How to install Android on the iPhone 2G

Still wondering how to install Android on the iPhone? Well, a detailed guide is now available if you plan to try Google’s OS on your trusty old 1st generation iPhone (iPhone 2G). The trick is to basically load of the Android files on the iPhone via a file explorer (iPhone Explorer), run Ubuntu in a Virtual Machine or you PC or Mac to install Openibot on the handset. Check out the video below for a step-by-step procedure:

Downloads

Here’s a bunch of stuff that you’ll need before you start:

1.IMPORTANT! Jailbroken iPhone 2G. Jailbreaking guide can be found here.
2.VirtualBox (link). Get the right version Windows/Mac
3.VirtualBox Ubuntu Image (link). Download number 10, Ubuntu Linux 9.10 codename Karmic Koalax86
4.iPhone Explorer (link). If you’re on Linux you can use FTP such as FileZilla instead.
5.Android images and sources (link)
6.Patched images (link). Courtesy of Geekoid.
Preparation

Basics:

1.Open Task Manager
2.Kill the iTunes Helper process
3.Install iPhone Explorer
4.Connect your iPhone to your Mac/PC
5.Run iPhone Explorer
6.Click the Change Root button
7.Select “/” Real iPhone Root Directory
8.Browse to private/var
9.Copy ramdisk.img, userdata.img, cache.img and zImage from Downloads#5 (Android images and sources) to that var directory
10.Copy system.img and android.img.gz from Downloads#6 (patched images) to the that var directory
11.That’s all the Android files on your iPhone, now to make them run!

Setting Up Virtual Box:

1.Install VirtualBox
2.Open VirtualBox
3.Go on File > Virtual Media Manager
4.Make sure Hard Disks is selected
5.Click Add
6.Locate the ubuntu-9.10.vdi file (download#3) and select it
7.Close Virtual Media Manager
8.Go on Machine > New
9.Click Next
10.Under Name enter “Ubuntu”
11.Select Linux Operating System
12.Select Ubuntu Version
13.Click Next
14.Set an amount of RAM, the default should be fine
15.Click Next
16.Select “Use existing hard disk”
17.Select the ubuntu-9.10.vdi
18.Click Next
19.Click Finish
20.Select that new machine to start up Ubuntu
21.The password to login is: reverse
Setting Up Ubuntu

Almost there :

1.Click System (top bar) > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager
2.Enter the password: reverse
3.In the quicksearch box, type libusb-1.0, click the Check Box next to libusb-1.0-0 and select Mark for installation
4.In the quicksearch box, type libreadline, click the Check Box next to libreadline5 and select Mark for installtion
5.Click Apply
6.When it’s all installed close the Package Manager
7.Open Firefox (in Ubuntu)
8.Download openiboot installer from here
9.Click Places (top bar) > Downloads
10.Right-click openiboot.zip and click Extract Here
11.Click Applications (top bar) > Accessories > Terminal
12.Without the quotes, type ‘cd Downloads/openiboot’
13.Restart your iPhone in Recovery Mode (power off, hold down Home button, connect to USB cable)
Getting Android Working!

Well done on getting this far! This is where the fun beings (credits to WinX Blog for these instructions –link)

1.In VirtualBox, the Ubuntu Window, go on Devices > USB Devices and select iPhone (Recovery Mode)
2.In the terminal type (without quotes): ’sudo su’
3.Enter the password: reverse
4.In the terminal type ./loadibec openiboot.img3
5.You’ll see the OpeniBoot screen appear on your iPhone
6.Hold down the power button a couple of seconds (iPhone)
7.The bottom option, openiboot console, will become selected
8.Press Home (iPhone). You’ll see a bunch of text appear and stop at “Welcome to openiboot”
9.In VirtualBox, the Ubuntu Window, go on Devices > USB Devices and select iPhone (OpeniBoot Mode)
10.In terminal type su ./oibc
11.Enter the password: reverse
12.If this doesn’t work just type: ./oibc
13.You’ll see the same text from the iPhone in the Terminal
14.Type (without quotes) ‘nor_read 0×09000000 0×0 1048576? and press Enter
15.Wait for it to say Done
16.Type (without quotes) ‘~norbackup.dump:1048576?
17.This creates a backup of your NOR memory – save a copy on USB stick, or email it to yourself or something
18.Type install, press Enter. When this is done you’ve got openiboot installed on your iPhone. You’re done!

