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EHNDROIX III 13.8.6 - i9001

Posted by Unknown Monday, August 5, 2013 0 comments

EHNDROIX III is an aftermarket firmware based on CyanogenMod 10.1,created by Nitrox-developers Team. Edited and customized to the smallest details, is designed to provide users with an Jelly Bean user-friendly experience and is available for a wide range of terminals !

The ROM has been optimized to ensure maximum fluidity and at the same time good battery life and, thanks to Nitrox S, you will have the opportunity to stay up to date on the latest news and download launchers, themes "exclusive" mod and much more !

Features

Based on CyanogenMod 10.1
New theme with new exclusive EhndroiX styles
Update the ROM directly from your device with integrated OTA Updater
Official bootanimation
Use EhndroGapps, refined gapps and in Black or White style
Apex Launcher
FM Radio Included
Flash Player Support
No more ads in the apps
Send messages with exclusive EhndroiX app with a very attractive look and new features
Exceptional audio quality and volume thanks to Sony xLoud and ClearAudio
Striking Images Quality thanks to Sony Bravia Engine 2 and a better density
See HD videos via 3G or Wi-Fi by Inverted YouTube modded for continuing to use whit the screen off
Fantastic Official EhndroiX Wallpapers
GPS ultra running in all countries due to the automatic fix satellites
ROM in constant development (keep up to date thanks to date version)
Keep safe your data with Titanium Backup installed by default
... and much more!

Guide to proper Installation

Coming from a previous EHNDROIX III:

Download ROM
Download EhndroGapps
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik / Cache
Flash EhndroiX III
Flash EhndroGapps
Restart

Coming from EHNDROIX II or EHNDROIX /CM7/CM9/CM10/AOKP/MIUI:

Download ROM
Download EhndroGapps
Wipe Data
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Flash EhndroiX III
Flash EhndroGapps
Restart

Changelog

13.8.6

Changed base to CyanogenMod 10.1 RC5 by ADC Team
Changed kernel to K^Kernel 1.9 ( Linux Base 3.4.56 )
Rom built with Google GCC 4.9 Toolchain
System Improvement
Better Fluidity
Better Battery Drain
Better Data Connection
Updated Default Apps
Updated White and Black EhndroGapps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And a lot of other news !!!

13.7.17

Changed base to CyanogenMod 10.1 RC4.6 by Davidteri
Changed kernel to K^Kernel 1.7 ( Linux Base 3.4.53 )
Rom built with Google GCC 4.9 Toolchain
AriesParts of CyanogenMod 10.1 RC4 by ADC Team
Added Android 4.3 Camera
Added Android 4.3 Sun Bean Live Wallpaper
Samsung Galaxy S IV Style Package Available
System Improvement
Better Fluidity
Better Battery Drain
Better Data Connection
Updated Default Apps
Updated White and Black EhndroGapps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And a lot of other news !!!

13.7.9

Changed base to CyanogenMod 10.1 RC4 by ADC Team
Changed kernel to PhenomKernel 4.3 ( Linux Base 3.4.51 )
Rom built with Google GCC 4.6 toolchain
AriesParts: Corrected German translation
AriesParts: Corrected Spanish translation
AriesParts: Serbian translation
AriesParts: Show the value of vibration strength in percentage instead of the value of the driver
AriesParts: Updated cm device settings with tab layout
Revert back to system defined dalvik heap)
Set resampler quality
Fix audio in Hangouts
Remove custom oncrpc node permissions
Clean out unused code from liblights
Put back dalvik.vm.dexopt-data-only=1
Enabled world phone menu
Enable volume rocker and home button wake preferences
Added PhotoTable live wallpaper
AriesParts: Chinese translation
AriesParts: Romanian translation
AriesParts: Polish translation
AriesParts: Spanish translation
Updated Default Apps
Updated White and Black EhndroGapps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And a lot of other news !!!

