Nexus S users are currently enjoying their update to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. The new UI and features are awesome, but there is one little thing last year’s Nexus was missing – Face Unlock.

While some consider Face Unlock to be a gimmick, others find it to be one of [...]]]>

Nexus S users are currently enjoying their update to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. The new UI and features are awesome, but there is one little thing last year’s Nexus was missing – Face Unlock.

While some consider Face Unlock to be a gimmick, others find it to be one of the coolest features in ICS. It was only a matter of time before developers were able to make this feature possible for the Nexus S. Some members of the Android Central Forums have gone ahead and snatched Face Unlock from the Galaxy Nexus and created a ROM for all the brave flashers out there.

As always, there is the accustomed disclaimer. These are AOSP custom ROMs, and flashing such may void your warranty and/or affect your device’s functionality. Those brave users who choose to go this route do so assuming all responsibility. The ROMs are not perfect (just like all others) as there could be some bugs. Don’t forget to follow instructions well and read everything before proceeding.

If you still want to unlock your device à la Science fiction, go ahead and get the ROM files from the Android Central Forums. There is a version available for both the GSM (T-Mobile) and the Sprint version – so everyone is covered. Links are right below.

Get the ROM for the Sprint Nexus S 4G.

Get the ROM for the GSM Nexus S.

Are you guys flashing one of these ROMs? Let us know how it goes! Happy Holidays!

Editor’s Note: Rooting your device will void your warranty and, though highly unlikely if you follow directions carefully, could brick your device. We take no responsibility for damage to your device caused by the rooting process.

The HTC Amaze 4G has only been on the market for a few short weeks, but developers have been staying [...]]]>

Editor’s Note: Rooting your device will void your warranty and, though highly unlikely if you follow directions carefully, could brick your device. We take no responsibility for damage to your device caused by the rooting process.

The HTC Amaze 4G has only been on the market for a few short weeks, but developers have been staying up late into the night working to gain root access for the phone.  A few temporary root solutions have popped up over the past week or so, but now you can permanently root the T-Mobile HTC Amaze 4G with a simple, one-click root option developed by xboarder56 on XDA-Developers.

The One Click Perm Root tool gives Amaze 4G users permanent root access, as long as you already have an unlocked bootloader. Those who are not willing to use the official HTCDev bootloader unlocking tool will need to rerun the process every time you restart your phone.

HTC Amaze 4G root instructions:

1. Download and install HTC drivers on your computer.
2. Connect the HTC Amaze to your computer via USB.
3. Turn on USB debugging Menu > Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging.
4. Download xboarder56’s One Click Perm Root tool.
5. Extract zip file to C:\.
6. Click ZergRushTempRoot.bat.
7. Wait about three minutes.
8. Reboot.
9. Enjoy your HTC Amaze 4G with full root access.

For more details about xboarder56’s HTC Amaze One Click Root tool, check out the official thread on XDA-Developers. A custom recovery is still being worked on, but in the meantime you can start using all your favorite applications that require root access.

If you do decide to root your HTC Amaze 4G, let us know how the process goes and what you plan to do with root access on your phone.

If you want to get in early and test this ROM now, you can download it from [...]]]> Our favorite ROM developers have just released CyanogenMod 7.1, an upgrade to Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. It must be clarified that this is only a Release Candidate (RC), so it’s for testing purposes and will not work perfectly.

This release candidate should be fairly stable for daily use, but always do a backup first in case something goes wrong. You can help out by giving us feedback on the forums and reporting bugs at the issue tracker.CyanogenCyanogenMod

If you want to get in early and test this ROM now, you can download it from their mirror network and install it with Rom Manager.

While this is mostly an upgrade to Andorid 2.3.4, CyanogenMod 7.1 comes with many surprises. Some features included in the Change Log are impressive (i.e. bluetooth mouse support), but that’s not the most exciting part. The best news is that their support has extended to quite a few devices. The list includes “various Samsung devices (Galaxy S, Captivate and Vibrant), the LG Optimus 2X (p990) /T-Mobile G2x (p999), HTC Incredible S (vivo) and Motorola CLIQ/CLIQ XT.”

Go ahead! Check out the new RC version of CyanogenMod 7.1, if you’re feeling adventurous. Don’t forget to support the CyanogenMod team by giving feedback about your experience with the software. (It’ll help them make the product better). Anyone out there using it yet? Please let us know what your experience with this Release Candidate is like!

If you’re like us, I bet you thought the Droid X and Defy were about to become old, obsolete devices. [...]]]> Locked bootloaders are a hot topic nowadays. Most Android fans prefer to play around freely with their devices. And Motorola hasn’t been so good about letting us do that, since they insist on locking them.

If you’re like us, I bet you thought the Droid X and Defy were about to become old, obsolete devices. Think again. CyanogenMod-7 is here to resuscitate them with some custom ROM goodness.

It has indeed been a hard quest for our beloved developers to put CM-7 onto these devices. After countless hours of hard work, cvpcs and Quarx have figured out a way to port it over. All that coding and testing is not easy, though, so the ROM does not yet work perfectly on these devices.

CM-7 for the Motorola Droid X

The developer that ported CM-7 to the Droid X has actually posted a video as proof of this righteous deed of might and courage.

So this leaves a lot of questions! Such as what works and what doesn't! From what I could tell by playing around with it, the following definitely work: Radio, Wifi, USB, Charging, various sensors, lights, vibration, standard bluetooth. The following MAY or MAY NOT work (unable to tell for sure yet): GPS, 3G/data, camera, camcorder, bluetooth audio. And the following definitely do NOT work yet: audio (this includes phone calls, speakers, microphone, etc).cvpcsRootzWiki

As already mentioned, the ROM has just been ported, so things are not expected to run smoothly… at least not yet. The developer, cvpcs, is still working on it and claims many features may not be working because he has yet to finish the Libaudio driver for the Droid X. He might have to rewrite the whole thing from source, if he doesn’t find a good alternative. But, this does indicate cvpcs is definitely set on making this work.

Cvpcs mentions that he’ll be needing testers starting sometime this week. He’ll be posting more information about it on rootzwiki.com, as well as on his own blog. Stay tuned for more details, if you want to get in on the testing action!

CM-7 for the Motorola Defy^[1]

This one is actually ready to download and install. If you’re feeling adventurous, head over to XDA and follow the instructions.

Though you may experience issues here and there, this port is actually not having too many problems. Everything is running well, except for 720p video recording and WVGA photos.

• Works: Wifi, SD-Card, 3D, Auto-Brightness, LED, Photo Camera with Flash, Video Camera(H264), GSM/3G, Bluetooth +Headset + HID, Sensors, GPS/aGPS, FM-radio
• Doesn't work: 720p Rec. WVGA Photo

QuarxXDA Developers