Android: Fine, Then Gimme the Features Without Root

With the Droid X coming out tomorrow, there’s quite a bit of attention being drawn to the fact that the fancy new Android phone is using the same encrypted bootloader as the Motorola Milestone, rendering it very difficult to crack. According to this post at androidpolice.com, the bootloader is using a “proprietary encrypted private key scheme” which pretty much requires any ROM you’re going to install has been blessed by Motorola.

This is totally lame.

I bought into the Android platform because it stands for openness and freedom. And really, they do a pretty darned good job at it still. But the fact is that there are some things that I’ve come to take for granted on my Droid because some hacker has enabled them.

My reasons for rooting are:

• I can theme my phone UI
• I can uninstall apps I don’t want (like Amazon MP3. WTF!)
• I can turn off the LEDs behind the 4 main buttons under the screen (Seriously? I need root for this?)
• I can overclock (even though I don’t really do it since FroYo)
• I can tether (I basically never do this — no need.)

Why won’t the phone makers let me do these things?? The only one that could damage anyone on their end is tethering since the carriers actually want extra money for the feature. So restrict it!

I suppose one could cause damage by overclocking and stressing the phone too much… So add some kind of hardware indicator so it would be known if the phone was ever overclocked, and void the warranty if it was! They already do this for water damage!

I was happy not rooting for a long time, so (stock) Android does a good job of not making me feel restricted. I wholeheartedly agree with those who say the phones should all be unlocked and capable of installing custom ROMs like the developer-oriented Nexus One, but the realistic side of me is just asking for a little more flexibility in the stock offering. Why the heck not allow me to do some of these things to my phone??

JRummy’s FroYo Kangerade Rocks My Droid

For nine days now, I’ve had the pleasure of running the leaked Nexus One build of the highly-anticipated FroYo (2.2) release of Android in the form of the Cyan-themed version of JRummy’s FroYo Kangerade v1.0 (FRF57). I guess with a little modification, Cyanogen (whose rom Kangerade is based on) and JRummy can adapt a binary Nexus One build for the Droid. Kangerade v1.1 has since been released, and he is now beta-testing the next version, which will be built from the source code that Google just released through their AOSP (FRF83).

It’s excellent. Apart from the handful of nice-to-have features, FroYo’s new ability to run entirely with the JIT compiler means a real-world speed boost of 4-5 times, they say. It’s really quite a lot smoother all around: general transitions and effects, switching between apps, etc… It pretty much feels like a hardware upgrade to me. And if I’m not mistaken, I’m getting better battery life with FroYo, too!

I must say, I am very pleased with how well android is doing. Especially in the last few months, I’ve seen tons of sweet apps and mods, and hackers like Cyanogen and JRummy just keep pushing the limits.

And what’s funny is that even though there are some better-spec’d phones coming out now (Incredible, Evo 4G, Droid X), they all seem to have their flaws (weak battery, flimsy build, failing screen, *no keyboard?!*). I’m not even jealous of another phone yet!

Droid FTW!

Notion Ink Adam Tablet Update

I’m very happy to hear that the recent news of the Notion Ink Adam Android tablet being delayed (again) until November was not, in fact true. While we don’t have an actual release date, it’s implied that we may see it come to market within a couple months.

I’m very excited at the idea of having the same Android OS I enjoy on my phone on a tablet device. This is mainly because I think it will replace a laptop for couch computer use. I like having a different ergonomic experience at home, after using a traditional PC for so many hours at work. Actually, I already use the Droid for a lot of things, but the small screen is not best suited for a lot of reading.

I think reading is going to be something this tablet will suit best. Check out this video comparison of the Pixel Qi display (that the Notion Ink Adam will use) vs an iPad.

One of the main reasons I’m so psyched about a tablet like this vs an iPad is the fact that it is a computer by definition. Yes, one can run Android, Ubuntu Linux or Chrome OS on it, but I’m thinking more fundamental. For ages, we have had these machines we call computers. One could write some code and run their own programs on them, or procure said programs from a third party…… The fact that Apple wants to have so many ridiculous restrictions turns me off in a huge way. I prefer the freedom to use my hardware as I see fit.

Anyway, check out CrunchGear’s post for latest on the Notion Ink Adam.

My Favorite Android Apps

So I’ve owned the Motorola Droid for just over a month now, and I’m just loving it. Yes, the phone isn’t without its shortcomings, but many of them are getting fixed via software updates. I don’t really want to post another review since there are a bunch of good ones already, but rather list my very favorite apps.

