Android and Me » open source

HTC’s Peter Chou embraces Google’s acquisition of Motorola

Edgar Cervantes — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:03:28 +0000

Google has made it very clear that the acquisition of Motorola will not change Android’s open nature. You can’t help but wonder if the company will actually stay true to its word, though. We’re sure manufacturers have been losing sleep. As Android fans, we definitely worry about manufacturers being scared off by the possibility of Motorola becoming Google’s favorite.

One of the manufacturers we’d most hate to see going away is definitely HTC. There’s nothing to worry about, though, as Peter Chou has just announced that HTC plans to stay as close to Google as it has been for the last few years.

It's not the operating system, it's the ecosystem. We think we can find a way to differentiate to add value, but at the same time leverage our partners, Google and Microsoft, since we have such a great relationship with them.Peter ChouCEO of HTC

HTC does not plan to make its own operating system, but to work with Google and Microsoft. We know how proud HTC is of HTC Sense, and the manufacturer will continue to work on differentiating their devices and UI’s–just like it has all along.

HTC’s Peter Chou seems to be confident that Google will keep its word and that the acquisition’s purpose is to expand Google’s patent portfolio. This would further protect all the Android manufacturers–something to which HTC is definitely looking forward. HTC has been involved in multiple lawsuits involving intellectual property, so this might actually be a spark of hope for the company.

This acquisition is more to enhance Google's patent portfolio, to support us, to protect us, so this is good newsPeter ChouCEO of HTC

Hopefully we can get an official announcement from other major manufacturers soon. We would not like to see our OEMs going away. We definitely trust that Google will keep its word about leaving Android open, as it is partly the reason why the platform has been so successful. What do you guys think? Will Motorola actually get some kind of benefit in the future? I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

Android not that “open” after all

Edgar Cervantes — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:54:44 +0000

Google’s biggest pride when it comes to Android has definitely been that it’s “open source.” Android is without a doubt the most successful smartphone OS currently, partly due to the fact that it is open. But just how open is our favorite smartphone OS? Open source is defined as a software with a shared source code, which may be distributed in its pure state or modified. That’s simple. But the definition is not where the matter ends. While Android is mostly open source by definition, there’s a whole ethos to the Open Source movement (Open Governance). And that’s where Android falls short.

Vision Mobile has conducted a study that places Android as the least “open” of the open source mobile platforms. Android was put to the test against a diverse variety of mobile platforms, including MeeGo, Linux, Qt, WebKit, Mozilla, Eclipse and Symbian.

We selected these projects based on breadth of coverage; we picked both successful (Android) and unsuccessful projects (Symbian); both single-sponsor (Qt) and multi-sponsor projects (Eclipse); and both projects based on meritocracy (Linux) and membership status (Eclipse).Liz LaffanVision Mobile

You may ask what this open governance entails. After all, not everyone is familiarized with the open source world (though we all brag about it!). Vision Mobile used 13 metrics in 4 categories to grade the “openness” of each platform. The list is as follows:

Access: availability of the latest source code, developer support mechanisms, public roadmap and transparency of decision-making
Development: the ability of developers to influence the content and direction of the project
Derivatives: the opportunity for developers to create and distribute derivatives of the source code in the form of spin-off projects, handsets or applications.
Community: a community structure that does not discriminate between developers

After grading all mobile platforms against these categories, Android scored the least “open” of all the platforms at 23% open. QT and Symbian followed at 58%. That’s quite the jump, isn’t it? The most open of all the platforms actually happened to be iOS. (Gotcha! It wasn’t). The most open was actually Eclipse at 84%. Check out the chart below to see how the results play out.

This comes as no surprise, since Android has not exactly been the perfect example of open source. Android is “open” because the source code can be used and modified by manufacturers and developers. But the platform is, for the most part, still controlled by Google. Devices have to be approved in order to be supported. Most decisions are still made by Google. Transparency is not as prominent, and the roadmap of platform development is often hidden. These are just some of the factors that contributed to Android’s low score.

Android is an anomaly among open source platforms. Such projects are usually much more successful when the governance is more “open.” The fact is, outside developers can often do a much better job at improving the OS. Just like true communism, open source projects are meant to be improved and optimized by us, the users (theoretically). While Android is the least open source, it has proven to be the most successful of all the other open source platforms. There might be multiple reasons for this phenomenon.

