Hasta La Gadget!

There are three ways to tether your Android handset and get sweet internet love even where there’s no Wi-Fi in sight: the risky-but-free rooting method, the still-geeky-but-not-as-bad free route, and the $30 easy way. Here are the pros and cons of each.

Method 1: Tether Android with Apps that Need Root (Free, heavy configuration)

The Android Wi-Fi Tether application turns your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot—essentially a MiFi—in one tap. The catch? You have to gain root access to your phone, a multi-step process that uses an unofficial Android add-on which can brick your phone if applied incorrectly. Rooting Android is doable for geeks and hackers with experience soft-modding hardware, but it’s not something most users could (or should!) do.

If you’re up for getting root access in Android, the Android and Me blog runs down how to do it. It’s a multi-step process that involves unlocking your phone’s bootloader, flashing a recovery image, and flashing an add-on to the default Nexus One firmware. Not for the faint of heart, but definitely doable if you’ve ever upgraded your router’s firmware or hacked your Xbox. Here’s a video of the process from Android and Me:

The pros of this method: it’s free and it makes your phone act as a Wi-Fi hotspot that any computer can connect to without extra software or messing with your computer’s setting. The cons: you can seriously screw up your phone if something goes wrong, and you may be sacrificing over-the-air automatic Android updates in the future. (If OTA updates cease, you can always flash your recovery image—but this just means your rooted phone requires maintenance a non-rooted phone does not.)

Method 2: Tether Android with Proxoid (Free, no root required, some configuration)

If you don’t want to gain root but know enough to get around the command line and use proxy servers, the Proxoid Android app can tether your phone for free. Proxoid turns your Android device into a proxy server that your computer uses to make internet requests. Proxoid is free in the Android market, but to get it working you have to install the Android SDK or device drivers onto your computer, tweak some of the settings, and then configure your browser to use a proxy server whenever you want to tether. Here are the installation instructions.

To connect to the internet via Proxoid, on the phone you tap a button to start the proxy server. On your Mac you enter a command in the Terminal and on Windows you run a batch file to start the tunnel, then you set your web browser to use that proxy.

The pros of this method are that it’s free and you don’t need to gain root, so it’s less risky. The cons are that you’ve got to install the Android SDK (something really only developers should have to do), and set your browser to use the proxy server each time you want to tether.

Note: Proxoid is the only method I haven’t tested myself on the Nexus One. Proxoid’s documentation is a bit rough—the Mac installation instructions are second-hand, as the author doesn’t own a Mac—and there isn’t a Nexus One-specific listing. Let me know if you’re successfully using Proxoid on your N1 and what OS you’re using.

Method 3: Tether Android with PDAnet ($30, no root required, minimal configuration)

Finally, the PDAnet Android application lets you tether Android using an app on the phone plus simple software you install on your computer.

PDAnet costs $30 if you want to access https ports (which the free version blocks). To connect to the internet via the phone, you tap a button to start PDAnet on the phone, and click “Connect” in the PDAnet on your computer.

The pros of PDAnet are that it’s risk-free, easy to use, and requires minimal setup. (You do have to enable USB debugging on your phone, which is the geekiest step it involves, but that’s just a checkbox in your phone’s settings.) The cons of PDAnet is that it requires the PDAnet software on your computer and that it costs $30.

What I’m Doing

Either I’m getting old and worn-out, or Jarvis is getting to me, because right now I’m with Chris: rooting Android isn’t a process I want to go through again or have to maintain. In that spirit of laziness, I also don’t want to have to mess with proxy servers or the command line when I tether; I want to click “Connect” and get online. So, I went with PDAnet, which was the simplest but not free option of the bunch.

How are you tethering your Android device?

Smarterware is Lifehacker editor emeritus Gina Trapani’s new home away from ‘hacker. To get all of the latest from Smarterware, be sure to subscribe to the Smarterware RSS feed. For more, check out Gina’s weekly Smarterware feature here on Lifehacker.

The Google Nexus One, the much-hyped smartphone that has recently been plagued by user complaints, sold only about 20,000 units in its first week of sales, according to analytics firm Flurry. In comparison, the Motorola Droid on Verizon Wireless–the other Android phone that had been buzzed about in November–sold 250,000 in its first week. The T-Mobile myTouch 3G, an earlier Android device, sold 60,000 units in its first week.

The most likely reason the Google Nexus One isn’t selling well has to do with the way in which it is being sold. The much-talked about model of selling phones–both unlocked and on contract from T-Mobile–directly from the Google online store has led to poor customer support and confusion about how to get service from T-Mobile. User complaints and the unflattering word-of-mouth could cause the phone’s sales to slow even further.

We smile when carriers do us a kindness, and we’d expect a few of you HTC Dream owners will agree that Rogers momentary lack of reason offer for a free upgrade to an HTC Magic is just that. So, the rub you ask? Well, that’s the magic here, there all but isn’t one, simply hop online or call customer care — Rogers brick and mortar shops won’t be doing this upgrade — between the 12th and 26th of January, re-sign — yes, to a new 3-year, but we’re told that should be no more than 7 months for most users — your contract and you walk away with a $599 handset for nothing. No added fees, administrative charges or anything, heck, Rogers is even eating the $79 upgrade fee and the $35 admin fee for the new set. Oh, but check this out, it gets better: it is an upgrade and as such Rogers doesn’t even want your old set back, so you’ll have a day phone and an evening phone, one 2.1 — at some point, anyway — and a nice 1.5 set with Sense. So, what are you waiting for? From any angle this just looks too fantastic to let slip through your fingers.