Finishing Off:

What you’ve achieved up til now is Android files on your iPhone, and then installing openiboot so that you have an option to start iPhone OS or Android when you turn on your phone. Openiboot was necessary because that’s the only way right now that you can boot into Android. Here’s how to finish off and get into Android:

1.If you still have Terminal open with the oibc still running, just type ‘reboot’, press Enter and skip to step 3
2.If you don’t have Terminal open, disconnect your phone, turn it off and back on
3.When openiboot appears press Power button to switch to openiboot console (bottom option)
4.Hold down the Home button
5.Android will start to boot, but it might take a while

LG LU2300 Android handset gets photos

HTC beats earnings estimates in the first quarter

There’s no doubt the impending legal antics are weighing on hearts and minds inside HTC, but for now, the company’s got other fish to fry — like the first quarter’s financial results, for example. Fortunately, pretty much everything came up roses here with $1.2 billion in revenue, up some 19.3 percent year-over-year and nearly 11 percent higher than the high end of its estimate going into the call, though that still represents an 8 percent drop against the last quarter — holiday quarters are typically blockbusters, so no huge surprise there. HTC credits a “successful” marketing campaign for its success; we credit awesome hardware, but we’d guess the real answer lies somewhere in between. Quietly brilliant, indeed.

Meet the Stripper Mobile, You Horndog Super Bowl Fan

It sounds like a reality TV show in the making: A see-through bus full of babes on a cross-country roadtrip through the Bible belt, pole-dancing as they drive. You future producers can expect little old ladies to crap in their diapers, grown men to — literally — lick the side of the bus, and more than a few (kinda sad) tips on how to squeeze the most money out of a poor, silly schmuck.
Come Sunday, “The Stripper Mobile,” America’s most absurd advertising gimmick, will descend upon the Magic City for a Super Bowl tailgate party. They’ve already been booted from Las Vegas for allegedly distracting drivers, which is pretty much status quo on the blindfolded-foreign-driver deathtrap known as I-95.

Thank idea-guy Larry Beard, whose name makes him sound like an 18th century pirate (although he is not). He is the marketing man for Déjà Vu Showgirls, which is sort of the Wal-Mart of strip club chains. “It’s like marketing 101,” he says. “If I were selling fruit I would fill a truck with apples and peaches and park it on the strip. Our product is pretty girls.”

Riptide hitched a ride in Tampa as part of a larger story last weekend and felt like the weird one for wearing clothing. Here are a few photos.

Google Nexus One Available on AT&T 3G

With the Google Nexus One launch and the gadget show CES both taking place next week, it’s shaping up to be a weekend of hardware rumors. The latest requires the usual cautions: It’s a single anonymous source, and the parties involved have not commented publicly.

Nonetheless, BoyGeniusReport (which has a decent hit rate on its rumor reportage) claims that the Google Nexus One (aka “Google Phone“) will be made in an unlocked version compatible with AT&T’s 3G network:

“…we’ve heard from a source that there will be an AT&T 3G-compatible version of the Google Nexus One. Our connect described it as being a ’second’ unlocked model, with the T-Mobile-subsidized unit being locked to T-Mobile. Our tipster was so impressed by a Nexus One in person, they said they would 100% give up their T-Mobile BlackBerry 9700 for one when it’s available.”

So little is known about Google’s() deals with carriers that we’d urge caution on this until the Nexus One launch on Tuesday.

Google and HTC Working On a Chrome OS Tablet

Everyone is clamoring about tablets these days—ourselves included—so it’s not too surprising that Google and HTC are set to join the fray. They are reportedly working together on a Chrome OS Google Tablet.

Smarthouse, an Australian publication, reports that HTC and Google have been collaborating “for the past 18 months” and have produced “several working models of a touch tablet,” including one outfitted with Google’s Chrome OS. We wrote why a Google Tablet would be a good idea last month, and with the Apple Tablet discussion reaching a fever pitch, it’s harder and harder to get excited about a Chrome OS netbook from Google.

Having collaborated on the Nexus One, a smart phone that impressed us with its design as well as its hardware, HTC and Google partnering on a tablet seems like a promising prospect. But will it “compete head on” with Apple’s tablet as Smarthouse claims? Probably not.