13.6.24

Changed base to CyanogenMod 10.1 RC2 by ADC Team
Changed kernel to K^Kernel 1.4 ( Linux Base 3.4.50 )
Temporary workaround for flicker brightness after screen on
Battery drain fix for WIFI "Disabled SUPPORT_PM2_ONLY and DISABLE_FW_ROAM_SUSPEND"
Fixed data CRC errors for WIFI
Updates and fixes to Interactive CPU governor
Squashed update of BFQ-V6 to BFQ-v6r2
Corrected an unmanaged gamma for autobrightness
Customizable timeout for touchkeys backlight
Added AccuWeather
Removed Yahoo Weather
Customizable activation status of touchkeys backlight on touchscreen press
Fix for discharging battery issue while charging to 100%
Updated Default Apps
Updated White EhndroGapps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And a lot of other news !!!

13.5.31

Base updated to CyanogenMod 10.1 Beta 6.3.5 by davidteri91
Kernel updated to Linux Base 3.4.47
Fixed Problem with Camera
Fixed Wi-Fi Thetering
Updated CameraHAL
Update BoardConfig
Added Global Gps Fix No SSL
System Improvement
Data Connection Improved
Bluetooth Connection Improved

New driver autobrightness sensor
Updated Display and Media legacy
GPS Connection Improved
Updated EhndroGapps ( slimmed and changed installation script )
Updated default apps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And other news !!!

13.5.19

Update base to CyanogenMod 10.1 Beta 6.2.1 by davidteri91
Change kernel into K^Kernel 1.9 ( Linux Base 3.0.78 )
ROM Reworked from zero
New Bootanimation
Graphic Update
System Improvement
Better Data Connection
Fixed Bluetooth
Fixed Google Maps soft reboot
New driver autobrightness sensor
Updated Display and Media legacy
Better GPS Connection
Updated EhndroGapps [ only white version, beacuase there are a lot of newest apps not yet in black version )
Updated default apps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And other news !!!

13.4.29

Update base to CyanogenMod 10.1 Beta 4.5 by davidteri91
ROM Reworked from zero
System Improvement
Better Data Connection
Fix Audio Call
Fix Edge Connection
New driver autobrightness sensor and update display driver from SGS2
HWC branch now called CM-10.1 compiled Display and Media legacy
Now ROM uses Samsung Camera Legacy
Added SD storage in stock camera app
Better GPS Connection ( Don't use Maps. It is bugged in CyanogenMod 10.1 )
Updated default apps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And other news !!!

13.4.19

Update base to CyanogenMod 10.1 Beta 3.5 by davidteri91
ROM Reworked from zero
System Improvement
Better Fluidity ( Never seen before - Very,very fluid)
Better Battery Drain
Better Data Connection
AddedHWC 1.1 Display and Media legacy
30FPS Preview Videocamera
New Drivers 3D By Qualcomm ( Fantastic Performance )
Better Data Connection
Better Battery Drain
Better Wi-fi Signal
Better GPS Connection
Updated default apps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And a lot of other news !!!

13.4.13

Update base to CyanogenMod 10.1 Beta 2.4 by davidteri91
Change kernel into Phenom Kernel 3.6 ( Linux Base 3.0.73 )
Added EhndroiX III Official Bootanimation
Changed some sytem sounds with Samsung Galaxy S IV 's ones
Added Universal CleanerScript ( flash in recovery for remove tweaks *Only for how have laggy phone )
Added Google Keep
System Improvement
Better Fluidity
Better Battery Drain
Better Data Connection
Little Graphic Update
New display drivers from Samsung Galaxy S II
Fixed Button Edit inor remove emmc brick bug
Fixed preview videos 480p
Fixed universal WEP
Fixed Android Keyboard
Fixed glitch in frontal camera
Enable WEBGL
Updated RIL
Updated default apps
Updated and added new apps in EhndroGapps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And a lot of other news !!!

13.4.2

Update base to CyanogenMod 10.1 Beta 1 by Xistance
Change kernel into Phenom Kernel 3.2.1 ( Linux Base 3.0.71 )
Added EhndroiX III Official Bootanimation
Added Google Keep
Changed some sytem sounds with Samsung Galaxy S IV 's ones
Graphic Update
Fixed Bluetooth
Fixed RIL problems
Vsync fully working
Fixed WiFi tethering
Fixed Bluetooth tethering
Fixed USB tethering
Removed MIUI Notes
Updated default apps
Updated EhndroGapps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And a lot of other news !!!

