted on devices with emulated storage cards and encrypted primary storage.

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