Android Phone How Tos

Best Android Honeycomb apps

2011-06-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

Honeycomb has been around for some time and we finally have choice in the number of tablets in the market. Many of you would have already got one, or would be opting for one in the future. It is high time that we compiled a list of some of the best and optimized apps for a Honeycomb tablet.

This list is not the end, it is the start. Drop in your choicest of best Honeycomb apps in the comments section and we will include that in the future compilations.

1. USA Today: Latest news, scores, weather, stocks and photos from USA TODAY on your Android Tablet.

Download

2. Drawfree: Get drawing with the drawing application optimized for your tablet. Take advantage of the large screen and the simple controls to take notes, draw sketches, paint paintings with your finger and illustrate your ideas.

Download

3. PDANet: This is a tablet version of the extremely popular PdaNet software. It allows you to share the Internet access of an Android device with another Android device through Bluetooth.

Download

4. Tweetcomb: Tweetcomb is a Twitter client designed and created for tablets. Tweetcomb gives you a tablet-friendly view of your Twitter timeline, mentions, direct messages, and more.

Download

5. News republic: News Republic brings news from all major press agencies: AFP, eWeek, Adfero, Associated Press and websites.

Download

6. Accu Weather: Weather information directly on your Android tablet.

Download

7. Touch Down: TouchDown gets your Email, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks from your corporate Exchange server, and gives you a single tabbed view.

Download

8. Weather Bug: Another great weather app for Honeycomb tablets. Get the latest weather information, including local current conditions, hourly and extended forecast, severe weather alerts, animated Doppler radar, live weather camera images and more on your Android tablet with WeatherBug.

Download

9. Adobe Connect Mobile: Download the FREE Adobe Connect Mobile application, now optimized for tablet users, and enjoy immediate access to online meetings using your Android device. Participate in multi-point video conferencing, with 2-way video, using your camera during your video conversation.

Download

10. Paint Box: Now with full Android 3.0 Tablet support, PaintBox uses natural brushes for realistic paintings. Featuring full radius and opacity control, eight levels of undo, with smooth and intuitive touch controls that use speed, pressure, and direction.

Download

11. NYTimes: Enjoy the award-winning journalism of The New York Times on your tablet. Enjoy our Top News section for free, or subscribe and unlock all the sections in the app of The Times, including blogs.

Download

12. File Manager: GoAruna Files for Tablets is a specially made combination of a powerful file manager and cloud file storage solution, made just for your Android tablet.

Download

13. Tweetcaster: TweetCaster is now optimised for Tablets running Android 3.0—Honeycomb. The HD version introduces the newest and COOLEST TweetCaster feature yet: TweetCaster Smart Filters. Now you can see filtered views of your timeline that allow you to only look at tweets containing photos, links or videos.

Download

14. Sports illustrated: This app gives you the ability to subscribe to Sports Illustrated magazine or to add the digital edition to your print subscription.

Download

15. FriendCaster for Facebook: Share and stay connected with your friends with Honeycomb’s first Facebook app.

Download

16. CNN: Get the latest news, watch live video and iReport from your app.

Download

17. Thumb keyboard: Thumb Keyboard is a flexible keyboard that introduces a revolutionary and innovative “split” layout for Tablets and Phones. A layout that makes thumb-typing easier, more natural and more comfortable. Besides that it is also a standard keyboard with many features one will not find on a regular keyboard.

Download

18. Quickoffice HD: CREATE VIEW, & EDIT, Microsoft Office files on your Android Honeycomb tablet!

Download

19. News 360: News360 for Android Honeycomb-based tablets aggregates more than 1500 different news sources around the web to bring you news stories in a concise and useful stream.

Download

20. File Manager HD: Another tablet optimized file manager on Honeycomb! High definition (1280*800) with fresh UI design and user friendly functions! Special optimization for tablets and certified on Honeycomb!

Download

21. Kindle: The Kindle app is optimized for Android devices giving users the ability to read Kindle books on a beautiful, easy-to-use interface.

Download

22. Hublife: Hublife is an easy-to-use and intuitive daily planner and organizer that manages your life from one central “HUB”. Specifically built for tablets, the Hublife platform seamlessly syncs your tablet data with your desktop/laptop, Android smart phone, and any other web-accessible devices.

Download

23. TegraZone Games: TegraZone Games is a great app that showcases all of those games and helps users discover titles optimized for Tegra.

Download

24. FriendMe: Another great Facebook app for Honeycomb.

Download

25. SpringPad: SpringPad makes it easy to save notes, products and places you want to remember. SpringPad is a free application that makes it quick and easy to take notes and save anything you want to remember in one place – from tasks and lists to products, places, movies, recipes and more.

Download

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How To: Root The Verizon Samsung Droid Charge

2011-06-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

Follow these instructions, and you should have root and full /system unlock on your Droid Charge in a few minutes. Applauding the Exploid Crew and unnamed testers. No custom recovery, like ClockworkMod is available yet, but we hope it arrives very soon.

Pros:

Permanent root
Read/write access to /system
The bootloader is factory unlocked
All Droid Charges survived testing
No data wipe is needed

Cons:

Voids warranty
Could brick your phone if you aren’t careful

Procedure:

Step 1: Download the zip archive containing the exploit and other needed files (MD5: c6f2f4119f4a640571c3ab50c3287aae).

Step 2: Unpack the downloaded zip – you should now have 3 files:

GingerBreak
su
Superuser.apk

Step 3: Enable USB debugging on your phone – Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging> Check the box there.

Step 4: Push the files to the phone:

adb push GingerBreak /data/local/

adb push su /data/local/

Step 5: Gain root (it takes over 10 minutes, and if it fails, reboot and try again):

adb shell

Now the shell should display "$".

Run:

/data/local/GingerBreak

At this point, the shell should display "#".

Step 6: When your prompt changes from $ to #, you have temp root. Now, make it a permanent root:

At this point, the shell should display "#".

Run:

mount -o remount,rw -t rfs /dev/block/stl10 /system

cat /data/local/su > /system/xbin/su

chown 0:0 /system/xbin/su

chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su

reboot

Now install SuperUser off the market. Your Charge should now reboot.

Bingo! You’re done. Enjoy permanent root!

Note: If you have a problem, and need to run GingerBreak a second time, delete the temp files by running: adb shell rm /data/local/tmp/*

How To Gain Back The Root You Lost While Updating Android 3.1 On Your Motorola XOOM 3G Or Wi-Fi

2011-06-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Android 3.1 update that’s been rolling out to Motorola XOOM contains quite a few improvements like better stability, resizable widgets, and an extended app switcher. However, the update does not contain root. It gets lost every time the update occurs. So, here are we with the procedure to root back your Android device post the update.

Note: This procedure is tested and working on the Mortorola XOOM Wi-Fi. It will not work on the 3G Xoom.

Warning: The procedure may damage or permanently destroy your device. Perform this procedure at your own risk.

The procedure must be performed after unlocking your Xoom to acquire root access.

Download:

WiFi_RootTool_3.1.zip

Summary:

Pushes Superuser, su, and other root files. Sets correct permissions to enable functioning root
Flashes bigrushdog modified stock 3.1 boot.img (kernel) to enable external SD card storage (in /sdcard/external)
Prevents system from over-writing custom recovery
Enables USB OTG

Assumptions:

Unlocked your Xoom
Downloaded the WiFi_RootTool_3.1.zip
Downloaded a recent ClockworkMod recovery image to your PC
Installed a physical SDCard in your Xoom
Configured the Android SDK on your PC, with adb functioning properly
Downloaded fastboot and have it functioning properly

Procedure:

Step 1: Prepare your SD Card

Using an SD Card reader, move XOOM_RootTool_3.1.zip file from your PC to the root of your SD Card. Now, install the SD Card into your Xoom. Alternately, mount the SD Card via Xoom in recovery after you boot into recovery in step 3 by selecting 'mounts and storage > mount USB storage'.

Step 2: Flash ClockworkMod recovery.img

Connect USB cable from your PC to Xoom. Ensure USB Debugging is activated in the Application settings menu.
Open command prompt> Navigate to the adb folder> Change 'XXXXXX-XXXX' in code to match filename

Code:

adb reboot bootloader

fastboot flash recovery recovery-solarnz-XXXXXX-XXXX.img

fastboot reboot

Step 3: "Catch the boot" to boot into recovery

As soon as you send the 'fastboot reboot' command in the previous step, your device will reboot. You have to boot into recovery instantly else your Xoom will reflash the stock recovery over the custom recovery.

When you see the Motorola logo appear, wait for 3 seconds.
Tap the Volume Down button > "Android Recovery" appears> Now tap the Volume Up button to boot into recovery.
When attempting to "catch the boot" it says 'Starting Fastboot protocol support' then hit Volume Down too soon. Hold Vol UP + Power to reboot and try again.

Step 4: Flash WiFi_RootTool_3.1.zip

In ClockworkMod Recovery, select "install zip from sdcard"> Select "choose zip from sdcard"> Select "WiFi_RootTool_3.1.zip" > Select "Yes - Install WiFi_RootTool_3.1.zip"> Select "Reboot System Now"

That’s it! Enjoy your rooted devices.

How To Protect Your Phone and Data

2011-06-15T05:11:00.001-07:00

With all of the personal services available on your Android phone like Mobile Banking, Email and Facebook, your phone stores a high volume of sensitive data. You must protect that information!

The first line of defence with Android phone is the password protected lock screen, which can be configured under Settings, Security, Set Lock Pattern.

The next line of defence comes from apps like WaveSecure available in the Android Marketplace. It allows you to access your phone remotely if it's ever lost or stolen, allowing you to lookup its GPS location, wipe/backup data, and lock the device.

How To Protect Your Android Phones From Malware

2011-06-13T14:59:00.001-07:00

Malware gets installed onto your android phone, without your notice and steals important data like IMEI number, Phone number, important contacts and files for the hackers. The users who has been hit by a malware will receive a message from android “Your Android Phone is effected” and the update is automatically pushed to the devices, and removed when it has fulfilled its function. If you were not received any notification from the android, then you can download the software from Here.

After installing the software, you will notice that the apps which were not uninstalling earlier will be removed automatically and will no longer be able to affect your devices. Follow these basic rules and tips so that you can be safe from intruders.

Ensure your software installations are certified by Google android team.
Install recommended apps like Lookout Mobile Security; it will scan your device for malware and also allow you to transfer important data online. If you phone is lost somewhere, you can easily find out with this application.
Install a free antivirus application’s like AVG Free and NetQin Antivirus
It is always a better choice to put a good password for your android mobile.
Download apps from verified websites and trusted android market only.
Avoid accessing your phone on a public Wi-Fi.
When a update is available for any apps try to install it as early as possible. Even the OS should be updated regularly.

Users who have been affected with the malware apps must immediately download the Android Market Security Tool and Clear all the malware from their device.

How to Block a Caller on your Android Phone

2011-06-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Receiving sales or unwanted calls is a harrowing experience, especially when you’re attending an important board meeting. Often we wonder how to avoid these pesky callers; so here we are with a good solution. Depending on the nature of the call, for serious offenders, the Black List feature on your Android phone is an excellent option; it allows you to completely block a call. For minor disturbance, it may be more appropriate to utilize the "Send Calls Directly to Voicemail" option.

