Hasta La Gadget!

You’ve already seen it ported to the HTC HD2, and it looks like the recently-leaked HTC Desire HD ROM has now also made its way to two more likely candidates for a port: the Droid Incredible and original Desire. As you might expect, there are a few issues that you’ll likely want to consider before diving right in — there’s no camera support yet on either phone, for instance — but it does look like it otherwise reasonably stable for a beta, and it does bring some of the boot speed improvements seen on the Desire HD itself. Head on past the break for a quick video, and hit up the source links below for all the necessary details.

Update: We’re getting word that even the HTC EVO 4G’s in on the speedy-booting game now, with a Desire HD ROM as well as an original Desire build from MIUI. They’re apparently still half-baked like the other two, missing camera support, WiFi and 4G as well, but if you’ve been looking for an opportunity to tweak, hit up link number three below.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading HTC Desire HD ROM ported to Droid Incredible, Desire (update: EVO 4G too)

HTC Desire HD ROM ported to Droid Incredible, Desire (update: EVO 4G too) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  xdadevelopers (1), (2), (3)  | Email this | Comments

I’ve long held that ROMs are the biggest selling point for Android phones that no one wants to talk about (or are at least neck and neck for those of you who absolutely need your porn on the go). If, after a few drinks, I start having a good natured debate about smartphones with an iPhone owning friend (which does indeed happen more often that I’d care to admit), I’ll usually break out my Droid and start playing a round of Super Mario 3.

However, the Droid QWERTY keyboard is okay–but not great–for such gaming. In fact, I’ve actually worn down some of the keys on the thing playing Super Mario Brothers. And, all things considered, I’ve actually got it good. There are plenty of Android handsets that rely entirely on the touchscreen for control–a pretty miserable way to play a console-formatted sidescroller.

Game Gripper offers a decent and intriguing answer–a controller that slips right over the keyboard of a number of handsets. But let’s be honest–you’re still not playing the way that god (and Shigeru Miyamoto) intended.

With that in mind, I submit to you my nominee for hack of the day. Using an HTC EVO 4G, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module, an Arduino board, and, of course, an original NES controller, this fellow designed what is quite possible the ultimate Android/Nintendo hack.

The final product ain’t all that pretty–and, let’s be honest, you’d look pretty dumb playing it on the subway (where most of my own handset gaming occurs)–but damn it if it doesn’t work like a charm

A quick glance of forums about the interwebs suggests that the EVO 4G has another potential defect that seems to be affecting a notable (though probably still very, very small) number of devices: problems with the micro-USB port, an issue that bit Nokia not long ago on the N900. The main symptom here seems to be that the phone will no longer charge or charges intermittently — and considering that your phone amounts to little more than a paperweight if it’s not properly juiced, we’d say it’s a big issue for affected folks. People returning their devices to Sprint have apparently have mixed luck getting reps to agree that the phone should be replaced, but for what it’s worth, we’ve just heard back from an HTC spokesperson who — in addition to emphasizing that the number of affected units seems to be small — says that the problem will be covered under the one-year warranty as long as “it is determined that the issue was not caused by customer misuse.” Anyone out there seeing this?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HTC EVO 4G suffering occasional micro-USB port issues? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  HTC, Sprint  | Email this | Comments

Sure, XDADevelopers has had an unofficial fix for a few days, but we understand your hesitation — installing custom firmware is how you got burned in the first place. Thankfully for you, HTC is now beaming the official EVO 4G patch over the airwaves, which updates your tainted 3.26.561.3 dairy dessert to a more toothsome 3.26.561.6. Just scoot on over to Settings > System Updates and invoke the download — assuming Sprint is being nice in your area — or wait it out and your handset might even update itself.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HTC EVO 4G Froyo .6 update starts OTA rollout for early adopters originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sprint Community  | Email this | Comments

We know our readers: obsessive early adopters who’ll stop at nothing to have the latest and greatest software on their handsets. Just like us. Unfortunately, sometimes we get burned in the process. But the community is nothing if not tenacious. Now we’ve got an apparent “fix” for anyone who updated their EVO 4G to the Android 2.2 Froyo build discovered on HTC’s servers, only to find out that they were running a non-final build. User Pojoman over at XDADevelopers just upped the .3 to final .6 RUU from Sprint that should correct any woes. Based on the enthusiastic feedback we’re reading we’d say that this is good news. Nevertheless, the usual disclaimers apply before hitting the source link below, especially with HTC already acknowledging that a fix is on the way via official channels. Yeah, we know, blah blah blah.

HTC EVO 4G Froyo .6 update seems to fix early adopter issues originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 02:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  XDADevelopers, HTC (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments