1. The phone bootloader must be unlock and phone rooted with Clockworkmod installed. Download the GNex Toolkit to do this from forum XDA HERE or you can refer my blog posting HERE . The toolkit will install the phone drivers, ADB and fastboot drivers . From the GNex menu – select options 1, 2 and 4

2. Download the required rom zip file. After downloading check it is a good download by extracting it in the PC. If it turns out good, copy the rom zip file to the phone. There are 2 ways you can copy it over to your phone :

- Connect your phone to PC and you will see under Windows Explorer : Galaxy Nexus/Internal Storage. Copy the downloaded rom zip file to Internal Storage OR

- Download app WiFi File Explorer from Market. Install app on phone. Switch on WiFi in phone. Launch this app and you will see a File Explorer Web URL : example http://192.168.1.3:8000 .

On your PC, open browser and copy this URL address and your phone contents will be displayed in the browser. At the right hand side of the browser window you will see “Upload files to this directory”. Click “Select Files” and you will be directed to browse to your PC to loacte the files you need to be uploaded/copy to your phone. After you have selected the files,  ”Upload Files”. Within seconds, your rom zip file will be copied over to the phone.

FLASHING the rom

Switch off phone

Boot to RECOVERY mode by pressing the Volunme buttons and POWER button simultaneously . You will see the following

Scroll the Volume button down till you see “RECOVERY MODE ” . Then press POWER button to select

The phone will boot into Recovery mode and you will see the RECOVERY menu :

Using the vol buttons , scroll up or down to and perform the following actions : Press POWER button to activate your choice

- Clear cache partition
- At Advanced – select it and choose Clear Dalvik Cache
- Select ” wipe data/factory reset” ( Read the NOTES below on this step )
- GO Back and select ” Install zip from SD card” – than select ” Choose zip from SDcard” . You will see a list of all your files in the SDcard – use the volume button to scroll up or down and select the rom zip file . Press POWER button to select it

Your phone will start to flash the new rom
Wait for process to finish and phone will reboot successfully into the new rom. This process will take 2-3 minutes to complete

NOTES : Most rom developers will advise you to wipe phone , ie clear data/factory reset when flashing their upgraded roms or new roms. The main reason is to avoid bugs or unnecessary force closures and all such reports with phone wipe clean will enable the rom developers a more accurate assessment of your issues. However this step is really unnecessary if you are flashing among roms of same build ( eg 4.0.3). It is advisable to wipe clean if you are moving from say 4.01 or 4.0.2 to 4.0.3. Anyway if you did not wipe phone clean and you faced continual rebooting , than last option is switch off phone. Boot back to recovery mode, select clear data/factory reset and reboot system

You use the same method if you just need to flash KERNEL only. Just copy the kernel zip file into phone and follow same procedures. NO need to clear data/factory reset if you are flashing kernel only

BACKING up your rom before flashing the new rom

This is highly recommended. To do this, boot into RECOVERY mode as above. From the Recovery menu – select Backup/Restore. This will do a FULL backup of your present rom and all your 3rd party apps, data, files etc . A copy of the backup will be created in the internal SDcard under Clockworkmod/Backup

This backup will be very useful in case your phone fail to flash or it crashed and you cannot reboot it successfully. In such a scenario, just reboot phone to Recovery mode and select RESTORE to recover back your original rom

You can use an app Titanium Backup Pro to backup all your apps/data. Launch Titanium Backup – select Menu/Batch : in the full listing displayed under BACKUP – select “Backup all user apps + system data”. If you have wipe your phone clean, reinstall Titanium Backup – launch it and in batch mode , under RESTORE , select ” restore missing apps with data “. If you are using the paid PRO version, all the backup 3rd party apps and data will be auto restore. In the displayed list, you can also choose what apps you do not wish to restore back. NEVER select anything else as some of the backup system apps could overwrite the new rom system apps/data. The non -paid version of Titanium Backup, you need to restore back apps one after another manually