___________________________________

Download: Last ROM Release

Download: Black and White EhndroGapps 4.2.2
Download: S IV Style Universal Pack
Download: LG Style Universal Pack
Download: NitroX-developers Bootanimations Pack

(This ROM is certified Nitrox-developers but the staff does not assume any responsibility for any damage to your device)

New feature on xda-developers - "XDA: DevDB"

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Recently xda-developers presented new forum feature: Development Database, or DevDB for short.

Here is a short list of what is actually does:

Download manager with an XDA torrent tracker
ROMs can have multiple "contributors" who can make changes, add files, etc.
Ability to tag ROMs (so they are searchable for users)
Screenshot management
Ability to reserve up to two posts in your ROM thread (below the first post)
ROM reviews
Q&A thread association
Bug tracker / feature requester
ROMs will be flashable directly from DevDB *coming soon*
Users can "follow" a ROM and get auto-notified of updates

Of course it's not only about ROMs. Any developer can add f.g. kernel project too.

What I find interesting so far is the possibilities to write a short reviews and follow the project. Everyone can also contribute by writing some idea for some new feature or submit a bug in a bug tracker.

If you have free 5 minutes (it's how much it takes!) please take a look at this new system and follow my HTC One "project" under this link - follow project (if you are HTC One owner) and leave your review for my HTC One ROM under this link - write a short review.

The project is currently in beta stage, and number of supported devices is limited to:

Galaxy S II, III, and 4

HTC One

Sony Xperia Tablet Z

Sony Xperia Z

Droid DNA

Nexus 4, 10, 7

Galaxy Note II

Personally I think that DevDB is a great idea, however it surely needs some time before users and developers will get used to it.

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) down this post!

EHNDROIX III 13.7.20 - i9003

Posted by Unknown Friday, July 19, 2013 0 comments

Features

Based on CyanogenMod 10.1
New theme with new exclusive EhndroiX styles
Update the ROM directly from your device with integrated OTA Updater
Official bootanimation
Use EhndroGapps, refined gapps and in Black or White style
Apex Launcher
FM Radio Included
Flash Player Support
No more ads in the apps
Send messages with exclusive EhndroiX app with a very attractive look and new features
Exceptional audio quality and volume thanks to Sony xLoud and ClearAudio
Striking Images Quality thanks to Sony Bravia Engine 2 and a better density
See HD videos via 3G or Wi-Fi by Inverted YouTube modded for continuing to use whit the screen off
Fantastic Official EhndroiX Wallpapers
GPS ultra running in all countries due to the automatic fix satellites
ROM in constant development (keep up to date thanks to date version)
Keep safe your data with Titanium Backup installed by default
... and much more!

Guide to proper Installation

Coming from a previous EHNDROIX III:

Download ROM
Download EhndroGapps
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik / Cache
Flash EhndroiX III
Flash EhndroGapps
Restart

Coming from EHNDROIX II or EHNDROIX /CM7/CM9/CM10/AOKP/MIUI:

Download ROM
Download EhndroGapps
Wipe Data
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Flash EhndroiX III
Flash EhndroGapps
Restart

Changelog

13.7.20

First Release for i9003!

___________________________________

Download: Last ROM Release

Download: Black and White EhndroGapps 4.2.2
Download: S IV Style Universal Pack
Download: LG Style Universal Pack
Download: NitroX-developers Bootanimations Pack

(This ROM is certified Nitrox-developers but the staff does not assume any responsibility for any damage to your device)

EHNDROIX III 13.7.18 - i9100

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, July 17, 2013 0 comments

Features

Based on CyanogenMod 10.1
New theme with new exclusive EhndroiX styles
Update the ROM directly from your device with integrated OTA Updater
Official bootanimation
Use EhndroGapps, refined gapps and in Black or White style
Apex Launcher
FM Radio Included
Flash Player Support
No more ads in the apps
Send messages with exclusive EhndroiX app with a very attractive look and new features
Exceptional audio quality and volume thanks to Sony xLoud and ClearAudio
Striking Images Quality thanks to Sony Bravia Engine 2 and a better density
See HD videos via 3G or Wi-Fi by Inverted YouTube modded for continuing to use whit the screen off
Fantastic Official EhndroiX Wallpapers
GPS ultra running in all countries due to the automatic fix satellites
ROM in constant development (keep up to date thanks to date version)
Keep safe your data with Titanium Backup installed by default
... and much more!

Guide to proper Installation

Coming from a previous EHNDROIX III:

Download ROM
Download EhndroGapps
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik / Cache
Flash EhndroiX III
Flash EhndroGapps
Restart

Coming from CM7/CM9/CM10/AOKP/MIUI:

Download ROM
Download EhndroGapps
Wipe Data
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Flash EhndroiX III
Flash EhndroGapps
Restart

Changelog

13.7.18

Added Android 4.3 Camera
Added Android 4.3 Sun Bean Live Wallpaper
Samsung Galaxy S IV Style Package Available
System Improvement
Better Fluidity
Better Battery Drain
Better Data Connection
Better GPS Signal
Updated Default Apps
Updated White and Black EhndroGapps
Sync to lastest CyanogenMod sources
And a lot of other news !!!

___________________________________

Download: Last ROM Release

Download: Black and White EhndroGapps 4.2.2
Download: S IV Style Universal Pack
Download: LG Style Universal Pack
Download: NitroX-developers Bootanimations Pack

(This ROM is certified Nitrox-developers but the staff does not assume any responsibility for any damage to your device)

Revolution Toolbox

Posted by Unknown Friday, June 28, 2013 0 comments

There is something amazing coming for all Android Revolution HD users. But not only. Every Android user would be able to use it!

I will just leave it here... ;)

Hint: Logo

Hint: App drawer icon

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) down this post!

Do we really need S-OFF?

Posted by Unknown Friday, June 14, 2013 0 comments

Lately there has been a lot of confusion about if we - HTC users - really need S-OFF on our devices. I think it's time to make this case as clear as possible, and clear up any remaining doubts.

First of all, S-OFF stands for "Security OFF" and S-ON for "Security ON". It's a term specific to HTC devices (and refers to digital signature checking on the bootloader "hboot"). Retail devices always come with SHIP S-ON locked bootloaders. Hboot can also be found in an engineering version (ENG as opposed to SHIP), but it's not easy to get such a device.

You should also know the "fastboot" term: it is a diagnostic protocol used primarily to modify the flash filesystem via a USB connection from host computer. After enabling the protocol on the device itself (entering "fastboot" mode from inside the bootloader), it will accept a specific set of commands sent to it via USB using a command line, for example "fastboot flash boot boot.img" or "fastboot erase cache".

What's the main difference between S-ON and S-OFF from the end-user point of view?

With S-OFF you can:

Flash in fastboot original parts of the firmware like: Trust Zone (tz.img), Resource Power Manager (rpm.img), Advanced Digital Signal Processor (adsp.img), bootloader (hboot.img), Radio Config Data (rcdata.img), Splash Screen and others, very often device specific firmware like Consumer IR (cir.img) for the television remote controller in HTC One.
Flash in fastboot custom parts of the firmware above, however I've never seen in my life anyone compiling custom rpm.img or tz.img. I've seen custom bootloaders and Splash Screens only. You can also flash modified radio.img but there is rarely anyone out there who does this.
Use more advanced fastboot commands, for example you can change the CID (Carrier ID) of your device or even MID (Model ID). And this one is the most important one in the context of this article.
Reset the Tampered flag, so your device does not show up as "Relocked" if you relock your bootloader.

For about 2 years you have been able to unlock bootloaders of selected HTC devices on the htcdev.com webpage. Unlocking your bootloader results in an "UNLOCKED" message in the bootloader screen, and allows you to use some of the fastboot commands. For example system, boot and recovery partitions are no longer locked and you can flash a custom boot or recovery onto your device. This doesn't mean S-OFF, but it does give you some more control over your device.

Sometimes there are differences specific to the SoC ("System on a Chip") of each device. Both HTC One X and One X+ (nVidia Tegra 3) have locked out the capability to flash the boot partition from inside recovery, even if your bootloader is unlocked. It is possible to flash the boot partition only via the "fastboot flash boot <boot image name>" command. On the newest HTC smartphone - HTC One (Qualcomm Snapdragon S600) you can use either fastboot or adb shell (dd if=/... of=/...) to write the boot partition.