For completely blocking callers, the best option is to Black List the Caller. Select the caller to blacklist them, it will send them directly to a busy signal. It takes a while for the new setting to take effect.

Procedure:

Step 1: Press Menu button, from the main screen > Select Settings > Call Settings.

Step 2: Scroll to the bottom of the list and select Black List > Click Add Phone Number. You can manually type in a phone number in the text box or can click on the silhouette icon along the right of the text box and select an entry from your contact list.

Step 3: Click OK to finish.

Send Calls Directly to Voicemail on Your Android Phone

Procedure:

Step 1: Navigate to your Contacts > Select the contact you wish to send straight to voicemail.

Step 2: Press Menu button > Click Edit Contact.

Step 3: Scroll down to the bottom of the screen > Select Incoming Calls: Send Calls Directly to Voicemail. The caller will be sent directly to voicemail without the Android phone ringing.

This feature can be disabled by reversing the process.

How to improve the speed of SD Card of Android phone

2011-06-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

Most Android phones have a tiny amount of internal storage and the users have to rely on the SD Card to store media and apps. Consequently, it could mean that you have a fancy 1Ghz dual core processor but of not much use because your SD Card would be slowing you down. Is there a solution? Read on to find more.

Purchase a speedier SD Card. A class 6 MicroSD Card will do the trick. It may cost a bit but your SD Card is such an important part of your Android device and it’s worth the investment.

If you do not wish to spend, then you can improve the speed of your SD Card by installing the app, SD Increase. You must root your phone in order to use this app.

SD Increase is an app, which expands the size of the cache on the SD Card. This expansion has proven to drastically improve the speed of the SD Card. You should find that you could load apps, view photos, play songs and access many other stuff, faster.

It is important to note that your mobile will lose the settings when you turn it off so you need to tick the box on the app that allows the app to run every time you turn on your mobile. Further, leave the app installed.

How To Save Your contacts to Google

2011-06-13T14:47:00.001-07:00

Amongst the several addictive aspects of Android OS, is its integration with the cloud. When setting up a new Android device, all you require is a Gmail address and Contacts. Irrespective of the situation, you will always be able to access, manage and move your contacts at Google.com/Contacts.

By default, several skinned phones save contacts to the device by default, they’re not syncing up with Google’s servers. What’s the benefit of saving to Google account rather than your device? As long as your Google account is synced, your device will show you all of your Google Contacts. However, if contacts are saved to the device, they will not show up in Google.com/Contacts. Subsequently, it saves time and effort when you eventually get a new device or are forced to if something happened to your old one.

So here we are with three main skins to show you how to save contacts to Google rather than on the device.

Samsung’s Touchwiz:

Samsung’s contact application called Contacts and has an orange icon. When you visit the application, by default a pop up asks if you would like to save the contacts to the phone or to your Google account. Click the plus sign to add a new contact. It also allows you to remember this choice so you don’t need to do it every time. If you ever want to change the Contact settings, visit Contacts -> Menu -> More -> Settings.

HTC Sense:

HTC’s contact application is called People. When you visit the application and select new contact, by default is saved to the phone. Click on the Contact Type and switch to save to your Google account. Sadly, there is no option of saving your choice, hence you’ll have to do this every time.

Motoblur:

On Motorola’s phones, to ensure that new contacts are always saved to Google, you have to go into the Contacts application, go to Menu -> Settings and it'll provide you with your various options to save the contacts to, Google being one of them.

How to Add New Ringtones/SMS Notifications/Alarms to HTC Hero

2011-06-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

To add new ringtones or SMS alerts to your HTC Hero, connect your android device to your PC via USB. Browser to the following folders:

Ringtones: /sdcard/media/audio/ringtones

SMS Alerts: /sdcard/media/audio/notifications

Alarm Alerts: /sdcard/media/audio/alarms

Copy your mp3 files into either of the folders above. Then visit:

Ringtone:Settings > sound and display > phone ringtone

SMS: Settings > sound and display > notification sound

Alarms: Set the sound when adding a new alarm.

Then select the ringtone you put in the above folder(s).

How To Upload Files Wirelessly and Quickly

2011-06-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

Plug your USB cable and select the option in your notification bar to mount your SD card as a storage device. This is how files are uploaded to your phone isn’t it? But, what if you are not carrying the USB cable with you?

You can use the Bluetooth option for Android phones on the newer firmware, but the speed of about 3Mbps is a limiting factor. It takes several minutes to transfer a few music albums or a feature length movie. Instead, you can use the 54Mbps Wi-Fi capabilities of your Android phone. All you require is an FTP client on your computer, like FileZilla, and an FTP Server app like FTPServer from the Android Marketplace.

How To Save Your contacts to Google

2011-06-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

How To Root the Nexus One

2011-06-08T18:40:00.001-07:00

Before you begin rooting your Nexus One, you must have setup ADB.

Procedure:

Step 1: Download Superboot

Step 2: Save it to your computer, unzip it to your C: by right clicking it and clicking Extract Files. Once extracted, rename the folder to Superboot.

Step 3: Turn off your Nexus One and then plug it in to your computer via USB cable.

Step 4: Turn the phone back on by holding down the trackball and hitting power. Continue to hold it down until the fastboot screen emerges.

Step 5: Open the Command Prompt on your computer from the Start Menu, then type cmd and hit enter in the search box OR click Run, type cmd and hitting enter.

Step 6: Once it opens, type the following commands with hitting enter at the end of each line:

cd\

cd C:\Superboot

fastboot-windows devices

Your phones serial number should display proving that it is connected and your computer can see it.

Then type:

fastboot-windows oem unlock

Step 7: Then follow what the screen says to do on your phone and select Yes.

Ignore the error you get at the command prompt. Also your phone may reboot, if it does just turn it off, then turn it back on by holding down Power and the Trackball to get back to fastboot before continuing on to the next step.

Step 8: Now, while the phone is still connected, go on your computer to the Superboot folder and open it. Inside you will see a file called, install-superboot-windows.bat

Step 9: Double click install-superboot-windows.bat and wait for it to finish. Rooting successfully completed!

How To Install ClockworkMod Recovery On Your Android Phone

2011-05-31T08:38:00.001-07:00

Clockwork Recovery aka ClockworkMod Recovery/ ClockworkMod is a recovery console for performing a wide range of operations on Android devices. People customizing their phones by flashing custom ROMS extensively use ClockworkMod. Additionally, it allows you to perform and restore backups of your Android phone. Luckily, installing it is a very easy process

The phone must be rooted prior to the installation of ClockworkMod. Once the phone has been rooted, follow the below mentioned instructions to obtain ClockworkMod on your phone in a jiffy!

Instructions:

Step 1: Download free app ROM Manager from Android Market. Install it.

Step 2: When installed, launch ROM Manager on the smartphone.

Step 3: In ROM Manager, tap Flash ClockworkMod Recovery. Specify or confirm your phone model if prompted during the process, and follow any on-screen instructions.

Step 4: It would take a few minutes for ClockworkMod Recovery to install. Upon successful completion of the process, ClockworkMod is ready for use.

If you want to boot into ClockworkMod recovery, launch Rom Manager and tap ‘Reboot into Recovery

25 infected apps found in the Android Market

2011-05-31T08:36:00.001-07:00

Infected apps are becoming a routine in the Android Market. Over the weekend, mobile security firm Lookout announced that they have found 25 new infected apps in the Android Market. The company said these apps are likely developed by the same people that did the March attack which included 50 apps.

The infected apps were packaged in copies of legitimate apps, listed below, and posted to Google’s Android market by four fraudulent developers, Lookout says: Magic Photo Studio, Mango Studio, E.T. Tean, and BeeGoo.

The list of infected applications (by developer name) includes:

Magic Photo Studio

Sexy Girls: Hot Japanese
Sexy Legs
HOT Girls 4
Beauty Breasts
Sex Sound
Sex Sound: Japanese
HOT Girls 1
HOT Girls 2
HOT Girls 3

Mango Studio

Floating Image Free
System Monitor
Super StopWatch and Timer
System Info Manager

E.T. Tean

Call End Vibrate

BeeGoo

Quick Photo Grid
Delete Contacts
Quick Uninstaller
Contact Master
Brightness Settings
Volume Manager
Super Photo Enhance
Super Color Flashlight
Paint Master

UPDATE: DroidPlus

Quick Cleaner
Super App Manager
Quick SMS Backup

Lockout suggested you do the following to be safe:

Only download apps from trusted sources, such as reputable app markets. Remember to look at the developer name, reviews, and star ratings.

Always check the permissions an app requests. Use common sense to ensure that the permissions an app requests match the features the app provides.

Be alert for unusual behavior on your phone. This behavior could be a sign that your phone is infected. These behaviors may include unusual SMS or network activity.

Download a mobile security app for your phone that scans every app you download to ensure it’s safe. Lookout users automatically receive protection against this Trojan.

Source

Download Plants vs. Zombies free at the Amazon Appstore today

2011-05-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

If you have being emvious of the iOS users because of Plants vs. Zombies, Plant vs. Zombio for Android is finally here. But there a few catches to it: it is 75 megabytes which may feel heavy on older Android phones; and it only available at the Amazon AppStore for now. And today alone, it is free. To over to the Amazon and get loaded. For it's worth, you get 49 killer plants and 26 varieties of zombies. Plants vs. Zombies is developed by PopCap.

Go to the Amazon Appstore to download.

Google Wallet to replace your wallet and credit cards

2011-05-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Since Nexus One- the introduction of NFC, Google has made it clear that they want to replace your wallet with Android powered phone. Today, they are a lot closer to achieving this said goal with Google Wallet Google Wallet is called an "open platform for for mobile payment". All you need to know is that the general idea to to enable you to leave your credit cards at home while using your phone as the payment method. Revealed at Google New York HQ, Google Wallet,according to Tilenius, the field trials will begin today and it will be official out this summer. As expected, it will be using NFC technology. By 2014, Tilenius notes that 50 percent of smartphones will have NFC built into them — that’s 150 million devices.
You can already add your MasterCard and Citi backed card, while Google continues to seek partnership with other companies.
The first trial programs will be in San Francisco, New York, and Portland this summer and Google already secured partnership with Macy’s, Subway, Walgreens, Toys R Us, among others.

Google Wallet

Google Maps 5.5 for Android brings check-in and rating

2011-05-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

The latest update to Google Map for Android brings check-in and check-out, location rating, and transit information.
New check-in and rating buttons added to Place pages
Now when you open a Place page from your mobile device, you can check in to places with Google Latitude or submit a rating or review by clicking on two new buttons at the top of the listing.

Update home and work address for your Latitude Location History
From the new location history, you can view where you've being spending your precious time.

View the redesigned transit station pages
If you ride public transit. The new transit page makes it easier to plan your transit route, we updated the transit station pages in this release to better organize the information you need.

Download Google Maps from the Android Market.

Best keyboard app for Android tablets, Hacker's Keyboard

2011-05-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

Up till now, there is no virtual keyboard that has all the keys of actual physical keyboard. A complete keyboard is in high demand and most tablets buyer will spend extra money to purchase a physical keyboard to get all the keys easily accessible. Hacker's Keyboard is here to save you some money.