If you need to restore some system data , eg messages, contacts etc – choose ” restore all system data” : UNSELECT all and only tick those system apps you need , example you can restore back the Launcher data where you have setup all your homescreen. Just select restore ONLY data. Reset phone and your system data will be back. If you are restoring launcher data, all widgets will not be restored back – you will see missing spaces where the widgets are used to be there . Manually reset the widgets again

1. Rooting and have ClockworkMod installed – all easily done using The GNex ToolKit . I have posted this in my earlier blog post

2. Install cooked roms

My first cook rom was Android Revolution HD 2.1.2  . This was based on build 4.0.2 . Installation was easy just using CWM recovery. As this was my first cook rom installation, I selected factory wipe. I also change the kernel to James Bond . This rom is excellent and is very closed to stock rom without any major visual changes. Battery life was good too and performance was smoother and faster than stock rom due to the Device partitions was mounted & formatted as fast EXT4 with many optimizations and EXT4 alignment. I would highly recommend this rom on build 4.0.2 as a starter cook rom to try

My second cook rom was AOPK build 14 , and subsequently follow up with build 15, build 17 and build 20, Milestone 2. In between I also changed the kernels to Apex V5 , Franco build 13  and Imoseyon lean kernel 1.6.4 till 1.7.1 . My kernel preference is now Apex V5 follow by Franco and Imoseyon. Actually the difference between these 3 kernels is not much but I do find battery life seems better on Apex V5.

My next try was bigxie rom and Foxhound . I do not quite like Foxhound as I find it lacking in customization versus Bigxie and AOPK

Though most of the cook rom developers advised us to wipe phone before flashing their roms or upgraded version, I do not follow it. To date I have no problems even installing another developer rom on top of another developer rom without wiping phone. The phone is still performing very stable with no force closure issues. My last rom installed was Bigxie Apex 1.0 on top of AOPK build 20 without wiping the phone

Recently I have been staying on bigxie rom , recently renamed to Apex rom . This rom is equally as good and stable as AOPK but I like his mod on the bottom menu bar where the menu selection is bigger as it replaced the default 3 vertical dots. I could also rearrange the items on the menu bar and assigned it any color. I find it easier to select the menu function. As in AOPK rom, another obvious advantage is when I press down hard on the power button, I have options to reboot, reboot to recovery mode and screenshot selction. Pressing the vol button and power button simultaneously to take a screenshot is just too painful as it takes darn a lot of skill to get it done correctly.

As the default rom and including some cook rom comes with Google Search which cannot be removed and if can be removed the empty space could not be used – I always flash the mod by dmjcnz  after flashing any of the cook roms. Some of the cook roms offer Trebuchet Launcher or Nova Launcher which I do not like. I still prefer the stock launcher but I removed the Google Search bar with this mod. This mod works on both 4.0.2 and 4.0.3 roms. I replaced the Google search bar with the SEARCH selection option at the bottom menu ( offered by AOPK and Bigxie rom)

Another tweak I always do is to replace the cook rom boot animation. Depending on which rom, I use root explorer and browse to either /data/local or /system/media and rename the bootanimation zip. By so doing, the phone will boot with just a simple one word ANDROID animation. Sometimes I replace the bootanimation zip with the actual ICS bootanimation.zip

My unit a 3G/Wifi 16 GB model is from Hong Kong with firmware ZSKL2. The unit comes with a headphone set, a desktop charger with the connector attached and an extra USB cable is provided. The Tab is very well built and oozes class especially with its back metallic casing. I must say is the best Samsung Tablet built quality I have used to date.

I tested it with the dual USB connectors that I bought previously for my ex Tab 10.1. It works very well and detected the USB thumb drives and SD card as /mnt/sdcard/extStorages/UsbDriveA. However due to Honeycomb’s limitations, one cannot write /copy files from the phone internal SDcard to the external USB devices , including the builtin external micro SDcard. One can only copy files from such external devices to the tablet internal SD Card.

I rooted  it the next day. Rooting is freaking simple – I just need to boot into stock recovery and update the root.zip file. I used the same method which I used in the 7.0+.  Thereafter I download the app superuser and busybox from the market to complete the process. Now there is an improved version of the root.zip at forum XDA with superuser builtin. My main reason of rooting was to use the Titanium Backup from my Galaxy Note. Restoring all the apps and its associated data was a breeze and all apps was perfectly restored on the Tab 7.7.

