modding

Android hackers are working overtime to bring Ice Cream Sandwich into the real world, and early fruits of their labor are starting to emerge--if you have the right phone.

The CyanogenMod project to build unofficial versions of Android is working on CM9, the version based on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich source code from Google. Early CM9 buildsare available in alpha for the Samsung Nexus S and beta for the Samsung Galaxy S.

"CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 11 for Nexus S is definitely worth checking out," programmer Koushik "Koush" Dutta said on Google+ yesterday. And … Read more

Justin thinks Android is still to complex for beginners, Antuan says nice things about Apple, and someone crams a whole Android-based computer onto a USB key.

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NEWS:

-CONFIRMED: Samsung Galaxy Nexus U.S. Launch Is In December

-Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich review: Cool, confident, chaotic

-Android 4.0 supports mass storage, Galaxy Nexus does not

-Want Android 4.0? Wait 2 months, says Cyanogen

Samsung Mocks Apple Ad

-Google: 200 million Android devices now active worldwide

-After iPad, Kindle Fire most desired tablet, study finds… Read more

CyanogenMod, the project that lets people use new versions of Android even when their carriers or phone makers aren't caught up, has begun working on its version of Ice Cream Sandwich.

A simple tweet this week announced the work is under way: "And we're off. Check back in 2 months :) #cm9 #ics."

The #ics hashtag refers to Ice Cream Sandwich, aka Android 4.0. The #cm9 hashtag refers to CyanogenMod 9, the version of the software built with it.

One sore point for many Android phone owners is that they must wait for operating system upgrades … Read more

The ski and snowboarding season is upon us, and there are a number of tech products out there that let you track your runs, keep in touch with buddies, and listen to music, but the Recon Mod Live just might be one of the coolest gadgets for skiers and snowboarders yet.

Developed by Recon Instruments, the Mod Live uses a micro-optic display (hence, Mod) to project real-time information about your run, such as distance, speed, altitude, and vertical drop, right inside your ski goggles. The product consists of a mini computer on the right side that includes a GPS chip, accelerometers, a mini LCD, and 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, which is connected to a battery on the left side through a single cable. Users then insert the Mod Live into their goggles to view a virtual dashboard of stats. … Read more

The crew at CyanogenMod has gotten a few steps closer to fully running Android on an HP TouchPad.

Known for designing customized builds of Android for different mobile devices, CyanogenMod has managed to enable Wi-Fi, sound, and a working accelerometer on one of its TouchPad demo devices running Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Noting the team's latest developments on its TouchPad thread at the RootzWiki Web site, one of … Read more

Want to make your iPhone 4 stand out from the crowd? Sure, you can dress it up in a fancy case (or even one with a custom photo), but if you really want to turn heads, check out the iPhone 4 Rear Apple Illumination Modification.

The name may not be sexy, but the mod definitely is: it makes your iPhone's Apple logo glow. And not some weak, greenish, glow-in-the-dark phosphorescence, but a brilliant, white, powered luminosity--much like what you see on the lids of Apple's MacBooks.

Sounds pretty slick, right? U.K.-based iPatch, an iPhone repair service, … Read more

Android on the HP TouchPad has hit a bump as the TouchDroid team that was porting the Google operating system to the tablet has called it quits, according to a report and a post on a TouchDroid-related Web page.

Small-device enthusiast Web site Liliputing said today that the TouchDroid team has been "disbanded."

"This morning there were at least two teams of independent developers working to port Google's Android operating system to run on the HP TouchPad tablet--but there was pretty strong evidence that one of those teams was cribbing work from the other," Liliputing … Read more

With the ongoing debates over which is the better current-gen gaming console (PS3 or Xbox 360), it seems Reddit user "timofiend" has his own answer in a custom gaming rig that consists of both.

Timofiend made the device by removing the parts from both an Xbox 360 Slim and an older-generation PlayStation 3. These components were then placed inside a PC tower case and the contraption was born.

Although it's not the prettiest of case mods, it certainly gets the job done. In the new rig, the PS3's temperature peaked at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, while the 360 ranged from 100-101 degrees Fahrenheit (both temperatures are lower than usual).

We're guessing both temps will drop with the addition of liquid cooling, which timofiend has left out due to financial constraints. Also, the parts from the PS3 proved too big to fit additional cooling devices.

The modder is now working on creating a set of instructions so that anyone can create a similar setup. Do note, however, that attempting to take apart either gaming console will void your warranty.

(Source: Crave Asia) … Read more

Anyone who picked up a $100 HP TouchPad at the recent fire sale may eventually be able to run Android on their new tablet.

The crew at CyanogenMod, which creates customized builds of Android for mobile devices, has succeeded in porting over a version of Android that can run on HP's now discontinued tablet.

An open letter and video from CyanogenMod posted on the RootzWiki Web site yesterday show that developers have so far been able to run a Cyanogenmod version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread on an HP TouchPad.

The video reveals the Android OS booting up and launching into a home screen and then displaying icons for a few apps. Though the developers seem to be making progress, one major feature still missing in action is touch-screen support. In the video, CyanogenMod is controlling the tablet through a remote console.

But the narrator of the CyanogenMod video acknowledges that "these are just the very first steps and there will be more progress soon, I hope."… Read more