Hacker's Keyboard is a free keyboard replacement app that gives users all the keys they would normally be available on an actual physical keyboard, including all the function, number, and arrow keys.
Even though phone users may be template to install and try this app, it will be more suitable for tablets of 7 inches and higher. Download Hacker's Keyboard from the Android Market.

How to Use Google Music on iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

2011-05-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

iPhone, iPad, and iTouch owners will like to enjoy Google's Music Beta, just like their Android counterpart. All music is stored on Google’s own servers and it allows users to access and change their music tracks across multiple devices and computers. Android users can download and install this Music app on their phones without any complications, but those who want to access all the features such as the Music manager desktop app need an invitation from Google. Take the step below to get Google Music on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch.

Step 1. Get a Google music account by requesting an invitation from: music.google.com/music/

Step 2. Open Safari, point it to music.google.com/music/ and enter your Google account information.

Step 3. Navigate the interface in the same ways as the desktop browser version. Tapping play will play the music track. To play a song, tap it, and press “Play” in the navigation bar at the lower end, or click the triangle to the right of a song name and select “Play Song.”

Step 4. Drag up or down with two fingers to scroll through you music list.

Step 5. Use the navigation bar at the bottom of the browser to skip, repeat, or shuffle music.

Step 6. Closing Safari will not hinder the music play. Music player shortcut can be accessed by double-clicking the home button and swiping to the left. Using these short cuts you can skip, play/pause your music via Safari while doing other things.

Learn more about how to use Google Music on iOS devices
How to get Google Music on iOS devices
How to get Google Music on iPad, IPhone, and iTouch

How to use the Google cloud Music

2011-05-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

How to use the Google cloud Music

This video by cnet.com explains everyhing you need to know about using Google Music Beta. Google Music is Google's Music service designed to compete with the iTunes and Amazon cloud music service.

Motorola Xoom Apps

2011-05-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

Motorola Xoom Apps
Very few among the thousands on app in the Android Market are actually tablet ready, If you just got the Motorola Xoom, here are some of the few tablet-ready Android apps to start with. These Honeycomb optimized apps for Android tablets apps will take advantage of full Android 3.0 enhancements and screen real estate.

1 Thumb Keyboard for Android
Thumb Keyboard is a flexible keyboard that introduces a revolutionary and innovative "split" layout for Tablets and Phones. A layout that makes thumb-typing easier, more natural and more comfortable. Besides that it is also a standard keyboard with many features one will not find on a regular keyboard. Read more and download Thumb Keyboard for Android from the Android Market.

2.WeatherBug for Honeycomb
WeatherBug offers the most accurate real-time weather intelligence anywhere!
Get the latest weather information, including local current conditions, hourly and extended forecast, severe weather alerts, animated Doppler radar, live weather camera images and more on your Android tablet with WeatherBug. Read more and download WeatherBug for Honeycomb from the Android Market

3.Fruit Ninja THD
More like slide and dice. One of the best games on Honeycomb.his Tegra HD version of Fruit Ninja is optimized for NVIDIA Tegra based Android devices only. The worldwide smash hit game Fruit Ninja is now available for NVIDIA Tegra based Android devices. Fruit Ninja is a juicy action game with squishy, splatty and satisfying fruit carnage! Become the ultimate bringer of sweet, tasty destruction with every slash.
Swipe up across the screen to deliciously slash fruit like a true ninja warrior. With three games modes in single player and worldwide leaderboards using Openfeint, the addictive gameplay will keep you coming back for even higher scores.
Fruit Ninja features three packed gameplay modes - Classic, Zen and the new Arcade, featuring powerups including Freeze, Frenzy and Double Score! The bonus Dojo section includes unlockable blades and backgrounds, and you can also unlock achievements and post scores to the online leaderboards with Openfeint.
Download Fruit Ninja HD from the Android Market

4. GUN BROS

The Freakishly Rugged Advanced Genetics Galactic Enforcement Division (AKA F.R.A.G.G.E.D) specializes in the development and deployment of superhuman special agents. Headed since its formation by the brilliant soldier-turned-scientist Mother Gun, its current roster consists of only two active field operatives, code-named Percy and Francis Gun. Their lifelong mission: to protect the cosmos from the Tyrannical Oppressors of Life known as T.O.O.L.
Like a super-powered fungus gone haywire, the evil T.O.O.L organization has grown from the dankest levels of the criminal underworld to spread its own brand of malevolent funk to every corner of the galaxy. Most recently, they’ve set their sights on harvesting the rare element Xplodium in an effort to create even more powerful weapons to enslave the universe… But not if the GUN BROS have anything to do about it!

Read More about GUN BROS at the Android Market

5. Angry Birds Seasons
Considerably the bet thing in mobile gaming space. You will get a new version for every holiday.
Download Angry Birds Seasons from the Android Market.

6. Rocket Bunnies
Rocket Bunnies is an action-puzzle game of slingshotting from planet to planet. Time your exits in order to boost past enemy spiders, mines, electric portals and more! The best space rabbit sim you'll play this year. Download Rocket Bunnies

7. CNN App for Android Tablet
Get the latest news, watch live video and iReport from your app.
Experience what happens when storytelling meets the newest technology with the new CNN App for Android – a smarter, sleeker way to experience a world of content. Share and comment on news & insights, watch live, breaking news video, and submit your own story to the world with iReport
Download CNN App for Android Tablet from the Android Market

8.Ultimate To-Do List - Tablet
To-do list & notebook for power users, designed for tablets, with Toodledo sync.
A to-do list and notebook for power users - designed for tablets - which syncs with the Toodledo web site. Read MORE.

9. Grocery iQ
Grocery iQ includes all the features you’d expect from a great shopping list app. Build new shopping lists quickly by: saying the item name or using predictive search. Sync/share your shopping list with other Grocery iQ users. Download Grocery iQ from the Android Market

Customize Android Vibrate Pattern For Calls And SMS, Smart Vibrtor

2011-05-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

How To Customize Android Vibrate Pattern For Calls And SMS
Are you missing calls simply because you are not able to feel the default vibrations set by the manufacturer? Worry not, as free app- Smart Vibrator is here to help you! It customizes vibration for incoming calls and messages.

Prior to beginning the process of vibration customization, ensure the default phone vibration is off.

Step 1: Select Settings > Sound & Display. Adjust the ringtone a little bit higher.

Step 2: Open Smart Vibrator and two default patterns on the screen for SMS and incoming phone calls are displayed. New pattern can be composed in terms of short, long and strong pauses. You can set your patterns by using the combination of ‘.’, ‘-‘, and ‘ ‘(space). From the settings, vibrations can be enabled/disabled for calls and SMS.

Step 3: You can set different patterns with contact filters, allowing you to set
different vibrations for different contacts. Turn off the accessibility so that
reminder vibrations can be sent via the app for missed messages and calls. It
will do so by repeating the vibrations every 3-6 minutes.

Download Smart Vibrator from here.

Measure your heart rate on the go with your Android phone

2011-05-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Measure your heart rate on the go with your Android phone
For every day heart rate checkout, don't drive 50 miles to your doctor's office, try Instant Heart Rate. "Instant Heart Rate is the most accurate Heart Rate Monitor app for any smartphone and it does not need any external hardware." From the computer of your room you can check your heart rate everyday.

How To Hard Reset Samsung Galaxy S

2011-05-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

How To Hard Reset Samsung Galaxy S
Korea seems to be the hot spot for Android gadgets, with the latest Samsung Galaxy S in the offering. The device loaded with a unique UI - TouchWiz 3.0, thus overriding the HTC’s Touch Sense graphical user interface. With an incredible SuperAMOLED capacitive touch screen, Galaxy S is among the best Android phones created so far by the Korean manufacturer.

Even though the phone is preloaded with several useful widgets, applications and functions, yet you will eventually like to tweak and customize your Galaxy S smartphone. Also, you may want to undo all the changes you made earlier. Users who want to revert to the factory settings of their Samsung Galaxy S can follow the below mentioned steps. Prior to restoring to factory setting, take a backup of your data at some safe place, as the resetting will delete all information including third-party applications. However, data stored on microSD card will not be deleted.

Instructions:

Step 1: Power off your device. Hold the Volume Down button and press and release the Power button.

Step 2: A window with options Fastboot, Recovery, Clear Storage and Simlock is displayed on the screen.

Step 3: Use Volume Up/Down buttons to select the Clear Storage option and then click and release the Power button again.

Step 4: Conform your selection, press Volume Up for YES and Volume Down for NO.

Finally, the smartphone will reboot fresh, as it was shipped from the factory.

Get detailed information about the in-coming caller with Truecaller

2011-05-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

If you are getting many unwanted calls or will like to know more information about your callers, there are many apps in the Android Market like WhitePages, but Truecaller seems to have done a job better with caller id and information gathering by including more details than most Android apps that are try to reveal the information of callers that are not listed in your contact list.

The app can match phone numbers to names, addresses, social networks, and even pictures. It offers a unique web based CallerID information gather that can not be found in any other apps. The app automatically engages when you receive or place a call to a phone number that's not already in your address book, searching online for identifying information connected with that number.
Within seconds, it displays public information associated with that phone number on the Web, such as the party's name, address, region, and country.

If available, the display will even include the caller's picture, or most recent status messages from Facebook or Linkedin. This is definitely a great app for people that receive lots of telemarketing calls.

Note: Verizon, Sprint, and other CDMA wireless customers will need Wi-Fi to enjoy this app.

Pizza Hut gets Android local app

2011-05-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

Pizza Hut gets Android local app
If you are looking for a much easier way to order your pizza on the go from your Android phone, Pizza Hut Android app maybe all you need. Pizza Hut launched a local app for the Android ecosystem. Pizza Hut Android app has several features that make it easy to find and order your favorites. The app offers:

FEATURES:
• Our complete menu offers Specialty pizzas, pasta, WingStreet wings, drinks, sides, desserts and limited time offers.
• Guest Checkout allows you to order without signing in.
• Orders are automatically saved to your account for easy reordering.
• Most Popular items section provides quick and easy access to your Pizza Hut favorites.
• Specials section provides updates on new products and deals.
• Checking out is easy since you can add credit card options without creating an account.

Pizza Hut app is only for US users for now.

Download Pizza Hut app for the Android Market

How to transfer your iPhone data to your New Android Phone

2011-05-20T01:38:00.000-07:00

How to transfer your iPhone data to your New Android Phone

You're tired of the dropped calls, tightly wound interface, and carrier limitations, and you're ready to ditch the iPhone and say hello to Android. But before you dive into your new smartphone's highly customizable interface, faster processor, nice camera, and free turn-by-turn navigation, there's some housekeeping to do.
Here are a video and six easy steps to follow to transfer your contacts, calendar, notes, photos, videos, music, and SMS messages (kind of) from your iPhone to your Android device:

Step 1. Google account
On your Android device, go to Menu > Settings > Accounts & Sync > Add Account > Google. If you don't have a Google account yet, you can create one here. Follow the onscreen instructions to associate your Gmail account with your new phone.

Step 2. Contacts
Connect your iPhone to your computer and launch iTunes. Click on your iPhone's name, then head to the Info tab at the top. Check "Sync Address Book Contacts," then check "Sync contacts with Google Contacts." Click Configure and enter the same account information you just configured on your Android device. Hit Apply and allow the iPhone to sync.