I than tried to installed ClockworkMod recovery using Rom Manager ( choosing SGS II ) but was unsuccessful. This could work with my previous 7.0+. So no choice now but to wait for the developer at forum XDA to come up with a proper CWM Few  days later, I upgraded the firmware OTA in succession to ZSKL2 and finally to ZSLA2.

The most frequently asked question is how is this latest Tab 7.7 compared to the older Tab 7.0 plus ?

The Galaxy Tab 7.0+  is about 2mm thicker than the  Galaxy Tab 7.7, and it is 5 grams heavier than the 345 gram Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7. The weight difference I would say is negligible but the thinness of the 7.7 tab is amazing. At 7.9 mm , it is even thinner than the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone ( 8.5 mm) and Galaxy Note ( 9.7 mm). The whole unit feels very light in the hand. However its width is about 10 mm wider than the 7 +, so holding it in one hand is not so comfortable unless one have large hands.

One immediate stand out on the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the display – with WXGA resolution at 1280X800 pixels together with a Super Amoled Plus screen – one word , gorgeous with colors strikingly clear and sharp. The Tab 7+ only has a TFT-LCD screen with a displays 1024×600 pixels . I would say it can match the well acclaimed display of Google’s  Galaxy Nexus ( super Amoled and 1280X720 pixel) and the Galaxy Note ( Super Amoled 1280X800 pixels ). One would feel very comfortable viewing the screen. At medium to high brightness, viewing under sunlight is too satisfactory.

Comparison of display with  Galaxy Note ( at maximum brightness ) : TOP Left : Galaxy Note and BOTTOM Right : Galaxy tab 7.7

Performance wise, the Tab 7.7 has a higher speed processor 1.4 Ghz dual core versus the 1.2 Ghz dual core Tab 7+.  The 200 Mhz difference is reflected in the slighter faster execution of apps. Camera wise,  both the Tab 7.7  and the  Tab 7.0+  are the same at 3 MP. with auto focus and LED flash. Both tablets are able to record videos up to 720p (HD-ready). They both share the same 2-megapixel front camera.  However due to its better resolution, the  Tab 7.7 gives a a better viewing experience for  photos. Though the camera is only 3 megapixel, I do not see much difference in quality between it and the 8 megapixel in my other Galaxy Note

LEFT : Galaxy Note and RIGHT is Galaxy tab 7.7

The Tab 7.7 comes with a bigger battery pack of 5100 mAh versus 400 mAh on the 7.0+ . Based on my usage, battery life on the 7.7 Tab is about 2-3 hours more. The Tab 7.7  can easily last 10-12 hours with continuos usage – 2-3 hours browsing, refreshing emails, updating RSS, Tweeter, news feed every hour.

The Tab 7.7 will be offered in 3 storage options : 16/32/64 Gb while the Tab 7.0+ has only 16 /32 GB options. However in Malaysia, we will only have 16 GB for both models

The Tab 7.7 design of the micro SDcard slot and simcard slot is much better than the 7.0+. It is now much easier to open these 2 slots. On the older 7.0+, these were recessed inside the edge and it is quite difficult to open up these 2 slots.

Video playback on default video player is excellent – it could play all my mp4, avi,mkv and youtube flac downloads very well and smoothly. I have also tested playing HD movie clips H.264 1080p from the web http://www.h264info.com/clips.html : very smooth playback

WiFi detection is fast – I have no issues with my home DLink WiFi router and at some public places WiFi eg Old Town White Coffee, MacDonalds, Starbucks etc. I have been reading some users on the older 7.0+ Tab, Galaxy Note, G Nexus  having problems detecting Telekom UniFi black router but I do not have the chance to test this yet

As just an academic exercise only, I tested Sygic Aura Navigation on it. GPS lockup was very fast, within seconds. I have no plans to use this as a GPS device as it is just too big

Both tablets runs on Google’s latest OS Honeycomb 3.2 and the supplied apps is similar in both models.

