Either 2.0 or 2.0.1 are being polished at the moment, it seems

Early adopters of Google’s Android operating system, namely the owners of a T-mobile G1 handset, might have a new reason to rejoice, it seems. According to the latest news around the Internet, there are great chances that the Android 2.0 operating system will make an appearance on their mobile phones, and there are also great chances that they will receive the Android 2.0.1 flavor of the platform.

This is a rumor that might stand up in the end. As many of you might already know, the G1 was said at a certain point in the past to be only eligible for an update to the Android 1.5 (Cupcake) iteration, while the Android 1.6 (Donut) flavor was said to be too big to fit on G1’s internal memory. However, Android 1.6 went just fine with G1, and there are great chances that 2.0 (Eclair) will also fit the handset’s flash memory.

According to the guys over at AndroidSPIN, there is no doubt that the T-Mobile G1 will enjoy an update to Android 2.0 or 2.0.1in the near future. There are no details available on the source of the rumor, yet they say that an OTA update is currently being polished for the device (for what it’s worth T-Mobile has been rumored before to be working on 2.0 updates for its Android devices).

“It has been confirmed that T-Mobile is releasing an Eclair update for the T-Mobile G1. The update will be at least Android 2.0 but more likely Android 2.0.1 as both versions have already been prepared as OTA updates. An anonymous source of ours has confirmed that both the Android 2.0 and the Android 2.0.1 are in the hands of some very fortunate people. Nothing can be released just yet due to Non Disclosure reasons,” AndroidSPIN notes.

The T-Mobile G1 was the first Android device on the market, and a wide range of updates were delivered to it, bringing forth numerous enhancements, but it is rather uncertain whether its owners will be receiving other updates too in the future. In case Android 2.0 is indeed on its way to the G1, it will receive a warm welcome from the handset’s users, that’s for sure.

[via Softpedia]

This was on Android and Me:

“Apparently a hacker was able to obtain a leaked copy of a Cliq rom (which includes MotoBlur) and he ported it to the HTC G1. We saw how Google reacted to developers distributing their Android apps, so I can only imagine how Motorola feels about someone releasing their software for another manufacturer’s handset.”

Then at Moto Dev:

“Anonymous person at Moto Dev event showed a moto Exec the G1 with Blur and this is what happened: looked at the screen, said “I don’t want to see that” in a nasty tone, I asked “why? is that bad?” She said yes, blew me off and walked away”

On Twitter:
@androidandme Haha just found out that Motorola doesn’t want any press at Motodev. We were escorted out.

@csewell08 @androidandme don’t worry I’m probably next, they don’t seem to like that I have blur on my g1

Button down the hatches guys! Motorola is pissed about the leak…They are looking into how it was released and who leaked it!

Check Out This YouTube Video of a G1 running Blur

This tutorial will take you every step of the way through installing CyanogenMod 4.1.99 on your G1 phone – the first “legal” version of CyanogenMod (after Google sent cyanogen a cease and desist).

The steps outlined in this tutorial were gathered from the official announcement of 4.1.99 on the xda-developers forum. For more information on 4.1.99, see this thread.

Warning: though unlikely, it probably technically possible that following the steps outlined in this tutorial may result in your phone no longer working. Not following these steps in the right order, would increase those chances. With all of that said, it’s very unlikely that anything bad will happen.

See the link at the end of this tutorial, once you’ve completed it, to upgrade to CyanogenMod 4.1.999.

1. Start out by making sure that you have Cyanogen Recovery 1.4 installed on your G1. If you do not, follow steps 6-20 in this tutorial.
2. Download the file signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-ota-14721.zip (the Recovery image, not the Radio or System image) from the Android Developer Center. Then download the file update-cm-4.1.99-signed.zip (mirror). Copy both files to your Android’s SD card. Note: I copied them to my phone in OS X (as illustrated below) – you can use Windows or an Android FTP client – it doesn’t matter. As long as they’re copied to the root of your SD card, you’ll be fine.



3. Now power off your phone. Hold down the Home button when powering it back on, so that you enter recovery mode. Select nandroid v2.2 backup and click your trackball.



4. This will perform a backup, just in case it’s needed.



5. Once the backup has completed, select apple any zip from sd and click the trackball.



6. Select signed-dream_devphone_us… and again, click the trackball.



7. You’ll be notified that you’re going to install a new image. Click the Home button on your device to confirm this action.



