Official Android discussion thread

[amitabhishek]

Couple of week back I bought a HTC magic for Rs. 26,000 from a neighborhood retailer. Technically this is my second Android phone the first was a self flashed Openmoko's Freerunner. The piece I have is an imported set from Vodafone UK. In India the same handset is available through Airtel but without Google goodies including Android market [Edit: Firmware update not only enables market but also Sense UI]. This omission is a mystery to me. No one buys a Rs. 27K phone only for making calls and sending SMSs.

This is not a review. But once you power-on the device it's Google all the way. IIt comes pre-loaded with Google maps, Google Chat, Android Market Place, e-mail client. Sooner or later there will be an Android phone for everyone . I will set the ball rolling with lots of pics. So here we go:

Unboxing:




Few screenshots:



Looks like I've exceeded the quota of images. Please share your views and thoughts.

Resources
Planning to flash new ROM on your phone of the first time? Read this first.
Guide to rooting, hacking flashing your HTC G1 phone (should work for other HTC phones too)

Best hand picked ROMs for HTC Magic (32B versions):
[ROM][BBQ] CyanogenMod-6 for Dream & Magic - V6.0.0 (08/28/2010) - xda-developers
Cyanogen 5.0.7 Beta ROM (Android 2.1)
SuperEclair ROM (Android 2.1)
Cyanogen 1.6 Donut ROM-Final
SuperD 1.6 Donut ROM
Fastest HERO ROM for your HTC Magic

Till next time!!! Bye...

[oval_man]

Hi,Great share!

Newer OS will rule from 2010,Android making fast progress: Cupcake-->Donut-->Eclair-->??

From now onwards,MacOS (iphone) and Android will be 'HOT' for all Mobile Youth!

May be Samsung's "Bada OS" suit us for 'Indianism'

Long Live this thread! I'll try to collect more information and share!

[ksundar]

Android is the Future of Mobile World!

Hero is the best available Android as on date!



hero is better than the iphone cos:
1) multitasking (running several apps at once is useful)

2) open development (no rules for apps so it has more potential than app store and its easier to make an app for android. also it doesnt need approval from anyone)

3) much more customizable than iphone even if u jailbreak it

4) flash support for browser. currently it needs improvement but there r a few games u can play online and watch video from several other sources than just utube. iphone doesnt hv any flash support and wont get it bcos it goes against some of the apps in their store. android will.

5) trackball for better navigation

6) better autocorrect for typing

[oval_man]

Happy to note,HTC is planning for a upgrade for HERO:

Android 2.0 is Awesome! Crystal Clear Display!




Growing Market Collekshun:




Amazing Browser with Flash!




Imporved CAm:




Pros & Cons:
Google's apps are simply awesome

Facebook and Exchange integration works pretty well

One of the best mobile browser!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Multiple Google account support somewhat limited

Still kinda sluggish at random intervals

No native way to sync music

Crappy music and video player


MORE TO COME..................................

[amitabhishek]

I would love to flash my Donut 1.6 to Eclair 2.0. Help me if you guys have any link.

[dreamcatcher]

X10 is the way to go.

[Tamoghno]

Congrats on your your purchase .

How's the battery life ? if you are connected to gmail all day(pull/push whatever ) and say browse for about two hour how long will it last ?

BTW , keep this thread updating .

[amitabhishek]

Thanks dude!
I am away for my sis's wedding so I am kind of unable to update the thread. Will do it very shortly. Battery life is extremely shoddy probably my only gripe with this phone. With that kind of usage it will last around 8 hours. Thank goodness for min USB port I can charge whenever I can through my comp.

[dhan_shh]

Nice Thread!

Congrats amitabhishek for your android purchase!

I'm also planning to get one android mobile soon,probably 'htc hero',

I don't know when will 'motorola milestone' or 'se xperia x10' come?

Came across this interesting article,worth sharing:

http://gadgets.softpedia.com/news/Ho...C-3897-01.html

[ksundar]

*Happy News* for all 'Android' fans:

Motorola's DROID is the No.1 Gadget of 2009 according to 'Time Magazine',

WOW! (Its more happy to note iPhone 3GS is in 4th place!)




Source: http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...944278,00.html

[amitabhishek]

Originally Posted by dhan_shh

Nice Thread!

Congrats amitabhishek for your android purchase!

I'm also planning to get one android mobile soon,probably 'htc hero',

I don't know when will 'motorola milestone' or 'se xperia x10' come?

Came across this interesting article,worth sharing:

http://gadgets.softpedia.com/news/Ho...C-3897-01.html

Thats a nice link...I tried once (I think that ISO was meant for Acer Android laptop) on non touch screen device this experiment was pretty much useless.

BTW just downloaded an app called i Music and wow does it rock!!! . This is apparently the most popular app. on the Android market. Would recommend Google search for more info.

[amitabhishek]

Flashing Hero ROM on Magic...will post if it succeeds. keeping my fingers crossed.

[kalpik]

Waiting for Motorola Milestone (Droid) or Google's Nexus One to release in India! Android ROCKS!

[SunnyChahal]

Bought my HTC Hero a month back. Waiting for Android 2.0 update.

[amitabhishek]

Originally Posted by Sunny1211993

Bought my HTC Hero a month back. Waiting for Android 2.0 update.

If possible kindly post a review.

Yay!!! I succeeded... Posting few screen shots.















Will post a tut if someone needs it.

[kalpik]

Nexus One announced.. But not available for India yet

[amitabhishek]

Yup!!! Pity its not available here. Check out few unboxing pics here:

http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_3-10...CmoreStories.0

[dreams]

Welcome me to Android. Few weeks back purchased Hero from Telus canada for 599$
Its on its way to India. Gud to know I have made the right choice.
First job, to unlock it. Then thinking of upgrading the ROM.