Android is lead by an amazingly powerful company. This may have been what gave them an initial boost. Google is a company with power, resources and the ability to hire the best programmers and developers. Android has also received much support from all major manufacturers, as well as the community. (We can’t forget about our community developers!). This leads to one of the fullest, most intuitive and flexible mobile operating systems we’ve ever seen.

But Android’s success is partly based on its lack of “openness.” This is a matter Andy Rubin clarified a few months ago when he mentioned “Android is open sourced but not a community-driven project.” Rather, it’s a balance between open and closed governance. Android stays partly closed, so that the OS can stay within the safe arms of Google’s support while allowing for improvement by developers. Do you think Google should adopt more open governance ideas? Would that be potentially dangerous for the platform? We all dream of a perfect open source world, but much like communism, it isn’t completely possible. To check the full study report, simply go to Vision Mobile’s research site and download the .pdf file from the “Open Governance Index” section.

Andy Rubin explains why Android is open sourced but not a community-driven project

Alberto Vildosola — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:23:45 +0000

There’s been a lot of talk recently about whether Android is truly open or not. SVP of Mobile at Google — Andy Rubin — decided to set the record straight about Android’s openness. In the Q/A session at Google I/O this morning, he explained why Android is an open source project, but not developed in the open like other open source products.

When asked about this issue by Lance Ulanoff of PC Magazine, Andy responded:

Open source is different than a community-driven project. Android is light on the community-driven side and heavy on the open source. Everything we do ends up in the open source repository.
We're building a platform, not an app. Developers evolve APIs and deprecate APIs, they are always adding new functionality. When we add new APIs, typically in my opinion community processes don't work. It's really hard to tell when you're done, it's really hard to tell what's a release and what's a beta.
Developers have to have an expectation that all the APIs are done and complete at certain date.
If it was a community process, an OEM could start building devices, then those devices would be incompatible from a third-party developer's perspective. We have to make sure those APIs are on all those devices that adopt those platforms. Going forward, that becomes part of our job, our responsibility. A community process harder to manage. We take submissions form community, but it's a much more controlled way in how it comes out.
Andy RubinSVP of Mobile at Google

That makes sense to us. In order to have stable APIs in each update, Google needs to have a tight grip on Android’s development. If it didn’t, all hell would break loose with many Android devices launching with many different APIs — truly fragmenting the OS.

So no, Android is not an open source project in the same way that Firefox or WordPress are. But there’s a good reason for that. Those two products don’t have to deal with keeping a few hundred different devices all compatible with each other. While I know some people will disagree with Google’s decision, I think most of us understand where they’re coming from.

Android 2.2 source code released, updates coming this summer

Taylor Wimberly — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:17:37 +0000

Just as promised, Google has released the source code for the upcoming Android 2.2 FroYo release. Andy Rubin revealed the news during today’s Droid X event and anyone can freely download the source now.

Because Google just released the source code, it could be several more months before some devices see Android 2.2. As Andy Rubin put it, “We just open-sourced it today. That’s when everybody says, ‘Go!’. That just happened today”.

Rumors had suggested the Droid X might ship with Android 2.2, but it will launch with Android 2.1 and receive an over the air update in “late summer”.

Phones that are expected to receive Android 2.2 include the Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2, Motorla Droid, Motorola Milestone, Dell Streak, Google Nexus One, HTC EVO, HTC Incredible, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy S, myTouch 3G, myTouch 3G Slide, and others.

NPR makes source code for Android app public

Anthony Domanico — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:36:21 +0000

NPR (National Public Radio) has just issued a press release announcing that they have made the source code for their Android application public. For those who have never heard of public radio (shame on you), it is a member supported radio service providing (usually) unslanted news coverage, classical music, and entertaining programs such as the Car Talk and This American Life. Google it. You won’t look back.

With the release of the application’s source code, NPR is hoping Android community programmers, in conjunction with Google developer Michael Frederick, will contribute cool new code that will make this app better. Not a programmer? NPR still wants to hear from you, as they believe user ideas are key to building innovative new functionalities.

So, all you programmers interested in helping create a truly wonderful public radio application as well as you Android users who simply want to share a brilliant idea you have, Tweet at NPR’s Android Twitter account (@nprandroid) for more details. Full text of the press release can be found below.

Show Press Release

Some ideas take on a life of their own. They grow and evolve beyond expectations.

It’s almost organic.

Since its bazaar beginning, NPR’s Android app has been an experiment, allowing NPR to test the waters of collaborating with the open source community.