8. The new image will now install.



9. Once the installation process has completed, you’ll be taken back to the recovery screen. DO NOT reboot your device at this point. Instead, once again select apply any zip from sd.



10. This time, select update-cm-4.1.99-signed and click the trackball.



11. As with the previous image installation, click the Home button on your phone to confirm.



12. This will install CyanogenMod 4.1.99 on your phone.
13. Once that installation has finished, you’ll be presented with the recovery mode screen, again. This time, select go to console.



14. Click the enter key on your keyboard



15. You should now be presented with a command prompt. At the prompt, enter fix_permissions and click the enter key on your keyboard.



16. A bunch of text will fly by. You might notice that some of the text says No such file or directory. This is normal, depending on how your phone was previously set up.



17. Once you’re back at a prompt (the text has stopped scrolling) – type the word reboot and click the enter key on your keyboard. Your phone will now restart.
18. Your providers ‘boot’ screen (in my case T-Mobile) might be displayed for slightly longer than normal. Don’t worry. Eventually the CyanogenMod Android logo will appear – and it too may be displayed for longer than normal. Again, don’t worry.



19. Once your phone finishes starting up, select Settings from your Applications, and then About phone from the Settings list. In the Mod version section it should say CyanogenMod-4.1.99. That confirms that you’ve successfully installed CyanogenMod 4.1.99. Congratulations! You now have a completely legal modded G1.



20. Launch some of the apps on your device. Confirm that the proprietary programs like Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps etc all work. If you experience any issues, try asking for help on this thread at the xda-developers forum. Be sure to include as much and as specific information as possible in order to receive a timely reply.
21. Once you’ve finished upgrading to 4.1.99, you can upgrade to version 4.1.999 by following this tutorial. The process is much faster (fewer steps) – but again, you must have completed the steps in this tutorial first.

By Ross McKillop

[via Simple Help]

I am selling a very nice UNLOCKED & ROOTED bronze G1 on eBay if anyone is interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270465637189&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Thanks!

-Daryll

T-Mobile has started sending out Android 1.6 to its customers in an over the air update. The rollout is staggered and occurring over several weeks. You can stare at your phone endlessly waiting for the download or you can manually download it yourself.

We have discovered the file for the T-Mobile G1 which updates your phone to Android 1.6. This file is being hosted by Google so I don’t think anyone will complain about distributing it.

For the full list of Android 1.6 highlights, visit the official Google Android site.

If you have a T-Mobile myTouch 3G, please be patient while we wait for the download link to be discovered.

Method A – My G1 has the official T-Mobile version of Android 1.5

Read first: This method is for people running an official T-Mobile USA version of Android. You will be downloading the official update file from Google and manually installing it on your phone. The update file is the exact file that is being sent to phones over the air, but this method allows you to manually download it (instead of sitting there waiting).

Warning: Some developers have not updated their apps to be compatible with Android 1.6 yet. Check your favorite apps to make sure they have been updated and contact the developer if they have not.

Warning 2: If you have a home replacement app that does not support Android 1.6 you may get stuck in a force close loop. You can boot into safe mode and uninstall the offending app. Hold down Power+Menu when turning on the phone and keep holding down both buttons until the phone boots in safe mode. You can then go to Settings > Manage applications to uninstall the app.

1. Download T-Mobile Android 1.6 (DRC83) from Google. (Search Google for “signed-kila-DRC83-from-CRC1.c41b93c1.zip” if the link is removed)
2. Copy the downloaded file to your phone’s SD card. (Advanced users only: Use the command “adb push signed-kila-DRC83-from-CRC1.c41b93c1.zip /sdcard/update.zip”)
3. Rename the downloaded file to update.zip (Make sure you can see the file extension. Many users make the mistake of naming the file update.zip.zip)
4. Reboot your phone into recovery mode. Power off the phone first and then hold down the Home key while powering it back on.
5. The recovery mode is finished loading when you see the ! mark inside the triangle. Press Alt+L  to display the list of options.
6. Press Alt+S to flash the file update.zip.
7. Wait for the update to apply. Your phone may reboot during this process so be patient.
8. Press Home+Back if prompted to reboot your phone.

Verify: When the update is complete you can double-check your version of Android by going to Settings > About phone.

Method B – My G1 has a hacked version of Android currently installed

Read first: This method is for people running any hacked version of Android. Installing the official T-Mobile version of Android 1.6 will wipe your phone and you will lose root access. This is for people who wish to return to the latest default install of Android.

Warning: Some developers have not updated their apps to be compatible with Android 1.6 yet. Check your favorite apps to make sure they have been updated and contact the developer if they have not.

Step 1: Downgrade to RC29

• Download the file DREAIMG-RC29.zip (Search Google if this link is removed)
• Unzip the file DREAIMG.nbh and copy it to your SD card home directory.
• Power off your phone first and then hold down the camera button while powering it back on.
• When prompted, press the power button to begin the downgrade. Wait for it to finish and display the rainbow screen. Press Talk+Menu+Power to reboot your phone (or just pop your battery out once the downgrade has finished)

Step 2: Upgrade to Android 1.5 CRB43

• Download the file signed-kila-ota-148830.de6a94ca.zip (Search Google if this link is removed)
• Rename the file to update.zip and copy it to your SD card (Advanced users only: Use the command “adb push signed-kila-ota-148830.de6a94ca.zip /sdcard/update.zip”)
• Reboot your phone into recovery mode. Power off the phone first and then hold down the Home key while powering it back on.
• The recovery mode is finished loading when you see the ! mark inside the triangle. Press Alt+L  to display the list of options.
• Press Alt+S to flash the file update.zip.
• Wait for the update to apply. Your phone may reboot during this process so be patient.
• Press Home+Back if prompted to reboot your phone.

Step 3: Upgrade to Android 1.5 CRC1

• Download the file signed-kila-CRC1-from-CRB43-FIX.7ca4a1d7.zip (Search Google if link is removed)
• Repeat the steps from above to flash the update file.

Step 4: Upgrade to Android 1.6 DRC83

• Download the file signed-kila-DRC83-from-CRC1.c41b93c1.zip (Search Google if this link is removed)
• Repeat the steps from above to flash the update file.

Verify: When the update is complete you can double-check your version of Android by going to Settings > About phone.

[Thanks Justin for the link]

By Taylor Wimberly

[via Android and Me]

A few days ago we reported that while the G1 will likely continue to get minor updates and bug fixes, the evolutionary updates (Cupcake => Donut => Eclair) might be over. Noting a tweet from a Google Engineer himself, things certainly didn’t look good. The cause for worrying has been blown out of proportion and greatly exaggerated according to a tweet from a different Android engineer, Dan Morrill.

Great news! Although the word “demise” could be analyzed many different ways. Demise would mean the phone is dead in the water and ceases to do what it should. Obviously that ain’t happenin, especially since Android Market inherently means the phone’s capabilities continue to grow.

Here is what I think: regardless of whether or not future versions of the Android Development branch are added to the G1 and downloaded via OTA updates, Google will continue to maintain development branches BEYOND the most current device. They could be patches and bug fixes or maybe even new features and inclusions.

We all obsess over what phone is BEST packing the HIGHEST specs at a price that is obtainable if not affordable. But Android wasn’t only meant for the ultra-high-end handset that all of us crave. It was also meant to take consumers from the low to mid-range handset and give them smartphone features. So, I think that the idea here is that whether or not future phones have higher powered builds of Android is beyond the point – the G1 will continue to be maintained and groomed as OTHER Android devices, perhaps with even lowlier specs, will be launched in the future.

You’re probably reading this thinking, “Yeah, but I have a G1 and I want Donut.” Morrill’s tweet does little to reassure us that the G1 will get Donut, but G1 owners might not be out of luck just yet. The main cause of concern is that with the Cupcake update, the G1’s internal memory is filled to the brim, leaving little room for OS upgrades that would pack on any measurable features. Cyanogen, Android hacker extraordinaire, believes that barrier can be easily knocked down:

I recently spoke with Steve Kondik (aka Cyanogen) who has released his own customized builds of Android. He told me that Donut builds were a few megabytes larger when compared with Cupcake, but new compression methods were able to shrink the total install up to 10 percent. “I don’t think that Donut is going to have any problems fitting on the G,” he said “To make it smaller, I use a tool called optipng which analyzes PNG images and finds the optimal compression for them. Apps can be significantly reduced in size by using this tool and applying better compression to the package itself.”