[FilledVoid]

Will post a tut if someone needs it.

Please do. And have you found any problems after flashing like any entity not working ?

[amitabhishek]

Originally Posted by FilledVoid

Please do. And have you found any problems after flashing like any entity not working ?

Will post a tut by this weekend (hopefully).

Everything is working to perfection. All these ROMs have undergone countless updates so its a fairly finished product. In fact these cooked ROMs are better than the OEM ROMs in terms of battery life and stability. Once you flash you get a rooted device .

BTW I guess you have an Airtel's version of Magic. Why don't you restart the phone by pressing power+back button together and post the output here. For example mine is:

Sapphire pvt 32b ship s-on g
hboot-1.33.0004 (sapp10000)
cpld-10
radio-2.22.19.26I
apr 9 2009, 23:30:40

[FilledVoid]

SAPPHIRE PVT 32A SHIP S-ON H
HBOOT-1.33.0010 (SAP10000)
CPLD-12
RADIO-3.22.20.17 
Jun 2 2009, 17:28:28

This would be mine.

[amitabhishek]

Since yours is 32A; you will follow a slightly different modus operandi to flash your ROM. Having said that, you would first need certain tools in your toolkit to proceed further. First and foremost will be an Android SDK. This SDK will help you use the much needed fastboot commands. This SDK will help you take screenshots as well as updating the USB drivers.

First download the SDK from here:

http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

I am assuming that you will use Windows. Use repos within the SDK to dowload the USB driver. To flash a HTC Magic phone your would need three components:

a) A recovery ROM
b) A radio ROM
c) Android ROM (it can be a Hero ROM, Cyanogenmod ROM etc).

Before you go further it would be prudent to check if the recovery ROM boots your device. Download and let me know if the following recovery ROM boots your phone:

http://rapidshare.com/files/32033518...re-v1.5.2H.img

Once downloaded; copy this ROM into tools directory of you Android SDK. Grab your phone and turn it off. Now, while holding the Back button down, power it back on (as you did earlier). Once the fastboot screen is up on the phone, plug the phone into your computer with the USB cable.Your Windows system should ask for USB drivers now. If your OS is 32 bit use use the driver in x86 else use driver in amd64 subdirectory. The driver should install now. Now you are ready to boot your recovery ROM. Browse to tools directory and type:

c:\android-sdk-windows\tools>fastboot boot recovery-RA-sapphire-v1.5.2H.img

This will boot your phone using the ROM thats there on your PC and not your phone. Fiddle around here a bit and post me the output. Because as I said our phones are slightly different internally (yours 32A and and mine 32B) so the process will be slightly different. But dont try to write anything on your phone using this recovery ROM.TILL THIS POINT YOU HAVE NOT MADE ANY CHANGES ON YOUR PHONE. You can safely reboot to your phone OS anytime you want. Post me the output as well as content of the home (first) screen. This is important to proceed further .

[FilledVoid]

Downloaded http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Downloaded http://rapidshare.com/files/32033518...re-v1.5.2H.img

I can plug my device into my system using the USB Cable and the Fastboot option turns into Fastboot USB. However When I do plug the device it does not ask for the drivers for my device. Is it because I used HTC Sync at one point ? Either way I don;t get prompted to install the drivers at any point.

I browsed to the folder and then issued the fastboot command and I'm pretty sure the spelling is correct btu I get the following error .

downloading 'boot.img'... FAILED (remote not allowed)

[amitabhishek]

I can plug my device into my system using the USB Cable and the Fastboot option turns into Fastboot USB.

Good. At least your device (32A) supports remote booting.

I browsed to the folder and then issued the fastboot command and I'm pretty sure the spelling is correct btu I get the following error .

downloading 'boot.img'... FAILED (remote not allowed)

That's because fastboot is unable to communicate with you device because USB drivers are missing.

Q1: Did you manage to download drivers from SDK repos (irrespective of the fact that its not asking for one)?

Q2: Did Windows ask for drivers for the first time & you clicked 'No'?

Try uninstalling the HTC sync software for a while. I don't have it on my system.

[FilledVoid]

Yes I suspected as much. The reason I say this is because.

1. The command fastboot devices returns the device connected
2. However adb command does not list any devices at all. I will try to uninstall everything and give it another go .

Actually I did a bit of fooling around and I found that adb devices does list the devices but this only happens if I have booted up into Android on my Magic. If I go to the Fastboot menu it does not list the device. I have enabled USB Debugging also just inc ase thats the issue. I used USBDebug to remove all usb processes and started new but I get the same problem in the end. If I try to boot the recovery ROM I get the above error message.

[amitabhishek]

In case you haven't seen already, this is a very good tutorial on flashing Hero firmware on Magic. I followed this guide to flash my Magic.

But Hero firmware proved too be slow for my Magic so I moved on & flashed Cyanogenmod ROM and man this ROM rocks!!! I haven't looked back since then. But you need recovery ROM for either firmwares. So keep trying. Keep me updated the result will be worth the effort .

[dreams]

Good tutorial m8. I have ordered Hero and awaiting his delivery. Hope to c one for Hero too

[amitabhishek]

I can understand your eagerness coupled with anxiety dude. Keep us posted.

[dreams]

tnx and wil keep posted. Fingers crossed!!!

[FilledVoid]

Mission Accomplished. I'm on Amon Ra's 32A ROM . Its not a gorgeous Rom but it is a ridiculously fast one. I'll post some screenshots once I play with it more lol. It seems to be like a Google ION I believe. but it is definitely unlocked and functioning much better. Screenshots and more to come soon.

Cheers.