Quote :

"1.) The official 2.2 OTA won't be rooted by current methods.. someone will have to figure it out, right? 2.) Are most custom roms just built on the official rom (modified from there)? 3.) If #2=yes, then if I wanted to go to a custom rom after getting 2.2 OTA, how would I know which rom was based on official 2.2? If #2=no, yo holmes to bel air!"

1) It's possible that Motorola will alter the 2.2 official ROM to make it unrootable by current methods but pretty unlikely.
2) It depends on what phone you are talking about. For the DX right now all of the current roms are based on the 2.2 leak. This is for a couple of reasons, but mainly because there hasn't been much time since the phone had a custom recovery. Devs don't bother making roms until you can install them and that's pretty recent for the DX. Another reason is the locked bootloader, which makes custom kernels a no-go.

For other phones there are roms based off of official roms but most of them are built from the Android source code. Cvpcs is working on the Obsidian rom for the DX based off of Android source instead of the 2.2 leak (like FlyX and Tranquility are).
3) I'm not sure what the point of this question is. If the official 2.2 update is better than the leak then I would expect roms not built from source to come from that. Whatever has the best code to start from.

9/9/2010 10:02:29 PM

I recently got an Incredible and love it. The battery life could def be better, but it's w/e to me because I'm not a heavy user currently. Question about the apps that control the CPU: how much does underclocking the CPU while idling actually help battery?

9/9/2010 10:08:13 PM

hmm...looks like verizon is doing a BOGA (Buy one get any phone) on the Fascinate. Works online, guess I'll check tomorrow when I go to the verizon store.

9/9/2010 10:24:24 PM

Just got the dell streak. It is a complete beast. Lots of real estate to surf the web.

Battery life is surprisingly good. I'd say its as good as my old n1 and easily better than my captivate.

Donut sucks though. I'm missing a few apps that I'm used to. Might have to uprade to the o2 2.1 release.

9/9/2010 11:03:55 PM

I will be brutally honest in admitting that I have no idea what "rooting" a phone is...though I assume it has something to do with having "root" access in your OS (also assuming Android is Linux based?). Is it difficult to do? Wouldn't rooting the Fascinate allow you to swap out the default search engine?

9/10/2010 7:20:26 AM

It is basically giving you root or superuser access to the phone. This allows apps to access part of the system, kernel and sdk that are normally locked out. It's not very difficult to do (with Androot its pretty much 1 click). Rooting the Fascinate will let you change the default search engine as well as a myriad of other things. The Fascinate's bootloader is completely unlocked so I wouldn't be surprised if there are lots of ROMs and custom kernels out for it in the coming months.

9/10/2010 9:37:29 AM

Wow, this is pretty simple but very cool. Tons of additional tasks that can be completed by voice actions:

http://lifehacker.com/5634360/use-google-voice-actions-for-any-web-service-that-supports-sms-or-email

Kinda one of those things like damn, why didn't I think of that?

[Edited on September 10, 2010 at 9:41 AM. Reason : .]

9/10/2010 9:41:09 AM

I'm a total noob - what do you mean by custom kernels and ROMs, what is the function of these? Is it worth it to try to figure out how to root my phone (considering I know next to nothing), or am I more likely to just f up my phone?

9/10/2010 9:42:44 AM

OZONE, all you need is here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=721

[Edited on September 10, 2010 at 10:29 AM. Reason : aegeg]

9/10/2010 10:21:53 AM

Thanks! I guess I just need to decide once I get my phone if doing all this stuff is worth it...

9/10/2010 10:33:16 AM

http://www.everythingandroid.org/samsung-fascinate-to-get-google-search-with-froyo-update/2010/09/10/


This may make my decision easier

9/10/2010 11:14:02 AM

http://phandroid.com/2010/09/10/samsung-fascinate-gets-root/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Already rooted too.

9/10/2010 11:36:26 AM

Yup, instructions here:

http://rootzwiki.com/index.php/Smartphones/Samsung-Group/Fascinate.html

9/10/2010 11:39:26 AM

Just got my Droid X.


Perpetual Necessary/Awesome App list:

Begin....

9/10/2010 2:46:27 PM

Quote :

"I'm a total noob - what do you mean by custom kernels and ROMs, what is the function of these? Is it worth it to try to figure out how to root my phone (considering I know next to nothing), or am I more likely to just f up my phone?"