Based on MalaysianWireless.com The Tab 7.7 is expected to be launch in Malaysia in Feb 2012 at an estimated retail price of RM 2299 . This is about RM 600 more than the older 7.0+ and about RM 400 more expensive than the Tab 10.1.  If true, this is indeed a premium price for a 7.7 inch tablet. Other local news leak of release is soyacincau.com quoting price will be less than RM 2500

Reviews of the Tab 7.7 :

TechRadar : http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/hands-on-samsung-galaxy-tab-7-7-review-1010196

TrustedReviews : http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-7-7_Laptop_review

RitchiesRoom : http://ritchiesroom.com/2011/12/09/samsung-galaxy-tab-7-7-the-best-7-inch-android-tablet/

SPECS of the Tab 7.7 : http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_p6800_galaxy_tab_7_7-4136.php

This is the best video review by minipcpro  I have found so far on this Tab 7.7 :

PreRequistes on PC: Have the ADB and Fastboot installed

1. INSTALLING ADB/FASTBOOT DRIVERS

The first thing you need to do is to install the adb/fastboot drivers. These are needed so that you can unlock your bootloader and flash CWM (ClockworkMod) Recovery to your phone.

a. The easiest ones to use are PdaNet for Android, download and run the 32-bit Windows 7/Vista/XP or 64-bit Windows 7/Vista and follow the instructions to install (selecting Samsung as your device manufacturer if asked).

b. After the drivers have been installed disconnect the usb cable and shut down your phone. Keep holding the ‘Volume Up’ and ‘Volume Down’ buttons and press the ‘Power’ button to boot the phone into FastBoot Mode.

c. Go to your Control Panel on your PC and open the Device Manager. You want this open so you can see the FastBoot driver is installed or so you can install it manually.

d. Connect the usb cable. In the Device Manager a new item called ‘Android 1.0′ should pop up and then the driver should install automatically. Once it is installed you will have a new section in the Device Manager called Android Phone without an “!” meaning its installed correctly.

Note 1: If the driver doesn’t install automatically then double click on the Android 1.0 item, then click on the driver tab and select ‘update driver’. Select ‘browse my computer’ and then ‘Let me pick from a list’. If no items appear in the list then untick ‘Show compatible hardware’ and find the Android adb driver or Samsung adb driver.

2. USING MSKIPS’ GALAXY NEXUS TOOLKIT V3.1

a. Download the Galaxy Nexus Toolkit file and run to self extract the files to your PC. The default extraction folder is C:\Galaxy Nexus ToolKit

b. Once the files are extracted put your phone into Fastboot Mode (Hold ‘Volume Up’ and ‘Volume Down’ buttons whilst pressing the ‘Power’ Button) and run the RUNME.bat file (DO NOT RUN IN ADMINISTRATOR MODE OR IT WONT WORK) from the installation folder on your PC. With V3.0 you can also connect your phone whilst it is in Android as you can boot to Fastboot from the MainMenu.

c. The first screen gives you information about setting up adb/fastboot drivers if you havent done already.

d. The second screen gives information on the various options available from the Main Menu.

e. The next screen will ask you which model and Build you have (GSM or LTE) and set up the Main Menu accordingly.

f. When you enter the Main Menu you will see ‘Serial Number’ at the top. If you have installed your drivers correctly then you will see your phones serial number under Fastboot Mode or Adb Mode depending on your connection. If you see this then your device is connected and you can carry on.

g. Each option has full information on what it is and how to use it.

h. After you have finished you can either boot straight into CWM Recovery to flash a Custom Rom (if you have already downloaded one and copied it to the root of your Internal Memory on your phone) or boot back into Android as normal.

First you need to downgrade your firmware back to 2.3.5. Download your firmware from www.sammobile.com or from XDA , eg XXK1

Unzip the rom zip to tar format , eg you will see file like this : N7000UBKK2_N7000UBKK1_N7000UUBKK2_HOME.tar.md5
Copy this file to your phone internal SD Card or external SD card

Switch off phone, boot to download mode through the 3 hard buttons , pressing it simultaneously : Vol down+Home+Power. When you see the warning message, select VOL UP to boot into download mode. Connect phone to PC. Launch ODIN 1.85 on PC. Click on the Odin link if you have not installed it on your PC.