• ConnectBot is an truly excellent ssh client with plenty of features — including easy ssh tunnel managing!
• Dolphin is a good replacement web browser with lots of fancy features.
• NewsRob is the best way I’ve found to read RSS. It syncs with Google Reader (like NetNewsWire on my Mac!) and offers a very comfortable way to navigate and read the news.
• Google Voice, if you can get an invite, is amazing: free phone calls / texts in and out, visual voicemail, vm transcriptions, call recording…
• Google Listen is a really great podcast downloader/player.
• HandyCalc is a very powerful calculator with graphing, algebra, and unit conversion features.
• Google Sky Map turns your phone into a guide to the sky. By reading from the accelerometer and compass sensors in the phone, this app shows what should be seen in the sky when looking in the phone’s oriented direction.
• Pandora, Last.fm, StreamFurious, and Jamendo are all great apps for streaming music down to your phone. Amdroid lets me connect to my Ampache instance on the server back home and stream anything from my collection.
• Qik lets me stream (and archive) live video from my phone.
• SwiFTP starts up a simple ftp daemon that I can connect to from my PC to manage files on the SD card. This is more convenient than plugging it in.
• Mythmote lets me remote control my MythTV DVR software on the TV.
• SqueezeDroid lets me remote control my SqueezeBox.
• TransDroid lets me remote control my torrents running on the server.
• Seesmic is a nicer Twitter client than Twidroid, I think. Maybe not as many features, but it’s clean, totally free, and includes bit.ly API support.
• Meebo IM is my favorite IM application of the bunch. It supports all the major networks.
• MixZing is a great improvement over the native media player, though I haven’t been playing local media much on my Droid. I wouldn’t really want to use my Droid as my primary media player. While the built-in speaker is quite good, the headphone output is not the best from a portable.

The Android user base is currently growing by leaps and bounds with the release of the Droid and other exciting new phones. It seems like every day there’s a great new app and several updates to existing apps. I’m very much enjoying being a part of it!

The Droid is Coming!

So I’ve been working from the same, boring ‘ol, non-smartphone phone for longer than I can even remember now. Verizon sent me a text message something like 6 months ago telling me I’m elligible for a new phone, but I’m still holding out. I’ve known for years that I want an Android phone, but of course the G1 is slow and chunky. The MyTouch 3G doesn’t seem much better. Only now are we starting to see some proper Android phones coming out.

The upcoming Droid phone (or Sholes if you believe this report) from Motorola seems to be not just be the Android phone of my dreams, but a smartphone that will truly shake up the whole mobile space and perhaps give the mighty iPhone a run for its money. Just about everything about it seems appealing: big (854×480 — iPhone is 480×320 for comparison), beautiful screen, slide-out keyboard, fast processor, 5 megapixel camera, and of course all the usuals like an accelerometer, GPS, compass, etc. It’s only a hair thicker than the iPhone, to boot!

I think I may also grab the separately-sold dock accessory. It lets the phone become a little widget dashboard so I can see bits of info and run all manner of nifty apps off to the side.

Why didn’t I just get an iPhone already? I’ll tell you why. If I buy a piece of hardware, I expect to be able to install software on it. The iPhone platform has some serious issues with that way of thinking since you can only install software that Apple has deemed “OK” via the “App Store.” Further, their approval process can seem entirely arbitrary as they have approved apps only to later deny them, and deny apps only to later approve them. And if they don’t like you, they’ll take their sweet time at coming to any conclusion! Oh, and while I know Verizon employees are trained to ignore basic math, I have heard a slew of even more horrifying stories pertaining to the locked-in iPhone carrier, AT&T.

I’ve already began dabbling in Android app development, and it looks like their API’s are very workable. I think it’s pretty empowering to be able to write software for my phone, and I really don’t think Apple belongs in my way when I want to share my app with a friend. And the ability to actually have background processes running like a modern, multi-tasking operating system is also very appealing!

So needless to say, I’m psyched. Verizon’s big announcement is on the 28th of October, but based on some leaked infos, we’re expecting to see the phone(s) become available on the 6th of November.

Check out this hands on preview from Boy Genius Report!

Microphone Made of Frickin’ Lasers

Just imagine the types of recordings that could become possible once this technology is fully realized! I bet this is where microphone technology will be heading.

The press release on this one is full of superlatives, but somehow most of them seem justified. Schwartz Engineering & Design just announced its Laser-Accurate microphone technology, which promises to provide “pure sound” from a microphone for the “first time ever.” It works by detecting the impact of sound on the motion of particles in a stream of air by running a laser across them, and was created by David Schwartz, who holds several digital audio patents, including one that is foundational to the MP3 format (which is, ironically, not a traditional friend to the audiophile). The idea is to avoid the inherent “coloring” of sound due to a regular microphone’s physical diaphragm, since the moving particles are virtually weightless. Of course, it seems that a Laser-Accurate mic would have plenty of variables of its own to deal with in regards to the stream of air, but we suppose we’ll find out just how tight Schwartz has this thing when it’s shown off for the first time in NY next month. PR is after the break.

Laser-Accurate microphone proves once and for all that everything is better with lasers via Engadget

Celemony to Release Revolutionary Audio Tool

Celemony is set to release Direct Note Access in Autumn of 2008. There is a nice video on the DNA page that explains what it does, but this software is able to identify and isolate different voices within a single audio recording. The user can then change the pitch of and mute individual notes without affecting the overall mix! This is the first piece of software that allows you to reach into a simple, flat audio stream and manipulate its components in this way.

It’ll be really interesting to see how artists use this product to remix familiar tunes.