Do we really need S-OFF?

No, we don't. So what do we need? Because we surely need something. But to understand what we need, it's important to realize where the problem is first.

First of all, comparing HTC devices with Nexus devices is a pointless activity. Never do that. Why? Because they are all S-ON (they call it Secure Boot), and updates for Nexus devices contain the following (based on my experience with Samsung Galaxy Nexus):

bootloader.img
recovery.img
GSM radio
CDMA radio (in case of CDMA device)

That's all. On Nexus device you can flash the original bootloader or radio using the "package_extract_file" command in the updater-script. When HTC releases a major update, however, you will get:

adsp.img
cir.img
dzdata_16g.hdr
dzdata_16g.img
dzdata_32g.hdr
dzdata_32g.img
dzdata_64g.hdr
dzdata_64g.img
bootloader.img
radio.img
recovery.img
rpm.img
sbl1-1.img
sbl1-2.img
sbl1-3.img
sbl2.img
sbl3.img
tp.img
tz.img
more...

See the difference? This firmware images (if updated) are stored inside firmware.zip inside the OTA update. And without S-OFF you can manually update (using fastboot commands or command shell) only recovery, boot, system and sometimes radio. Other partitions are locked and you can't update firmware images other way then only with signed firmware.zip.

Content of HTC OTA update

However, very often, flashing only the content of the system and boot partitions is not enough to have the device fully working. For example, in the HTC One X it was necessary to use the new bootloader together with the official HTC Jelly Bean update, otherwise your device wouldn't boot with an older bootloader. This is why flashing a custom ROM for an HTC device is nowhere the same as flashing a custom ROM on a Nexus device. Apart from having the latest system files, you need to have the latest firmware.zip package flashed as well.

Because HTC sells their devices to different carriers around the world, they need to accept some requirements. For example carrier branding. Because of carrier branding, HTC has more than one version of the RUU (ROM Update Utility) for each device. To indicate the difference between the branded and un-branded versions of the same device, HTC used so called "CID" numbers.

To find out your current CID number (together with some other useful info) you can use the "fastboot getvar all" command. Also, keep in mind that every OTA update checks CID/MID numbers before it will start to patch your system:

       ifelse( is_ship_bootloader(getprop("ro.bootloader")) == "t" ,
       assert(check_cid(getprop("ro.cid"), "00000000" , "11111111" ,
         "22222222" , "33333333" , "44444444" , "55555555" , "66666666" ,
         "77777777" , "88888888" , "99999999" , "HTC__001" , "HTC__E11" ,
         "HTC__102" , "HTC__203" , "HTC__405" , "HTC__Y13" , "HTC__304" ,
         "HTC__032" , "HTC__A07" , "HTC__J15" , "HTC__016") == "t"););
         ifelse( is_ship_bootloader(getprop("ro.bootloader")) == "t" ,
         assert(check_mid("full", "PN0710000") == "t");,
        assert(check_mid("simple", "PN0710000") == "t"););

Obviously "check_cid" includes also SuperCIDs (00000000, 11111111, ...).

Content of android-info.txt

It's all in updater-script, so it can be easily edited anyway. But the real problem is different. As mentioned already, every OTA update contains firmware.zip - package with bootloader, radio, touch panel drivers, trust zone and other parts of important firmware. It also contains the "android-info.txt" file, where CIDs/MIDs are listed, so your S-ON bootloader won't let you flash an original firmware.zip if your CID number is not listed there. Yes, I'm not talking here about custom radio, bootloader or anything custom at all. Original, untouched firmware.zip from an OTA update can't be flashed onto the device if the CID number doesn't match. Is it a problem? Yes, this is the real problem we're dealing here with. Not S-ON/S-OFF, but CID restrictions and an inability to change the CID number.

How this can be resolved? "android-info.txt" is a plain text file, so it can be edited easily. If your CID number is not on the list, just add one more line with your CID. However, as long as your device is S-ON, you won't be able to flash it, because every firmware.zip is signed with a special key. Once firmware.zip is modified, the signature is broken and the bootloader will reject the request to update it. But there is a different method: you can change the CID number on your device with a fastboot command "fastboot oem writecid <cid number>". The best CID number to use is one of the WWE CIDs (for instance HTC__001). But wait - you can't use this particular fastboot command without S-OFF.