We didn’t know how fast the Android platform would grow or what kind of an impact it would make. The last six months show us Android’s incredible trajectory and that our audience gravitates toward that momentum. Since the app’s release in December, we’ve seen astounding growth, and now over 100,000 people use this new platform each month.

In the spirit of the Android operating system, we’ve decided to make the code for NPR’s app public. We believe this matches perfectly with NPR’s public service mission. Public media implies our audiences have a stake in our product, and open source projects are a means to better connect to our stakeholders.

We want to connect with you.

If you are a programmer, you know what this is all about. If you find yourself spending your free time hacking up cool things just because it is your passion, then put your energy to a noble cause. Spend some time poking around our app. Not only are you helping NPR and your local member station, but you will get a chance to work with a developer at Google, Michael Frederick. Michael has been responsible for the majority of work in building the NPR Android app and is ready to engage with anyone contributing code to the project. Thanks to Michael’s generosity this project is off to strong start. But we don’t want it to stop there.

If you don’t spend your free time digging through the guts of your latest attempt at artificial intelligence, you can still be a part of this community, because no matter who you are, you can still have good ideas.

We need to hear from you. If you love NPR and believe in what public media stands for, join us. The more the better. Come talk to us on Twitter @nprandroid or wherever you engage with NPR.

Google responds to CyanogenMod controversy

Taylor Wimberly — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:20:32 +0000

Android developer Dan Morrill has made a post on the official Android blog in response to the recent Cyanogen controversy.

Lately we’ve been busy bees in Mountain View, as you can see from the recent release of Android 1.6 to the open-source tree, not to mention some devices we’re working on with partners that we think you’ll really like. Of course, the community isn’t sitting around either, and we’ve been seeing some really cool and impressive things, such as the custom Android builds that are popular with many enthusiasts. Recently there’s been some discussion about an exchange we had with the developer of one of those builds, and I’ve noticed some confusion around what is and isn’t part of Android’s open source code. I want to take a few moments to clear up some of those misconceptions, and explain how Google’s apps for Android fit in.

Everyone knows that mobile is a big deal, but for a long time it was hard to be a mobile app developer. Competing interests and the slow pace of platform innovation made it hard to create innovative apps. For our part, Google offers a lot of services — such as Google Search, Google Maps, and so on — and we found delivering those services to users’ phones to be a very frustrating experience. But we also found that we weren’t alone, so we formed the Open Handset Alliance, a group of like-minded partners, and created Android to be the platform that we all wished we had. To encourage broad adoption, we arranged for Android to be open-source. Google also created and operates Android Market as a service for developers to distribute their apps to Android users. In other words, we created Android because the industry needed an injection of openness. Today, we’re thrilled to see all the enthusiasm that developers, users, and others in the mobile industry have shown toward Android.

With a high-quality open platform in hand, we then returned to our goal of making our services available on users’ phones. That’s why we developed Android apps for many of our services like YouTube, Gmail, Google Voice, and so on. These apps are Google’s way of benefiting from Android in the same way that any other developer can, but the apps are not part of the Android platform itself. We make some of these apps available to users of any Android-powered device via Android Market, and others are pre-installed on some phones through business deals. Either way, these apps aren’t open source, and that’s why they aren’t included in the Android source code repository. Unauthorized distribution of this software harms us just like it would any other business, even if it’s done with the best of intentions.

I hope that clears up some of the confusion around Google’s apps for Android. We always love seeing novel uses of Android, including custom Android builds from developers who see a need. I look forward to seeing what comes next!

Steve Kondik (Cyanogen) issued his own response on his Twitter account.

Sorry everyone, CyanogenMod in it’s current state is done. I am violating Google’s license by redistributing their applications. The only thing we can do is develop an open-source replacement for the most important parts. I do plan to release a “bare bones” version of CM as 4.2, and the source code will remain available. Unfortunately, I feel this is a chilling effect for the entire Android community, since what we are doing is now considered illegal.

We even had an inside source who wishes to remain anonymous that weighed in on the issue:

The C&D that Google sent to cyanogen was spawned by Google’s legal team, and lacks the support of the Android developers (who think it’s in VERY poor taste), likely spawned by the fact that he included a copy of the new 1.6 marketplace which had not been released anywhere else. He’s had at least 1 phone call with Google, and is working to open a dialog with them about the issue. They’re so far well with in their legal rights to do what they did, and he’s trying to open a dialog to allow him to continue. At this point, he thinks they’re acting in good faith, and is trying to keep this as quiet as possible to avoid any negative PR, so long as they’re acting in good faith.

