A Supercharged HTC One

Over the weekend I installed a custom rom, Android Revolution , on my HTC One. I mentioned yesterday I did this with the blessing of Three UK, although they will probably deny they actually said this, but they did! I got fed up waiting for the HTC One software update that would improve the camera considerably.

The process to go from a Three branded phone to a unlocked bootloader, rooted and custom rom took me hours but I was reading all I could find about how to do this process and having difficult understanding the language. However, now I realise what everything means in idiot language, the process isn’t really that difficult. I will write a guide, linking in various articles next week.

So why is my phone supercharged. Well for a start it has a stock version but the latest version available for the HTC One. This includes all the latest versions of the stock apps, the camera fixes and other bug fixes, new Sense 5 features, battery optimisations, speed and memory optimisations and special tweaks. During installation of this custom rom you have two screens where you can select or deselect whether you want certain apps or tweaks installed or not. For example, you can deselect Facebook if you never use it. You are also given the option to install extra apps that are important and would more than likely install afterwards. As the phone is rooted, I now can have additional features using Apex Launcher. But sometimes the simplest of tweaks make the world of difference.

Instead of always having to reach for the power button to switch on the HTC One, I can press the volume down. Genius as I hold my phone in my my right hand. Next handy tweak is a long press on the back capacitive button brings up the menu. So now more three dots at the bottom of the screen in some apps. The battery icon now shows the actual percentage. And system toggled are now shown in the notification centre.

I have been so impressed with this setup that I went on an app spending spree in the Play store. I now have a complete range of android apps and games to envy my iOS collection.

My next quest is to connect game consul controllers: PS3, Xbox and Moga Pro and play some game classics. I already have the SNES emulator installed and have been playing old game classics of mine from Super Mario World to Karting.

And so far what I have done is rock solid. And to change the rom is now a quick 15 min job, thanks to Titanium Pro backup.

Google’s new video standard VP9

With mobile internet expanding faster than mobile operators and ISP’s can cope with. The surge in online video demand has put a strain on networks which leaves them no choice but to implement bandwidth caps.

CNET reported that Google is hoping to make help ISPs significantly ease the strain of video on their networks by pushing its new V9 video technology standard that should save about 50% of bandwidth. Google is promising developers that adopting the new standard will be easy and is promoting it as a free, open source alternative to rival codec H.264.

Saving bandwidth can’t be a bad thing so long as quality is not compromised.

Google Hangouts – Easter Eggs discovered

Google Hangouts has six hidden “easter eggs,” including ponies, dinosaurs, and the ability to change the background of the chat window. Google employee Moritz Toxdorff posted the above image on his Google+ account, which explains how to use them. All you need to do to experience the magic is type in your desired code into the chat window, and press enter.

Easter Eggs are great, and these ones are no exception.

Fitbit and the Samsung S4

Fitbit has announced that they now support Bluetooth 4.0 syncing to the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Fitbit mentioned that every new phone that adds Bluetooth 4.0 sync support, requires custom development. While many of the new phones coming out have Bluetooth 4.0 hardware, many of them don’t have the necessary software for third party apps (like ours) to access this hardware.

Fortunately, Google has announced that they will be standardizing support for Bluetooth 4.0 in an upcoming Android OS, hopefully jellybean 4.3.

Apart from a number of Apple devices, Fitbit also supports the S3, Note 2 and Note 10.1 .

Yahoo to buy Tumblr – deal approved

The WSJ is reporting that Yahoo had paid $1.1bn for social networking site Tumblr.

The deal will be officially unveiled tomorrow in a press event.

Perspective – Apple sales vs Samsung figures

Samsung earned industry praise for estimating that it will ship 10 million Galaxy S4 to carriers in its first month on the market, six months after the same journalists voiced disappointment that Apple had sold only 5 million iPhone 5′s in its first 3 days.

Just a little perspective.

And a bit more.

The Apple iPhone is launched as being available in 16/32/64gb. Guess what. From day 1 you could order whatever size you wanted. The Samsung S4 was launched as available in 16/32/64gb. Guess what. From day 1 only the 16gb was available.

Just a little bit more perspective.

iOS or Android or Blackberry or Windows Phone

Have you ever visited a website that has the word mac, or Apple, or android, or windows or Blackberry used in its title, or that promotes one operating system over another. It is rare to find a site that isn’t biased towards one system or one manufacturer.

Why does this happen? Fact of life. Advertising. Appealing to get more views and more advertising. PR companies send free phones to a lot of these websites, with NDA agreements and such like. If a manufacturer is spending thousands or more on advertising you are not going to slate their new phone.

That’s why Gavin’s Gadgets is so non biased. Look around. No advertising. And any devices reviewed have been bought from my pockets so far. I genuinely love tech and everything with a pulse. That is anything with a on / off button that does something techie. Even my vacuum cleaner is a gadget. It’s a Sebo. It has sensors that detect thickness of carpet or floor covering and raises or lowers the height from the floor. It flashes as it adjusts the height. Hoovering is so much more fun.

So what operating system do I use or prefer. Well believe it or not I currently have every operating system in the house and love them for what they are. I also am not afraid to move to something else if it is better. I want the best or the best compromise for a certain situation. I am also not afraid to mince my words if I don’t agree with something.

Currently my phone of daily choice is the HTC One. My backup phone for when my daily adventures may be more rough and tumble due to the outdoor weather environment of Dartmoor, is the Nokia Lumia 620. In fact I have a weak spot for this phone and the operating system. iPad Mini for tablet viewing and for work I have a Blackberry Curve.

My phone and tablet choices change quite a lot, but I have to say I don’t dislike any platform. I like to find the positive attributes of each platform, and apply them to a given situation.

My dream smartphone doesn’t exist yet but it is getting close. My key ingredients for this phone would be practically unbreakeable, water and dust resistant,a 5 inch 1080p screen, week long battery life with auto charging via light, stunning audio quality and speakers and pureview 808 camera quality or higher, all in a 9mm body with expandable memory and replaceable battery.

Problem is that if a company manufactured the perfect smartphone as described above, nobody would really need to buy another. And that is why you will never get to this stage as companies need you always to have and want an upgrade path.