Select the rom zip tar file as PDA and leave th else as default. Select START. the flash will take about a minute to two. The phone will reboot within 5-6 minutes with the new rom installed

Now, you are ready to root it and have Chainfire ClockworkMod installed

ROOT the phone using Zergrush exploit:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1329360

Download the appropriate Chainfire kernel file from here :  make sure you download the file matching your kernel
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1331784

Once your phone is rooted and with CWM installed , you can now proceed to use Mobile Odin ( download this app from Market )  to flash the 2.3.6 Msian firmware :

Download the 2.3.6 firmware you need , eg KL3 or KL7 or KL8
Download the appropriate  Chainfire kernel file matching to the firmware you need

Launch Mobile Odin
Select OPEN FILE – and browse and choose the stock 2.3.6 firmware tar file
You will see a listing of all the files selected : kernel, system, data, modem etc etc
Replace the kernel file with the CWM extracted tar file ( MUST be in tar format ). DO NOT overextract the file to become zimage. The file extracted one level down should read something like this : example CF-Root-SGN_ZS_MUL_KK1-v5.0-CWM5.tar – note the file extension is tar
Select flash firmware

Your phone is now successfully rooted and will have CWM installed

Original Firmware info :

PDA : N7000XXKJ4
Phone: N7000XXKJ4
CSC: N7000OXAKJ4

Installing CWM and Rooting – Stage 1: This step can be done on any kernel version

1. Use Odin 1.85 to flash netchip kernel : select the tar file as PDA in Odin. This step will create the ClockworkMod recovery v 5.0.2.7

2. Download the SuperUser zip file . Copy this zip file into internal SD card of phone

3. Switch off phone. Boot into recovery mode ( Press Vol Up+Home+Power simultaneously ) – release the 3 buttons after the second screen splash of Galaxy Note N7000

4. From recovery , select “Install zip from SDcard” , choose zip from SDCard – scroll to and select the SuperUserzip file

Phone will reboot with “Yellow triangle” with phone rooted and recovery installed

Stage 2 : Upgrading CWM using Chainfire kernel :

I decided to upgrade the CWM to Chainfire as his kernel is more reputable and it offers more functionality and his version of CWM as an app will be installed too

- Download the  ”InitialRootFlasher.zip” and extract it
- Download the CF-Root kernels based on KJ4 , and extract it (repeat) until  end up with a zImage file
- Place the zImage file from the CF-Root kernel in the zImage folder from InitialRootFlasher
- Start “already-rooted-yet.bat” and follow the instructions

After reboot, phone will be rooted, with Chainfire CWM and a CWM app being installed

Stage 3 : Flashing and upgrading rom to Android 2.3.6, Hong Kong rom N7000ZSKK1

Download rom at here  . The file name downloaded is N7000ZSKK1.bin

1. Rename downloaded file   to ‘N7000ZSKK1_ROM.exe’ and extract it using ’7zip’.
2. Copy the extracted file (‘N7000ZSKK1_wipe.zip’) to the phone built-in SD card root directory.
3. Turn off the phone and hold the Volume Up + HOME + POWER button on the phone to enter CWM Recovery mode.
4. Select ‘install zip from sdcard’ and confirm.
5. Select ‘choose zip from internal sdcard’ and confirm.
6. Find ‘N7000ZSKK1_wipe.zip’ and confirm.
7. Select yes to confirm flashing ‘N7000ZSKK1_wipe.zip’.
8. When flashing is finished, press the return key to return to the main menu.
9. Select ‘reboot system now’ to restart your phone

Phone firmware change to:

PDA : N7000XXKK1
PHONE : N7000XXKJ6
CSC: N7000OZSKK1

FEATURES OF THIS ROM :

