Wedgi offers hands-free smartphone operation!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Everyone knows that driving around while yakking on your cell phone without a hands-free kit (be it a speakerphone or a Bluetooth headset) is dangerous, not only to you but to other road users as well. After all, having your concentration taken off the road by an iota could potentially lead to a catastrophe down the road, pun intended. This is why getting a hands-free kit is of utmost importance, but which one do you choose?

Out this week by C & C Designs Technology, LLC, the patent-pending wedgi can be said to be the most versatile smartphone kickstand and dashboard mounting device available on the market at point of publishing. Of course, that is just PR spin, but we will have to test it for ourselves (or wait for our dear readers to be an early adopter) before coming up with our own conclusion.

Sony Ericsson does Xperia arc!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Sony Ericsson decided that they will no longer release smartphones that are far behind in terms of OS updates compared to the rest of the mobile manufacturers, hence their latest addition to the Xperia family – the Xperia arc. This is one handset that will definitely stun you whenever you take a look at it, running on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. First unveiled at the recently concluded CES 2011, it is the first of a new generation of Xperia smartphones, so you can be sure that there will be more to come! 

As we mentioned above, the design is what makes the new Xperia arc a looker, where it is super slim and hence, extremely light. Measuring a mere 8.7mm at its thinnest point, it will not sacrifice anything when it comes to performance, boasting an extra wide 4.2” multi-touch screen display. Sony Ericsson has certainly not gimped on material since they used premium materials to form its stunning arc body, so while you might think that this is going to break far more easily than a Hershey chocolate bar, it is still strong enough to fit nicely into your hand. One word of advice though – if you’re going to wear a really tight pair of jeans, we would suggest that you not put this in your rear pocket – you never know when it is in there and just jump onto a hard seat somewhere!

As for its innards, expect the best of Sony technology to be found, from its Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine for exceptional visual brilliance and a crystal clear image, to Sony’s award-winning Exmor R for mobile sensor (at 8.1-megapixels) with the f/2.4 lens that is capable of shooting high quality, bright pictures and HD videos even in low light conditions. Of course, all images shot can be viewed over a HDTV (preferably a Sony one) using the built in HDMI-connector. Needless to say, other specifications are pretty standard such as a 3.5mm audio jack, aGPS navigation, Bluetooth and DLNa connectivity, and Wi-Fi support among others. There is no word on pricing or availability though.

Hands on with the iPhone Horn Stand !!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Today I received the Bone Collection iPhone Portable Amplifier Horn Stand in the mail. The Horn Stand is designed to increase the volume of your iPhone by 13 decibels without the use of batteries. 

That is probably because there is nothing electronic or even metal in this amplifier. I heard of this product a few weeks ago, and I assumed that it was made of hard plastic. As it turns out, it is made of rubber, and smells kind of funny when you put your nose up close. 

 

So does it increase the sound? Perhaps on an iPhone, yes. I tried it out on my iPod Touch, and I could barely hear a sound increase. I hope the effect on an iPhone would be equivalent to the iPod Gramophone or PhonoFone II

Verizon Wireless announces Motorola Droid Pro !!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Verizon Wireless does already have a slew of Android-powered smartphones in their arsenal, and they aren’t going to stop there just yet. Well, the latest device that is coming out from their stables would be the Motorola Droid Pro, being the first Android-based smartphone which is specially optimized for business use.

It will be available as a pre-sale order from select Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com from November 9th onwards, although there are some reports floating around the Internet that people have already placed a purchase order – and not a pre-order, so this oversight might be something that could cost a person his or her job. Well, on to the nitty gritty in the extended post then!

LG Vortex ready for action from Verizon Wireless !!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Verizon Wireless is one of the major carriers in the US, and one of their latest handsets would be the LG Vortex, where it will be made available to the masses in both online as well as brick-and-mortar stores from November 18th onwards. Since different phones cater to different people, the LG Vortex will specifically target first time smartphone users who want to kick off with the Android operating system. 