Is this problem a real one, or just some sort of users ill-informed craving? It's very real, because without the ability to flash firmware.zip from a WWE OTA update, every user from any carrier or different world region is forced to wait months to receive OTA updates customized to his CID. Everyone can de-brand his device easily by flashing a stock system image, but it won't be enough: because firmware.zip with corresponding parts of the firmware is needed at the same time. This isn't about the OTA itself, it's about the firmware.zip inside that OTA update.

Dangers:

So what are the dangers of obtaining S-OFF on your device? Some of the partitions in the device are extremely sensitive and can result in your device being bricked if they are even slightly corrupted. With S-OFF you can access all of these partitions and the slightest corruption during transfer (whether that be a power spike or you jiggled the cable slightly) can result in a bricked device as it does not check for signatures.

Here’s an example which has almost happened to me once on an S-OFF device: I was flashing a boot.img via fastboot, the command is: "fastboot flash boot boot.img". However I had made a small but significant typo: "fastboot flash hboot boot.img", simply by mis-hitting the B key; this command would be rejected by a device with S-ON as it is a protected partition, but would be accepted on a device with S-OFF. If I had pressed enter without checking the command, my device would have turned into a paperweight in seconds.

One of the most popular protected partitions the hacking community enjoy flashing is the radio partition. This is also a partition where the slightest corruption will cause your phone to brick. The FCC guidelines state the the radio must be booted with a separate processor (I guess to decrease the risk of it being tampered with), so what happens in a phone when it turns on is: radio is booted via a dedicated processor by the first stage loader, initialising the radio hardware (Wifi, Data, Bluetooth, etc.). Radio successfully boots and initiates the first stage loader to use the main CPU to load the second stage loader into RAM (also known as the SPL). Depending on the boot operation, it will either initiate the system or recovery. So without a functioning radio, the main CPU will not kick on and boot the phone.

Some other facts:

You don't need S-OFF to root your device.

You don't need S-OFF to be able to run Titanium Backup or other applications that requires root access. You just need root privileges for that.

You don't need S-OFF to flash custom recovery image onto your device.

To summarize:

We don't need S-OFF, but we do need the ability to edit the CID number on the device (let's say at least on officially UNLOCKED devices), or the firmware.zip packages inside an OTA update should not be signed, so that "android-info.txt" can be easily edited, or the CID restrictions from android-info.txt should be removed (MID is enough to ensure that the right firmware gets to the right devices).

Something to re-think?

Even if we don't need S-OFF I'm quite worried about the policies of mobile companies and carriers. Their philosophy is "the more you are locked down, the more you are protected". That means Police should not fight with criminals, but everyone should just lock down their doors, windows and stay at home instead. It's far easier and cheaper to lock down mobile devices and not allow root access rather then improving the security in other areas.

Can you imagine that you just bought a brand new notebook for $3000 and:

you can login only as a Guest (no Administrator account available by default),

you can't change your operating system,

you can't use applications that requires Administrator privileges,

you can't browse freely the content of your hard drive.

You would say "Where the hell is my freedom?!" Here comes the answer from your notebook manufacturer - "For your own security, you don't have any freedom". Sounds like a George Orwell story to me.

I want the same freedom on my phone that I have on my PC.

This article was written in a cooperation with Shen Ye

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) down this post!

PS. I want thank to Tom Kelsall, my HTC Elevate companion for his help in a proper grammar redaction of the review! Thanks Tom!

HTC One review - part 1. Design

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, June 5, 2013 0 comments

I used to think that we were in an era when all smartphones with big screens looked more or less the same. Because if you're honest, what can be changed in the front of the device, if 90 to 95% of its surface is just touch screen? Oh dear, I was so wrong. HTC One is a true masterpiece of art. However, this review will also show some weak points of the newest HTC premium device. Yes there are some shortcomings, but we are not living in an ideal world so you won't ever find a perfect product: it doesn't matter if it's just a smartphone, a computer or even a car. People have different tastes or expectations and this won't ever change. But HTC One can surely satisfy more people then any other device before. Let's start from the beginning.