Update (9/25 7:30PM): We also just found this obscure message from Android developer Jean-Baptiste Queru, who happens to work for the Dan Morrill quoted above.

What are the odds this is related?

Conclusion

I plan to summarize my thoughts on this entire issue, but I wanted to bring you the latest news first. It appears CyanogenMod as we know it is over. Hopefully Google can figure out a way to distribute their Android applications other than the closed source Android Market (shouldn’t they just call it the Google Market?).

Google Wave – The Big Google I/O Announcement

Clark Wimberly — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:29:20 +0000

Well, its not free hardware, but its still a pretty big announcement. Google Wave is a new open source communication and collaboration tool from the creators of Google Maps.

From Google, “Today we’re giving developers at Google I/O an early preview of Google Wave, ahead of public launch. A “wave” is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.”

The entire app is HTML 5 (which they’ve really been pushing lately) and seems to be aimed at replacing email. Lars started by saying email is a forty year old technology that was created before the internet and is no longer the most efficient way to communicate. Wave has been development for years in Sydney and today they announced all the developers here at I/O will be given free sandbox accounts (codes coming via email, ironically enough).

At this point Google Wave is just a developer preview but they are hoping to have a final product released by the end of the year. Wave runs completely in the browser and has numerous features not currently available with email or instant messaging. The messages are hosted, which makes it easy for anyone involved to hop into the thread and have the most recent information. Attachments work via drag and drop, and even send the thumbnails to other users while the full size images are loading. Long messages can easily be split into multiple threads, allowing easy replies to specific questions in the middle of a huge paragraph. There is an auto spell check that quickly corrects errors as you type. Instead of seeing “user is typing” while someone composes a message, you can actually see the live typing coming across as its typed. Threads can be shared with multiple users who can instantly participate in the conversations (which should totally kill CC and BCC).

Another huge feature is integration with other web services. To demo, they added a user named Bloggy to a ‘wave’ (I guess the new Google term for thread). Bloggy was a robotic user that was able to push the entire way out to Blogger. Within seconds, the entire wave was online as a Blogger entry. The embedded wave had images, multiple comments, even the wave UI. When someone left a comment on the wave, it was immediately shown on the blog (in real time, as he typed). They announced Waves will have a full API, which they hope will lead to multiple open source applications. They showed Wave integrating with Orkut. They showed Wave on an Android phone.

They are currently still demoing more features, so I’m sure this post may leave out some juicy bits, I just wanted to post it now to get the word out. Overall it looks like an amazingly useful tool. And considering this is just a developer demo, has a full API, and just gave developer accounts to 4k of the top devs in the world I can only assume its going to be better.

To look through more features, screens, and a full explanation, visit wave.google.com for all the information I may have missed. Or visit the official blog post from Google.

Could Symbian Really Squeeze Android Out?

Alex Byrnes — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:00:05 +0000

This smartphone article has gotten a lot of buzz around the office in recent days. (By office I mean apartment I share with my dog, but the fact remains.) Nearly everyone in the office is talking about this article. Fifty percent.

Jason Hiner does a disservice to Android, which upsets me personally, but worse than that, he’s so insulting to the entire smartphone-observant community that he’s got me sticking up for the iPhone.

Some of Mr. Hiner’s claims:

“Businesses will play a similar role in the smartphone business that they play in the PC market.”

This is a simple one. Businesses have to buy PCs for their employees. They usually don’t need to buy them phones, and additionally dictate which phone they buy. (And they don’t generally dictate based on security, which Mr. Hiner revisits several times. The president has phone security. Ralph’s Towing does not.)

Businesses may buy their employees phones, but most don’t. Business’ role in the PC market is much, much greater than their role in the smartphone market. Phone sales are consumer driven. Thirteen million iPhones were not sold last year to businesses. Businesses were not lined up around that ridiculous cube store in New York.

“It wasn’t until iPhone 2.0 when the software added Exchange support and business-friendly features that iPhone sales really took off.”

It also won Invention of the Year and dropped from $500 to $200, but who’s counting? It must be businesses sending their people to camp out in front of the cube for two days. “Johnson, head down to the cube and buy yourself an iPhone…”

“Linux=Google Android (for the most part)”

Android only makes up twenty percent of the Linux handset market sales from Q4 2008. They’ve actually been making Linux phones for a while.

