Small Mini Update Thing--Yeah, No

My birthday is in a few days. Couldn't be any less excited than I am now thanks to onslaught of homework and tests and test results. I want this semester over now.

As of now, do not expect an update until at least December 19th. Too much to work on and too little time, and I have a performance coming up on the 17th/18th, so yeah.

I'm also considering putting off buying an HTC Leo--price is too high and I have to go Christmas shopping for various people. It's nice having money to spend on other people, instead of having no money thanks to buying one giant thing for yourself. Eh?

Looks like I'm sticking with my Slide, since I'm not a Scrooge. I'm a semi-caring Schmuck.

'Night

Ωπ

Android on iPhone. Why?

So apparently, there's this wave of interest spreading around the net about hacking your iPhone and making it able to run Android Froyo. It's on Androidspin, and almost all over android fanboy sites that I don't bother to surf since they all post the same stuff anyway.

And I have one questions for you Android Fanboys--

Why would you do such a thing to an iPhone?! It's a crappy phone in the first place, and when you port Android to it, almost nothing works, and the whole user interface [UI] is buggy. Sure, once all the bugs are worked out, the touch screen will be the BEST on the market, since the iPhone does INDEED have the best touch screen, but why waste good Android developers on something like that?! The iPhone is optimized for use with iOS, and nothing more.

Nothing more.

Now I'm sure most of you are thinking--We ported over Android onto the HTC HD2, which was originally running [ha ha] Windows Mobile 6.5, but now it's getting more support from the developer community than the Nexus One [aka the Google Supported Phone]!

Correct. It IS getting more support, but that's because of the Hardware, and because it's an HTC phone. If it was a Samsung phone, no one would even bother. If it was a Motorola phone, no one would care. XDA was originally created for HTC phone support, and nothing more. Samsung and Motorola [don't forget about LG, whoops I just did] phones sneaked their way onto the forums because of user interest and alternative UIs [aka MotoBlur(Motorola), TouchWiz(Samsung), etc].

If you want to have an Android powered device, then buy an Android-powered device. OR, if you have the time and the patience, buy an HD2 and port Android to it.

PLEASE don't waste your time trying to support the Android-Onto-iPhone community. Leave the iPhone [and all other iOS devices] alone. Let them dominate the mp3 player market. Let them dominate the tablet market. Leave the hacking up to redsn0w and Jailbreakme.com, and Cydia too. Leave Apple Alone, Android Community!

I haz Sense

Two Topics for Today:

1.) Tired Will is Tired

Went and saw Harry Potter last night. For those of you who actually READ this blog, I strongly encourage you people to go see it. And before you say anything, yes, I know all but the last 15 minutes of the 6th movie was crap. I know. I went into this movie expecting a slaughterhouse of mixed up events and misquoted characters, and I was utterly blown away by all the distractions. There's even a little animated portion of the movie during the "Deathly Hallows" fairy tale, which looks fantastic. So go see it, and tell me that it's amazing, too.

Will's rating: 4.5/5

2.) MyTouch Slide is FINALLY Getting the Support it Deserves

As I mentioned in a previous blog, the MyTouch Slide is somewhat of a lost cause in the developing community due to T-Mobile's inability to process, develop, and distribute updates to their phones in a timely manner. I admit, T-Mobile does INDEED modify their Android software with bloatware and limiting features in order to keep all their customers on the same level without having to continually update their radio towers every other month. I admit that it's a time-and-resource-consuming project to keep up with Android. Yes, Google does pop out software updates just about every week, but you should at least TRY to keep up to date with the times. If the original Moto DROID can get Android 2.2 [Froyo] within the first 3 months of the software's release, shouldn't your most recent phone get it when it's released the week after the software update was implemented by Google? Come on now.

But this isn't a rant post, folks. I have come bearing good news for those of you who still have a rooted MyTouch Slide--

We have Sense 2.2. With Bluetooth. And wifi. Yes. We do.

About a week ago, a newcomer uploaded an HTC Legend rom port that he modified for the Slide. It looked no different than any other 2.2 Sense Rom that the other remaining Slide devs had submitted. It had missing wifi, missing bluetooth, missing keys, no backlit keyboard--basically everything vital to the phone wasn't working.

But within two days, he managed to fix the Wifi and the keyboard backlights.

And within another few days he had managed to get Bluetooth functionality back to normal as well. Yes, people, Bluetooth, the missing 1% in CyanogenMod for the Slide is now working on a Sense rom running 2.2.

This is the support we Slide users have been waiting for! Finally! We have Bluetooth!

Although there are a few bugs here and there within the rom, it's become my Daily Driver, and it works really well! The battery life even kicks butt, too! Hoo-rah!!!

If any of you care, feel free to download and flash it. Link to original thread below:

Clickyyyy

Have a nice day, people.

WR

iPad. Yes.

It's almost 9pm, I'm sweaty from dance, and I think I have discovered the ONLY good use for an iPad, which deserves a space on my Android blog.

Leave it to the Germans to put crappy, useless to devices to good use--using it as a means of protest against the government. Man, this is amazing.

