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Free Up Some Space On Your Internal SD Card With DirectoryBind

Do you find yourself deleting large games due to them taking up too much space on your internal storage nowadays? Games by Gameloft and Madfinger are growing to be nearly 2GB in size per game, which can really wreak havoc on the smaller storage we see in most phones. Developer slig from XDA has created his first public application which binds large directories to your external SD card, allowing you to move all those large games out of the way and onto a much larger external card.

Having the ability to technically select an install path for all games downloaded from the market in a simple and convenient app can open up new doors for all users with small internal storage. A quick look at some of the features as told by slig himself:

* Requires ROOT !
* Aimed at specific functionality and features (not idiot-proof)
* You can create any number of Data -> Target directory pairs, mount them manually or choose to mount them on system boot (checkbox does that).
* On/Off switch controls whole mount-on-boot function.
* Diskette icon indicates if mount operation was successful, by taping it You can mount/umount entry.
* Icon changes if application is using mounted entry
* DirectoryBind can tell what application is using this entry (tap at entry in use)
* Long tap on entry (disabled) brings edit/delete window
* App auto umount all entries on USB connected and remount after USB disconnected (for now via BroadcardReceiver UMS_CONNECTED / UMS_DISCONNECTED)
* App shows notification and vibrates if auto umount on USB fails
* If mounting all checked entries (ex. on boot) app is waiting specified time (def. 60 sec) if data directory is not available (happens sometimes at boot)

A few users have suggested that moving apps to the external storage of the Transformer Prime also assists in removing any lag that you may be experiencing in a game (due to the sd card having a better transfer rate than the crappy internal memory). Some of the confirmed working games include Asphalt 6, Shadowgun, Dead Space, and CamScanner: although it should work with all. For some more information and the download link visit the XDA release thread and be sure to drop a thanks in return for downloading the application for free. Be sure to take this app for a quick run and make the most out of all that available external storage!

Jelly Bean and CyanogenMod10 Preview running on the Samsung Galaxy Note

Eager to get your hands on Jelly Bean or CM10 for your Note? Check out the video and the links provided below for a preview build for the International version of the Samsung Galaxy Note. The build is mostly complete and can be used as a daily driver if you are adventurous. Remember: this is just a preview build and should be treated as such. There are a few things that don’t work with the ROM including a few sensor issues (rotation), full hardware acceleration, memory leak issues, among a few other things. That means that you won’t be able to see just what Project Butter has to offer the device just yet. The ROM is still plenty fast but you can see some of the visible lag when pulling down the notification bar or switching between the applications. Google now and the new voice search currently work so you can show off your device to friends and family. [Read more...]

Motorola Xoom Ice Cream Sandwich – Second Look – Updated Build

Not even an hour later razorbladex401 works his miracle of compiling the AOSP bits and has developed a near perfect build. And when we say Near Perfect, we mean it. Besides the non-functioning camera, this version of ICS for the Motorola Xoom Wifi is crazy fast. Multitasking through the applications and browsing the internet felt like we were using a whole new device, perhaps a device running a quad core. Seriously folks, ICS is no joke when it comes to updating all of our old devices and making them new again. Everything works as advertised including the resizable widgets, market and other google apps (via a flashable .zip), and many games. The green flashing screen has already been addressed and fixed and is looking to be a more stable build by the minute.

We tested a few of the various applications included as well as installing Apparatus and they all ran even smoother than expected. Google has really outdone themselves this time around. [Read more...]

Motorola Xoom Ice Cream Sandwich – First Look

As you all may have heard the Android 4.0.3 sources were uploaded to the AOSP servers today which most took as being the update for the Nexus S; however, it also included sources for the Motorola Xoom Wifi and Motorola Xoom 3G devices. Thanks to XDA user razorbladex401 we have a introductory look at Ice Cream Sandwhich on the device! You can check out our video here to see a quick preview. [Read more...]

Game Review: SimCity for Android

SimCity for Android: Is it the same game we know and love? Well, pretty much. SimCity brings back the same feel of SimCity 3000 that you either loved… Or hated with a passion to your nearest Android phone or tablet. Obviously the game does better visually (both the UI and textures in my opinion) on the tablet and really becomes a great time consumer whether you want to start from the beginning, or just use a template city that’s provided by EA. [Read more...]