This makes me wonder, for those who want to make the plunge to the world of smartphones, why not go straight for the best instead of dipping your toes per se, where clearly a mid-range smartphone will surely be outperformed by a mile compared to a high-end model. In this sense, the iPhone is the best model to follow since the only difference between Apple’s offerings would be storage space. But I digress – more on the LG Vortex in the extended post.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 fills a niche in the smartphone market !!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X8 is one smartphone that is touted to fill the gap in the smartphone market, in particular, meeting the needs of consumers who are finding a slew of touchscreen smartphone handsets too large or too small for them. In other words, it fits your hand snugly, and work just fine for those digits of yours without getting in the way or creating an unsightly bulge in your pocket. 

Of course, another important factor to consider these days would be pricing, as these are economically trying times, so every penny saved is always more than welcome, and the Xperia X8 certainly does its part to make sure you do not spend more than you should even on an advanced smartphone.

Huawei Ideos S7-105 Android Tablet Phone!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Best Buy is the go-to retailer when you’re looking for a cheaper tablet, which is also the case of the Huawei Ideos S7, a cheap alternative for the Galaxy Tab. Going for $299.99, the slate is now available in white, it runs Android 2.1 and it sports a 7 inch color touchscreen.

The specs of the device go something like this:

• Display: 7 inch color touchscreen
• Memory: 8GB (microSD card slot)
• Camera: 2MP front/reader digital camera
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n

How To Set Up ADB/USB Drivers for Android Devices!! (2/4)

blogged by GmyDotCom

IF DRIVERS JUST WON’T AUTOMATICALLY INSTALL, DO IT MANUALLY HERE (UPDATED 10/22/10)

A program called PDANet (used normally to allow you to wired tether your phone’s internet to your computer) can be used to install the ADB drivers for a lot of phones. Download it and follow it’s instructions to install it and see if that gets you the serial number (if you do, you are all done). If not, then use one of the device specific programs in below.

PDANet

Download your phone’s driver’s below then goto your Device Manager on your computer, look for the phone and click on it. Then click Properties > Update Driver > Browse > Let me pick > Computer > Have Disk > Browse > Then select the driver you downloaded below:

Universal Motorola Drivers (unzip the file once you download it, and run the program inside to install the drivers)(Updated 09.27.10)

Motorola Droid Drivers (unzip the file once you download it).

Motorola Milestone Drivers (follow the instructions on the page).

Motorola CLIQ Drivers (follow the instructions on the page).

Nexus One Drivers (unzip the file once you download it).

Samsung Behold 2 Drivers (unzip the file, run the setup.exe) (If you have Windows 64Bit, you CANNOT install the Behold Drivers. Find someone with a 32Bit system to to any Behold 2 procedures involving ADB).

Samsung Galaxy Drivers (unzip the file, do NOT run setup.exe. Instead follow step 1 in Section II and install manually.)
Samsung Galaxy Fastboot Drivers (unzip the file, then when you plug the phone in via fastboot mode, select to install drivers manually and choose the folder you just unzipped and it should install them from there).

How To Set Up ADB/USB Drivers for Android Devices!! (1/4)

blogged by GmyDotCom
Setting Up The SDK
Download the Latest Android SDK from Google

Android SDK

Extract the Android SDK .Zip file to C:\AndroidSDK (this should name the new folder created AndroidSDK in the C directory.

On your phone, click Settings > Applications > Development and make sure USB Debugging is on.

Plug your phone into your computer via USB cable (it needs to be on). It should say installing drivers if using Windows.

!UPDATE 12.01.09 – If using Windows 7 skip steps 4 and 5 and use this procedure instead.

After it installs the drivers, goto the Start menu and type cmd into the search bar (Vista or higher) or click Run then type in cmd (XP) to open the command prompt.

Type the following into the command prompt window (hitting enter at the end of every line):

cd\
cd AndroidSDK\tools\
adb devices

UPDATE: If it says adb not found or something similar, download the ADB files and extract them into the Tools folder of the SDK (they were taken out by Google in the R08 version for some reason and need to be put back).