From what we know, it seems like Apple is putting as much effort into their tablet’s content as they are into the gadget itself. We’ve written extensively on how an Apple tablet could redefine newspapers, textbooks, and magazines. In the last case, we’ve already salivated, more than once, over concepts for how magazines might evolve in a multi-touch future. Add that to Apple’s recent acquisition of Lala, a move that likely points to a cloud-based future for iTunes, and the reports that Apple is trying to secure TV show subscription packages for the iTunes store. Admittedly, not a whole lot is certain about Apple’s tablet. But you start looking at all of those pieces and how they might fit together around one device, you can easily envision a gadget that is focused on streaming the stuff you read, the stuff you listen to, and the stuff you watch.

It’s hard to foresee a future in which a Google Tablet tries to go head to head with Apple on the content level. That’s not to say, however, that there aren’t some compelling things that could be offered by a Google tablet. As the launch of Google’s Chrome OS made clear, they’re looking toward a future with a multitude of devices that can access the Internet quickly, cleanly, and cheaply. A Google Tablet could be just the thing to realize all of those goals. When we tried out the JooJoo tablet, we saw how a well-designed tablet for consuming web content could provide an engaging experience. A Chrome OS tablet by Google would likely work the same way, keeping typing to a minimum and offering a literal hands-on web surfing experience. [Smarthouse via Business Insider]

Packaging Mixup Hints 8GB iPhone 3GS on the Way

The iPhone 3GS has never been available in anything other than 16GB and 32GB capacity models, leaving the 8GB shoes to be filled with its older brother, the iPhone 3G.

And that was just fine for a while. The problem now is that we’re just months away from a new iPhone, and then what will we have? Three models of iPhone on the market? Each with slightly different capabilities? Catering to slightly different capacities? That’s just not the Apple way.

If this terrifying prospect was keeping you up at night, rest easy, because news from Europe of an innocuous packaging mixup hints at the upcoming availability of an 8GB iPhone 3GS. An eagle-eyed customer in Germany posted on the apfeltalk.de discussion board that his refurbished 8GB iPhone 3G arrived sporting a SKU packaging label describing something the same, only different — an 8GB iPhone 3GS.

Image by .david at apfeltalk.de 

The customer, known as .david on the Apfeltalk.de message board, had this to say (translation by Google via Gizmodo):

Seems to be an iPhone 3G (back and no compass, FW) 3.0.1 on it. However, the packaging is clearly designed for an iPhone 3G [S] 8GB. Ordered was a refurbished 3G iPhone 8GB.

Vote: who have a refurbished iPhone 3G in a new packaging of the packaged iPhone 3G [S] 8GB, because the enhancement is clearly new. Which clearly indicates that the sale of the iPhone 3G [S] 8GB immediately imminent.

.david’s mind is made up; he’s certain this means an 8GB iPhone 3GS is on the way. Another possibility, of course, is that this is a typo. But I tend to agree with my Teutonic neighbor. Apple’s next revision to the iPhone is not too far away, and it makes sense to establish the 3GS feature-set as the de-facto for all iPhones moving forward. Because, y’know, that magnetometer makes a difference!

What’s your take on this? Obvious indicator of things to come, or some dispatch technician’s unfortunate mis-type?

The HTC Hero / T-Mobile G2 Touch Android smartphone review

T-Mobile G2 Touch:
Physical Aspects:
The HTC Hero is a rather striking handset, currently available in either white or graphite color schemes in the UK, with a characteristic ‘kink’ in its body, giving it a distinctive chin at the bottom. In the UK, the color you get depends on the network you choose. Orange UK are exclusively offering the graphite version, whereas T-Mobile UK are offering the white/silver version that we have, but are calling it the ‘G2 Touch’.

Being the white version, our handset has the matte white finish that is coated with Teflon to help keep it clean. However, ours had pink marks on it straight out of the box, and ones at the HTC release event were tarnished as well, so it clearly doesn’t make the phone dirt-proof, just dirt resistant. The graphite version doesn’t have this coating, but due to the back and bottom area being black, it doesn’t actually need it. One curious side-effect of the finish on our white device is that the phone feels as if it’s made of a ceramic material.