Size: 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm

Weight: 143g

Display: 4.7 inch, Full HD 1080p, 468 PPI

Design

HTC put in a lot of effort to make this device look amazing - efforts which have been a great success. However, design was never a weak point of HTC devices. As far back as I remember, HTC devices were always one step ahead of the competition when it came to the design and form innovation. So for me, it is not a surprise that HTC One sets a new standard of build quality and design.

Gaps

However, some users are reporting a wide gap between its plastic and metal surfaces. I don't have any on mine, but as far as I know this problem is not a matter of just few devices. So right after you buy yours, make sure it doesn't have any gaps. Is it something that should stop you from buying HTC One? Surely not. It is normal in every production process that sometimes there are some manufacturing issues. On the other hand, it seems that HTC quality testing department is not working very well, if units with gaps are passing build flaw tests. HTC One is a premium device for a premium price, so as a customer, you have a right to expect a gap free product (especially since HTC advertised the device as "gap free"). If you have noticed any, go to the store where you bought your device and exchange it for a gap free unit.

Made from one piece of aluminium

HTC One is known to be made from aluminium with a unibody construction. You can have a silver model or a black one at the moment (more colours are rumoured to be on the way). I can tell you that both look amazing. The black device looks to be more solid, but silver gives you a better, more premium look and feel. Not much to discuss when it comes to colours, because it's a matter of a taste of each user. If you want to read more about the process of designing the HTC One, you can visit this blog - Metal-morphosis of the New HTC One and this one - Making the New HTC One.

No removable battery - no problem

The unibody design has some particular consequences. First of all, you can't remove or change the battery inside the HTC One. Is it an issue? Personally, I never found it to be a problem. There are methods to switch off the device completely without removing the battery - a combination of power + volume buttons. Also, I shared my thoughts on this topic here - Removable battery - do we really need it? It's been a while already since the HTC One has been on the market and it's a best-selling product, despite its non-removable battery. Does this mean a removable battery is not that important in the end?

Of course I understand some arguments against having a non-removable battery. But there are always two sides of an argument and I'm not here to judge which side is better. Personally I just prefer unibody design, mostly because I see no reason to replace or remove the battery inside the device.

No micro-SD card - no problem either
It seems that no micro-SD card slot is also a consequence of having such a design. However, I can imagine that a micro-SD card could be used the same way as micro-SIM card is and it won't make it impossible to have a unibody design. On the other hand I also don't find any reasonable arguments to have a micro-SD card. The vast majority of users don't need more then 32 GB of available space. If you want to know more details about Android and internal memory you can read my article here - Virtual SD card on Android. HTC One is not supposed to be your personal media storage - for that you should buy a mini-PC with an mATX motherboard and 2x2TB HDDs connected with RAID. If the internal storage on your HTC One is full, backup some pictures or music onto your PC (or use USB OTG).

What to improve
Is there room for some improvements? Yes, I think there is. First of all, the design of the hardware buttons is not really comfortable. Having the power button on the top of such big device is not the best solution. Also, the power button itself is too small and it doesn't protrude enough from the surface, so it's quite hard sometimes to press it. Maybe it's because of the IR sensor built into the button that they were stuck with this design. I believe that having a power button located on the right hand side of the device (like on Nexus devices) and volume buttons on the left hand side would be a much better solution.

Secondly, the build of the front speaker grilles. These tiny holes can get clogged very easily. I can't think of an alternate solution at the moment; I guess it's just the downside of having a smartphone with amazing sound capabilities, known as HTC BoomSound™.

The last biggest design flaw I found are capacitive buttons. There are just 2 buttons - home and back button. It is already confirmed that under the HTC logo there is a touch sensor as well, and with the new "logo2menu" feature available in most custom kernels for HTC One it is possible to assign the HTC logo as a menu button. I think that the trend to have fewer buttons on smartphones comes from Apple - but iOS is a completely different operating system with a much simpler UI, and it's quite impossible to make the Android user experience that simple. Having just 2 capacitive buttons brings some negative consequences, for instance there is significant confusion about different "long-press" and "double-tap" combinations. For example, to activate the menu function you need to long press the Home button. To display "Recent Applications" you need to quickly tap twice on the Home button. Wouldn't it be easier for the end users to have 3 buttons instead of just 2, where one of them can be used in 3 different ways?