Custom Kernels allow you to do things like overclock. The simplest way to describe custom ROMs is thinking about being about to run something like HTC's Sense or stock android on your phone (assuming you have the fascinate and that terrible TouchWiz 3.0). A lot of people are working on bringing custom ROMs to Galaxy S phones. No one has really gotten anything too significant out yet, but these phones haven't been out THAT long. Supposedly TeamDouche is working on porting CM6 to the Vibrant, and from there it will likely be an easy port to other Galaxy S phones.

9/10/2010 3:16:58 PM

^ you are god damn ignorant person if you are going to bash TW. I've been with android since day 1 and was VERY impressed by TW. I still use LaucherPro, but I still get the added benefits of TW like contact swiping... shortcuts in the pulldown...

If you want to describe the benefits of custom ROMs I would say the benefits are a ton more options can be added and speed.

They already have a bootable version of CM6 on the Vibrant, not open to everyone though.

[Edited on September 10, 2010 at 3:29 PM. Reason : agtr]

9/10/2010 3:28:24 PM

Chumon fellas... help all the new owners out:

Perpetual Necessary/Awesome App list:

1. ....
2. ....
3. ....

9/10/2010 4:15:11 PM

Call me ignorant, but I've used a Captivate a few times and hated TouchWiz. My brother hated it so much that he was really glad when I told him he could replace it with ADW Launcher (which I like better than LauncherPro) and hide most of what sucks about TouchWiz. There are a couple neat things about it, but overall it's my least favorite manufacturer UI that I've used/seen.

9/10/2010 4:44:35 PM

doublepost

[Edited on September 10, 2010 at 4:44 PM. Reason : asdfgf]

9/10/2010 4:44:35 PM

Posting from my Fascinate now. Such a gay name but an awesome phone.

9/10/2010 4:48:46 PM

epic double post.

9/10/2010 4:48:46 PM

You root to fix the google/bing stuff yet?

9/10/2010 4:54:10 PM

not yet. Haven't see a method to unroot yet.

9/10/2010 5:21:35 PM

I guess clockwork and all that hasn't been ported to the Fascinate yet either?

9/10/2010 5:29:25 PM

The ass backwards shit is going to drive me nuts. Power/lock button on the right side, volume rocker on the left, different soft key layout. GPS signal is almost impossible inside a house or building.

9/10/2010 6:08:46 PM

^So what's the deal man, you diggin the Fascinate? I need to decide tomorrow if I want that or the X

9/10/2010 8:33:06 PM

I definitely don't think you'd be disappointed. The phone just feels better in the hand and runs smoother out of the box than the droid X. Aside from the minor annoyances with gps lag, rearranged Home and menu softkeys, and the softkey backlight only staying on for like 5 seconds, it's damn near perfect. I've run into no lag and the super amoled screen is more visible outside than my Droid. Going to play around some more with it tomorrow and give google nav a go on a 4 hr trip tomorrow to see how it holds up. If it gets me lost, I may have a Fascinate for sale.

On a side note, it looks like samsung is working on fixes for most of the issues but no ETA on when it will come.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/09/10/samsung-fascinate-known-issues-document-leaks/

9/10/2010 9:13:18 PM

dFshadow's Perpetual Necessary/Awesome App list:
Utilities
1. Full root with a nice clean ROM (I'm trying Fresh on the Evo right now)
2. Wireless Tether
3. Google Voice (default app and Google Voice Callback app if you want to use the free calling from your Fave 5 or whatever you have with your provider)
4. Smart Keyboard PRO (or your favorite keyboard like Swype, HTC IME mod, etc.)
5. 3 (cubed) music player - for awesome interface and widget
6. Google Maps latest version with navigation and etc.
7. Google Search for obvious reasons
8. Dolphin Browser HD (and Skyfire browser as a backup in case) - with the necessary plugins like Browse Faster, Adblocker beta, Fullscreen, Tab Mix Plus, Bookmarks to SD)
9. HootSuite (or Touiteur or your preferred Twitter client if you tweet)
10. Compass
11. Uninstaller
12. TeslaLED (for strobe effect with flash on camera)
13. Flashlight
14. XDA-Developers (if you like to check for updates for your phone and apps frequently)
15. Startup Auditor
16. Evernote
17. JuiceDefender
18. AndFTP
19. ShootMe (screenshot tool)
20. Dropbox
21. Alarm Clock Xtreme
22. Facebook for Android
23. Google Goggles (barcode and all that is scanned through here)
24. Tumblr if you blog with Tumblr of course
25. SilverEdit v2 if you edit HTML on the go
26. Documents To Go 2 (replace the default preview apps with these, you won't be sorry)
27. AutoRotate Switch (for using the phone while laying in bed)
28. Unit converter
29. StumbleUpon if you get bored and like to be entertained
30. AppBrain App Market (to sync all these apps so you don't have to manually re-install when trying a new ROM) & Fast Web Installer with it
31. Bubble
32. Voice Search
33. EStrongs File Explorer
34. Trillian beta
35. Carrr Matey to find your car in parking lots and stuff