You should see a serial number pop up, it’s the serial number of your phone. This means you are all set.

If you do NOT see a serial number, then we need to reinstall the drivers.

How To Create a Goldcard !! HTC Legend !!

blogged by GmyDotComBefore You Begin
Some memory cards simply will not let you edit them in the way we are about to, so you may need to do this procedure and if it doesn’t work, try a new memory card. 2GB Kingston SD card DOES work for sure so up to you if you want to just buy one of those before beginning.

YOU WILL NEED AN SD ADAPTER! This can be a MicroSD to USB that allows you to plug the SD card into your computer’s USB port OR a MicroSD to SD adapter if you have a SD port on your computer.
 

II. Setup ADB
Follow these instructions (with video) to setup ADB for your phone, then come back to this procedure to continue.

III. Create a Goldcard
Put the memory card you want to use for the GoldCard into your phone.

With the memory card in your phone, click on Settings, SD and Phone storage, then click Unmount SD card. Once it unmounts, click Format SD card. (Please keep in mind that some memory cards don’t work, and this will erase all data on your SD Card so back all the data up first to your computer)

On the Phone, goto Settings, Applications, Development and then make sure USB Debugging is checked.

*Make sure you have installed the SDK and Fastboot correctly from Section I!!!
Plug the phone into the computer and then open the Command Prompt (goto the start menu and type in cmd in the search box). Then type the following with hitting enter at the end of each line.

cd\
cd\AndroidSDK\tools\
adb devices

(wait for it to show a serial number underneath, if it doesn’t then reinstall the drivers from section I).

Then type:
adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid (There is no spaces in this line EXCEPT right after the word cat in the beginning, make sure to put that space in)

A code will display, write the code down (MAKE SURE TO WRITE IT DOWN EXACTLY!)

Goto this site, http://hexrev.soaa.me/, (thanks to Soaa for the reverser!) then put in your code you just wrote down into the text box and click submit. It will generate the code reversed and replace the first two digits with zeros automatically. Write that down and continue.

Now, on your computer, goto http://psas.revskills.de/?q=goldcard and enter your email in the appropriate field and for CID enter the reversed CID you just copied down BUT REPLACE THE FIRST 2 DIGITS WITH 2 ZEROS! (i.e. 12345678910 becomes 00345678910). *Thanks to Viper for providing these Goldcards for FREE!

Click continue and then you will receive your goldcard.img via email. Once it arrives save it to your computer.

Now, goto http://download.cnet.com/HxD-Hex-Editor/3000-2352-10891068.html?part=dl-HxDHexEdi&subj=uo&tag=button to download the HxD Hex Editor. Save it and install it to your computer.

Take your SD card out of your phone and put it into the SD adapter it came with. Then put that into your computer so it shows up on your computer as Removable Disk.

Open the Hex Editor (Run as Administrator if one Vista or Windows 7) and click on the Extra tab, then click on Open Disk. Under Physical Disk select Removable Disk (your SD card you just put into the computer). Make sure to UNcheck “Open as ReadOnly”. Click OK.

Goto the Extra tab again and click Open Disk Image. Open up the goldcard.img that you saved from your email. You should now have two tabs, one is the SD card (Removable Disk) and the other is the goldcard.img. Press OK when prompted for Sector Size 512 (Hard Disks/Floppy Disks).

Click on the Goldcard.img tab and click on the Edit tab and click Select All. Then click on the Edit tab again and click Copy.

Click on the Removable Disk tab (Your SD Card) and select offset 00000000 to 00000170 then click on the Edit tab and click Paste Write.

Click on File then click Save.

Close the Hex Editor.

Test what we’ve done:

Take out the memory card from the computer, then put it back in.
Try to open the memory card on the computer (Removable Disk), if it lets you, you are all set. If it asks/tells you to reformat the card, then try steps 13 – 19 again. If it gives you the same error again, then try a different memory card (Erlern said it didn’t work for him until he finally went and bought a Kingston 2GB card, then it worked on that card).