“…Symbian will have to go toe-to-toe with Google Android to fight for the hearts of open source software developers… Due to the current reach of Symbian, the strong open source overtures made by Nokia, and the fact that Android hasn’t been a slam dunk with the open source community, I think Symbian has the advantage over Android.”

Symbian does not have the advantage over Android in any way shape or form other than being first. Android has been out on a commercial phone for five months. Symbian has been on the market since 2001. Android is still an infant by comparison and has a lot of capacity to grow. It is not burdened by incompatible versions of a user interface , a ridiculously difficult development environment , disgruntled developers , and viruses .

Furthermore, I can tell you there’s nothing that will make Symbian less popular with the open source community than charging $1,500 for access to the code.

And as long as we’re talking about money, if this OS is so great, why have they started giving it away? When’s the last time the open source project cost more than the hardware you were going to run it on?

Clearly Symbian (Nokia) is just reacting to the 20 percent it recently lost off its market share and nothing else. That’s where the recent jab at Android came from. That’s where the free phones are coming from. And that’s why it’s open source. It hopes to be on par with Android in a year or two, which is why its CEO not taking any swipes at the big boys on the way down.

“Windows Mobile is maddeningly difficult to use.”

Okay, that one is true. I wouldn’t have said difficult to use exactly. Maybe “extraordinarily frustrating.” Windows bashing unites us all.

I think the worst thing that’s wrong with Mr. Hiner’s article is that he gets the smartphone market all wrong. Everything is going to change in six months, and then it’s going to change again in another six months on and on, and every change will be somewhat radical and unexpected, but at the same time those seeds are already in the ground. Potential counts so much.

Before Apple was known for phones, you might be tempted to say it wouldn’t be any good at it. There were no Google gadgets of any kind before the G1. And yet here we are. Following the trends by looking at the money and a few loosely defined concepts like “unified communications” and “fixed mobile convergence solutions” is like saying that Vista is going to be great because it sounds like a nice view.

Pre-Order Your Android Netbook Here

Admin — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:35:45 +0000

Who will be first to market with an Android powered netbook? According to Always Innovating, their first Touch Book will become available between May and June 2009 and will run Android. While it will ship with a custom version of Windows called Touch Book OS, the device will be capable of running many other OSes, including Google Android, Ubuntu, Angstrom, and Windows CE.

The device features a touchscreen that can be detached from the keyboard. Each component contains its own battery, but when they are combined it boast up to 15hr battery life. It is also interesting to note that the device will feature Mozilla’s upcoming mobile browser, Fennec.

AI Touch Book

A few of the features of the device include:

9.4″ x 7″ x 1.4″ for 2 lbs (with keyboard)
ARM Texas Instruments OMAP3 chip
1024×600 8.9” screen
Storage: 8GB micro SD card
Wifi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth
3-dimensional accelerometer
Speakers, micro and headphone
6 USB 2.0 (3 internal, 2 external, 1 mini)
10h to 15 hours of battery life

For now, it looks like users will be on their own in the beginning with Android. Much like other devices, it will be up to the open source community to support it. I asked if the Android OS had been successfully ported to the Touch Book and here is their response.

We haven’t extensively tested Android on the Touch Book, as we’re only going to be selling it with the Touch Book OS. We only mention Android to tech-savvy users who are interested in experimenting with other operating systems.

If you would like to get your hands on the device, it can be pre-ordered now on AI’s website. The stand alone touch screen goes for $299 or you can get the combo with keyboard for $399. I have a feeling this is the first of many netbooks we will see geared towards Android in 2009.

Interview with Android Hacker JesusFreke

Admin — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:20:44 +0000

When T-Mobile first released the HTC G1, many of the early adopters were Linux users and fans of open source. One of the most sought after features for Android, was the ability to gain root access to the G1. After root access was gained, users began creating their own custom builds of the Android operating system and even replaced the system bootloader. The most popular custom build, and the one I have flashed on my G1, was released by JesusFreke. Since his first release months ago, JesusFreke has continued to push out new builds each time an official update is sent out from Google.

We were lucky enough to sit down with JF for a few minutes and get his thoughts on Android and the future of his releases. If you are interested in learning more about “rooting” your phone, read to the end of the article where I include the appropriate links. Root access is suggested for advanced users only. You can break your phone if you do not know what you are doing.

Task Manager for Root Users

Android and Me: What are your thoughts on Android as a mobile platform?