Step 3. Calendar and Notes
On your iPhone go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars. If the Gmail account you're using with your Android isn't here, add it by going to Add account > Gmail. Go back to Mail settings, tap the Gmail account, and turn syncing on for Calendars and Notes. Within a few minutes, your calendar will transfer to your Android device. Notes will be sent to your Gmail account and filed under a label called Notes.
Step 4. Photos and videos

Windows: Connect your iPhone to your computer. Open My Computer, right-click your iPhone, and select Explore. Drag and drop all the photos and videos to a new folder on your Desktop.
Mac: Connect your iPhone to your computer and open the application called Image Capture. Set a new folder on your Desktop as the destination and hit Download All.
Now, on either Mac or Windows, connect your Android phone to your computer, open the Android drive, and find the pictures folder. There's one titled "DCIM," but you can create your own folder if you'd like. Then drag and drop the iPhone photos from your Desktop to your Android pictures folder.

Step 5. Music
Keep your Android device connected. On your computer, find the Android's Music folder (if it doesn't exist, create one), and then drag and drop music files from your hard drive to your Android drive, which will put them on the device.

Step 6. SMS and voice mail
Here's the bad news: there's no simple way to transfer your SMS and voice mail messages to your computer or Android device (this process deserves its own How To). If there are specific important messages you want to keep, go to your iPhone's messages, select the conversation, and hit Edit at the top. Tap the message or messages you want to keep, then tap Forward. In the recipient field, enter your Google e-mail address, and send.

Source

How To Run Android Apps that require SD Card Without SD Card

2011-05-20T01:17:00.000-07:00

If you are unable to access your SD card on your Android device because of a damage, this guide will teach you how to run apps that require a functional SD card. How is it possible? Mount it to the phone’s /cache partition as an /sdcard partition. Knowledge on ADB and Linux commands is helpful to execute the process, but not entirely necessary. Read on for the instructions!

Requirements:

ADB installed and running on your PC

Terminal Emulator installed on your phone

Instructions:

Step 1: Plug your phone into the PC, ensure USB Debugging option is checked. Check it by Settings > Application > Development.

Step 2: Open Command prompt on your PC. Enter following command: adb devices

Step 3: If you see your device listed, enter this command: adb remount

Step 4: Upon receiving a string “remount succeeded”, run Terminal Emulator on your phone. Enter these commands in the terminal hitting enter after each command:

umount /sdcard

mount -o rw,remount /

umount /sdcard

ln -s cache /sdcard

Viola! Run the app or widget that requires an access to the SD card; it should work now.

Please note that once you reboot, the process needs to repeated, and is only temporary. Few apps like, ROM Manager or the Camera will not work with this solution.

How To Install CyanogenMod 7 3D Boot Animation On HTC Droid Incredible

2011-05-20T01:12:00.000-07:00

How To Install CyanogenMod 7 3D Boot Animation On HTC Droid Incredible

Boot animation adds sparkles to your Android phone. What could be better, CM7 3D boot animation flashed on your Android screen. The animation is superbly designed and has been kept simple with a very bold look to it in, as is customary, CyanogenMod’s cyan color. Read on to find how to set the CMD boot animations on your Android device.

Prerequisites:

Instructions:

This animation might be a .zip file, but it cannot be flashed via recovery.

Step 1: Copy the downloaded animation to the root of your device’s SD card.

Step 2: Now run Terminal Emulator on your device and enter the following commands:

su

mv /system/media/bootanimation.zip /system/media/bootanimation.bak

cp /sdcard/bootanimation.zip /system/media/

reboot

Step 3: If this does not work with /system/media, give it a shot by trying, /system/local

Replace all occurrences of /system/media in the commands with /system/local

Bingo! You are all set to enjoy your new animation!

If you want to revert back to the previous boot animation, simply use these commands:

su

rm /system/media/bootanimation.zip

mv /system/media/bootanimation.bak /system/media/bootanimation.zip

For updates and queries, visit the forum thread at XDA-Developers.

How To Install Honeycomb Custom Boot Animation On Viewsonic G Tablet

2011-05-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

How To Install Honeycomb Custom Boot Animation On Viewsonic G Tablet

Since the release of Honeycomb aka Android 3.0 Preview SDK, we have been eagerly awaiting its goodies to be ported on existing Android tablets. So here we are, with another guide to enjoy the sweetness of Honeycomb on the Viewsonic G Tablet.

Your device must be rooted prior to beginning straightforward Installation process.

Proedure:

Step 1: In case you don’t have ADB installed, here how to install it.

Step 2: Enable ADB USB drivers for your tablet to be able to use the ADB commands in the following steps.

Step 3: Download the boot animation from and save it at a convenient location. You can use C:\ as the location, thus the file path that we will use is C:\bootanimation.zip.

Step 4: Use Root Explorer, Super Manager or some other root level Android file manager to backup the existing bootanimation.zip file from the /logodata folder on your phone to some safe location.

Step 5: Connect your device to your computer via USB after enabling ‘USB Debugging’ mode from ‘Menu > Settings > Applications > Development’.

Step 6: Launch a Command Prompt window on your computer and enter the following commands: adb devices

adb push c:\bootanimation.zip /logodata/

adb kill-server

Step 7: Now disconnect the device from the computer and reboot it.

Viola! Your tablet is now rooted in boot animation. Enjoy! In case anything messed up, just use the same method to restore the backed up bootanimation.zip file from step 3.

How To Install Honeycomb Boot Animation On Droid X

2011-05-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

How To Install Honeycomb Boot Animation On Droid X

While Honeycomb aka Android 3.0 running on XOOM is the most popular subject of conversation, today. Its SDK has been ported to several devices in fairly working conditions. However, it’s hard to tell how many phones would taste the sweet honey. So here, we are with yet another tutorial on Honeycomb as boot animation on your Droid X.

Prerequisites:

A rooted Motorola Droid X
Root Explorer
Honeycomb Boot Animation
Honeycomb Boot Animation with Sound
Half Speed Honeycomb Boot Animation
Half Speed Honeycomb Boot with Sound
ClockworkMod Recovery on the device

Procedure:

Step 1: Download the preferred Honeycomb animation.

Step 2: Place the zip on your SD card.

Step 3: Download and install Root Explorer on your device.

Step 4: Go to the Data/Local folder and copy off ‘bootanimation.zip’ to a safer place on microSD card so that you have a backup if you want to revert.

Step 5: Mount the system in read/write with Root Explorer.

Step 6: Rename the downloaded Honeycomb animation to ‘bootanimation.zip’ to copy it to the Data/Local folder.

Step 7: Exit Root Explorer and reboot your device to see the new boot Animation.

Step 8: For adding sound to your boot animation, download the appropriate animation link from above.

Step 9: Boot into ClockworkMod Recovery.

Step 10: Scroll down to Install zip. Select and install the downloaded zip file.

Step 11: Reboot after the installation is complete.

Bingo! Have fun with your new Honeycomb animation.

For any issues, suggestions and update, head over to the Droid X forums thread.

How to disable Android location tracking

2011-05-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

The big Apple and Google are currently in trouble for GPS tracking users locations. If you own an Android phone, you have the option to opt out the tracking by following a few steps, for this reason Google is arguing that tracking among Android phone users is strictly by choice. Don't be among the ignorant few that don/t know how to disable the GPS tracking.
Turn off location services
Open your phone’s Settings (either from home screen or the applications list);
Open Location & security settings;
Uncheck “Use wireless networks”;
Uncheck “Use GPS satellites.”

You can also turn off location-based preferences in Google services by going to Settings — Privacy Settings and unchecking the “use my location” box.
Do a factory reset

Disabling location services will disable tracking from this point on. But if you’ve had GPS and network-based tracking on for some time, then your smartphone will have a record of the last 50 cellsites and 200 Wi-Fi hotspots used. You will need do something more drastic if you’re that paranoid.
Android actually assigns a unique identifier to your phone when you first start it up. This means that the location data gathered from cellsites, Wi-Fi networks and GPS can be attributed to your specific handset (possibly including other information). The only way to change this unique ID is to do a factory reset.
Open your phone’s Settings;
Open Privacy settings;
Tap “Factory Data reset”
Confirm by pressing the “Reset phone” button.
Of course, doing a factory reset is a drastic option, and should only be done if you’re really that concerned about your privacy. You might want to backup your data and application first using your computer or using Titanium Backup for Android.

How To improve Dell Streak battery life

2011-05-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

For all those proud owners of Dell Streak, here a are a few tips and tricks that will enable you to use your Android powered device in an effective way.

Save Energy:

Reduce the energy consumption and prolong the battery’s life by turning off any background data synchronization, as well as GPS localization and data connection. To turn off the Data connection, Dell inserted a new switch in the firmware; it completely disables any APN point and doesn’t allow any data connections, until you switch it on again.
To access the option, Go to Settings> Wireless controls> Mobile networks> Uncheck the Data connection option.
The usual Background data option can be turned off from the Data synchronization menu, while the GPS localization can be found under the Security & location menu.

Taking screenshots with rooted Dell:

Taking screenshots with an un-rooted Android smartphone running Android 1.6 OS proves to be difficult if you are unaware of the procedure. So here’ my take on it.
After downloading the latest version of Android SDK (r07), and the essential software for USB driver, install manager to check the usb_driver folder.
Connect your smartphone to your PC> Choose the first option from the pop-up menu > Copy media files to / from your computer (MTP).
Your device will be automatically detected and access to the SD memory card is becomes available.
Check the new driver that appears now under My Computer and double click on the Dell PC Suite file. It will install Dell’s proprietary synchronization software, including USB driver that you will need to take screenshots in Dalvik’s virtual machine.
Restart you computer, connect the smartphone through the USB cable . Choose the second option Copy other files to / from your computer. Open the virtual machine and notice that you Streak has been detected.

We hope these tips will help you manage your device. Feel free to share more tips via the comments box below.

How To Improve the User Experience on HTC Desire

2011-05-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

For those who own HTC Desire from the flagship of Taiwanese giant, possess one of the most versatile Android-based devices launched on the market. Learn how it can be customized for optimum use.

Create, Add, Rearrange or Delete Widgets:

To create a new widget, tap and hold your finger on an empty spot on the homescreen of your HTC Desire.
To move the widgets, swiftly, tap and hold the widget and move it wherever you want on the selected screen.
If you want to move it on another homescreen, swipe across the optical pad to your choicest screen, while tapping and holding another finger on the widget.
To move widget from the far left to the center screen, you must tap and hold the Home key. Press Home, and then release the widget.

Calculator:

The Calculator app included in the firmware can be rotated into landscape via accelerometer. It transforms it into a scientific calculator.
Press the Menu key to unlock the device.
Tap the notification bar, while the phone is unlocked to check the current date. It is displayed at the upper-left corner of the screen.

Camera:

When using the camera of the smartphone, you can tap and hold on a spot to focus there and take the picture.

Music:

While listening to music, you will notice that the music controls on the lock screen will disappear after a short time. They are set to auto-hide after a few seconds, so you will need to swipe up to bring them back.

