cyanogen mod 7
Latest
TouchPad port of CM7 in the works, can barely be called an alpha (video)
Supposedly there are some magical TouchPads out there with Android pre-installed on them, but that won't help you load it up your new collectors item. Thankfully the Cyanogen Mod team is hard at work on a port of Google's mobile OS for your HP slate and aiming to claim the bounty on its head. It's still in the extremely early stages. At the moment it does little more than boot up and unlock with the aid of ADB -- even the touchscreen isn't working just yet -- but it shouldn't be too long before you can swap out webOS with CM7. Check out the brief demo video below.
CyanogenMod founder joins Samsung Mobile, promises to make Android 'more awesome'
We already knew Samsung loved the guys at CyanogenMod, but we didn't think they'd start absorbing parts of its development team. According to Steve Kondik's Facebook page, the Android facade's head sculptor is setting up shop at Samsung Mobile. Sammy's new software engineer told his fans that although his 'side project,' CyanogenMod, is not affiliated with his employer in any way, he will be "working on making Android more awesome." Makes sense, we heard Samsung's phones were looking for a fresh coat of awesome. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Refresh Roundup: week of July 18, 2011
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy! The LG Optimus 3D appears poised and ready to get Gingerbread in October. [via TheInquirer] Another device in the family, the LG Optimus One, is now being updated to Android 2.3.3 in the UK, though we haven't heard if the update has been deployed elsewhere at this point. [thanks, Aaron] CyanogenMod 7 nightlies are ready to go for the Samsung Galaxy S II. Download at your own risk, as these updates are early releases and may contain bugs. [via PhoneArena] The Motorola Droid X2 is about to undergo soak testing for a "future update." No official word on if this is Gingerbread, though it's highly speculative that minor updates wouldn't go through this type of testing. [via AndroidCentral] Speaking of the X2, it's also received its first custom ROM -- despite the bootloader still being locked -- and XDA has managed to put 2nd-init support on it as well. [via AndroidCentral and Droid-Life] A new HTC Desire HD update, 2.50.405.2, is reportedly rolling out to unbranded versions in Europe that includes a fix for WiFi issues prevalent on the device. [via AndroidCentral] Updates to the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930, 7.0.0.261, were leaked. [via n4bb] In what could be the most bizarre update rollout ever, the T-Mobile myTouch 4G is now starting a limited pilot, and will continue until "the end of the year." [via TmoNews] The Dell Streak 7 now has an unofficial update to Android 3.2 Honeycomb available. [via Netbook News]
CyanogenMod 7 hits 500,000 installs, eclipses previous milestone
Looks like another round of roman candles are in order. After already setting off the celebratory fireworks for its previous user install milestone, CyanogenMod 7's done it again -- this time reaching past the half a million mark. The highly customizable Android homebrew is arguably the biggest aftermarket OS in the ROM-flashing campus, and it has the numbers to back it up. According to the site's stats, the official release of 7.0.3 saw the biggest spike in handset installations -- at 76,897 -- with unofficial nightly builds almost doubling that figure. Sure, it sometimes seems like the rooting community is a vast, silent majority, but it's actually a wafer-thin slice of Google's mobile pie. Still, congratulations are in order for this open-source hackdom triumph. [Thanks, Chris]
Nexus S hacked and tweaked to slaughter benchmarks, reality be damned
It's always a good idea to take benchmarks with a grain of salt -- their synthetic tests don't always match up with real-world performance. But, we wouldn't blame you if you wrote them off completely after spying these results from Android Community forum member Simms22. Simms took his Nexus S, blessed it with a little Cyanogen Mod 7 pixie dust, overclocked it to 1.544GHz, and made a few other tweaks for good measure. The results? An absolutely unbelievable score of 10,082 in Smartbench2011. To put that in perspective, the 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos powering the Galaxy S II hit only 3,053 -- and remember, the Nexus S is working with a one core handicap. The creator of Smartbench has acknowledged there are bugs to be worked out (did besting the Xoom by 400 percent give it away?) but we're not quite ready to dismiss the numbers game completely -- then what excuse would we have for publishing copious amounts of bar charts? Update: The creator of Smartbench2011 confirms he's working on a new version, 1.2.1, which should fix the bugs.
Samsung shows affection to CyanogenMod, gives its devs a free Galaxy S II (update)
Let's see if we're grokking this: Samsung is not only telling the dev community it's okay to place custom ROMs on its flagship device, it's actually encouraging the practice by handing out free phones? Atinm, the developer responsible for prepping CyanogenMod on the Captivate and Vibrant, took to Twitter to praise the manufacturer for sending him a free Galaxy S II. From the looks of it, Samsung sent the phone to a select number of devs intent on building an official release of CM7 for the GSII. Unlocking bootloaders has already become the new fancy with manufacturers like HTC, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson jumping on the bandwagon, but this is the first time we've heard of a company doling out free devices to the custom ROM community. Does this mean that, instead of enforcing TouchWiz with an iron fist, Samsung is looking at how this practice could actually benefit consumers? We doubt this will be the case for all of the company's future Android phones, but wouldn't you love to live in a world where it was? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: As it turns out, this was not the first time a free device has been handed out to the CyanogenMod community. It's been done at least once before, when T-Mobile gave out a G-Slate in April.
CyanogenMod 7 tops 200,000 downloads, celebrations erupt as development goes forward
Congratulations to the fine developers of CyanogenMod, whose latest aftermarket Android OS, CyanogenMod 7, has surpassed 200,000 downloads -- a huge milestone for this homebrew community. Now supported on 26 devices, the hallmark of this custom ROM comes from its flexible user interface, greater customization options, bonus features and worthwhile performance improvements. While the project gained early notoriety from its dispute with Google, it's become an increasingly popular solution for those wanting to command their phone (or tablet) as they see fit. The latest revision, 7.0.3, includes numerous fixes and refinements since its 7.0 release, so there's never been a better time to check it out -- in fact, we're pretty sure the group would love to bring you aboard. Well done everyone, and keep up the good work.
CyanogenMod 7.0 is now final, ready for your consumption
Is your phone manufacturer's Android ROM not treating you quite the way it should? Worry not, Cyanogen's got your back as usual and has just released the final v7.0 of the CyanogenMod, now based on Android 2.3.3. There's an extensive list of supported Android handsets, which is now also augmented with a couple of tablets: the B&N Nook Color and the Viewsonic G Tablet. As usual with custom ROMs, we advise reading up and making sure you know what you're doing before you do it, but if you're already up to speed on the latest in homebrewed Android, this is the moment you've been eagerly waiting for. Full details of the changes made in version 7 plus instructions on how to get it set up on your Android device can be found below. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