1. Hong Kong-based version of the latest 2.3.6 ROM N7000ZSKK1
2. Deodexed, zipaligned
3. Thin version (few System Apps removed) [If you think that this version is too thin for you, you can add every App you want manually, as they are all additionally contained in the first download package (ROM package).]
4. Added Chinese voice
5. Original Samsung kernel
6. Transparent weather widget
7. Data switch button in pulldown bar
8. Built-in quick restart of the OS
9. Chinese input method
10. Special ringtone as default
11. Percentage battery indicator (accurate to 1%)
12. Removal of 10 contacts limit of short message and SMS being automatically converted to MMS after SMS-length of 4 SMS removed
13. Call log does not show SMS and MMS
14. Desktop icon shadows removed
15. Call recording
16. Calls attribution
17. Integrated latest version of BusyBox
18. Replaced GPS files
19. Pre-Rooted
20. Languages: English (UK), English (US), Chinese

The HK rom is a lean rom, without most of the Samsung apps. However the zip file provides a list of the missing apps in apk format.   So selecting which I need to restore was easy.The screenshot below shows the apps that comes with the rom ( only Titanium Backup was a separate install by me ) . After flashing the HK rom, the yellow triangle during bootup was gone

AFTER Flashing, the CWM is lost. As Chainfire has yet to released a CWM based on KK1 , I decided to flash back netchip CWM not through Odin but using the CWM app

I downloaded separately CWM app zip ; I copy the zip file into my external SD card. I extract the zip file and run the CWM apk file

When I launch the CWM app : the dialog box shows this message : “This version of CWM Manager should be used with CF Root v5.0 or newer. It appears you are running a different kernel. Various features have been disabled.”  Basically there is now no option to do a nandroid backup and restore. I can still use the app to boot into recovery, download mode, reboot and install APK and flash kernel

I extracted the netchip tar file kernel down to a zimage file. I copy the zimage file to internal SD card.

I than use the CWM app to flash the zip image file under ” Flash Kernel”

After reboot, I got back CWM Recovery installed

I will now await Chainfire release of KK1 version of CWM

Update : 15 Nov 2011 – Chainfire has released his CWM for KK1 – updated it using his IntitalRootFlasher.zip
With this, I have restored back original Chainfire CWM app

LINKS :

Netchip CWM /Root : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1324225

Chainfire CWM : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1331784

HK ZSKK1 rom : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1342797

However today at IFA ( Berlin), Samsung has revealed a new line of products that has woke me up from my slumber

IFA in Berlin is  the global trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances, and it will showcase  the latest products and innovations in the heart of Europe‘s most important regional market.
IFA offers a comprehensive overview of the international market and attracts the attention of trade visitors each year from more than 100 countries. IFA is the main meeting place for key retailers, buyers, and experts from industry, trade and the media.

Well,  what is it that is so great about Samsung’s latest ?

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE

This is the Dell Streak 5 form in Samsung’s clothing. Samsung has now push its size beyond the SGS II 4.3 inch and Infuse 4.5 inch to a new 5.3 ” screen display

Main features of this new monster :

- Network : HSPA＋ 21Mbps  850/900/1900/2100, EDGE/GPRS  850/900/1800/1900
- Operating system Android Gingerbread 2.3
- Super AMOLED HD 5.3 inch  WXGA ( 1280 X 800, 285 ppi )
- Powering the device is a 1.4 GHz dual core processor, which is backed up by a massive 2500 mAh battery.
- Added stylus input for note-taking via the bundled Samsung “S Pen” pressure-sensitive pen – reminds me of HTC Flyer ( another case of copy cat ??)
- 8MP rear camera with LED flash and 2MP front-facing shooter.
- Video : MPEG4, H.264, H.263, WMV, DivX, Xvid, VC-1Recording 1080p@24~30fps, Playing 1080p@30fps
- Audio Codec : MP3, AAC, AMR, WMA, WAV, FLAC, OGG
- thin and slim at only 9.65 mm thick and only 178 gm ( the Dell Streak 5 is 10 mm thick and weighs 220 gm )
- 3.5mm Ear Jack, Stereo FM Radio with RDS

