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The Galaxy S and its variants, the Captivate and Vibrant don’t have the LED notification light that most other Android phones have, so a missed call or text or email won’t be noticed till you actually turn on the screen and look. But a helpful hacker over at xda-developers whipped up an application that makes use of the screen as an indicator. When the AMOLED screen displays black, it uses no power, so only a few pixels in the upper left hand corner of the screen are used to display and moving red square.

It’s a beta application, so it may not work correctly all the time, but he has already release several updates and fixes. Visit this thread at xda-developers for more about the application and a download link. And of course you can contact the developer and report issues there.

Here’s a quick video showing the NoLED in action:

[via AndroidSpin]

***UPDATE*** Just for the heck of it, I tried it on my MyTouch Slide and it works pretty well. Although I suspect it may be using more power to turn the whole screen on.

Thanks to the hacker that rooted to original Samsung Galaxy S, it’s relatively easy to root the US versions for T-Mobile and AT&T, the Vibrant and Captivate. Why would you want to root? Well, for starters, you can remove all that bloatware that carriers love to install. You can also now use wifi tethering applications, and other root-only applications. And it opens you to the world of custom ROMs and doing pretty much anything you want to your phone.

And as always, be aware that modifying your phone like this may or may not void your warranty, and you could brick your phone. Although this procedure is fairly simple and safe, you have been warned. Let’s get started.

For the Vibrant:

1. Download the attached zip and rename to: update.zip
2. On your device, navigate to Settings > Applications > USB settings and select Mass storage
3. Plug your device into your computer, select mount USB from your device’s pull-down window
4. Copy the update.zip to the INTERNAL SD memory (~14gb on this drive, not the one w/ Avatar if you’ve still got the 2gb SD card in)
5. Turn your phone off.
6. Hold down volume up and volume down while powering on the phone, this should get you to a recovery menu, you may have to try this a few times.
7. In Recovery menu select ‘Reinstall Packages’ (use vol_down then power to select)

And for the Captivate:

1) You may need Samsung drivers if you are on a PC, which you can learn about here: ADB Drivers at the Unlockr
For 64 bit Windows, you’ll need these drivers: http://zedomax.com/blog/2010/07/14/s…iver-download/
Don’t proceed until your phone is fully installed on Windows with the drivers!

2) Download the attached zip and rename it to update or update.zip if you are on a Mac. Scroll down the notification bar and click “mount” to allow your computer to read the internal memory. Put the file on the INTERNAL SD card of the Captivate, which won’t be tough to figure out if you don’t have an SD card in the phone.

3) This step requires the Android SDK, and Android Debugging enabled. You can get the SDK here: Android SDK. Just download the zip, extract it to something like C:\Android. You won’t need the Java dev pack or anything.
You can enable Android Debugging like this: From the homescreen, press Menu, then click Settings. Navigate to Applications>Development and check USB Debugging. Now, hook the phone to the computer. Next,
On a PC, click start>run>”cmd” (in the text box) or on a Mac, spotlight “Terminal”. Linux users, you know what to do.
The command you will use is in the tools folder of wherever you extracted it to (IE: C:\android\tools), so be sure your working directory of command prompt is in that tools location!
Finally, type:

Code:

adb reboot recovery

4) Once the phone is booted into recovery, use the volume keys on the phone to scroll to “Reinstall packages.” Use power to select what you have highlighted.

5) Give yourself a pat on the back. You are now rooted. You should see a Superuser application now.

Sources: [xda-developers and xda-developers]

Thanks to the CyanogenMod team Android 2.2 is available for the Nexus One, Dream and Magic phones, and now the developer community took it one step further and ported CyanogenMod 6, bringing Android 2.2 to the HTC Aria and the MyTouch Slide. Both ROMs are really new, and still a bit buggy. Some things like wifi and the camera may not work, but these ports are still always works in progress. Definitely for the advanced users only, trying to flash this could brick your phone. It’s always great to see the Android development community jumping ahead of Google to customize Android their own way.

[Aria] [MyTouch Slide]

Many of you are already familiar with perhaps the most popular custom ROM for rooted android phones, CyanogenMod. And the latest version brings Froyo Android 2.2 to the Nexus One, Dream and Magic phones. Look for it soon on the Droid and MyTouch Slide, as well as ports to other devices. But for now, Nexus One, Dream (G1) and Magic (MyTouch) owners can download it from CyanogenMod.com or over at xda-developers.

Just shy of two weeks since it was released, the T-Mobile MyTouch Slide has been rooted. Superuser access is here, now bring on the custom ROMs and ports. A big thanks to the community on xda-developers and all members of the Android community.

Credit goes to eugene373 for posting this:

The HTC Hero that was released in Europe and other parts of the world, the GSM verson is one of the oldest Android phones around. It was the hottest thing when it came out and seems to be neglected in terms of software updates, leaving a lot of owners upset. With no word from HTC or carriers on a 2.1 upgrade, the hackers have come to the rescue. The upgrade was actually released by Chungwa Telecom in Taiwan, but I think the majority of Hero users don’t live there, so it’s been released as a rooted ROM for you. Head over to xda-developers for all the downloads. And as always with these sort of things, be aware you could brick your phone. And if you’re not experienced at reflashing your phone, please do some research.

There’s currently no schedule for when the Motorola Droid will actually get the Froyo 2.2 update, but if your phone is rooted, and you’re feeling frisky, you can upgrade now to the latest version of Android. The only thing that isn’t working is the wifi, which seems like a small price to pay for all the new features. This was done to protect the source of the leak, as it is likely someone that works closely with Google or Motorola. Head on over to MyDroidWorld for full instructions and download links.

[via Android Guys]

Looks like the hackers are getting better and better. The HTC EVO 4G isn’t even for sale to the public yet, and it’s already been rooted.

Check out the video below for all the proof you need, but they say they are not releasing any details on how to root it yet. But hopefully by the time it comes out, we’ll know exactly how to get the most out of the EVO 4G.

[Read via BGR]

We knew it was being worked on by several different hackers, and now we have the video right before our eyes. Android fully up and running on a first generation iPhone. The normal for porting has usually been to HTC Windows Mobile phones, but it’s nice to see someone sticking it to Steve Jobs. This would definitely make the iPhone more appealing to an Android fan, but hey, it’s still no Android phone. Hit the read link for more nerdy details and source code to do it yourself. Doing so could brick the iPhone, so be sure to try with your friend’s iPhone.

[Read]

It’s been out a while, and you know the developers and hackers have been working hard at it, and now the Droid Eris has finally been rooted. Super user access will now allow Eris owners to do all kinda of cool stuff to their phones otherwise not allowed. Android 2.1 rooted will be available soon, but for now it seems to be just 1.5. The process is for advanced users, and you shouldn’t attempt it if you don’t know what you’re doing, but if you’re ready to make the leap to root, hit the link and start doing some reading.

[xda-developers]