Feeds:

If you want to get your feeds from Google Reader on to the HTC News application, you will need to export your Google Reader subscriptions as opml file.
Save the file onto your smartphone and rename the file extension from xml to opml. Then simply import this file into your HTC News application.

Accessing Apps Menu in Emergency:

When your Android begins to act funny and it starts to force close, simply use the search key and type the first few letters for “Applications”. It will help you access the Applications settings menu. Visit Manage applications / HTC Sense and click on Clear data option. Although all Scenes will be erased, yet it is a much better option as compared to a hard reset.

Sending emails to desired account:

If you have more than one account configured on your HTC Desire, and wish to send an email from an account, select the account to send from, in the email composing screen, scroll upwards until you reach the top.
Click the button above the “To” field and choose what account you want to use. The tip applies even if you are replying to an email.

TrackPad:

The use of the optical track-pad makes your life easier when browsing, sending an email or simply editing a text.
To select a certain text in text editing, place the cursor where you want to start. Long-press the optical track-pad to bring up the context menu.
Then tap “Select text” and use the optical track-pad to fine tune your selection. Further, you will then be able to cut or copy the selection, by long-pressing on the optical track-pad to bring up the context menu and choosing one of the actions.
Use track-pad to jump between links in the browser, especially when the links are tiny and hard to pinpoint with your finger.

Have more suggestions, feel free to write in the comment box below.

How To: Improve Your HTC EVO 4G Battery Life

2011-05-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

Battery life of HTC EVO 4G sucks, especially, when using all its capabilities like video streaming, gaming, and WEB browsing. With this guide you can learn how to improve your phone’s battery life, and limit the phone charging requirements two or three times per week, and even eliminate some drawbacks as well.

The procedure requires the installation of widgets and applications that will disable a few important battery-killing features.

Instructions:

Step 1: Install Widgets to home screen Power Control Android; settings, 4G; settings: Hotspot.

Step 2: Install free Android market applications Advanced Task Killer; Spare Parts; K-9 Mail.

Step 3: Upon installing the application> Run Advanced Task Killer>Deselect all your choicest apps like voice dialer, voice search, Google voice, Calendar, K-9 Mail, Gmail, etc.

Step 4: Advanced Task Killer, disables the selected applications, but it will put a notification up at each boot and remember your selections. Thus, it will be easy to redo the choices you made.

Step 5: Switch off EVO 4G and hotspot on the main page with the installed widgets.

Step 6: Adjust the screen brightness to low or medium using the widget. It will disable the auto brightness option.

Step 7: Go to Settings> Wireless and Networks>Wi-Fi Settings / Advanced / Wi-Fi sleep policy; Select NEVER.

Remember to fully recharge the battery at least once, when its completely drained.

How To Remove ATT Market Restrictions from Samsung Captivate

2011-05-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

For those who purchased Samsung Captivate through ATT, being able to see and download all applications listed on the Android Market was a big no-no, as the US carrier restricted users over a few Android apps. But with this guide, you’ll have smiles back on your faces, as your Android smartphone should not be subjected to cruelty, as Android is an open-source OS.

All thanks to Android community and developers who work hard to break the chains that certain carriers try to shackle the phone’s capabilities.

The particular restriction that ATT has embedded into its Android smartphones is the censorship of the Android Market. This restriction can be easily won by emulating the T-Mobile market using a third-party application developed by Andrea Baccega called “Market Enabler”.

Instructions:

Step 1: Install Astro File Manager from Android Market.

Step 2: Download and install .apk file of Market Enabler by using the file manager. Save it on microSD card.

Step 3: Restart phone after the installation process is complete. Open Market Access application; Click Backup value; Hold “T-Mobile [US]“ option until “Emulate “T-Mobile” SIM? message flashes, Click Yes; Click back to Settings; Click the checkbox next to “Emulate on boot.”

Note: If you have to get back to the ATT market, then click “Providers” instead of Backup value and carry on the remaining instructions in Step 3.

Viola! You’re phone should not give you access to all apps available in the Android Market. Let us know how well this worked in the comments below.

How To Install CyanogenMod 6.1 On myTouch 4G

2011-05-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

CyanogenMod 6.1 is the most stable built on Froyo aka Android 2.2. Here’s a guide to successfully install CMD for first timers and pros.

First CyanogenMod install Instructions:

Step 1: Download ROM

Step 2: Connect your phone to the computer via USB, mount the microSD card and copy the downloaded ROM to the root of the SD card

Step 3: Your device must be rooted to install ROM. If you haven’t already done so, please root your myTouch 4G

Step 4: Clockwork Recovery must be installed on your device as well. If not done already installed, install it via ROM Manage.

Step 5: Reboot your phone in recovery and perform a NANDROID backup.

Step 6: Wipe your phone using the options given in recovery.

Step 7: From recovery, tap ‘apply zip from sd card’, select the copied ROM to the SD card. Follow the instructions and confirm any displayed prompts.

Step 8: Once the ROM has been flashed, reboot the phone when prompted and CMD is installed successfully

For Google apps, copy the downloaded zip file to your SD card, boot your phone in recovery again, tap ‘apply zip from sd card’, select the zip file that you just copied to the SD card, and follow the instructions, confirming any prompts that you get.

Upgrading from an earlier CyanogenMod installation:

Step 1: Reboot your phone in recovery and perform a NANDROID backup.

Step 2: From recovery, tap ‘apply zip from sd card’> Select the ROM that you copied to the SD card> Follow the instructions, confirm any prompts that you get.

How to manually update Nexus One to Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread

2011-05-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

How to manually update Nexus One to Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread

Google has started rolling out the official Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread update for the Nexus One. It should hit your device in couple of days. But if you can't wait, I suggest you do manual update by following the steps below.

MANUAL UPDATE INSTRUCTIONS

1. Download Android 2.3.4 update for Nexus One (GRJ22-from-GRI40.zip) to your computer.

2. Rename it to update.zip. Make sure it’s not ‘update.zip.zip’!

2. Connect your Nexus One to computer via USB cable.

3. Copy the update.zip to phone’s internal SD Card at root level. Don’t unzip the contents.

4. Disconnect USB connection and power off the phone.

5. Reboot the phone into ‘Recovery mode’. To do it, press and hold “Volume Down” key and “Power” button simultaneously for few seconds and release it.

6. In the Recovery mode, use volume button to navigate through “Recovery” and press “Power” button to select it.

7. You will see the “!” symbol. Then hold the “Power” button and then press the “Volume Up” button.

8. In the recovery options, choose ““apply update from /sdcard” option.

9. Select the update.zip file on your sdcard and then press the “Power” button to flash it.

10. Wait for the Android 2.3.4 upgrade process to complete.

After a automatic reboot, you have successfully upgraded the Nexus One to Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread.

How to increase Motorola Xoom battery life

2011-05-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

How to increase Motorola Xoom battery life

If you are looking to improve the battery life on your Motorola Xoom. Though this tablet comes with the 25 Wh of battery strength it only lasts for about 336 hours of stand-by time or can last up to a talk time of up to 9 hours on paper or even can last for up to 80 hours if you are playing the music. So, let’s check out the ways with which you can easily save on your battery life which will eventually lead to an increased battery life.

As you all know that the Motorola Xoom comes with an all new Honeycomb 3.0. Here are some fast tips

Select a shorter backlight duration.
Lower the display brightness.
Use the AC adapter to charge your device whenever possible.
Turn Bluetooth off when not in use.
Turn Wi-Fi off when not in use.
Certain applications may be drawing excessive battery power. If you are experiencing shorter battery life after downloading an application try uninstalling the application.
Close any third party applications running in the background.

Use Battery Manager Smart Application

There are so many things and parameters depending on which you will see a fluctuation on the battery performance but since there are many things we will not recommend you to do every single thing which is near to impossible as after all you need to use the Motorola Xoom tablet.

If your Motorola Xoom comes packed with the battery manager which almost comes with almost all Motorola products, to access the same you will have to press the “Menu” key and need to tap on the “Settings” after which you will have to tap on the “Battery manager”. After this now the battery manager will be opening up after which you will see that there are three different modes in the battery saving options which are “Performance Mode”, “Smart Mode” and the “Battery Saver Mode”.

Performance Mode – In the performance mode, the features like data time out as well as the auto brightness functions are turned off so that the battery is saved and the performance is not hindered by these features. Please note that if you haven’t changed the settings before, then this remains the default option for the battery management.

Smart Mode – In the smart mode, basically the things like the data timeout as well as the auto brightness are kept ON with a set of variable settings and also users can define what other parameters

Battery Saver Mode – In the battery saver mode, this one saves the battery to the maximum and which optimizes the battery in such a way that it will maximize the battery performance by reducing the battery use. You can also choose to change the default brightness which is set in this mode by default.

Use applications wisely:

Rather than using all the applications all at once, you can use applications one by one as the applications which are there in the stand by too eats up the battery. Also, in the world of applications in Android many of us tend to use the applications which assist in killing the tasks and application but it’s really not recommended to use such applications like the task killers as since such applications are on and search for the applications which are active, it eats up the battery continuously and instead of reducing the battery usage by closing down the applications it increases the battery usage in whole. Also, if you are using the social networking applications then the frequency of updates should no be set as lower or else it will continously refresh or use the data service for fetching the updates, so choose the manual updation of the updates to save on the battery life.

Turn off the biggest battery drainers

Do you know what are the parameters which constitutes the biggest battery drainers? No, then the biggest battery drainers are GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, Wi Fi and also the 3G. You always have to make sure that these are used very wisely or else these will constantly eat up the battery power which could lead to some serious battery drain. To manage these network settings you can change from HOME > MENU > Settings > Wireless & Networks from where you can easily manage the important settings.

Wall Papers:

Since Motorola Xoom is a 7 inched screen, you need to optimize the wallpaper which you will be setting as lot will depend on this as the wallpaper battery drain constitutes to a whopping 19% of the total battery drain which Xoom encounters with. We would love to see lot of vivid and differentially looking wallpapers on Xoom but sorry to say that with the use of darker as well as the moving wallpapers the battery drain will be at the maximum, so always prefer to set and use lighter looking wallpapers. With the use of lighter wallpapers phone tends to use higher battery life as to make it visible it needs to burn higher pixels which need to be made to glow while the darker screens tends to not to burn the pixels which in turn saves the battery life. So, always use darker wall papers preferably black. Again, by using darker wallpapers you can save on the battery life by a fair amount of percentage which can be as high as 7% on your total battery power.

Use Power Widget

With the use of power widget you can easily save on the battery life easily as all the hot listed things which consume the battery are presented right ast the home screen in the form of widget. You can easily control 5 biggest battery drainers right on a single widget. The 5 things which are available for control in this widget are Wi Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sync and also the brightness

So, just by following the above tips for the battery saving, you can easily save the battery life by good amount of par and also more importantly you can easily increase the battery performance in the long run.

For more about Motorola Xoom read this articles:

Motorola Xoom Review

Tips for extending Motorola Xoom battery life

Motorola Xoom Accessories

How to Install Google Talk on Nexus S

2011-05-18T07:11:00.000-07:00

Now that Gingerbread aka Android 2.3 has been rolled out on Nexus S, Google will allow users to video chat on the phone using your Google Talk account.

The update could take a few weeks to hit your device over the air, but at XDA Developers forum, you can load the leaked version of the app.

