Hasta La Gadget!

A user who prefers to be known by his online handle “djrbliss” says that he has managed to discover a working root method that will affect the latest smartphones from Motorola – namely the DROID RAZR M, DROID RAZR HD, DROID RAZR MAXX HD, and the Atrix HD. There were whispers going on that this particular root method will not only work just fine with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich that ships with the devices out of the box, but will also be able to circumvent the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean leak for the DROID RAZR M. In plain English, that would mean this particular working root method will theoretically work with the final Android 4.1 Jelly Bean over-the-air update for the mentioned smartphones when the time comes.

“djrbliss” did say, “Despite my strong belief that people who are interested in rooting should buy devices with unlocked bootloaders instead of expecting the magical hackers in the sky to give out free exploits (which are in short supply), I’m once again continuing to encourage bad behavior by publishing another root exploit.”

There you have it – are you itching to root your handset now that there is a working root method, or do you prefer to keep things “original”?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Motorola Droid RAZR M Review, Motorola RAZR Maxx HD preview,

We were worried there, for a minute. After code explorers found that Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD 7-inch had both a locked bootloader and extra security measures, there was a brief concern that the pseudo-Android tablet might be very tough to hack. As it turns out, there was no reason to lose faith. Hashcode, Justin Case, Reverend Kyle and Sparklym3 from the XDA and RootzWiki forums have successfully rooted the smaller Kindle Fire HD in a repeatable form, giving anyone courageous enough to load ADB the control they want over the tablet they bought. Just remember the usual caveats if you choose to dive in: while the root isn’t a lengthy process, as you’ll see in the video after the break, there’s still the ever-present risk of bricking the device should something go wrong. Having seen what can be done with the original Kindle Fire after a little tinkering, we’re intrigued as to what happens with its more capable sequel.

Continue reading Kindle Fire HD 7-inch rooted in spite of Amazon, unstoppable force meets the unhackable object (video)

Filed under: Tablets

Kindle Fire HD 7-inch rooted in spite of Amazon, unstoppable force meets the unhackable object (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Police, DroidDog  |  RootzWiki, XDA-Developers  | Email this | Comments

While the world waits for a certain other phone that includes a 5 reference in its teaser, HTPC, media streamer and NAS builder Xtreamer has revealed its plans to get into the mobile space. A banner on its forum, a sign-up page for more info and quick teaser trailer are all we have to go on, but so far the available details gives the AiKi 5-inch specs that include dual SIM, Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, a “powerful” battery, ClockWorkMod based updates, multilingual ROM, root enabled by default and the tagline “why pay more?” Until there’s more details that’s likely to remain an open question, but given Xtreamer’s history, we suspect European users inclined to modding should at least keep an eye out, we’ll let you know when we hear more.

[Thanks, Tomas]

Continue reading Xtreamer teases 5-inch AiKi Android handset: ICS, dual SIM and ‘revolutionary’ pricing (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Xtreamer teases 5-inch AiKi Android handset: ICS, dual SIM and ‘revolutionary’ pricing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 23:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  XtreamerMobile  | Email this | Comments

What’s the point of owning Samsung’s shiny new flagship if you can’t take it on tour? Well, prior to Verizon’s Galaxy S III launch, customers were promised that global roaming would be enabled sometime in the future via an OTA update. That unspecified date has yet to come, but if it’s something of a priority for you, XDA Developers forum member lair12 has discovered a way make it happen without Big Red’s involvement. We feel we should add a warning here — switching from LTE to GSM isn’t a simple process and goes far beyond a basic rooting (which, of course, is required). It includes a fair amount of preparation, including manually adding GSM network identifiers, and several steps to switch allegiances once abroad. But if you’re a jet-setting Android tinkerer interested in giving it a go (at your own peril), the step-by-step guide is just a source link away.

Filed under: Cellphones

Verizon’s Galaxy S III gets global roaming workaround, packs its bags originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 07:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  XDA Developers (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Verizon may not want you to have Google Wallet on your phone, but that won’t stop intrepid rooters and hackers from shoehorning the app into Big Red’s handsets. Mike Beauchamp and Dustin Evans took some time away from their recent Kansas City trip (to check out Google Fiber, of course) to get the Mountain View mobile payment solution up and running on a Galaxy S III. Is it more difficult than rooting your device and installing the app? Just a bit. Beauchamp’s video doesn’t offer much in the way of instruction, but it does show it being used to buy breakfast at Mickey D’s. Thankfully, it looks like some folks over at the XDA forums have documented the solution, just check out the more coverage link.

Google Wallet hack hits Verizon Galaxy S III originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Mike Beauchamp  | Email this | Comments