The beast is about to get its hands dirty with a ‘somewhat official’ Froyo announcement up at samsung-firmware.webs.com. No one expected it to come so early and we were barely getting used to our Eclair tweaks.

This build seems to be a test build and its called JP1, but we’ll take it anyways.

… Tock goes my clock (no pun intended)

Samsung Galaxy S

This mighty beast is the latest addition to my Smartphone Library. Well, its been a couple of weeks actually, which also explains why there’s been no new ROMs coming for the HTC Diamond (which I still have – actually my wife does now).

A day into the purchase and I rooted this beastly android wonder and also put up a custom ROM on it and managed to pull the charts down with some neat benching results.

The only complaint so far has been the fact that Froyo is due to come to the beast sometime in August (Korea first of course). Will have to belt the beast with some cool Android apps till then and keep benching the shine off it.

In good time I’m hoping to figure building something that resembles a ROM kitchen. Just thought I’d put up an update here and also put up the benching result that can bring down some of your thoughts on purchasing the Desires and the Droid Xs of the world.

The benching was done using Quadrant Standard and the chart on the side shows where a stock Galaxy S stands in comparison with where I’ve managed to pull it to (in yellow). There’s no over-clocking here folks, and all this is achieved primarily with the help of some pretty clever thinking fellow Galaxy owners. The chart shows Desire and Droid X (Moto Shadow) with the Froyo 2.2 Desire standing below the optimized beast still sporting Eclair 2.1

I’m telling ye all, get this beast and you won’t be disappointed even after a year of Win Phone 7 and 1.5 dual specs coming into the scene.

Stay tuned for more goodies on Android in this space. I promise to not play with the beast as much and write more often than I have over the last month or so.

ralphusion Lite ROM (RaL.GT1J)

About the ROM
Version: RaL.GT1J
XIP/SYS Build: 23568 (6.5.5)
Release Date: May 05, 2010
Free Program Memory: 54.42 MB (at bootup – without Titanium running)
(52.26 MB with Titanium)
Pagepool: 8 MB

Applications in this ROM: (new/updated apps in green)

• Office Mobile 2010 (with new outlook conversation mode)
• PHM Registry 0.70
• Gen.Y. DualBoot loader Only (with ElCondor’s Theme)
• OMarket 1.2 (updated)
• Lockscreen fixed (FINALLY)
• Updated video drivers (neos2007 v3 with opengl)
• Dark Ninja (HTC) Desire Taskbar
• Skyfire 1.5
• MSN Money (works)
• MSN Weather(works)
• Codec & DRM support (divx, mkv etc should work now with Divx Player, Coreplayer etc.)
• New MS Keyboard
• Arkswitch 1.1
• Google Maps 4.1 with Voice Search
• Long Press End Key (works now)
• Wi-fi Router
• ralphusion icon pack (beta)
• Opera Mini 5
• Titanium Notification
• FingerKbd 2
• Youtube 2.6
• New Comm Manager
• FlashLight
• Marketplace 1.2 (with install-to-Storage-Card in settings)
• Facebook 1.2
• Titanium Weather with Radar
• Arcsoft MMS (5_2_0_47)
• Streaming Media
• SensorSDK 4
• BsB G-Config
• Media Toolkit
• Touch Response
• Ryon WM Dialer Skin
• FM Radio
• Fullscreen Player
• BsB STaskManager (courtesy makeveral & recommended by bankai)
• Leo Calculator
• Leo Connection Setup (with latest operator config)
• QuickGPS
• Chome Editor
• AmarullzGreenBlack theme (with ralphusion custom background)
• RAM Sweeper
• Teeter
• Slide2Shutdown

Apps not included in this ROM: (apps removed in red)

• Sense 2.1 (never was a fan)
• Advanced Taskmanager
• Aluke’s taskbar theme
• BsB Linterna
• EzInput 2.1
• Opera 10 beta 3
• Advanced Config
• BsB Black Dialer Skin
• Pocket RAR 3.90
• Diamond Tweak
• Windows Live
• Skybox
• eNatives ShowcaseSuite 1.1.0 (too buggy with current build)
• Dialer Tachi (or others) <=you can install your own preferred canvas (or Qilin from post #2)
• … some more apps to keep this ROM clean

Fixes & Core Updates (from GT1i)

• Fixed Lockscreen Delay (FINALLY)
• Fixed Lockscreen Answer/Ignore key delay (FINALLY)
• Beam is disabled (unchecked) by default. You can enable it as required.
• Extremely fast ROM (haven’t benched it yet, but it should give good results)
• Consistent, Stable and decent battery life

Key Features & Change log (from previous ROMs)