Appearance
1. LauncherPro to customize look and feel
2. Battery Widget
3. Beautiful Widgets
4. System Info Widget

Games
1. Phit Reload
2. Wordfeud FREE
3. Memory Trainer - to occupy little kids
4. Air Control Lite
5. Robo Defense FREE
6. Spades (free)

9/10/2010 9:18:51 PM

thank you kind sir. got my incredible this weekend and will be following this list closely.

9/10/2010 10:17:51 PM

Don't download Robo Defense for the love of God...











(it's addictive as hell)

9/10/2010 10:39:08 PM

Grab the beta demo for Angry Birds while you're at it, it's the most addicting game I've played, but I cant wait for the full b/c it's just not enough levels.

9/10/2010 10:49:01 PM

My new HTC Evo gets shipped on Tuesday. Is there an app or a way I can use the phone and the HDMI output on the phone to watch live tv (mainly the state game next thursday)? Any app or live tv channel?

9/10/2010 11:03:23 PM

@pttyndal - How did the navigation hold up? Been reading a lot about some of the issues, has me scared.

9/11/2010 6:58:45 PM

Dude. Pick a phone. Neither is a bad choice. Flip a coin. You have 30 days to exchange it if you change your mind.

9/11/2010 9:06:22 PM

Buy a Fascinate, get a DroidX for free, try them both out, sell the one you don't like. (unless that offer isn't going on anymore)

9/11/2010 10:29:25 PM

I thought it was just for two fascinates

9/11/2010 11:04:56 PM

Quote :

"Chumon fellas... help all the new owners out: Perpetual Necessary/Awesome App list: 1. .... 2. .... 3. .... "

Dagreenone's favorite apps to download. Not in any order, just ones I use a lot:

1: Tasker. (best app on the market, can automate everything)
2: SNesoid (combined w/ wiimotecontroller app)
3: SetCPU (requires root, allows overclocking or can underclock when the screen is off to save battery)
4: Beautiful Widgets (best weather/clock widget)
5: Pandora
6: Soundhound (a very neat 'what is that song' app)
7: USA today and WRAL (both good news apps)
8: Facebook for android
9: FmyLife Official
10: Google Voice (free texting ftw)
11: Google Voice actions ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGbYVvU0Z5s )
12: Dolphin Browser HD (I prefer this over the stock browser)
13: Act 1 Video Player (I prefer this over the stock video player)
14: Meebo IM (multiple instant messenger client)
15: Mileage (keeps a running tally and calculates my car's MPG for me)
16: MixZing (favorite music player, also has an iTunes Genius like feature to it)
17: Up Up Down Down (massive videogame cheat code database)
18: Advanced Task Killer (great for freeing up some memory quick)

9/11/2010 11:08:58 PM

Quote :

"How did the navigation hold up? Been reading a lot about some of the issues, has me scared."

After over 400 miles and 8hrs of using nav, don't think there is anything to worry about imho. Phone held up all the way from Winston Salem to just on the other side of Kinston. It initially had "Searching for satellites" for about 5 min when I first turned it on but everything worked fine. On the way back, we went 421 and I hit a few dead spots where it lost verizon signal all together but the gps and maps worked fine until signal came back. The battery temp hit 44C (111F) which wasn't too bad considering I could easily top 150F on my original droid after only 30min of nav. I have the holster/shell combo for the fascinate so it could probably be lower. What I'm not happy about is that my car charger keeps wiggling out causing the phone to stop charging. Think it's the car charger since my regular data cable doesn't wiggle. Charger is about a year and a half old so we'll see how another one does.