This download is only for Nexus S phones running Android 2.3 or higher. Nexus One owners will have to wait.

Like all force-updates, you'll have to boot your Nexus S in recovery mode after downloading the file. You can then select the .zip file and install it. This is a slightly different process for each phone, so ensure that you look at the guide first for the correct model.

How To Use Google Search on Samsung Fascinate

2011-05-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

If you plan or have already purchased a Samsung Fascinate, then you should know that this smartphone doesn’t come with the usual Google search engine, instead you have to content with Bing search engine.

Owned by Microsoft, Bing is third largest search engine on the web following its competitor Google and Yahoo. Although, Verizon has declared the availability of Google’s search engine soon on Samsung Fascinate, until then here’s the guide to show you how you can install Google’s search engine on Samsung Fascinate.

The process requires users to download Google’s Enhanced search apk. file from outside the Android Market.

Step 1: Upon downloading the application (apk. file), copy it on your SD card and install it using a file manager.

Step 2: Use a third-party launcher (ADW/Launcher Pro), to add Google Search widget on the home screen and reassign the physical search button.

Step 3: After rebooting, voice search should work smoothly, when the Search button remains pressed.

Remember, voice search will not work on un-rooted Samsung Fascinate, so it’s essential to root it first.

If you have a rooted Samsung Fascinate, you will need to go to /system/app and rename I500_BingSearchAndroid_07152010.apk to I500_BingSearchAndroid_07152010.old.

How To Create Nandroid Back Up On Motorola Droid X

2011-05-18T07:06:00.001-07:00

Nandroid backup is most critical process prior to installing and flashing new ROMs on the Android phone. Nandroid backs up your settings before an installation and it can be easily recovered if anything goes wrong. Here is a step by step guide on creating a full Nandroid backup on your Motorola Droid X.

Step 1: Root Motorola Droid X.

Step 2: Now reboot your phone in normal mode and download Koush’s Droid X Bootstrap from Android Market.

Step 3: Once downloaded, launch bootstrap and tap on Bootstrap Recovery.

Step 4: If you get the success pop-up, then prss Reboot Recovery to boot into Clockwork recovery.

Step 5: Once the phone boots in recovery, scroll down to backup, and restore using volume keys and press the camera button to select.

Step 6: Now select the first option Backup and wait for the process to finish.

Step 7: Once completed, go back to recovery and follow onscreen instructions to reboot the system into normal mode.

Viola! You’ve successfully created a full fledge system backup. If anything goes wrong while you are experimenting simply boot into recovery and follow the same instructions to restore from Nandroid backup.

Who is this caller?

2011-05-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

The app can match phone numbers to names, addresses, social networks, and even pictures. It offers a unique web based CallerID information gather that can not be found in any other apps. The app automatically engages when you receive or place a call to a phone number that's not already in your address book, searching online for identifying information connected with that number.
Within seconds, it displays public information associated with that phone number on the Web, such as the party's name, address, region, and country.

If available, the display will even include the caller's picture, or most recent status messages from Facebook or Linkedin. This is definitely a great app for people that receive lots of telemarketing calls.

Note: Verizon, Sprint, and other CDMA wireless customers with need Wi-Fi to enjoy this app.

How-To Regain Android 3.1 Update On Your Motorola XOOM 3G Or Wi-Fi

2011-05-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

The Android 3.1 update has been rolling out to Motorola XOOMs all week and contains quite a few improvements like better stability, extended app switcher and resizable widgets. However, the update does not contain root. So here, we are with instructions to regain the root on your 3.1 XOOM.

WARNING: Following this procedure may damage or permanently destroy your device. This procedure is provided with NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Perform this procedure at your own risk.

Objectives:

Step 1: Pushes Superuser, su, and other root files. Sets correct permissions to enable functioning root

Step 2: Flashes bigrushdog modified stock 3.1 boot.img (kernel) to enable external storage

Step 3: Prevents system from over-writing custom recovery

Assumptions:

Step 1: Downloaded the XOOM_RootTool_3.1.zip

Step 2: Downloaded a recent ClockworkMod recovery image: ClockworkMod Recovery (make sure to download the .img, not the .zip)

Step 3: Installed a physical SDCard in your Xoom (required for ClockworkMod Recovery updates) and have it functioning properly

Step 4: Configured the Android SDK on your PC, with adb functioning properly

Step 5: Downloaded fastboot and have it functioning properly (usually alongside adb in platform-tools)

For more information head to the xda post. Do let us know how helpful we were in the comments box below.

How To Google Video Chat On Your Nexus S

2011-05-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Now that Gingerbread aka Android 2.3 has been rolled out on Nexus S, Google will allow users to video chat on the phone using your Google Talk account.

The update could take a few weeks to hit your device over the air, but at XDA Developers forum, you can load the leaked version of the app.

This download is only for Nexus S phones running Android 2.3 or higher. Nexus One owners will have to wait.

Like all force-updates, you'll have to boot your Nexus S in recovery mode after downloading the file. You can then select the .zip file and install it. This is a slightly different process for each phone, so ensure that you look at the guide first for the correct model.

Samsung Continuum accessories

2011-01-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

The holiday shopping is in full gear. The Samsung Continuum is one of the coolest Android phones out. It scored that with its dual display. If you are buying it or you already did, you might want to buy a few accessories to protect and enhance the phone. Here are some cool accessories from our store to maximize your cool Galaxy Continuum.

Continuum cover and Case
There is no better ways to protect your phone than getting a phone cover or case. Your phone will be looking just like new after months of use, if it lives inside a case. Starting from $9.95 your can get a perfect case for your continuum.
Car Mount
Car mounts are nice for comfort. The with power of Google Map, Every Android phone is a complete GPS device on its own. To fully enjoy your Continuum when driving, you need a car mount just like you will for any GPS navigation device. Check out our list of car mounts that will work perfect for your phone.

Extra Memory
The Samsung Continuum comes with a 2GB micro SD card, but to maximize your phone, you really need a 16GB or a 32GB. You can carry all your media files with you, download more Youtube videos, and still have enough space left for pictures. We have 16GB micro SD card starting at $39.95.

Chargers and Cables
Your phone battery may die faster, than expected, because of too much video and other media services that you enjoy. Car charger and USB connector are very handy for charging your phone on the go and PC connection, respectively. Starting at $4.95 you can get a USB cable for your phone.

These are the primary accessories you need to enjoy you Galaxy Continuum to the the fullest.

How to Update Android 2.2 Froyo for Epic 4G

2011-01-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

We’ve just reported that Android 2.2 has been over-the-air updated to the Sprint Epic 4G. Edit: This update was just for beta testers and may be OTA’d to others later. Until now, users not receiving the update yet have been out of luck. Below, we’ve uploaded an update.zip to allow you to install Android 2.2.1 Froyo on your Epic 4G. Go ahead and push the file to your internal SD card. From there you can flash the file in recovery mode.

For best results, flash clean to DI18 before upgrading to DK28 Froyo.
Instructions: Update Android 2.2 Froyo for Epic 4G
Intended for those going from stock Android 2.1 to the latest firmware.

Download the required update.zip file
- Mirror: http://www.multiupload.com/EBDH959PPM
- Mirror: http://vps.ian.im/update.zip
RENAME the file to “update.zip” (If you get an error while flashing, your file might accidentally be named “update.zip.zip” due to Windows’ file renaming system. Simply rename it to “update” to make it update.zip and flash)
Move the file to your storage on the Epic 4G (Mount USB storage and drag the update.zip into root folder)
Boot your device into “recovery mode” (if you don’t know how: click here)
Apply the sdcard update.zip from Recovery Mode
Congratulations! You now have Android 2.2.1 Froyo (DK28) on your Samsung Epic 4G from Sprint!

Alternate Instructions: Update Android 2.2 Froyo for Epic 4G
Intended for those going from any other version of Android to the latest firmware.

Download the required .tar file
Download Odin
Open up Odin and put your phone into “download mode”
- Turn off your phone, wait until the lights turn off
- Hold “1″ on the keyboard while powering up
Plug your device in
Place the .tar file in the PDA slot
Start flashing
Congratulations! You now have Android 2.2.1 Froyo (DK28) on your Samsung Epic 4G from Sprint!

[Briefmobile]

How To Enable Bluetooth In NookColor

2011-01-05T13:44:00.001-08:00

This one is a huge breakthrough for all NookColor users. Did you ever know that NookColor has Bluetooth chip in it deactivated at factory state? An android developer has successfully given life to the dead Bluetooth chip in NookColor. Now you can also enable Bluetooth in NookColor and start using bluetooth headsets and other compatible devices.

Enable Bluetooth In NookColor

Disclaimer: As usual, a word of caution when it comes to playing around in Android. Follow the below instructions at your own risk. We are not responsible if your device gets damaged. This process will also void warranty.

Here are the steps given by developer in the XDA thread. You need to have your NookColor rooted before proceeding with the instructions.

Add bluetooth capabilities (HCILL) in kernel
Toggle the WL12XX_RFKILL flag on in evt1a defconfig.
Take the bluetooth firmware (bts file) from gforge.ti ( wl1271 firmware) for froyo pandroid and put it into /system/lib/firmware, alias /lib/firmware to /system/lib/firmware (useful for command line).

boot the kernel and then
echo 0 >/sys/class/rfkill/rfkill0/state
echo 1 >/sys/class/rfkill/rfkill0/state
hciattach -s 115200/dev/ttyS1 texas
hcitool scan must show you your BT devices (if discoverable)

dskzone.net report

How to stop over the air update after rooting Samsung Nexus S

2011-01-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

So you have Samsung/Google Nexus S phone rooted and installed something that the stock version doesn’t give. You are quite happy with it. But you are tired of nagging OTA (Over The Air) messages that informs you of stock updates availability.

To get through this problem, an android developer has come up with a free app that blocks OTA update messages from bothering you. Named as “NoMoreNags”, this app should come handy for all the modded Nexus S users. The app is nothing but patched “GoogleServicesFramework.apk” that disables OTA nags.

PROCEDURE

1. Download NoMoreNags

2. Reboot your android device to recovery mode.
3. Run this code:

adb shell mount /system && adb shell rm /system/app/GoogleServicesFramework.* && adb push GoogleServicesFramework.apk /system/app && adb reboot’.

Head to developer’s thread to join the discussion.

How To Turn Your Android Device Into A Wireless Hotspot For Free

2011-01-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

A big selling point for newer Android devices is their ability to act as Wi-Fi hotspots and provide 3G or 4G internet to your laptop, iPad, or other Wi-Fi-only device. The newer models of phones have this functionality built-in, but the catch is that most carriers see the Wi-Fi hotspot feature as an add-on service, and will charge you anywhere from $20 to $40 for the feature.

Paying an extra $30 a month might be reasonable for business users who need to tether on a daily basis, but what if you just want some quick Internet when you’re out and about or for a few hours during a train ride? Enter android-wifi-tether, a wonderful little app from some open source developers. This app will use your phone’s existing data plan to make the hotspot, and you may be surprised to find out that it works even on some phones that don’t have official support for Wi-Fi tethering from your carrier. Here’s now to get it up and running.