Overclocking Motorola Xoom To 1.7Ghz Dual Core

Today we rooted and flashed a custom kernel onto our Motorola Xoom to unlock the full potential of the hardware which includes external SD card support as well as overclocking the Dual core CPU to 1.7Ghz .Thanks to the files and guide provided by XDA, we were able to successfully install the Tiamat kernel onto the Xoom which allows for the most potential out of the Tegra 2 chip. There have been numerous stress tests done on the chip and it is running stable at 1.7Ghz which is “probably as far as the Tegra chip will go.” Although the kernel does not work on some devices and can cause hangs, you can always use the 1.6Ghz overclock which should work better and is still a huge improvement over the stock 1.0. Another feature included is the charging LED is now active while the device is on and charging, whereas before the LED would only be on if the device was powered off.

We ran a Quadrant test benchmark on it to see how it stacked up against other phones and dual core devices and it ousted every Android device on the market, as expected. The Motorola Atrix and the Xoom got roughly 2500 on a benchmark score when ran at stock speeds; after rooting and installing the Tiamat kernel the benchmark score reached 4108! If the Xoom was having ANY difficulty running multiple applications before, it has been fixed entirely with this update.

You can visit the XDA website below to read the official thread on flashing, unlocking, and rooting your device. As always, be extremely careful as this has the possibility to brick your device (make it a really nice 26 ounce paperweight) if the proper steps are not followed. We nor XDA are responsible for anything that happens to your device, use at own risk! These posts are aimed towards the 3G Verizon Xoom, not the Wifi version.

XDA guide for unlocking, rooting, and flashing the 3G Verizon Xoom

Tiamat Kernel Thread

SetCPU Forum post

Engadget has a post on their website which has a response from Motorola in regards to have an unlocked and rooted device when the 4G LTE upgrade comes around; Motorola states that it is not an issue and if any Xoom that is sent in for the upgrade will receive the installation of the 4G modem no matter what, even if they are unable to install the “software” for it basically saying “if you can hack your own software onto it, you can put ours on it too.”

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXpi3vnTjhI[/video]

Motorola Atrix 4G: One Step Closer To Custom ROMs

XDA developers have gotten one step closer to porting our favorite custom ROMs, like Cyanogen Mod, to the Motorola Atrix 4G. Using this program they are able to load scripts before the Android OS starts which can allow for custom ROMs to be installed on it. Although a large amount of developers have slowly stopped messing with the Atrix due to the locked bootloader, hopefully this will restore some faith in the modding community and bring our favorite mods and tweaks to the Tegra2 phone. The 2nd Init scripts are ported from the Motorola Defy which has had CyanogenMOD running on it for some time now, so hopefully this will open a door for a large amount of possibilities. As of right now there are a few Gingerbread ROMs that are available for the Atrix, but not many. The stock OS that comes with the Atrix, and the Droid X2, doesn’t seem fully optimized for the device so tweaking by XDA and other web developers can make these phones well worth their dollar.

Head here to the original XDA post to read more about the breakthrough: XDA

HTC Evo 4G To Recieve Gingerbread Soon?

As you can see from the screenshot above from Sprint’s website, the HTC Evo will now be shipping with Android 2.3. Like always, XDA has had a leaked 2.3 release out since April (already has the works, including root) but will the official update be rolling out soon? There is no information on coming from Sprint at this time whether or not there will be an OTA update on the device, or if there will, when it will be released. You can check out the Sprint site here to see for yourself.

Netflix On Android Devices – Any Of Them?

Last week we introduced Netflix’s new Android Application which can let you stream, search, and adjust your queue; however the application is only available for certain phones at the moment which severely limits Android users to ability to completely enjoy their subscription. Thanks to XDA, there’s a possibility that it will work on your phone!

XDA users skyjedi and ften have posted a forum topic with a hacked Netflix application which removes the device check feature to open it to a much wider variety of phones. All though this is not guaranteed to work for all devices, it is possible that it can work on yours. Some users have replied to the topic saying their phones (SGS II, Incredible, Aria, etc) all now are able to use the application. Depending on the version of Android and the phone you are using you can expect different results, but might as well try it out if you have a subscription and not an “officially” supported phone. Head on over to the XDA thread here to download the .apk files and get information on tested devices using this hack.

Eager To Watch Hulu On Your Xoom?

XDA member bigrushdog just might have found the solution. According to XDA, there is a hidden file inside the Flash 10.3 update which enables the Xoom to use Hulu on their device; if you have the new 3.1 update hardware acceleration has been included in the latest update, and it really helps. All you have to do is uninstall the current version of Flash, and install the XDA version: Simple.

Another side note, your device must be enabled to be viewed as a Desktop device, so you need to change your UA string to desktop, or just use another browser where you can change it (Dolphin HD works.) Not confirmed yet, but your device is recommended to be running Android Honeycomb 3.1 or it is possible this fix will not work. Check out the thread here to get the .apk and read more on it.