2 blogs in one day? Well that's not too radical sadly, especially since that first post was mainly my point of view after admitting the whole furry bit. You didn't come here to read my blog to just hear me spout off about furries and the like, I promised technical stuff and that's what I'm going to give you.
So, for the last few months I have been playing around extensively with the Motorola Droid X, and while I admit it has it's drawbacks, overall it's a great device. From the open-source coding to the absolute customization points of the machine, there isn't a lot you can't accomplish with this cellphone. Frankly I remember the green screen days of old Nokia's where you couldn't even text, but boy could you blow out your keypad playing hour after hour of Snake. Nowadays We have devices tied directly into our lives online, Email, Facebook, Myspace (for those of you who still use that) Instant Messengers, games, thousands of applications, oh yeah and the phone, that's the important part. Do I recommend a smartphone for the average user who primarily makes calls and texts occasionally? Well for the extra 30 dollars a month it costs you for hte data plans, No I do not. If you're like me however, and you find yourself trying to remember when you're not in front of a computer screen doing one thing or another, I've found my phone to be absolutely essential. From Broadcasting it's own wireless signal to taking over my messengers to free up crucial megs of Ram while I run music and high data loads from my laptop, it's become attached to my hip. Currently I'm running Tranquility 3.0 as a custom ROM coupled with the Gala X 1.6 theme downloaded form Rom manager.
If you're just tuning in, have been hiding under a rock, or have had questions about this device I hopefully will be able to shed some light on any concerns and issues you may have with this device. For instance, you have the device and keep hearing the word "Root" thrown around. Basically, "Rooting" is giving yourself Administrator privileges over your phone. Since the Android OS is run from an UBUNTU build of Linux (or a similar build if I'm not correct on that) once you figure out what you want to do, it's actually pretty easy to get there or rebuild what you want. There are a few awesome threads on DroidLife and XDA-Developers that I'll be linking at the end of this blog that should help out immensely, mainly programs for rooting, Roms, themes and anything else you can think of to modify and change out the software and functionality to make it your own perfect machine. Let's face it folks, we live in a technological age where the sky's the limit and the only hting holding you back is being misinformed, or lacking information itself. Rooting is the basis for all mods and customizations as well as a few programs you can find on the market to enhance your DROID experience (i.e. Wireless tether, bootstrap, Root explorer, Rom manager, etc). Keep in mind though, as any of the cellphone companies will tell you, Rooting your device will void your warranty, but hey you unlocked it, so you should be able to lock it back up if you have to take it in right? Exactly, I've searched countless releases and blogs of the actual developers of these companies and nowhere have I found the words "DO NOT DO THIS" it's more of a understated "if you do this and you mess it up, don't come crying to us." I can understand where they're coming from on this matter, rooting isn't all that scary, and your phone is just that, YOURS. Cellphone techs are trained on the specific models and systems that they're designed to run, so if you're running a system that's completely different, say a blur-less rom like tranquility, most often than not the tech that looks at your phone is just going to hand it back with a confused look and ask, "what the heck did you do?"
I cant blame them though, it's impossible to stay above the curve for one, and when it comes to modding there are so many different things you can do with a computer (which by the way, this device is about as powerful as a netbook) so it's easy to stump somebody who's trained on a stock android OS. I'm rambling I know, I promised a rundown and ok I'm back on track. How do you root? Simple, while I didn't write the program as I lack the programming skills to do so, I came across a forum on XDA that was a one touch system. I'll link the forum at the end here so just bear with me. "Once I'm rooted what do I do next?" well that's an answer you have to find for yourself, it's all dependent on what you want your phone to do, and WHAT you want it to do. I personally use mine for my work internet since I don't have any kind of connection while I'm here in my dj booth so my phone makes up that task. Just a quick warning if you're going to use the wireless tether for long periods, have a fan ready. The longer you use this function, the more the battery heats up and can potentially shorten the life of your phone. As to whether or not it's a noticeable difference I'm honestly not sure. "The store rep told me I should buy a screen protector, should I?" In my opinion, no it's a waste of money. The glass screen of the X is made with the Gorilla glass, damn near unscratchable (i took a steak knife to mine and a ballpoint pen and repeatedly stabbed the screen and not even remotely a scratch) so while protection is always a good thing to have, an extra screen protector isn't worth it, plus I've noticed on the ones that do have them, the touch screen is nowhere near as precise and responsive as it is without.
That's what i have for now, again please feel free to email me any questions or feel free to comment
and as promised here are the links:
Rooting on XDA http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=782556
Droidforums (just as good as xda, and droid only) http://www.droidforums.net/
Read up on what's going on, the only thing worse than being a know-it-all is not knowing anything at all
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