1. Root your phone If you haven’t already. We have guides at the previous link for the Motorola Droid, Nexus S, and Samsung Fascinate, and if you have something else, you’ll be able to find a guide for your phone by Googling for “root (phone).” Rooting can require some technical knowledge, but for the most part it’s fairly painless and there are lots of easy-to-follow instructions online for every phone that can be rooted.

2. Download the appropriate version of android-wifi-tether at the Google Code site. As of this post date, there are versions of android-wifi-tether for many popular phones, including the Droid, Nexus One, HTC Evo, and Samsung Fascinate. Copy the APK file that you downloaded to the root of your phone’s SD card.

3. Install the APK using your favorite file manager. Navigate to the /sdcard folder and tap the APK file you downloaded to install it. From now on, you’ll access the app like you would any other, from inside your app drawer. When it first starts it will ask you to install some program binaries, just hit yes and let it do its thing.

4. Configure wireless tether by opening the “Wireless Tether” app in your app drawer, then hitting the menu button on your phone and selecting “Settings.” In here you can change your security settings (I would suggest turning on encryption so nobody else can access your private network), change your SSID (it defaults to “AndroidTether”), or enable Access-Control, which will prompt you every time a new client tries to connect to your phone and ask for approval. If for whatever reason you don’t want to use encryption or it doesn’t work, Access-Control will still make sure only users you want are connected.

5. Once you’re all set up, just tap the green radio waves to turn on tethering! A few seconds after turning on, you should be able to detect your new network on your iPad, laptop, desktop, or any other device with Wi-Fi connectivity. Keep an eye on your battery if you’re running this app without your phone plugged in, as it tends to drain pretty fast. Other than that, enjoy your new method of connectivity, and keep in mind that if you’re going to be pulling significant data with this app, it might be best to go with the official carrier method.

How to backup your Android phone

2010-12-29T07:01:00.000-08:00

Introduction

In this tutorial, I will guide you through the easiest and most reliable way to fully and 100% back up and restore your Android phone.

By fully back up, I don’t mean backing up just your address book or your emails, or your dog. I mean EVERYTHING that resides on yourphone with the exception of the SD card – what we will create is essentially a full image of your phone’s current state that you can restore to at any time as if nothing happened. This image will be written to your SD card which you are then free to copy around and back up on your computer.

In fact, the backup described here is very similar to imaging your computer hard drive before you swap drives – the principle is the same.

Here are some benefits of being able to perform full backups:

Benefits

You can stop worrying about forgetting to or being unable to back up certain components of your phone, such as text messages – Nandroid backs up everything.
You can try out new ROMs, switch between them and the original stock any time by backing up and restoring full images.
You will be able to restore to not just your physical phone, but also to any other phone of the same model. Lost your handset and got a replacement? No problem – restore your latest backup and it’s as good as the one you had lost.

Here are some things to keep in mind, however.

Things To Keep In Mind

When you restore from a full image backup, you have to restore all or nothing. In other words, you will not be able to get back *just* the photos.
An obligatory word of warning: there is always that slight chance that something will not work. Nandroid is stable and pretty well tested nowadays but there is a possibility that you won’t be able to restore, so copy the stuff you can’t afford to lose somewhere before starting and make sure you are OK with losing the rest in case something goes wrong. Note that your contacts and the list of applications is already backed up into the cloud by Google, so you don’t need to back them up separately.

Ingredients

Here is what we will be using. The list may seem overwhelming at first, but don’t fret – every step is really quite simple.

You will need anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to finish your first backup, depending on your skills.

So here we go. Ready for the big list?

Step 1. Root your phone

Step 2. Install Nandroid Backup

Aaaand we’re done. That wasn’t so bad, was it?

The above steps and the backup/restore themselves are explained in more detail below.

Step 1. Root Your Phone

Rooting is a process of getting full access to all of your phone’s functions. Think of it as unlocking your phone and enabling it to do anything it wants (except for flying – let’s not try that one).

We have a full explanation of the most important benefits that come with rooting your Android phone right here.

You will need root in order to do the full backup as an unrooted phone simply will not grant any application enough access to do it.

Because rooting each phone is different, the easiest way to figure out the right way for your model and Android version would be to just Google "YOUR-PHONE YOUR-ANDROID-VERSION root".

Step 2. Install Nandroid Backup

Nandroid is an application capable of making complete snapshots of your whole phone as well as restoring from those snapshots.

There are different ways of getting Nandroid onto your phone and here we will use the simplest of all approaches – using the ClockworkMod ROM Manager application which also comes with a whole bunch of other useful stuff. It can only be used on rooted phones, which is why step 1 was necessary.

This is the easiest part. Hrm, come to think of it, everything described here is pretty easy but installing an application from the Android Market – what can be easier?

Access the Android Market by loading the Market app.
Search for "ROM Manager".
Install ClockworkMod ROM Manager.

And now you’re done with step 2. Did I mention this was the last step?

Back Up Your Phone

Now we can do the actual backup.

The backup itself will take about 5-10 minutes and will produce a new timestamped directory on the SD card. This directory will contain all of the files needed for restoration – they comprise your full backup.

Here, I’ll give you a preview of what a full backup looks like:

One-time Setup

Now, before we can back up, we need to install a Recovery Image specific to your phone. Don’t worry – ROM Manager does it for you automatically with only a press of a button.

This recovery image contains a boot loader which replaces your original boot loader. The boot loader gives you the ability to run Nandroid backup and restore commands outside of the OS. It also lets you install ROMs but we will not do that today. Since the OS cannot back itself up fully while running, ROM Manager will reboot into this boot loader to perform Nandroid operations.

Recovery images vary from one phone model to another, and ROM Manager automatically figures out which one you need. These recovery images are not created by one person – there is a large community effort behind them, and the ROM Manager simply brings together in one convenient package. Alright, enough ranting – let’s get to it.

Select Flash ClockworkMod Recovery.
Confirm your autodetected phone model.
Wait for it to download.

The one-time setup is complete.

Your First Backup

If you have successfully installed a recovery image, you’re ready to start your first backup.

This is a 1-click operation.

Select "Backup Current ROM" and your phone will reboot and start the full backup onto your SD card.
Just sit back and relax – there is nothing else you need to do.

After the backup is complete, your phone should boot back up normally. You’re done!

The backup is located on your SD card in the clockworkmod/backup/SOMEDATETIME directory. Here is a screenshot of what it contains again:

Feel free to copy these files elsewhere and store them safely.

Restore Your Phone

You may want to restore the original full backup of your OS that you took in the Back Up step above. Maybe you forgot something in the original installation or want to go back to stock to apply an update your carrier finally published – no problem.

After you’re done restoring, you’ll be back to your original OS as if nothing ever happened (was it just a dream?)

Restoring is just about as easy as backing up:

Load ROM Manager and select "Manage and Restore Backup", basically, repeating step 2.
Select the backup, which includes the OS itself and all the apps, settings – everything that you backed up, from the list.
Click Restore. You can also rename and delete your backups from this menu.

Look – the phone boots and the resurrection went just fine!

I sincerely hope that this guide was clear and helpful. Of course, if you have any questions or corrections, feel free to share them in the comments.

Support Koushik, the ROM Manager creator, by purchasing the Premium version which comes with a few added benefits that automate installing and updating custom ROMs.

In conclusion, I’m going to leave you with the screenshots of some other ROM Manager menus as well as the Recovery console:

How to boot Droid X into recovery mode

2010-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

There probably aren’t many reasons why you’d need to access recovery mode on your Droid X at the moment, but you never know when it might come in handy. Provided the hacking and development community can find a way to gain root access to the Droid X, this little tip could be very useful when installing new ROMs. Here is the painless process as detailed by our friends at Droid-Life:

Turn your phone off.
Hold down “Home” and press “Power” until the Motorola logo appears.
Release ”Power” and continue to hold “Home” until an exclamation appears.
Release “Home” and press the “Search” button once.
Your phone will now enter recovery.

Exit recovery mode by navigating to “reboot system now” with the volume rocker and then hit the camera button to enter the command and boot up as normal.

How to copy and taste on Android phone

2010-12-06T04:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Carly posted a response to Boy Genius Report’s thoughts on some deficiencies in the Android experience. In that post, she described how to select text to copy and paste on her Motorola Droid (or any Android device with a keyboard). But how do you do this on a device without a hardware keyboard, such as the Nexus One?

That was one of the first questions I had when I moved from my T-Mobile G1 to the T-Mobile myTouch 3G. On an Android device with a keyboard, it’s a very simple operation. You use the Shift key on the hardware keyboard and use the trackball to highlight and select text. But, what do you do when you don’t have a hardware keyboard?

There are two variations on how to select the text: with and without the trackball. Both begin with the same first step:

Step 1: Choose Select Text from the menu or by clicking and holding on the screen

Without the Trackball

Step 2: Place your finger on the screen and drag and select the text that you want. Text is highlighted as you drag your finger over it. Once you let go, it’s automatically copied to the clipboard.

With the Trackball

Step 2: Use the trackball to move to the area you want to select using the mouse pointer that appears and then click the trackball to begin selecting text.

Step 3: Move the trackball to highlight the text that you want to copy. Once you click the trackball again, text is automatically copied to the clipboard.

That’s all it takes. You can use variations on this approach for text entry fields as well.

Note: That this doesn’t work in all applications. In particular, you cannot select text in the Gmail application yet, but you can in most other applications, including the browser.

How to Update Sprint Epic 4G to Android 2.2 (Froyo)

2010-12-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

We’ve just reported that Android 2.2 has been over-the-air updated to the Sprint Epic 4G. Until now, users not receiving the update yet have been out of luck. Below, we’ve uploaded an update.zip to allow you to install Android 2.2.1 Froyo on your Epic 4G. Go ahead and push the file to your internal SD card. From there you can flash the file in recovery mode.

Instructions: Update Android 2.2 Froyo for Epic 4G

Intended for those going from stock Android 2.1 to the latest firmware.

Download the required update.zip file
- Mirror: http://www.multiupload.com/EBDH959PPM
- Mirror: http://vps.ian.im/update.zip
RENAME the file to “update.zip” (If you get an error while flashing, your file might accidentally be named “update.zip.zip” due to Windows’ file renaming system. Simply rename it to “update” to make it update.zip and flash)
Move the file to your storage on the Epic 4G (Mount USB storage and drag the update.zip into root folder)
Boot your device into “recovery mode” (if you don’t know how: click here)
Apply the sdcard update.zip from Recovery Mode
Congratulations! You now have Android 2.2.1 Froyo (DK28) on your Samsung Epic 4G from Sprint!

Alternate Instructions: Update Android 2.2 Froyo for Epic 4G

Intended for those going from any other version of Android to the latest firmware.

Download the required .tar file
Download Odin
Open up Odin and put your phone into “download mode”
- Turn off your phone, wait until the lights turn off
- Hold “1″ on the keyboard while powering up
Plug your device in
Place the .tar file in the PDA slot
Start flashing
Congratulations! You now have Android 2.2.1 Froyo (DK28) on your Samsung Epic 4G from Sprint!