• Added some apps (see app list)
• Complete Unattended Installation (post flashing). No Screen Alignment, No Password screen till the 2nd boot
• Customization choice on 2nd boot using XDAUC (timezone, font (trebuchet), sim contacts, key vibrate, Gen.Y.Boot, Rearrange shortcuts into folders etc.)
• UC is open to the user. You can choose to not go through these customizations.
• Choice of 4 column start menu in UC
• Choice of threaded sms in UC
• Choice of keyboard vibration in UC (Note: Saying No will not install Touch Response)
• Fixed Key Vibrate with introduction of Touch Response (Settings-System) and added it as UC
• Fixed Youtube link in Opera (now opens the video in streaming media player)
• Fixed/Changed Import button in Titanium to Open (Opera Mini & Mobile 10′s favorites structure has changed a little since 9.7. I’ve included IE and Opera as browsers with no option for import in either)
• Fixed Lock Screen issue

Known Issues & Fixes

• If Opera Mini 5 does not connect, change Protocol from Socket to HTTP in Settings-Advanced
• Stuck on with FB2 for this release as well despite the showing on the poll (favoring Ezinput).

Download:
Click here to download RaL.GT1J from Multiupload

TO AVOID SYSTEM CRASHES, ALWAYS REMEMBER TO USE MTTY BEFORE FLASHING

You can follow the proceeds of this thread at XDA (here)

And so it’s finally here. Call it late, call it timely, call it your mother-in-law, it’s here. Well, not quite here yet, but we figure it’s going to be out soon enough. What we do know for one is that MS wasn’t shitting our faces with mock primers all this while. And indeed there’s been some thought (serious or otherwise) into this new coming  …

Needless to say, they’ve come up with a humdinger of a UI to start with. The real snatch is that impressive & snazzy yet simple looking tile structure home screen concept built around a headier set of groups which they’ve “ingeniously” called Hub(s). Impressive at first glance, and am sure will keep eyeballs rolling on streets, metros, wherever TF! whenever TF it comes out.

(be warned, unless you’re in the mood for some really shitty noise (as shitty as this font color), you might want to turn your speaker off before you hit play)

And so, coming to the point where the market makes its say on where it’ll place this new release, and how this new bitch will do on its own, from one blah to the other. What will it take to make this release a top gunner aiming to floor the smart-ass-phone market? The incredibly suave, new media design? The cloud sync googagagoo? Seamless social networking (oh is that something new, my grandma asks me on facebook!!)? The shine on Steve Ballmer’s head err face (almost OLED like)?

Well for one, Engadget seems to have gone all gaga over it (not Ballmer’s ahmm); well, good for them. GigaOm seems to have taken a measured approach; I guess that works for them. We’ll stick out our fanny’s and bring these thoughts to your head before we sign-off:

1. Is Windows Phone 7 Series future proof? Considering that the damn thing is 9-10 months off the first real devices hitting the market, have MS mistimed it with their time-to-market strategy OR is it really a part of their shenanigan masterplan?
2. Is the OS really what consumers need? Think about it, its not really a Yes or No. Well, eventually it will be one of the two, but think about it anyways.
3. Is Windows Phone 7 Series a good brand name? Really guys, the damn thing is too long and thats the nicest thing I’ve said about it today. I can get out of bed, brush up, toss an omelet, eat it, take a crap, shower and I’ll still be on the left side of ‘e’ (Phone)
4. GigaOM (Colin)’s word on the all important App Store and how crucial it is for MS to work with the developers to bring out apps to the Windows Marketplace. Well on second thoughts, App Store Shwapp Store, they’re not the future of Mobility. This is my thought. I’ll probably put up a separate piece on this in a new post somewhere sometime.
5. What really happens to XDA developers, ROM cookers (me), Home screen UI developers, the somewhat ill-placed hanging avid fans of the aging OS (which quite frankly has had quite a share of new coming by itself)? Will MS choose to forget what this part of the community has done to keep things going for them all this while, while the rest of their market share went to pieces with the so called smartphones (read: iPhone)?

I’ll leave you with those thoughts and also the keynote video link (you’ll need Silverlight, but are you really interested in the waxy shine on Ballmer?)

With over 2 million jokes flooding tweets, forums, blogs, technology & news sites, the iPad has become the worlds hottest funny name ever. A “kink” in the armor of Mr. Right, Steve Jobs, needless to say, they’ve gone with a disaster of a name twice over now. The first time around with iPhone 3GS (someone really put the stopper on your branding thinktank) and now with iPad, they’ve hit the skies.

Interesting to note the extent of jokes that’s been flying off ever since the launch (and actually before it ended), nobody really cared to put a thought on the damned product itself. At first glance, all seems pretty alright and the price tag really puts the icing. Apple wants to beat it down hard and intends to push the iPad to every household. But it seriously speaking, it lacks the features that’d make you kill for.

But who wants to know about the tech gaga when there’s so much in the air about womens hygiene. Lets have a look at some of the funny ones that really need a mention.

- Yes, the iPad is small, lightweight and slim. But can you swim with it?
- Will women send their husbands to the Apple store to buy iPads?
- The new iPad from Apple — can set you up with fast uploading without all that water bloating
- Apple iPad: Actually PULLS moisture away from you!
- It’s so much more intimate than a laptop – Steve Jobs himself at the launch (really!!)
- For our light days, we have iPhones. For our heavy days, we have the iPad!!