WHO ELSE would put something that useless to good use?! And what the hell does the iPad DO?! Does it bring anything innovative to the table? Does it recreate anything?! No. It's an oversized iPhone 4, lacking iOS 4.2, without a camera, and no good place to put it without looking like an idiot [ladies with purses, you're exempt from this, since everything goes in a purse...MEN on the other hand are screwed over. Looks like Steve Jobs is a feminist. Way to go.]

The person who thought of turning the iPad into a protest sign deserves a Nobel Prize, a Pulitzer Prize [yes, completely unrelated], and deserves to be frozen underground next to Walt Disney for the rest of eternity after he/she dies. This is a momentous day, people.

MOVE OVER, Beatles, it's Crafty German Day!

I should probably be doing some chemistry work right now...

but this song is blowing me away. So yeah, sorry.

Ok--one small, minute, little update for you today--

Mytouch Slide is getting Froyo, baby! YEAH.

One can only wonder when T-Mo will get their damned act together and give us something worthwhile.

Yeah, thanks, good night.

Happy Sunday Evening, Folks

Coming soon, to a T-Mobile Store near you.

OH, and I'm buying an HTC HD2 in a few weeks, just so I can put Android on it and mess with the people at T-Mobile. And yes, I will be using 2 phones at once. Suck it, T-Mobile. You should have let ATT have it, since they would need it more than T-Mo would...sheesh...

Houston, we have Minimal.

So maybe I lied.

Just maybe.

As you can see in the above screenshot, THAT is minimal. Not what I previously showed you before. It's pretty, isn't it? I agree. Anyway, I've been lurking in the Android Apps and the Android Theming Forums in XDA, looking for stuff to make my phone more minimal. I came across a GREAT wallpaper website, with REALLY HD wallpapers that are actually formatted for mobile phones.
Link: Wallpapers, Courtesy of Ultralinx

The two widgets in the Screenie are found in THIS thread. [BATTSTAT and TAJM]

So basically, due to the lack of Developers for the MyTouchSlide [and T-Mobile's sluggish process of releasing the official Froyo update], there has been a MASSIVE slump in developmental forums, and there is a lack of fully stable roms. Two developers in particular were able to port over a HTC Legend and a Chinese HTC Aria rom, but they lack wifi functionality, Keyboard lights, and other little things. I want to buy a Nexus One or an HD2 just so I can have frequent additions and updates, but that would take a while. So it looks like I'm in a slump, too. [Also, blame the G2 for being incredibly hard to root, taking close to a month and about half of the Slide's original developers to hack through T-Mobile's stupid NAND bug that kept preventing developers from achieving full root.]

So I'm stuck with CyanogenMod 6.1, which really isn't a bad thing, really, because it's the Slide's only hope in terms of 99% stability [no Bluetooth functionality, sorry], and the only source of nightly mini-updates, which really don't contain anything more than little bug fixes and the occasional overclocking kernel. As you can also see in my screenshot, I am back to Zeam Launcher. The devs updated it a LOT in the past 3 weeks, and it's running AMAZINGLY well. Perfect for someone who wants to consume little battery life.

And speaking of new phones, there's been a fiery rumor flying around the net regarding Samsung releasing the next Google branded phone, the Nexus S. Supposedly, it was supposed to be announced Monday night [along with the Samsung Continuum], but it was promptly pulled last minute due to a "massive hardware defect" that required them to be immediately recalled.

Here is my problem with this supposed new phone:

From what I hear, this "Nexus S" is supposed to start a new generation in the Galaxy S lineup of the Samsung Android devices. Apparently, it's been reviewed by a "special person with connections" and a LOT of things were said about it. For example, it's all touchscreen [similar to the Samsung Vibrant] and has the same plasticky feel to it, like all the Galaxy S phones do. And this is where things take a turn for the worst for me. Why the heck did Google leave the Nexus S development in the hands of Samsung? They didn't bring anything "new" to the table when they released their Galaxy S phones. All they did was create the Touchwiz UI, which is Android's answer to the n00b iPhone user who is "jumping over" from Apple to Google. There is nothing new about them.

Sure, their phones look nice, and they pack a punch inside [the Vibrant, with it's 1GHZ processor, can be overclocked to 160MHZ--1.6GHZ, quite a considerable difference in processing speed, and a deathwish for your battery], But are these phones really hardy, like the original Nexus One? The Nexus One was made of metal AND plastic, and actually felt like a worthwhile phone to carry, a hardy daily driver to push you through the day. The G2 [aka HTC Desire Z] is a beast as well, since it's made out of a lightweight aluminium.

Another thing I'm REALLY concerned about is the Nexus Two's UI. I worry that that Samsung will silently push their TouchWiz UI onto the phone, not stock Android. If they do this, then the N2 will NOT be a Google phone, it will be just another Galaxy S device.

You could call me an HTC fanboy, go ahead. I just like phones being built by people who know what they're doing. And also, if I wanted plastic, I'd buy a Blackberry, lol.

By the way, here it is. Tell me your thoughts, my little nerds...