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Video out enabled on Windows Phone 7, just not for you
The video out feature in Windows Phone 7 is reserved for select Microsoft employees, and now one enterprising member of the XDA Developers forum. With certain files ripped from an LG Panther 7003 ROM, the help of someone on the inside and many months of work, forum member marsrogers succeeded in pushing video from his Samsung Focus to a companion PC app. Don't get too excited though -- this particular trick will not be released to the masses so the MS confidant involved is not exposed. However, it's not all bad news, as marsrogers' source reports that Windows Phone 8 will have remote desktop capability straight out of the box. Sadly, for those of you carrying around current-gen WP devices, there's still no hope.
T-Mobile Galaxy S II screen issues have some seeing (poorly rendered) red
The T-Mobile version of the Galaxy S II is certainly a fine piece of hardware and we didn't have any complaints about the Super AMOLED Plus display in our review, but others have come across some perplexing problems with the screen. There's a thread going over at the XDA forums that takes pretty in-depth look at the panels on both the Sprint and T-Mo variants of the GSII and turns up some major disparities between contrast levels and color reproduction. There are also some odd artifacts, including lines and blobs that pop up when viewed with the brightness cranked in a dark room as well. Now, we'd hardly call the poorly calibrated display a deal breaker but, for those who are sticklers about that sort of thing, it could be a major annoyance. Some of the crafty devs over at the forums, including our friend Francois Simond (Supercurio), are looking for a potential software fix to the problem. Hit up the source link to see what all the hubbub is about and head after the break for one more image.
Samsung Captivate gets Gingerbread through leaked software update
It's been about four months since the Samsung Captivate got a software update, and that was merely to step up from Eclair to Froyo. And while AT&T still hasn't pushed out an upgrade to Gingerbread, leaked versions of the official software are said to be floating around the big, wide Internet. So far, we're not seeing much feedback, good or bad, but it should go without saying that you install this at your own risk. If you're feeling daring or just dubious that AT&T will release this update anytime soon, hit the source links for instructions on how to install the software... and what to do should something go terribly awry. And, as always, do tell us how it goes.
Eee Pad Transformer gets overclocked to 1.4GHz, deemed less than stable
While many of you continue your quest for an Eee Pad Transformer, some folks, predictably, have already figured out how to overclock it. Netarchy over at the XDA forum posted a custom kernel allowing hackers to crank the tablet's clock speed to 1.4GHz, the same peak reached by the ViewSonic G Tablet. Beware, though, that performance at that speed has proven unreliable, so for now the dev recommends a more modest 1.2GHz to avoid data loss, a meltdown, and "injury of assorted puppies." Par for the course, really.
Holy reverse KIRF Batman! Meizu M9 ROM ported to HTC EVO 4G
Some industrious hackers have created a port of the Meizu M9 ROM for the HTC EVO 4G, bringing a little KIRF flavor to Sprint's favorite jumbo phone. The port is still in the developmental stages, but most of the M9 functionality appears to already be working, with only the port from GSM to CDMA and tweaks to screen resolution left to do. After a little spit-shine to make sure the build is stable, EVO owners can finally see what the Meizu M9 fuss is all about without having to actually buy one. Of course, why you'd actually want to do this to your perfectly functional Android phone is a question that may never truly find a legitimate answer.
CyanogenMod now supports WiMAX on EVO 4G
Do you own an EVO 4G? Do you like CyanogenMod? Do you want to live on the bleeding edge? Well, it's your lucky day. After weeks of hard work, those crazy hackers over at #TeamWin have just served up the first public release of the CyanogenMod WiMAX Alpha, bringing the sweet nectar of Sprint 4G to the custom ROM universe. Of course, the usual caveats apply: it's an alpha, there are some bugs, and controlling the 4G radio still requires some magic incantations -- but it might be a small price to pay to enjoy tasty custom ROM goodness on your EVO.
HTC Spark leaked in the wild, shows off plenty of WP7 goodness
Well, it was only a matter of time -- first the leaked press shots of this elusive HTC Spark (although possibly misidentified as the Mondrian back then -- note the shinier earpiece in the leaked AT&T ad), and now the real thing is in the hands of some lucky hardware tester. Fortunately for us, this guy also happens to have a naughty friend over at xda-developers -- you'll see in his photos that HTC Hub is alive and well on this 8GB handset, but otherwise, there's not much info coming out of here. Regardless, feel free to head over to the source link for more Windows Phone 7 eye candy -- you'll need to register first, though, so we've grabbed a few shots below to get things going. [Thanks, Adam]%Gallery-103794%
Leaked Windows Phone 7 ROM filename suggests an HTC Mondrian?
The lads and lassies at XDA-Developers made an intriguing discovery this week: a leaked 100MB file that might be the first Windows Phone 7 ROM actually destined for a device. What's more, it could possibly reveal details about a phone we barely knew existed -- the filename references an "HTC Mondrian." At best, the contents might reveal wonders beyond imagination, including full specs, bundled apps, even the tools needed to properly shoehorn WP7 onto your existing HTC handset. At worst, the community might never open the blasted file, or discover it's all a clever hoax. There's really no indication either way, so we prefer to dream. If you think you've got what it takes, try cracking the ROM yourself (registration required) at our source link.
Resistive HTC devices can have (pseudo) multitouch, too
"Multitouch on a resistive screen?" We must be joking, right? Not at all -- if we've learned anything from our encounters with a little firm named Stantum, resistive multitouch is not only possible, but potentially preferable to its capacitive counterpart. Of course, that knowledge doesn't help you any if you're currently stuck with single finger commands, but if your phone is made by HTC and running Windows Mobile, you may one day get to see what two digit input feels like. Adel Al Zubeir figured out that when two fingers are placed on a single-touch screen, the digitizer reads the spot between the two... and with a little bit of math, he cooked up a program that can figure out the relative position of both fingers to allow vaguely useful pinch-to-zoom and other dual-touch gestures. Sadly, you can't just drop this onto your phone to instantly enable the tech a la Cyanogen, but if you develop for WinMo, you can start building functionality into your apps with the beta SDK at our source link. Early proof-of-concept video after the break. [Thanks, David C.]
HTC Kaiser fans cough up over $5,000 for homebrew video drivers
Sure, it seemed like we'd heard the end of the story on HTC phones and the case of the missing drivers, but the cats over at the xda-developers forum have something else in mind. There is currently a $5199.51 bounty on offer from various members of the group for a hacker (or hackers) who can come up with drivers to get their Kaisers' Direct 3D up to par, thus increasing the video capabilities of the phone. If you've followed the case, you'll know that HTC has essentially stonewalled users looking for an upgrade to their poorly performing handsets, and has intimated that if customers want improved video performance, they should look to future hardware as opposed to upgrades on their current models. Clearly owners are looking to take matters into their own hands -- and they're willing to pay for it. We can't wait to see what they come up with, and if anyone out there has the ability and the time, here's a stack of cash that could be yours.[Thanks, Jaime]