You can now use this goldcard to root phones that were previously unrootable!

Good Luck !!

HTC Wildfire Getting Android FroYo Update By Next Year!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Chinese New Year next year, the HTC Wildfire, HTC’s existing entry level Android smartphone, will be getting the Android 2.2 FroYo update.  It’s always nice to buy a device from a manufacturer who commits to providing firmware updates, if the hardware still supports the requirements of any new operating system upgrade – after all, how many manufacturers do you know do this?

So, the latest that you will get the upgrade is by February 2011.  Who knows, Malaysians may see it sooner than that?

Android Developers Blog: “It’s not ‘rooting’, it’s openness”!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

When the Nexus One launched, it took a mere three words typed into the appropriate command line to root the device. Those words were “fastboot oem unlock”. If this were something that was unintentional, not only would it have been patched in a firmware update within hours, it would have never made its way onto Google’s next Developer’s Phone the Nexus S.

But it did, and will only solidify Google’s loyalty to the openness of Android. You may counter with “If they love ‘open’ so much, why didn’t they just ship it with root enabled?”. Valid point but the truth in the matter is that some people just need that protection from themselves. And to posses the knowledge and drive to download the necessary tool and type in the appropriate words provides enough of a barrier that if a user does it, they did it intentionally and know what they are getting themselves in to.

One of the reasons behind the Nexus line is to give 3rd party modders easy access to the guts of the Android OS and see where they can take it, without having to resort to exploits. After all, the heart and soul of the open source world is driven by the outside world; the ones who are not paid to deliver, but do it for the joy and hope that their contributions can make the world a little better.

Nexus One Getting Gingerbread “In the coming weeks”!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

The Nexus One is getting itself some official Gingerbread cookies “in the coming weeks”.

This shocking revelation was twitted a fews hours back by @googlenexus. 

The Nexus One has received a few bits of Gingerbread already, and XDA yields two different ROMs ready for day-to-day usage on page one of the Nexus One forums. Now the only question is, who will release a full fledged (ie nothing ‘not working’) Gingerbread ROM for the Nexus One first? Google, or the modding community? Set. Go!

Motorola Following Up Defy with Two More Rugged Handsets!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

The Motorola DEFY, flaws and all, was the first smartphone to take the whole rugged thing seriously while not looking like the chunky handsets we are used to seeing in that role. In other words, it was a good first attempt, but, though it looks pretty good and features a decent implementation of Android, more could still be done to make the handset desirable for reasons other than its ability to survive under water. So, it is good news that Motorola plans to continue along the path of the Defy with the introduction of at least two more life-proof phones.

Not much can be said of the handsets right now, but they will be full-touch devices and even less expensive. This doesn’t bode well for any hope that they will aspire to more than the Defy, nor does word that they will be weather but not water resistant. Look for more info to emerge in the coming weeks.

Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2 ‘Star Wars’ Special Edition Announced!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Motorola has just announced in a press release about the limited edition R2-D2 Droid 2. The special edition Star Wars branded Droid 2 will look like the ‘iconic Astromech Droid from the Star Wars™ Saga’. This special edition.

Droid 2 will come in a custom box with a Star Wars media dock and a wired stereo headset. It was also rumored that the R2-D2 Droid 2 will come with the OMAP processor being clocked at 1.2 GHz. However, the phone’s processor will be clocked at 1GHz only like its ‘normal’ sibling – the Droid 2.

The handset will also come pre-loaded with some exclusive Star Wars content which includes 4 live wallpapers, a R2-D2 clock widget, Star Wars special ringtones, “The Best of R2-D2″ video and an exclusive Binoculars app.

The handset will be available from 30th September at some selected Verizon Wireless stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com. The R2-D2 edition Droid 2 will cost $249 after a $100 mail-in rebate on a two-year contract.

