TechnoGeek

The following list is a revised list of my preferred applications for Android, it’s a modification from my original post for 2011.

For the Rooted crowd:

• Titanium Backup: I rely on this application for backups and restores, the features to sync over dropbox and box are excellent. Of course I own the “Pro Key”, well worth the money.
• aLogCat: should you need to look at the internal Android logs, very customisable.
• MyBackupRoot: In the same category as Titanium Backup, but with the additional settings to backup things like: MMS,
• SMS, Call log, Playlists, Settings, Android Home, and etc. I use this application is conjunction with Titanium Backup

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Sometimes you may find that the accounts setup in MotoBlur are giving you problems, or gets out of sync with the Morotola servers, and you would like to reset it. The following process will walk you through resetting the Motorola MotoBlur account, for reset I mean, re-syncing the account with Motorola.

First of all, I recommend doing this in a shell environment, but you can always use the built-in file manager of your choice, if you don’t know which file manager to choose, refer to my Best Android Applications post.

Secondly, a basic understanding of what a directory and a file are. If you don’t understand these basic concepts, then I recommend performing a full data reset/wipe.

You are still with me? Great, let’s get started. Read more…

After  failing to search for a complete post on unlocking the Atrix 4G on Gingerbread; I decided to create my own post for everyone owning this beast of a phone. This post will guide you on unlocking the bootloader, installing a recovery rom, and installing a custom rom closely matching the stock rom, but with additional capabilities.

Before continuing, concepts like rooting, recovery rom, or unlocking the bootloader should be clear; if not, please read my other post on rooting android.

 
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This week, I decided to give the viewers my take on the different Android Markets available.

A user wanting to become familiar with the Android platform, should also become familiar with the different available markets out there. A developer should be very familiar with the different markets to better distribute the application to the appropriate audience.

Contrary to assumptions, there are many Android Markets available, there are so many that it’s hard to list them all. What’s also hard to believe is that some Android device come pre-installed with alternative markets instead of the Google Market. So, if you are a developer and think that by publishing your application to the default Google Market and you are reaching all possible audience, think again.

Just to name a few, following are some of the alternative Android Markets available in English:

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The lesson of the week is: how to perform an Android Factory Reset Without Losing Application Aata. Yes the infamous Factory Reset; we all cringe at the idea of re-installing the applications and loosing all the data.

After thinking about it, I have a solution for all of you. As wonderful as the Android platform is, it is still a slow degrading operating system; this means, by installing, removing, and performing the usual tasks, the phone becomes slower, it slowly degrades, and eventually becomes very slow. At that point, I always perform a factory reset to speed it up again.

Now, the question arise, you have data on your phone internal storage. For example: Angry Birds saved levels, that would be bad have to re-play all the levels again to get to the same point. Also there are important things like Call log, SMS/MMS, pictures, and videos that you need to save.

I am going to walk you through the process of backing up the applications, wipe, and restore without losing any important data.

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My lesson of the week to you is to explain the Android Root process; this post is not targeted for a special device, instead, it addresses the different rooting processes independently of the device. I feel that before we root Android devices, we must understand why we do it and what we gain and lose.

root Android

First WHAT IS “#” ROOT? In UNIX, root is the most powerful user, Android is a UNIX derivative, more precisely, a Linux derivative and it inherited root. With access to root, all the main settings normally locked, become accessible. Normally Smartphone manufacturers, don’t allow root access to prevent phone modification and customisation. By rooting the phone simply means that you can change settings normally not allowed by default, allowing a greater customisation and user experience. Also by rooting the phone, you open the door and access additional possibilities like running Custom ROMS, which are addressed later in this post.

There are downsides in rooting the phone: loss of warranty and support by the vendor, vendor updates normally cannot be simply applied, the most important loss in my opinion is the blame factor, you simply cannot blame the vendor any more if things don’t work. Read more…