« Posts tagged Cyanogen

Froyo: First Impressions

May 22, 2010 / posted in Android, Software / No Comments
It's Froyo!

It's Froyo!

IMPORTANT NOTE: It’s been pointed out that the Froyo ROM floating around is nothing more than a Release Candidate. Although that means that it’s technically feature complete, it’s still little more than a beta. Expect bugs, expect brokenness, and don’t expect any help with it.

I’ve been using the pre-rooted Froyo update (Android 2.2) for a few hours now, and here are my first impressions:

  • Speed: Holy crap is this fast! In fact, it’s even faster than some of the ROMs running over-clocked kernels. It takes about the same amount of time to boot, but the phone is very responsive as soon as the lock screen appears, and I haven’t encountered any lag throughout the system.
  • App Restore: I had no idea this feature was in Froyo, but imagine my surprise when I booted up Froyo after a full wipe only to have it immediately restore all of my installed apps! Talk about a time saver!
  • Bookmarks: Even though I was missing a few, most of my bookmarks in Browser were automatically synced. This alone almost makes the Froyo update worth while.
  • Exchange Sync: Everything works exactly as before, only now it syncs with my Exchange calendar out-of-box quickly and painlessly. No more need for CorpCAL.apk!
  • Froyo-Only Apps: One of the first apps out for Froyo is ChromeToPhone — it lets you send links from Chrome on your desktop/laptop computer directly to your Android device. Gone are the days of using URL shorteners or QR codes to get something on your phone – instead, simply browse to the site you want on your computer, then click a button in the toolbar. You’re Android device will near-instantly receive the link and notify you.
  • Bugs: Yes, there are a few. The main one I’ve run in to is trying to turn off USB Storage. If you attempt to turn it off on the phone before ‘Safely Removing’ the device in Windows, Android becomes generally unresponsive and eventually reboots. While annoying, I’m not really that surprised, as I did it wrong. Also, Terminal Emulator crashes in Froyo due to a compatibility issue with the stock ROM. This will hopefully be addressed in a future update, but for the time being, use ConnectBot.

I can’t wait for the eventual CyanogenMod 6.x based on Froyo, but that won’t be out for a while, as Google has yet to release the source code for 2.2. Things are definitely looking good for Android, though!

UPDATE: The HTC_IME (virtual keyboard) has been updated for Froyo. Get it on XDA.

Android 2.2 ‘Froyo’ Reactions

May 21, 2010 / posted in Android, Software / No Comments

Android FroyoI’ve written a few articles about Android, and my opinion of the platform should be pretty apparent. So, I’m just going to jump right in to my favorite features highlighted for version 2.2 (Froyo), and what they’re all about:

  • Better Exchange Support: As big a fan as I am of Google Apps, I still use Exchange at work, so having a phone that can integrate with Exchange is very important. Android has done this well since 1.5 (possibly earlier, but that was the first version I used), however there was no official support for Exchange Calendar Syncing. I’ve been using the CorpCAL.apk to sync my calendar, but with Froyo I’ll be able to do it out-of-box. Add in the remote-wipe ability, and the experience is complete!
  • Portable Hotspots: I’ve only used tethering on my Nexus One a few times, but being able to do so saved me a lot of trouble. With Froyo, not only can you tether, but you can turn your Android device in to a wireless hot spot for up eight other devices. How handy is that?
  • Voice Dialing Over Bluetooth: Finally.
  • Flash: To quote Vic Gundotra, Google’s Vice-President of Engineering who was detailing Froyo features during the Google I/O keynote session, “Part of being open means you’re inclusive rather than exclusive.” Google understands that yes, people do in fact use Flash. It might not be the best mobile media framework out, and yes, it might out-right suck, but people use it. Rather than actively restrict people using their platform, Google allows developers to do what they want and end users to see what they want, unlike a certain fruit-based company that likes to spin their perspective and convince their users that their form of closed is better than another’s.
  • Market Improvements: I’ve been waiting for these for a long time. Although the biggest news was that you’ll be able to browse the Android Market from your computer’s web browser and remotely install apps to your Android device, the biggest news for me was also the simplest, smallest feature: the addition of an ‘Update All’ button. No longer will you have to groan as Market notifies you that seven apps have updates available. Gone are the days of clicking an app, then clicking update, then clicking OK, then going back to the Downloads list, and then repeating. One button, one small feature, has alone made 2.2 worth the update. Of course, I could be going a little overboard there….
  • Continuing Support: Although carriers are lagging behind, Google has continued to support older devices, such as the G1, the MyTouch 3G (aka the HTC Dream and Magic, respectively). Through a recent announcement, Google will continue to push code to support older devices in newer releases, such as Froyo.