A few miscellaneous comments:
The camera quality is leaps and bounds above the droid
Call quality is crystal clear with no buzz or echo
And the screen...WOW. Colors just pop.
Haven't really had a chance to test the battery as I had it charging all the way there and all the way back but I'll check that out tomorrow.
Haven't really been able

Quote :

"I thought it was just for two fascinates"

It's buy a Fascinate and get ANY phone free both online and in store. Online only shows the fascinate when you click to order one, but if you add a different phone to your cart, it'll show up as free at checkout.

9/11/2010 11:13:43 PM

I want to make sure I understand something. When I root my android phone, that gives me the capability to act as the superuser via command line terminal. Thus, once I'm root and I want to remove carrier installed bloatware, I do this via command line. Is rooting the phone supposed to give me the ability in remove there apps via any screen or methods on the phone itself?

I'm also noting that most rooting methods seem to block OTA updates. What is the recommended way to do something like move to 2.2 once rooted?

[Edited on September 11, 2010 at 11:33 PM. Reason : 2nd question]

9/11/2010 11:14:24 PM

you don't have to remove things in commandline, you can give SU access to a program on the phone that can delete programs and do it from there

9/11/2010 11:28:40 PM

you can delete the apks or just rename them to .bak so they won't show up using a terminal emulator.

And back to the charging issue. Weird thing is that the phone be at 30-40% and then claim it was fully charged And it would occasionally think it was connect to a computer and enable usb debugging and the ability to mount the sd card. Who knows.

And just want to reiterate how annoying those disappearing soft touch buttons is, especially in the dark. And why on earth would they make the app drawer display downloaded apps after the pre-installed ones without any way to sort them other than manually moving the app around (nice feature though since you can move your frequently used apps to the first)

9/11/2010 11:33:53 PM

Quote :

"I'm also noting that most rooting methods seem to block OTA updates. What is the recommended way to do something like move to 2.2 once rooted?"

You can unroot, then upgrade. However since you are rooted you can begin installing custom roms, including 2.2 ones. Also nearly all the customs roms out there already have the bloatware removed for you.

9/12/2010 12:16:07 AM

well i'm going to bed after trying for 3 hours to get this psfreedom port to the original Droid to work, worst part is I can't tell what I'm doing wrong because everything seems to install correctly and i'm following directions

oh well hopefully somebody simplifies the process for us dummies

9/12/2010 2:13:06 AM

You can use root explorer and mount /system/app as r/w and then delete the APKs from there. Or you can use Titanium backup and either freeze the app or remove it. I wouldn't remove anything if you plan on getting the OTA updates. I'm not sure why you would want the OTA anyways.

P3Droid just leaked the most recent OTA build, 2.3.13 which will probably be the OTA that goes out. His ROM Tranquility is already being rebuilt off it and I think birdman is going to rebuild FlyX to be built off it as well.

http://www.mydroidworld.com/forums/droid-x-discussion/4603-mdw-presents-droid-x-2-3-13-froyo-upgrade.html

9/12/2010 10:06:08 AM

Ha just realized that the galaxy s line of phones doesn't have a notification led. There's an app in the market called NoLED that can display a little colored dot on your screen when there is a notification. Kind of gay but it works

9/12/2010 2:04:31 PM

random question for anyone who has the Samsung Fascinate...

i just got it.. is there anyway to set it to "bedside" mode like i did on my blackberry? basically i have my alarm set on my phone I use, and when i plug in my blackberry and go to CLOCK, the digital clock displays while i sleep and stays up.....

anyway to set that up on the fascinate? when i go to CLOCK, it just shows my alarm settings and only shows the tiny time displayed on the top... and if i leave it, (even while charging) the screen cuts off after a minute and it locks.

is there no way to get a digital clock displayed, or to have it stay on the clock while i sleep?

9/12/2010 2:04:57 PM

[Edited on September 12, 2010 at 2:19 PM. Reason : ]

9/12/2010 2:18:39 PM

[Edited on September 12, 2010 at 2:20 PM. Reason : ]

9/12/2010 2:18:39 PM

There should be an app called desk cradle that came preinstalled. Also there is an option under development in applications under settings to leave the screen on when plugged in.