- 1 tap = home
- 2 tap = recent apps
- long tap = menu

I'm writing this review using Android 4.2.2 on my HTC One. On Android 4.1.2 it was less complicated, but somehow worse, because without the possibility to assign a long tap on the home button as "menu", you would have to deal with an ugly black "action overflow" button at the bottom of the display, the result of application developers failing to implement the appropriate Android SDK (level 11 or higher). Such a button takes about 10% of the screen space and in some cases it does absolutely nothing. You can disable it by proper system modification (qemu.hw.mainkeys=1) but then you wouldn't be able to access the app's settings if the particular app doesn't support Android SDK level 11+. You can read more about Google's approach to the issue here - Say Goodbye to the Menu Button.

I believe that the perfect combination of capacitive buttons would be following:

- Back button
---> short press = back
---> long press = kill recent app

- Home button

- Menu button
---> short press = home
---> long press = recent apps

Shiny edges

Coming back to overall design, I forgot to mention that I really like the shining aluminium edges of the One. It's much more visible on the silver version, which is also known to be less susceptible to fingerprints. This is a really awesome effect, and there is no phone on the market that looks as good as the HTC One. Say no to plastic!

Heat dissipation

Apart from premium looks, the aluminium unibody brings one more very important feature. It works as a natural, huge radiator, taking out heat from inside your device. I can definitely tell that the HTC One is running much cooler than the HTC One X or One X+. The included "System on a Chip" is part of the reason, but the aluminium body helps a lot in dissipating any heat that does build up.

Camera

Camera housing is flat in HTC One, and it's very good move from HTC. In HTC One X/X+ camera housing protrudes from the phone body and it was very easy to scratch it. It seems that HTC took seriously users feedback in that matter.

Verdict

There is a lot of marketing effort behind the HTC One, but this time it's one of those rare occasions where advertising doesn't lie. The HTC One is a premium product, with unique and completely amazing design. If you're looking for a smartphone that will gain people attention on the street, the HTC One fits perfectly. But design is not all - it also has great hardware inside, but this is a material for part 2 of this review, coming in a few days!

PS. I want thank to Tom Kelsall, my HTC Elevate companion for his help in a proper grammar redaction of the review! Thanks Tom!

Design summarize:

+ overall design
+ aluminium unibody construction
+ it feels really great in the hand
+ available in two great looking colours
+ two sound grids for best multimedia experience

- gaps on some units

- only 2 capacitive buttons

- hardware buttons location

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) down this post!

HTC One Android 4.2.2 with HTC Sense 5.1 aka HTC Sense 5.0?

Posted by Unknown Saturday, June 1, 2013 0 comments

There were quite a lot of rumours about upcoming HTC Sense and Android 4.2.2 update for HTC One and HTC Butterfly. All were expecting HTC Sense 5.1 to show up, but instead, the version of HTC UI in latest Android 4.2.2 update is still 5.0. However, it does have a lot of important changes. Let me introduce few of them.

1. % battery icon

Finally! The most popular modification in custom ROMs of all kind. Now you can enable it under Settings ---> Power ---> Show battery level.

2. Android EQS

HTC did a great job by incorporating Android native EQS. You can switch it by tapping on the EQS icon in the upper right corner of the notification menu.

3. Android Daydream

Another Android 4.2.2 feature included in latest HTC update.

4. Long press home button works as menu button.

It's been very popular modification in HTC One custom ROMs. Now it's by default added to Android 4.2.2 update as well.

5. Minor changes in the app drawer and dock

Now you can remove all the icons from the dock, which wasn't possible in HTC Sense 5.0 we had in Android 4.1.2. Also, after moving some particular icon to the dock, it won't be gone from the app drawer.

6. More new screenshots coming soon!

Ziwan Cell

EHNDROIX III 13.8.6 - i9001

New feature on xda-developers - "XDA: DevDB"

EHNDROIX III 13.7.20 - i9003

EHNDROIX III 13.7.18 - i9100

Revolution Toolbox

Do we really need S-OFF?

HTC One review - part 1. Design

HTC One Android 4.2.2 with HTC Sense 5.1 aka HTC Sense 5.0?

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