Value-added Features
Samsung Apps
Samsung Kies 2.0/ Samsung Kies air
Samsung TouchWiz/ Samsung L!ve Panel UX
Samsung ChatON mobile communication service
Smart Note Apps
S Pen / Pen UX
Social Hub
- Integrated Messaging(Email, SNS), Contacts/ Calendar Sync
- Basic: POP3/IMAP Email
Social Hub, Readers Hub , Music Hub
GoogleTM Mobile Services
- GmailTM, Google TalkTM, Google SearchTM, YouTubeTM, Android Market TM,
- Google MapsTM with Google Places and Google Latitude
A-GPS
Enterprise Solutions
- ODE, EAS, CCX, MDM, VPN, WebEx
NFC(optional)

At the press conference, Samsung Europe boss Andrew Coughlin said the Galaxy Note  is intended to be a new primary device for users that need more visual realestate than can be found on a typical smartphone. Instead of switching between multiple devices, Coughlin said Galaxy Note users would be able to perform many tasks commonly associated with tablets right on their smartphone. Well, this means I could just replace my present SGS II and Dell Streak 5 with this new monster gadget.

Samsung’s S Pen, which comes with the Galaxy Note, is a pressure-sensitive stylus  ”magic pen”  (  just remind me of the pen stylus of the HTC Flyer ).  And like the Flyer, the Galaxy Note supports screenshot-taking and annotation across all areas of the UI. To help in the development of new apps for the platform,  the S Pen SDK  will be released in the near future.

Official video :

Hands ON from SlashGear:

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB  7.7

Having use the 7 inch Tab since its release, I foresee this  successor to the popular 7 inch Galaxy Tab will be another  runaway success by Samsung. Samsung has increased the diaplay by 0.7 inch to 7.7 inch.  Bonuses that comes with it is a vastly improved  Super AMOLED Plus display, a 1.4GHz dual core processor, and powered by Android 3.2 Honeycomb with TouchWiz as its UI.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 features access to Samsung’s Hub services, and it’s the first mobile tablet to include a pre-loaded Game Hub. Users will also get the Music Hub service, which offers 15 million songs for preview, download and play. Additionally, the Readers Hub service offers a library filled with more than 2.3 million books, 2000 newspapers and 3000 magazines in up to 49 languages.

Galaxy Tab 7.7 Specs

• 7.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen (WXGA resolution)
• 1.4GHz Dual Core processor
• 21Mbps HSPA connectivity
• 1 GB LPDDR2 RAM
• 16/32/64GB Internal Storage
• microSD slot (up to 32GB)
• 3MP rear-facing and 2MP front-facing cameras
• Wi-Fi 802.11 Wireless-N connectivity
• Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth 3.0
• 5100 mAh battery
• Google Mobile Services
• Dimensions, weight: 196.7x 133 x 7.89mm, 335g

The specs of the original Tab 7″ as a quick comparison :

Processor : ARM Cortex A8 processor, 1 GHz processor; PowerVR SGX540 graphics
Size : 190.1 x 120.5 x 12 mm
Weight : 380 gm
Display : TFT 16M colors , 600 x 1024 pixel, 7 inch screen

Hands ON by CarryPad:

References :
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-unveils-galaxy-note-new-53-inch-dual-core-phone-superamoled-hd-display
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/01/samsung-galaxy-note-official-5-3-inch-super-amoled-display-s/
 http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/01/samsung-galaxy-tab-7-7-official-super-amoled-plus-display-dual/

The successor is rumored to have its OS in Gingerbread 2.3.4 not Honeycomb .   Gingerbread is the only operating system that now provides integrated telephony features, a huge range of compatible programs, and on which Samsung has proven it in the Galaxy S II smartphone.  Honeycomb 3.0 is still plague with several issues – market access inconsistency, poorer apps optimization

Having experienced the new Galaxy S II  with Exynos 1.2 dual core ( on Gingerbread 2.3.3 ) and the renewed TouchWiz – I foresee the performance of this new refreshed model will just blow the present Tab out of the water. A worthy upgrade indeed if it materialise

Features expected from the Galaxy Tab 7 ( version 2 ) :