JesusFreke: I really like that it is open source. I would say that was the #1 reason that I bought the phone. It’s unfortunate that we can’t currently build from source an equivalent build to the officially released ones, but it sounds like it will get to that point eventually. I really hope they make it so that we can at least run the Google apps on our own custom builds. I think a *lot* more people would be running a custom build if we could.

AAM: What inspired you to release your own builds for Google Android? Do you have a history of hacking phones or releases for other platforms?

JF: It was mostly a case of being in the right place at the right time, with the right knowledge. I had pre-ordered my G1 so I was one of the first people to get one. At first, we didn’t know about the infamous “root bug” of course, so once I had got my phone, I was bummed that I didn’t have root access. I spent some time looking around in the source, trying to find some way to get root. One of the areas that I had investigated heavily was the recovery image, so I had become familiar with it. A week or two later, the root bug was found and everyone was happy that they could get root on their phone. Then the dreaded RC30 came out which fixed the root bug. Since I was already familiar with the recovery image and how the updates worked, I was ready to dissect the RC30 update and create a new one with root access re-enabled. Shortly after my first “root-enabled” RC30 update, I released another version with a few more modifications and features.. and I just kept going from there.

I don’t have any experience with other mobile platforms. The G1/Android is my first “smart” phone, and the first phone/mobile community that I’ve been an active member of.

AAM: How would you rate Google’s relations with open source developers in respect to Android?

JF: I think it’s awesome that you can connect to #Android on freenode and talk to some of the very same developers that work on Android. Not to mention all the Android related google groups. There are certainly still some rough spots to be sanded out with their support for open source (can’t use google apps on builds from source), but I definitely feel that they are headed in the right direction in this area.

Superuser Whitelist

AAM: Can you share with us what you do when you are not are not writing code?

JF: I have some unusual hobbies. I enjoy unicycling, slacklining, playing the didgeridoo and playing various types of percussion – my current focus is on the Indian tabla. I also enjoy reading, mostly fantasy and science fiction books, and listening to various forms of world music (among other things).

AAM: Over 100k users have visited the forums where your Android releases were first posted. Do you have any idea how many people have downloaded and are running your work?

JF: Based on the downloads on the various mirrors that I release my firmware on, my best guesstimate is around 5k people.

AAM: I have seen quite a few users send you donations in appreciation for your work. Has this altered the amount of time you spend on your releases?

JF: Yeah, I’ve received a fair amount of donations, and I’m very appreciative to those who choose to donate. It does not affect the amount of time I spend though. This is a “fun” hobby project for me. I do it because I enjoy doing it, and the amount of time I put into it reflects that. For me, that usually means periods of very intense activity, followed by breaks of low activity as I recover.

AAM: Multi-touch is one of the features that got a lot of people interested in rooting their phones. Will you continue to add new functionality to the G1 when possible?

JF: Yes, I will continue to add functionality where it’s possible. Currently we are limited to what types of functionality we can add, because we can’t rebuild some of the components from source. Or rather, we can’t build them in a way that is compatible with the official releases. The multi-touch stuff was mostly done by lukehutch. He, ryebrye and zinx found a way to implement the underlying multi-touch support with changes just in the kernel, which is one of the components that we *can* rebuild from source. They also made changes in the Browser application to use the new multi-touch support.

Terminal Emulator on Android

AAM: Do you have any future plans for your releases you can share with us? Will we be seeing an auto-updater in the next major release?

JF: I don’t plan to include an auto-updater in my build, but there is one that is being developed that users will be able to install from the market. In general, I don’t include Android applications in my builds, at least not ones that can be installed seperately, because I think it’s better to give the user the choice to install it or not. Additionally, when I include an application in the firmware, it makes it harder to upgrade or uninstall it. Finally, space in /system is at a premium, so it’s better to have applications like that installed normally, so they are stored in /data on the phone, rather than /system.

The 2 exceptions are the Superuser application, because it provides a more secure way to get root access on the phone, and the Terminal Emulator application, which I consider an “essential” application.

I would definitely like to add the ability to restore backups directly from recovery mode, instead of having to use fastboot to do the restore. Other than that, I only have a few minor changes currently planned, but nothing too major.

If you would like to follow the progress of JesusFreke and his releases please check out his blog. If you are interested in rooting and flashing your phone, head over to the XDA-developers forum. Please share your experiences and questions with rooting in the comments.