9/12/2010 2:19:02 PM

I've seen some people criticizing TouchWiz and a lot of people not sure about which phone to get, so here's my experience. Since June, I've actually owned an Evo, a Droid 2, and now the Epic. So I've done more than "try them out for a bit." Previous to that I had a 3GS.

The Evo is a a great phone. For most people, I'd say the battery life and GPS issues would be the biggest problems. In addition, I personally didn't like the keyboard or even Swype on it, as the screen was far less responsive than my 3GS had been. Battery life was actually great on Wifi once I stopped using ATK. I could get >24 hr even with up to 3+ hr of web browsing, texting, and listening to music on Grooveshark. However, on 3G it was pretty terrible. It would be down from 100% to <10% in ~8 hr. In addition, although GPS was able to get a fix even from within my house, it would drop several times during even short trips, causing me to have to re-enter the route (not safe while driving). I ended up just giving up on GPS with the Evo. On 4G, the speeds were barely competitive with what I used to get on my 3GS on 3G, and the battery life was even worse. IMHO, 4G is a gimmick.

Sense was cool, especially the weather animations, but it slowed down the phone big time. It would hang often enough that it was annoying, with "all animations" enabled. The size wasn't that bad, but it was a bit heavy compared to the other 2 phones. Call quality was good, far better than the iPhone 3GS had been on AT&T.

I initially like the Droid better than the Evo since its screen was more responsive and the keyboard was pretty awesome, especially compared to the Droid 1 keyboard which I had tried out before. The call quality was the best of the 3 phones, but the signal indicator on my phone was buggy. After the Evo's screen, however, this one felt pretty tiny in comparison. Also, the screen was almost unreadable in direct sunlight. It made me want something with a screen size in between, since the Evo was a tad large.

I've had the Epic for a week. For me, it's a bit of a "goldilocks" story, since the keyboard is not as good as the Droid 2, and the screen is smaller than the Evo. Also, it feels a bit flimsy compared to both of those, especially the Evo. However, the brightness of the screen is awesome compared to the other 2 and the game I was using as a benchmark for graphical capabilities, Asphalt 5, played more smoothly on the Epic than even the 3GS. The Evo and Droid weren't even contenders for that. Call quality is on par with the Evo, but not as good as the Droid. Part of the issue is that the receiver is extremely small and you have to hold your ear over it just right to be able to hear the person loudly enough.

The Epic feels lighter than either of those phones, and TouchWiz is far smoother than their UIs as well. I've had 1 slow-down/crash/force-close in a week on TW, vs. up to several a day on the other. I'd still rather customize it myself over top of the default Android UI when I get around to it, but it's a good effort for a manufacturer.

While I have gotten pretty quick on the Epic keyboard, it took a bit of learning compared to the Droid 2 keyboard. However, Swype on the Epic is better than the beta was on the Evo for me, at least in its default configuration. The screen feels far smoother, and it's easier to glide around on it than it was on the Evo.

Battery life is best by far on the Epic. I have gotten 27 hr on 3G with 2 hr of talk time, 2-3 hr of Grooveshark playback, and ~1hr of web browsing; at that point I still had 37% battery left. That's with background data enabled but bluetooth, Wifi, 4G, and GPS disabled. GPS doesn't take the battery down as much as it did on the Evo either.

Background, if anyone cares:
I originally wanted to wait for the Epic because of the Hummingbird processor and keyboard slider, but I would have been satisfied with the Evo if it wasn't for a bug and poor battery life on 3G/4G. So I tried to exchange it, but they were still out of stock by the time the Droid came out. The Droid's signal indicator was buggy. It would show no bars and still be able to make calls at times and other times it would show a full signal and be unable to call out. The Verizon reps at the store were douches, so I decided to eat the restocking fee (ridiculous to even have one within the first 3 days) and waited for the Evo to be restocked. By the time it was, the Epic came out and I got that.

Quote :

"Ha just realized that the galaxy s line of phones doesn't have a notification led. There's an app in the market called NoLED that can display a little colored dot on your screen when there is a notification. Kind of gay but it works"

My Epic has a notification LED at the top right. It's not multicolor like the Evo one is (IIRC), but it flashes red when I have a new notification.

9/12/2010 5:15:41 PM