Angry Birds tips, how to get 3 stars in every level

2010-12-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

Angry Birds may be the best thing that ever happened in mobile gaming, very interesting and addictive, plus great graphics. What else do you want? Its entrance into the Android-sphere has being a revolution with over 3 million downloads and counting. But the game may become a little frustrating when you get stock at a level for many hours. Well, lets just say I have being stock at Theme 3 level 5 for a few days now, and I need to move forward, can't move forward unless I win the level. I spent some time looking for the tricks to winning every level, and thanks to the crew over at Pocket Gamer they created a nice summary of tips and tricks for the lovely Angry Birds. Keep reading for the details.

Angry Birds depicts the life-long struggle of bird-versus-pig, and its your job to catapult these kamikaze birds into the pig's towers, knocking down their houses and defeating the green swines inside.

High score

Simply killing all the birds will unlock the next level, but if you want to get the maximum three stars on each stage, you'll need to aim for some high scores.

The key to getting a high score in Angry Birds is a mixture of deadly efficiency (unused birds net you an automatic 10,000 points each) and unrelenting damage (smashed objects give off small, but quickly accumulated points).

You'll often need to use both strategies at once, though: simply using a very small number of birds might not get all three stars if you didn't make much damage.

Assorted tips

Pinch and zoom to see the entire battlefield on one screen, so you can quickly see how far away your catapult is from the pig's base.

Every bird leaves a trail of dust behind, meaning you can replicate (or slightly deviate from) previous throws without the tedious guesswork.

You don't always have to attack from left to right: if you aim the bird high enough you can attack from above. Perfect for levels with fortified walls, but exposed roofs.

Wait until your previous bird disappears. If you hit your last bird's dazed body, your attack will be significantly dampened.

Red Bird Unlocked: From beginning

Plain old projectile birds. Won't do anything when tapped, and isn't very tough either.

Blue Birds Unlocked: World 1, Level 10

Scattershot birds dissipate into three small projectiles when the screen is tapped.

Think of these little guys like a shotgun. You can make a scattershot early to hit a good range of targets, but ideally you want to release these fellows close to the target so all three birds will smash into a small area at once. That's how you inflict the most damage.

Yellow Bird Unlocked: World 1, Level 16

Kamikaze birds rocket at super speeds when the screen is tapped.

Despite their greatly increased velocity, they still won't do much damage on materials like stone and glass. They rip through wood like it's wet paper, though, allowing you to quickly attack enemies buried deep within a structure.

Black Bird Unlocked: World 2, Level 5

These are caustic birds that explode to create shockwaves and destroy close blocks and birds. They blow up in their own time, but if you tap you can explode them instantly.

Remember, these guys are so heavy that they'll destroy even a large chunk of stone in just one hit.

White Bird Unlocked: World 2, Level 14

Egg dropping, maternal birds. Tap the screen to launch an explosive egg from your backside, before firing your now deflated friend into the stratosphere. Get as low to the target as possible for maximum splash damage.

Don't forget: these enemies can still be used as classic red-styled birds if you don't tap. Useful if you just need a boring old projectile.

Green Bird Unlocked: World 6, Level 5
Introduced: Update 1.3.0

Boomerang birds turn around and fly backwards at roughly double the speed when the screen is tapped. Learning their trajectory is just a matter of patience and experience. In the right hands, though, these exotic toucans can be deadly accurate, and very powerful.

You can fire them backwards, and then quickly tap the screen to make a fast-flying bird. You'll be hard pressed to make efficient hits in this way, but it's a useful trick to keep under your belt.

Developer Rovio has posted videos of every level in themes one through five on its YouTube channel, showing off the best strategies to three star any level.

The bird placement will also help you pass a level if you're just plain old stuck, regardless of star rating.

Here are links to all the videos. Each video contains multiple levels:

Theme 1 Levels 1-5
Theme 1 Levels 6-10
Theme 1 Levels 11-15
Theme 1 Levels 16-21

Theme 2 Levels 1-5
Theme 2 Levels 6-10
Theme 2 Levels 11-15
Theme 2 Levels 16-21

Theme 3 Levels 1-5
Theme 3 Levels 6-10
Theme 3 Levels 11-15
Theme 3 Levels 16-21

Theme 4 Levels 1-5
Theme 4 Levels 6-10
Theme 4 Levels 11-15
Theme 4 Levels 16-21

Theme 5 Levels 1-5
Theme 5 Levels 6-10
Theme 5 Levels 11-15
Theme 5 Levels 16-21

In Angry Birds's 1.2.1 update, Rovio introduced the golden eggs - a collection of hidden Easter eggs designed for the most fanatical supporters of this app. Finding a golden egg unlocks a special, bonus level.

They're just for fun and are either a bizarre mini-game or a meticulously crafted Rube Goldberg puzzle.

You're expected to hunt high and low for the golden eggs, but we'll save you the effort with this handy guide. The first two are the hardest as you'll have to get three stars on every level in the first chapter for one egg, and then three stars on every level in the second chapter.

The rest are a little easier, check them out:

Location: Main menu
Tap the sun on the level selection screen a few times for the golden egg to pop out.

Location: Main menu
Watch the full credits, and tap the golden egg that appears at the end.

Location: Any level, after unlocking World 2 Level 14
Open the 'help' menu (? button), and click through to the white birds. Tap the golden egg.

Location: World 1, Level 8
Tap the chest a few times for the egg to appear.

Location: World 2, Level 2
Burst the beach ball for the egg to appear.

Location: World 4, Level 7
Pinch and zoom to see a golden egg perched high above the game area on a clifftop. The only bird that will reach it is the yellow one, so use up all your other birds and aim with the yellow bird. It will take a few attempts, trust me.

Location: World 5, Level 19
The top right brick (slope shaped) on the leftmost tower contains the egg. Smash it (the egg-dropping white bird is your easiest bet) to grab the egg.

Once you have the egg, head into the golden eggs section of the level select menu to play the new levels and unlock the stars. The chain reaction levels are self explanatory, but the puzzles might be a bit more confusing. Here's what you need to do to unlock the star:

The Mighty Eagle's beak
Pull apart the beak with two fingers to see the star.

The snoozing pig
Plug the pig's nose with two fingers and he'll wake up. His nose will fall off, revealing a star.

Soundboard
This soundboard plays sound clips from Angry Birds. Tap them in this order to unlock a star: [The Group of Pigs], [The Group of Birds], [Catapult], [Any Bird], [Any Material], [Any Pig].

Angry Radio
Press down any two buttons (with two fingers) to unlock the star.

More information:

Angry Birds official site

Samsung Continuum Accessories

2010-11-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

The holiday shopping is in full gear. The Samsung Continuum is one of the coolest Android phones out. It scored that with its dual display. If you are buying it or you already did, you might want to buy a few accessories to protect and enhance the phone. Here are some cool accessories from our store to maximize your cool Galaxy Continuum.

Continuum cover and Case
There is no better ways to protect your phone than getting a phone cover or case. Your phone will be looking just like new after months of use, if it lives inside a case. Starting from $9.95 your can get a perfect case for your continuum.

Car Mount
Car mounts are nice for comfort. The with power of Google Map, Every Android phone is a complete GPS device on its own. To fully enjoy your Continuum when driving, you need a car mount just like you will for any GPS navigation device. Check out our list of car mounts that will work perfect for your phone.

Extra Memory
The Samsung Continuum comes with a 2GB micro SD card, but to maximize your phone, you really need a 16GB or a 32GB. You can carry all your media files with you, download more Youtube videos, and still have enough space left for pictures. We have 16GB micro SD card starting at $39.95.

Chargers and Cables
Your phone battery may die faster, than expected, because of too much video and other media services that you enjoy. Car charger and USB connector are very handy for charging your phone on the go and PC connection, respectively. Starting at $4.95 you can get a USB cable for your phone.

These are the primary accessories you need to enjoy you Galaxy Continuum to the the fullest.

Android apps for MetroPCS users

2010-11-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

MetroPCS is on a roll. MetroPCS is the 5th largest wireless provider in the States, has the first LTE service, recently went national, and few days ago they introduced their first Android phone, the LG OptimusM. Now that our friends at MetroPCS are now a member of the Android family, we thought is only fair we show them around by introducing them to 60 must-have Android apps. These are the best in their categories. So if you are a MetroPCS customer that just become a "droidhead" bring out your OptimusM and get load with the best Android apps. You can search for these apps in the Android Market or click the QR code link to download using the Barcode scanner.

1. Angry Birds

Angry Birds for Android on AppBrain

2. Facebook for Android

Facebook for Android for Android on AppBrain

3. Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio for Android on AppBrain

4. Handcent SMS

Handcent SMS for Android on AppBrain

5. Barcode Scanner

Barcode Scanner for Android on AppBrain

6. Music Downloader Pro

Music Downloader Pro for Android on AppBrain

7. Gmail

Gmail for Android on AppBrain

8. ASTRO File Manager

ASTRO File Manager for Android on AppBrain

9. TuneIn Radio

TuneIn Radio for Android on AppBrain

10. Shazam

Shazam for Android on AppBrain

11. LauncherPro

LauncherPro for Android on AppBrain

12. Ringdroid

Ringdroid for Android on AppBrain

13. Wheres My Droid

Wheres My Droid for Android on AppBrain

14. YouTube

YouTube for Android on AppBrain

15. Wordfeud FREE

Wordfeud FREE for Android on AppBrain

16. Yahoo! Mail

Yahoo! Mail for Android on AppBrain

17. Twitter

Twitter for Android on AppBrain

18. The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel for Android on AppBrain

19. Aldiko Book Reader

Aldiko Book Reader for Android on AppBrain

20. Documents To Go 3.0 Main App

Documents To Go 3.0 Main App for Android on AppBrain

21. Google Voice

Google Voice for Android on AppBrain

22. SoundHound

SoundHound for Android on AppBrain

23.Advanced SD Card Manager

Advanced SD Card Manager for Android on AppBrain

24. Astrid Task/Todo List

Astrid Task/Todo List for Android on AppBrain

25. Google Maps

Google Maps for Android on AppBrain

26. Evernote

Evernote for Android on AppBrain

27. Bump

Bump for Android on AppBrain

28. Google Shopper

Google Shopper for Android on AppBrain

29. Skyfire Browser (beta)

Skyfire Browser (beta) for Android on AppBrain

30. Tango Video Calls

Tango Video Calls for Android on AppBrain

60 Android apps you will need

2010-11-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

This is 2010, Android is just past 3 years old, "look how far we don come". Android is nothing like the old crappy 1.5 edition anymore. Android is more cool... So cool that RIM and Nokia (Symbian if you like) have subconsciously conceded the defeats, and over at Apple's headquarters, they are already thinking of another Windows/Mac scenario. As a "droidhead", you can care less about the Apple drama, lets get to the list of must have apps. First download the Barcode Scanner app, if you don't already have one. Check out how to use barcode scanner app to download and install apps, if you are new to the act. Click the QR code link to download the app, if you don't have it. And when you fill up your on-board memory space, check out to move apps to SD card. Now let get to it, 60 must have Android app

1. Angry Birds

Angry Birds for Android on AppBrain

2. Facebook for Android

Facebook for Android for Android on AppBrain

3. Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio for Android on AppBrain

4. Handcent SMS

Handcent SMS for Android on AppBrain

5. Barcode Scanner

Barcode Scanner for Android on AppBrain

6. Music Downloader Pro

Music Downloader Pro for Android on AppBrain

7. Gmail