The Hero is, by today’s touchscreen handset standards, a pretty average-sized phone, and measures in at 112mm x 56.2mm x 14.35mm (4.41in x 2.21in x 0.57in). It appears slimmer than it actually is, due to heavily sloped edges that also make it feel nicer in the hand. It’s not exactly a lightweight, at 135g (4.76oz), but it feels quite robust. The first thing you’ll notice about the HTC Hero, aside from the chin, is its 3.2″ capacitive touchscreen display that has a HVGA resolution (320 x 480 pixels). Bright sunlight legibility is pretty average with this display. Above the display is the earpiece grille, which has an ambient light sensor on one side and a notification LED on the other.

The are only six hardware buttons on the device, not including the clickable trackball or the volume rocker. The call send, home, menu, and call end buttons are all lined-up below the display on the silver fascia of the phone. The search key and back key are both contained within one larger button that resides on the chin of the phone, next to the trackball. The trackball itself is located dead centre in the chin and has the ability to illuminate for notifications, usually unleashing a barrage of flashes for a new message or incoming call.

The rear of the Hero features the lens for the device’s 5 megapixel autofocus camera, although it’s still missing any sort of flash, which is a shame. The rear is otherwise pretty spartan, with only a couple of holes for the loudspeaker and the lanyard fixing. At the bottom of the handset is HTC’s ExtUSB/mini-USB port for charging and data, plus a microphone pinhole. Atop the device is just the 3.5mm headphone port and a small slit for removing the rear cover with a fingernail. The rear cover will need to be removed for access to the microSDHC slot that is hidden beneath. The left side of the phone features a large volume rocker that is pretty much flush with the side of the phone, and the right side is completely bare.

The 10 Most Expensive iPhone Apps

Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone App Store is most popular for its free and cheap apps. As a result, most apps and casual games are available for 99 cents or less.

But there are plenty of expensive apps in the App Store, too, and people do buy them.

The most expensive app in the U.S. App Store today is called iRa Pro: It’s a dashboard to access and control live feeds of video surveillance cameras, and it costs $900.

The company that makes it — Lextech Labs, outside of Chicago — won’t say how many copies it has sold. But Lextech president and CEO Alex Bratton says it’s more than the five people who have reviewed the latest edition on iTunes. He’s “pretty happy with the number.”

Why charge so much? Because for the people who are buying the app, it’s actually a relatively small cost.

Bratton says his target customers are monitoring security systems for corporations, government organizations, universities, etc., that can run more than half a million dollars. For them, a $900 app is just part of the cost of doing business. Especially when the alternative — getting a custom piece of hardware developed, instead of using off-the-shelf iPhones and iPod touches — costs thousands per gadget.

iRa Pro wasn’t always the most expensive iPhone app. About a year ago, a German developer had an app briefly approved by Apple called “I Am Rich.” For $999.99, it did absolutely nothing, and was controversial. After a day or so, Apple pulled it from the App Store — but not before the developer reportedly sold eight copies.

That developer, Armin Heinrich, currently has 12 apps in the App Store, including the similarly utility-free — but just $0.99 — “iShaver.”

Today, no $1,000 apps, but plenty that cost more than $100, ranging from medical references to audio tools.

Samsung Prepares a Phone with NVIDIA Tegra

Confirmed for Samsung Magazine LAPTOP Magazine which comes with a device based on the NVIDIA Tegra platform.

Other data to be removed from the interview were the presence of AT & T or T-Mobile in some way on the project, and a groundbreaking price of $ 199, which I doubt this very moment. NVIDIA Tegra is promising and has good looking, for example now use Microsoft Zune to HD.

Has as its main features with the ability to play 720p video, and the presence of an integrated GPU that provide 3D acceleration beyond what we have in the market, all with an excellent battery management.

Top 10 Tips to Help Conserve iPhone Battery Life

So, you have that shiny new iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS, and you’ve enjoyed playing with all of the really cool new features. You now have it all spec’d out with the killer apps that makes your life easier (and perhaps more fun), and you feel confident with the pocket power you now possess.

But somehow along the way your pocket power is, well, running out of power. Yes, your iPhone has now introduced you to the Kryptonite of the iPhone (and all mobile devices for that matter) – iDrain. The iPhone, thanks to its expanded capabilities, gets used more – and this additional use over a standard cell phone leads to faster battery depletion.