Update: Well, the good deal from Rogers just got better — as if that could be possible. It seems the lucky upgrading masses are also receiving a bonus $50 rebate on checkout. So not only do you get a free Dream and get to keep the Magic, Rogers is now paying you $50 for the privilege.

Continue reading Rogers HTC Dream upgrade plan is official, still free

Rogers HTC Dream upgrade plan is official, still free originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile’s already starting to acknowledge that the Nexus One might have a love-hate relationship with its 3G spectrum, but we’ve been able to track down some internal documentation on exactly how the carrier’s going about resolving this. Naturally, they’re recommending affected customers reset the phone — an old standby that actually works a troublingly high percentage of the time — and hitting them up with some knowledge about the behavior of the device in different situations (you don’t see the 3G icon when you’re on WiFi, for instance, nor if you’re not in a 3G area). As far as T-Mob knows, exchanging the handset doesn’t help so they’re not currently recommending it, but they are asking folks with other 3G devices to see if they can pick up a signal in the same area — something we’d already seen from the carrier’s support forum post. We’re hopeful this all gets tied off nicely with a firmware update on the double, because let’s be honest: a device with a huge touchscreen becomes a lot less interesting when high-speed data goes away.

T-Mobile gives reps troubleshooting tips for Nexus One’s 3G issues originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Updated 01/13  to include Google’s comments.

Google’s Nexus One phone may have been one of the most anticipated devices of the last few weeks. But since the smartphone’s launch last Tuesday, it has left a string of unhappy customers in its wake.

Nexus One has been plagued by consumer complaints including spotty 3G connectivity, a high early termination fee, poor customer support from Google and problems with the touchscreen.

“There are some aspects of the experience that Google didn’t think through as carefully as they should have,” says Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. “This has implications for the store they have launched and their future ambitions for it. Google, clearly, has a lot of work ahead of it.”

Google introduced the Nexus One as the first device to be sold by the search company itself, rather than a manufacturing or carrier partner. The Nexus One, which runs Android 2.1, has been designed by HTC and works with T-Mobile’s network in the United States. But contrary to initial speculation, the device isn’t free. It will retail for $180 with a 2-year contract with T-Mobile. An unlocked version is also available for $530 — a price similar to most other smartphones — and that version will work on other GSM phone networks worldwide as well as AT&T in the United States, although with some limitations.

The difference, though, is the Nexus One is available only through Google’s online store. Unlike with a Motorola Cliq or a HTC G1, users can’t walk into a T-Mobile store and buy the Nexus One. They can’t even count on T-Mobile’s customer service representatives in store or the company’s phone support to solve their problems. Instead, Nexus One customers can only get e-mail support from Google.

It’s a strategy that has backfired on Google. The company’s support forums are full of customer complaints around the Nexus and the company’s poor service.

“A lot of complaints and frustration that people are expressing would normally be handled by going back into the store or by calling the support help line,” says Golvin. “Having a physical location where you can take your phone back helps customers and Google seems to have underestimated that.”

“Solving customer support issues is extremely important to us, because we want people to have a positive Nexus One experience,” says a Google spokesperson. “We are trying to be as open and transparent as possible through our online customer help forums.”

Many of the customer complaints are centered about the device’s inability to connect to T-Mobile’s 3G network. The Nexus One does not pick up the 3G network or keeps switching to the slower EDGE network, say some users.

A Google spokesperson says the company is aware of the problem. “We are aware of the issues that have affected a small number of users and are working quickly to fix any problems,” the spokesperson told Wired.com in an email. “We hope to have more information soon. When we do, we will post it to the user forum.”

Add to all this Google’s decision to charge a separate early termination fee in addition to the one charged by T-Mobile. Nexus One customers who bought the subsidized, $180 version and then decide to cancel their contracts will have to pay $200 to T-Mobile. But Google also charges users a $350 “equipment recovery fee” if you give up on the contract within 120 days.

Including all charges, Nexus One customers who want to bail early will end up paying  $550. That’s significantly higher than the controversial $350 early termination fee imposed by Verizon last year.

“Google provides a subsidy for devices purchased with T-Mobile USA service. If a consumer cancels service after 14 days, Google recoups this subsidy in the form of an equipment recovery fee,” says the Google spokesperson. “After 120 days, the equipment recovery fee will no longer apply. This is standard practice for third party resellers of T-Mobile and other operators, and you will find similar policies for other mobile service resellers. The T-Mobile early termination fee is separate and handled by T-Mobile.”

Despite the problems, Google can bounce back, says Golvin. Customer dissatisfaction is likely to be just a small speed bump in the road for Google’s mobile ambitions, he says.

“Google tends to have a bit of a Teflon coating,” says Golvin. “People tend to cut them a lot more slack — as they do with Apple — than they do with their mobile operator.”

Do you like your Nexus One? Have you faced any of these problems? Let us know your Nexus One experience in the comments.

See Also:

• Google Nexus One Phone Likely to Launch Jan. 5
• Nexus One Hardware Details Revealed
• Rumor: Google Nexus One $530 Unlocked, $180 With Plan
• Everything You Wanted to Know About the Google Nexus One