And this MadTV piece which pre-empted Apple’s move and made this spoof commercial much before the actual launch:

Don’t worry Steve, this session will end in a short “period” (do i hear 4 days? Oh! its one of those heavy outings? A whole month? You better get this checked honey …)

We’ve had this coming for a while now and have thrown out our devices like a village bicycle to makes the best of what XDA developers give us.

The latest  bit of scoop (a little late into its arrival @ Surffin today) is that Android and WinMo will co-exist on the same device. And whats more, there will be a boot-up option to select the OS of choice.

Of course, not all features are functional in the latest builds of android for diamond, touchpro etc. but the fact that yozgatg (of Gen.Y ROM & Kitchen fame) has put his famed touch into the effort already started at by the XDANDROID team means more than anything for those who’ve followed his ROMs over time.

The ROM is slated to set rapidshare on fire tonight @ around 11 GMT. Make sure you get your doze of Android this week.

For the rest of you with WVGA & WQVGA devices, there are plans up ahead and soon enough one would think. Just imagine the latest build of Android running on dual boot on a Leo (HD2) … yumm!!

After 3 years the PS3 has finally been hacked!!!

I’d say it’s finally music to the ears of most avid gamers, well at least the cheap ones, who hate sucking their wallets up for each game.

Is it ready for game backups? Well not as yet, at least not entirely so, as our friendly neighborhood hacker ‘geohot’ (aka George Hotz) has figured the entire system inside out and is working his way up (source). It should really be a no brainer for him now to build patched systems and tuts for ye hounding pups. My advise is to not hound him just as yet and wait up. You’ve waited 3+ years, might as well stretch it that bit further.

Coming to the very point of geohot and his fellow beings, Well, what can we say about these blessed souls. These guys are messiahs under the hood (no pun intended) but breathe the same air as us (bad exhaust air from their PCs).

What makes them take these leaps? Bad childhood? 1 year old toothbrush? Inability to dance? Whatever it be, they’ve made a difference to each of our lives in some way or the other and will continue to do so till perhaps someone changes their toothrbush.

There also exist the intermediary messiahs (wannabes) that come up with odd outings like this PS3 Grill. God  bless your souls as well.

Seriously, I’d wish for your toothbrush to grow old with you. Please come up with something useful next time.

PS: The joke’s not really on Sony. They’ve made a great attempt at fending off messiahs like geohot for over 3 years now. And really, that’s great effort all round from their team, but better luck next time.

Just in!! Sony just announced a cross sell of toothbrushes with each device sold. They plan to auto-renew toothbrushes each month and promise doorstep delivery. Insider reports claim that the budget for the same has been adjusted and reallocated from their piracy control department.

There are so many vigor filled claimants in the Smartphone market today, each claimimg superiority over the other in their top five or six self made basic feature sets that a Smartphone of this day and age should apparently spoil its users with.

The question here is – Has anyone asked the user what they really want? But yes, one would argue that there are numerous usability design and experience design teams that come out of the choicest of design schools. Each individual in the team thinks out of the box to come up with that one feature (most likely panned up in the above 6) that would blow people’s minds out.

This brings me to an important quote taught to me over a glass of scotch, “Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig”.

Which implies that the below two points really should have been thought of first before bringing forth an argument (or for that matter a Smartphone):

1) Is there really a Smartphone that packs the punch with irresistible features?
2) Are users really smart enough to appreciate the work behind a Smartphone?

The answer to both of the above is NO. The point being that no single claimimg device manufacturer has ever built a smart enough phone. And to add to that, world over there exists an upper figure of 0.01% smart users that are capable of using a smart phone (doesn’t it surprise you that so many people actually buy an iPhone – chuckles)

Anyways, as usual I seldom make sense enough to convince myself, so I’ve conveniently put myself into the shoes of the 0.01% and ask thee who remains on the same side of this 0.01% – Should I buy the new fingery touchy mushy (and the other 5 feature pack) Nexus One, or should I say hello to the HD2?

Anything you say or do will have no effect on my thinking. It will also not change my wife’s mind, she has already disapproved of any new purchases for the next few months.

This block commences the start of a new series of geek-o-garb sessions …… With no serious intention to keep you informed, entertained and pepped up as we walk on, I start this day.

The M&M on the side doesn’t really mean anything. Don’t bother trying to figure that out.

During the course of my typical day, I’m mostly clueless about my doings. While the rest of my real world time goes into loitering around technology blogs, while a “serious” piece of news feed allows me to fall into the best short nap ever.

My intention with this piece is and will always remain to keep myself entertained more than I’d want the same for you. If you feel offended by anything written in this piece, It should please me to no ends.

I will take no responsiblilty for you losing your girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbands, servants, slaves, pets, pests even if i’m directly involved in/with any of the above nonsense.

On a serious note, zzzzz ….