The “I” in the above quote is from Taylor Wimberly who posted his findings in a CNET article. In addition to this hopeful account, it seems that “Donut” might officially be Android 1.6 when all is said and done. That is, if Wimberly’s analysis about the appearance of the OS in mobile analytics is accurate:

So there you have it:

• The G1 isn’t dead
• The G1 will continue to get necessary updates at worst, and could likely get larger scale feature updates as well
• Donut could still come to the G1
• Donut might = 1.6 (Not 2.0, we love you Tyler)

Alright G1 owners… sound off!

[via Phandroid]

Transmedia launches its Glide Engage microblogging and collaboration application for the T-Mobile G1 smartphone, based on Google’s Android mobile operating system. Transmedia CEO Donald Leka said Apple’s inconsistent iPhone App Store policies and the fact that Glide Engage will compete with Apple’s MobileMe and iTunes store mean Transmedia has to be careful about what it launches on the iPhone.

Transmedia CEO and Chairman Donald Leka isn’t buying the recent talk about the Apple iPhone being superior to the T-Mobile G1 based on Google’s Android mobile operating system. Leka uses both the iPhone and the G1 and said he finds the G1 superior for Web browsing.

Weighing that fact and Apple’s unpredictable iPhone App Store policies regarding competing applications, Transmedia Aug. 18 launched the first mobile version of its Glide Engage social networking and mobile collaboration application for the G1 smartphone. Glide Engage does a lot, but most notably it enables microblogging up to 1,400 characters, a stab at Twitter’s 140-character cap for messaging.

Transmedia’s choice of the G1 as the launch pad for Glide Engage is significant because it flies in the face of some developer anecdotes that the G1 is an inferior device to the iPhone. Although Apple has sold millions of iPhones, the device is supported by an App Store marred by inconsistent policies that have led to the expulsion of some applications.

In the most high-profile case, Apple allowed some third-party Google Voice call management applications to run on the iPhone, but yanked them from the App Store. Apple also rejected Google’s submission of a Google Voice application for the iPhone App Store.

Transmedia has supported the iPhone since its inception two years ago, letting iPhone users create Microsoft Word and PDF documents, edit photos and other tasks from the Glide Operating System. But business is business, and Leka believes the best business is to go with the G1 first.

Leka told eWEEK the Google Voice issue, currently under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission, the open-source nature of Android, and the G1’s nimble Web browsing were a few of the reasons he and his staff chose to release Glide Engage for the G1 first.

“The Android phone is just a great Web phone,” Leka told eWEEK. “I carry an Android phone and I carry an iPhone, but for Web browsing I just find the Android phone to be a better Web browsing phone.”

However, he admitted another reason that proves more pragmatic than philosophical. Glide Engage aims to compete with Apple’s MobileMe service, which pushes e-mail, contacts and calendar events over the air to all Apple devices, and potentially down the road with Apple’s iTunes store and social networking plans.

“We’re a small company, so we can’t release something that Apple arbitrarily rejects and then we’ve lost our development dollars,” Leka told eWEEK, adding that he wants to establish a foothold for Glide Engage in the mobile market before submitting an iPhone version for approval to Apple.

Glide Engage is a rights-based social networking and macro- or micro-blogging service. The fat character cap on the app’s microblogging feature means people can use it to share documents, images and other files.

In describing this capability, Leka also claimed Glide Engage is a bit like “bringing Google Wave to the Android platform before Google does it,” because it lets users start with a post, then add editable links to documents and photos. Users can also easily upgrade their microblogging collaboration to a video conference on the fly.

Glide Engage is also integrated with the Glide OS’s productivity and collaboration application suite and file storage solution, allowing users to create and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Glide Engage, which features 10 gigabytes of free storage, can be downloaded here for the G1, but will eventually be rolled out for RIM’s Blackberry, the Palm Pre, Symbian and Windows Mobile. That doesn’t mean the app will never grace the iPhone.

Leka said a version of the Glide Engage application for the iPhone is nearly complete and will be submitted to Apple for approval.

The mobile version of Glide Engage comes a week after Transmedia rolled out the desktop version, which can be downloaded here.

[via eWeek]