So is Froyo something that I’m looking forward to? Absolutely. What else am I looking forward to? Well, there is a certain ROM that looks like it will get the Froyo treatment as well….

(I did not create the Android logo posted. Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.)

The Nexus One – First Impressions

March 19, 2010 / posted in Android, Google / No Comments

Best. Phone. Ever.

Wow. That’s nearly all I can say. Nearly. However, there are a few quick notes:

  • The screen is absolutely amazing. In terms of smart phones, I have an iPhone 3G, an HTC Dream and Magic, and now this, and I can say without a word of hyperbole that the N1 has the best screen of them all.
  • The ‘softkeys’ at the bottom of the screen (Back, Menu, Home, and Search) are a little odd – they’re actually part of the touch screen, and you have to tap them at their tops, not in the centre of the keys as you’d expect. Very easy to get used to, though.
  • Rooting was incredibly easy following Cyanogen’s guide – Warning: HTC says that you’ll void your warranty by unlocking the bootloader. Proceed with caution, even though there have been statements honouring the warranty if the issue is completely unrelated to software.
  • The sound quality is excellent, and I had no troubles getting it to pair with my Jabra Bluetooth headset. A2DP works stunningly, with none of the choppiness/disconnects that I had on the Dream and Magic when listening to music.
  • Signal quality is on par with what I was getting with Dream/Magic with Rogers in south-central British Columbia.
  • This thing is fast. Not just the HSDPA+ connection, but everything. Wow.
  • Live Wallpapers == Coolest Thing Ever.

I’ll post more on this later after I’ve had more time to play with it, but really. Wow.

Set Hostname on an Android Phone (rooted with Cyanogen)

December 27, 2009 / posted in Android, Linux, Software / 2 Comments

Major Update (01/17/2011):

With the first few official Pre-Alpha builds of CyanogenMod 7 being released, it’s worth noting that a new feature has been included that allows you to change the hostname on your device from the Settings menu. If you have a supported device, you can get the nightly builds from the TeamDouche Mirror System. Once you’ve flashed (I take no responsibility if you break something – make sure to read up on issues/pitfalls/requirements before flashing), open the Settings menu, then choose Applications, then Development, and select Device Hostname at the bottom. This setting persists between reboots and ROM upgrades (unless you wipe).

Warning: I accept no responsibility if you brick your phone while doing this.

I ditched my iPhone due to problems my local provider was having and got an HTC Dream instead. I promptly rooted it using the Cyanogen Mod, but noticed that by default, Android reports the hostname as ‘localhost’. I don’t really like this, so I set about finding an easy way to change it.

First off, even rooted, the / partition is mounted read-only when you boot normally, so you need to boot to Recovery Mode (Home+Power). In the recovery menu, choose to boot to console. From there, browse to /system/etc/init.d.

IMPORTANT: Make a backup of ’05userinit’ before continuing! You can do this by simply running the following command – ‘cp 05userinit /05userinit’ (without quotes). This will create a copy of it in the / directory. If you screw up your editing, you can just rm the messed up version and cp the backup back in.

To add the command to set the host name, we’re simply going to echo in the following two lines:

echo  >> 05userinit

echo hostname NEWHOSTNAME >> 05userinit

Note that there are two spaces after the first ‘echo’ command. This creates a blank line at the end of the file. The second echo adds the hostname command. This way, whenever your phone boots, the hostname is set. Also, be sure to use two greater-than signs (>), as that appends – if you only use one, it overwrites the contents of the file.

Make sure the edits are correct by typing ‘tail 05userinit’ – as long as it isn’t blank, and there’s more than just the hostname line, you’re golden. Reboot the phone by typing ‘reboot’ at the prompt and hitting ‘Enter’, and you’re done.

Once you’ve booted back up, open up your terminal emulator of choice and type ‘hostname’ (by itself, no parameters) – it should echo out whatever hostname you specified.

Update (April 6th, 2010): To change your hostname on Cyanogen 5.x, add the following line to the bottom of /system/etc/init.d/01sysctl — and make sure you make a backup of 01sysctl before editing it!

echo NEWHOSTNAME > /proc/sys/kernel/hostname