But fear not. There are steps to take that will prolong the run time for your iPhone, allowing you to have your cake and look it up on the web too. While some power saving tips are common sense (don’t browse the web and/or talk all day long), some things could easily be overlooked. So, as a service to our readers, we present a list of tips to help the road warrior in all of us get the most out of an iPhone charge.

1. Turn down the screen brightness. The iPhone has a nice, bright screen, but driving that backlight takes battery power. I usually keep mine at around 25% brightness, but you can easily experiment with the settings to see what works best for you, To adjust the screen brightness, go to settings/brightness and slide the control down to a setting that is acceptable

2. Adjust your poll time to check for email less frequently. The amount of time to wait before checking for new email is adjustable, and the less often you check, the less power you will use in the process. The iPhone offers settings of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, Hourly, and Manually. I usually set it for 30 minutes, with the knowledge that I can also always pull up the email client and manually check whenever it is convenient for me. However, you can set it for what works for you. It might be good to note that a longer polling period cuts down on potentially distracting email notifications as well as saving power from the notifications themselves (especially from the vibration alert). To adjust this setting, go to settings/mail and adjust the fetch time. Now, if you use a push email service, this will not be an option for you. But it has been reported that push services end up using more power, since they keep a connection open. This may be a tradeoff for the end user to decide.

3. Turn off the WiFi. Sure, it makes browsing faster to be connected to a good WiFi data source, but it uses more power in the process. Not only that, but leaving the WiFi on continues to burn through power even when you are not actively connected to a source. My advice – turn off the radio until you are in a location that has a fast WiFi connection and plan to use it for a bit. Otherwise you are writing a tiny power check every few minutes, and cashing them out hits your battery fairly hard. To adjust, go to settings/Wi-Fi and select off.

4. Turn on Auto-Lock for the screen. The iPhone has a beautiful screen, but if you don’t have Auto-Lock on it will be happy to keep that screen shining brightly until you manually turn it off. Not only is this not battery friendly, but it could lead to unexpected calls to Timbuktu thanks to a little accidental screen contact. You can adjust how long the phone will wait before Auto-locking, but the shorter the duration the greater the battery savings (and potentially the more secure the iPhone is, especially if you select an easy to remember but quick to type passcode while you are at it). To adjust this, go to settings/general and select a value for Auto-Lock.

5. Turn off the Equalizer. If you listen to music a lot, this one may be helpful. By turning off the equalizer you can save power over the entire listening session, and depending on the type of music you listen to this could be beneficial over time… Apple has suggested this for the iPod for some time now. To adjust this, go to settings/iPod and turn off the EQ.

6. Pack more juice. Just because you are on the road does not mean that you can’t have a backup power source for your iPhone. Several third party solutions are available that give you an easily pocketable power up to keep you running. For example, the 3GJuice gives you an additional 1800 mAh battery that will charge up your phone to 100% in relatively short time.

7. Take advantage of the commute time. Keep a mobile charger in the car, and plug up the phone when out for lunch or getting to a meeting location. Make it very convenient, and the action soon becomes habit, giving you a battery boost when you get to your destination. The same thing goes for keeping an extra USB cable handy when you are working – most devices now have USB ports, and installing iTunes is not required to charge the iPhone from a port.

8. Kill the vibrate. A vibration alert requires a physical process to drive it, and as you would expect this takes a chunk of power to make it happen. You can save some power by being judicious with its use. You can find this (strangely enough) at settings/sound.

9. Turn off Bluetooth. Let’s be honest, Bluetooth is great when it is in use. Wireless headsets are sweet, no doubt about it. But that connection requires an active radio to be on and listening for the headset to connect in and that requires power. By turning off the Bluetooth radio when not in use for extended periods of time you can save a little juice. This can be found at settings/general/bluetooth.

10. Update the phone often. Apple engineers are always working hard to tweak their flagship product to provide the best user experience, and these tweaks come to us through updates via iTunes. (For example, the latest 3.x update is already in beta and expected out soon.) So, if you typically do not sync via a desktop iTunes make it a point to do it on occasion and check for a new iPhone update – you may save power by doing so.

By following these tips and using a little control in the iPhone usage, you should find that getting through a typical day (or two) without a dead battery is not difficult at all. The most important thing to remember is that you are on a limited amount of power reserve when using any mobile device, and weighing your usage goes a long ways to having your device handy and charged when you need it most.

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