Spice Mi-410!! Coming Soon!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

pice, one of the renowned mobile maker has revealed a new product named Spice Mi-410 mobile. Spice Mi-410 mobile is consists of some advanced features including Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity for easy social networking, 5.0 mega pixel camera, HD video recording facility, and Bluetooth

3.0. Built in MS office and stereo FM radio are also some of the features of Spice Mi-410 mobile.

Spice Mi-410 Mobile Features

• 4.1 inches of HVGA touchscreen
• 480×800 pixel resolution
• Android 2.1 operating system
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 3.0
• 800 MHz processor
• 5.0 mega pixel camera
• GPS with AGPS
• HD video recording facility
• Stereo FM radio
• Inbuilt MS office
• 3G connectivity

The new Spice Mi-410 mobile loaded with Android 2.1 operating system is priced nearly Rs.15,000. With touchscreen display and 800 MHz of Qualcomm processor the Spice Mi-410 mobile is going to rock the mobile world next month.

ZTE Smartpad Light !! Yet Another Android Tablet Phone Makes An Appearance!!

blogged by GmyDotCom

ZTE announced a new 3G-capable Android tablet device called ZTE Light. The Light is really lightweight, weighing just 403g. It runs Android 2.1 OS with 512MB RAM and 512MB ROM. The Light has a 7-inch touchscreen and supports dual band UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA 2100 MHZ/900 MHz 3G/3.5G network.

The 7-inch Android tablet also supports WiFi and GPS. It comes with a 3 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a microSD card slot and 3.5mm jack.

Maxis Launches The HTC Desire Z !!

blogged by GmyDotCom

No registration of interest.  No pre-bookings.  No crap.  Maxis just made the Desire Z available, all of a sudden, without much fanfare. 

The initial release date was of course last Friday as I posted much earlier but they could not keep this date because, well, there was nothing to sell last week. So, it’s here now.  And available from as low as RM 1,449 on a loooooong term 24 month contract.  

HTC 7 Trophy phone gets GFC nod !!

blogged by GmyDotCom

Due in May 2010, the HTC Trophy was apparently canceled by its manufacturer, to reappear soon as Windows 7 Phone (exit WM 6.5). Released before the end of 2010 under reference HTC 7 Trophy, this new 3G smartphone piece-like BlackBerry with QWERTY keyboard should easily find its audience.

The HTC 7 Trophy phone has reportedly received a nod from the Global Certification Forum (GFC). Speculation is rife that the HTC 7 Trophy may well be a Windows 7 phone.

Specifications:

Display: 3.0-inch VGA resistive touch screen, QWERTY keyboard

Camera: 5 magapixel with autofocus

User Interface: TouchFLO 3D user interface that allows users to employ finger gestures to navigate between programs and applications and browse through contacts, web pages, and photos

Communication features: HTC’s Straight Talk Lite technology that allows users to switch between single calls, conference calls, and emails

Processor: MHz Qualcomm MSM7227

Operating System: Windows Mobile 6.5

Internal memory: 512 MB ROM, 256 MB RAM

Connectivity: WCDMA/HSPA at 900/2100 MHz and GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 850/900/1800/1900 MHz networks 802.11 b/g WLAN Bluetooth v 2.1 with EDR GPS, AGPS

Other specs: Motion G-Sensor, 3.5-mm jack, FM Radio, MicroUSB, Super Search, Business Card Scanner

Motorola Android 3.0 Honeycomb Tablet!! Sooon

blogged by GmyDotCom

Yesterday was an exciting day for Android fans, first we saw the new Google Nexus S, then the latest version of Google’s Android OS, Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Then Andy Rubin demoed a new Android tablet from Motorola, although this tablet wasn’t running Android 2.3, it was actually running Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

Google have said previously that current versions of their mobile OS weren’t optimized to be used on tablets, and that they would be launching Android 3.0 in the future, which would be the first version of Android that had features built in specifically for tablets.

Some of the new features shown off in Android 3.0 include a new UI and desktop with buttons and widgets in the corners, as well as a new lock screen, plus a new version of Google Maps which is based upon 3D vectors.

Google has said that Android 3.0 Honeycomb will be out next year, although there is no specific date, it is rumored to launch in quarter 2 of 2011.