• Exynos Processor Dual Core 1.2 GHz
• 1Gb Ram
• 2GB of ROM
• 16GB of internal memory
• Micro SD
• Tab proprietary connector with USB Host capabilities (adapter)
• 7 inch WSVGA
• IPS technology for the display
• Ability to call, video call and send SMS
• Touch Wiz 4.0 halfway between the honeycomb and the dell’S2

Expected release is this Fall ( Sept – Dec 2011 )

More reports from Androidpolice

Great news for HTC fans. HTC’s CEO Peter Chou has just about few hours ago posted this on HTC Facebook :

“There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we’ve listened. Today, I’m confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience,” Peter Chou, CEO of HTC

So all present users of HTC newer devices – Incredible s, Desire S and the upcoming HTC Sensation can now look forward to a greater adventure tweaking their smartphones beyond what HTC wishes. HTC has listened to their users and responded magnificently. Though majority of users might not tinker with the HTC’s firmware or kernels, this is indeed ” god send” blessing to rom aficionados.

Within minutes, the HTC facebook page was swamped with many user’s happy feedbacks over this decision.

PC prerequisite : Miccrosoft.Net Framework 4 , download at :
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9cfb2d51-5ff4-4491-b0e5-b386f32c0992&displaylang=en

Samsung KIES : If you do not have Samsung’s KIES 2.0 installed, download and install it. You need it to install the correct USB drivers, so the programs can communicate with the device. Reboot your computer after installation of KIES. Download it at :
http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/SW/201105/20110530093235856/Kies_2.0.0.11044_11_3.exe

ROOTING :

Reference : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1056334

First is to install an “insecure” modded kernel. This is a kernel that does NOT include the tools you need for Superuser, but it DOES give you root shell access, so you can install these manually.

- Download the attached ODIN file and extract the .zip file
- Download the attached XWKDD, but do NOT extract the .tar file
- Download and extract SuperOneClick  from :  http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=803682

- Make sure your device is in USB debugging mode: Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging
- Reboot your device into download mode: Turn the device off, then power it on again by pressing and holding VolumeDown + Home + Power simultaneously. Select Volume Up to continue . You will see Downloading on screen
- Start ODIN
- Connect the device to your computer using USB
- Wait a few seconds, the ODIN screen should show you that a device is now connected
- Make sure that in ODIN NOTHING is checked, except the “Auto reboot” and “F. Reset Time” checkboxes. Press the “PDA” button, and select the “XWKDD_insecure.tar” file.
- Press “Start”. ODIN you should now be flashing the kernel, and the device should reboot. This will take about 2-3 minutes
- Wait until the device is rebooted, and while still being connected over USB, start SuperOneClick, and press ROOT.
- Reboot the device

Your phone is now rooted.

Downloads :

Odin 1.85 : http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=581913&d=1304094576

XWKDD insecure kernel : http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=581915&d=1304094698

Restore back stock kernel :

You will notice, during the initial bootup before the Galaxy blue splash screen you will see a YELLOW triangle. This is Samsung built in display showing a insecure kernel is used. Get rid of this Yellow display using these steps to flash back stock kernel :

By uskr : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1074930

First download the stock kernel:

If you have XWKDD firmware: http://nma.usk.bz/files/I9100XWKDD_StockKernel.tar
If you have XWKE1 firmware: http://nma.usk.bz/files/I9100XWKE1_StockKernel.tar
If you have XWKE2 firmware: http://nma.usk.bz/files/I9100XWKE2_StockKernel.tar

DO NOT UNTAR THE FILE. Leave it as it is.

2. Now open Odin
3. IMPORTANT: Make sure that “Auto Reboot” and “F.Reset Time” are check. And that EVERYTHING else is UNchecked.
4. Load the .tar file on the PDA field. Just click on “PDA” and open the file.
5. Click “Start” . This whole process will take less than a minute

Once you see PASS on Odin window, remove USB cable and restart phone

You are now  back to your stock kernel and the root status remains.

My phone firmware details :

Baseband/PHONE :  I9100XXKDH
Kernel : 2.6.35.7-i9100xwkdd-cl161513root@dell103#2
Build : gingerbread.xwkdd
PDA :  I9100XWKDD
CSC :  I9100XEUKD1