Reincarnation

What's going on, Google?!

It's been awhile -- almost 3 years, but I'm back to share some knowledge and spark some dialogue about what's going on with Android in the U.S. market.

March 14 - the unveiling of the Samsung GalaxyS IV, one of the most anticipated devices to launch in 2013 rivaled by the recently released HTC One and relatively old iPhone 5.

The GS4 is rumored to have...

-- wireless charging
-- 2400 mAh battery
-- NFC
-- 4.99", 1080p HD Super-AMOLED screen
-- Quad-core processor
-- 13 MP, HD back camera
-- Internal and removable storage

More specifics can be found over at GSM Arena.

I'm rocking a Galaxy S3, which I love. Bootloader is unlocked (aka I can do anything I want to it... custom kernels, ROMs (software), radios, etc) and I'm rooted running CM 10.1.

-- For those unaware, CM refers to the most popular custom Android ROM in the world, CyanogenMod. --

CM 10.1 is based on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and is ~98% stable given a stock kernel.

Batter life is to be desired but... 8 hours of heavy usage is more than enough for me at this point in my life.

HOW BOUT THEM RAVENS?!?!? Super Bowl Champs.

Bugless Beast ESE53

Been running this a few hours now.. It's absolutely perfect. The only thing missing is the blue highlights from AdamZ's theme as well as a few other Smoked Glass accessories.. but performance is absolutely amazing. Everything is noticeably faster, especially the 2.1 Browser with multi-touch (pinch to zoom gesture). There's absolutely no stuttering, and I'm not even overclocked, just running the stock kernel for now.

AdamZ is making his own version of ESE53 so I'll probably try that once it comes out and report back here. But, as for now, BB ESE53 Beta 0.7 is where I'm staying.

Finally made the switch..

Bugless Beast, ESE53 Beta.. I'm there, and it's much snappier than any 2.0.1 I've used, and I'm only OCed to 600 mhz. More to come..

This Just In!

AdamZ has been keeping us waiting for ESE53, but he's got it down, folks. His latest post states that he will have both the Smoked Glass Theme for ESE53 and his own version of a ESE53-based ROM ready by, hopefully, tonight.


Follow here.

Reconsidering ROM Choice - Bugless Beast?

Alright so it's another day of regular use on my Droid. What I have been realizing lately is that my battery life has gotten steadily better with each day. It's 2 pm right now and it just changed to 70% battery left, when I got up at 7. With probably 50 texts sent/received and an hour on the internet, I consider this to be a win. All this while using AdamZ's Smoked Glass ROM 5.0.1.

Aesthetically, this ROM has it all. I mean it, guys, you won't find more customization anywhere in the Android world. However, after running it for over a week straight, I am beginning to notice more and more frequent random reboots. The first couple of days, it never happened, then it started doing it after I unplugged it from my PC. Now, it's just sporadic. I feel a little vibrate in my pocket, pull my phone out and there it is, booting up. Now, since it reboots itself, and doesn't just turn off, I really don't mind it. But today, it rebooted 3 times, and the third time, it took 3 reboots to load up fully as normal. I'm thinkin' I might need to find a more stable ROM.

This leads me to...

[ROM] Bugless Beast V0.7 (ESE53 Beta)

This is the latest build leaked straight from Google of Android 2.1 built specifically for your Motorola Droid. Yeah, there have been others that have been ported from the Nexus One, but those were meant for the Nexus One and therefore, contain a lot of unfixable bugs when running on the Droid that caused minor to intermediate instability.

ESE53 is the future, everyone. Yeah, it's an extra half hour of your life having to use a backup program like Titanium Backup to backup all your apps, settings, etc, when you're making the switch from a 2.0.1 custom ROM to a 2.1 one, but you'll have to do it eventually, so I suggest now as that time. Pete does a great job testing all the features of his ROMs before he releases the next build, so there's no question that you'll be getting the best. AdamZ is talented, too, and his ROM was my "first love," but it's still 2.0.1 and the fact of the matter is, that's outdated.

Time to make the switch.

Oh look, the Droid can be yours for less than $50 

Getting Started With ROMs for Droid

Also, please click these links or post products you may be interested in. The best deals will always be found here!

But, for more on the Droid, try AdamZ's Smoked Glass Rom v. 5.0.1 at alldroid.org. This is such a sweet ROM once you get it running on your Droid. Need help with that? Please, ask away. You can spend hour reading the forums, or just take 20 seconds to post your question in this blog and more often than not, I'll have the answer ready to go.

Anyway, this ROM includes blue highlights for everything -- gone is the ugly orange highlight that comes default with the Droid. Also, it'll run your phone up to 2x faster than it's at now, all at next to no sacrifice to your battery life. In fact, with the right settings, you can actually improve your battery life while having a faster phone. Seem too good to be true? It's not -- trust me. It has multi-touch everything, guys, just like the precious iPhone. Can iPhone do customization like this? I don't think so.

Motorola Droid Multimedia Docking Station
Motorola Droid OEM Window Mount
Skinomi TechSkin - Invisible Screen Protector Shield for Motorola Droid - Plus LIFETIME REPLACEMENTS
Seidio Innocase Surface Case for Motorola Droid (Black)
Rapid Car Charger (CLA) for Motorola Droid A855 / CLIQ
Universal Apple iPod USB Charger Kit - USB Retractable Hotsync Cable - USB Home Travel Charger - USB 12V Cigarette Lighter Charger
Dock Connector to USB 2.0 Cable for iPod and iPhone (White)

The Beginning

Hey everyone, just writing my first post (of hopefully many) on my blog.

This is going to be all about Android, specifically the Motorola Droid with a twist of the beloved Nexus One (Verizon - March 23!) as well as future Android devices coming later in 2010 and beyond.

Interested in rooting your phone? Look no further. The latest and greatest tweaks and custom ROMs are all available at your fingertips. Don't know where to start? Just add a post and your path to achieving the best customization of your phone will begin. Seriously, once you get the hang of things, it's incredible to know what you can do with such a small, but powerful, device.

I've got the Droid, had it since early December, and now, I really can't live a day without it, as sad as that may sound. It can do... everything? It's customized to me, that's for sure. The devs out there do some pretty special work, and even if a ROM isn't quite you, well after an hour or two of reading, you can customize the customized ROM.

Well, that's it for right now..