Boost your sound with Awesome BEATS
The sound quality of mobile devices isn’t
always great, which can be particularly painful for music lovers. AwesomeBEATS
is an app that boosts sound quality, in a similar way to CyanogenMod’s DSP
Manager. The installation is trickier than most apps, but this is
understandable considering the range of ROMs supported in a single package.
Boost
your sound with Awesome BEATS
To install, download the AwesomeBEATS zip
(http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1728391) to your device. Boot
into Recovery and install the zip, which launches an installation screen. When
prompted, select a version that’s compatible with your ROM and reboot. You’ll
need the latest versions of BusyBox and Terminal Emulator at this point, but
both are available for free from the Play store. Open Terminal Emulator and
type the following, hitting the ‘enter’ key after each word:
·
su
·
awesome
·
reboot
Once your device has rebooted, open
Settings and select Sounds. Tap MUSICFX to launch the AwesomeBEATS control
panel. You can modify all of your sound settings from this screen.
Root your AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III
The CASUAL rooting tool now has support for
rooting the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III. To root this device using CASUAL,
download the program onto your PC by visiting
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2189536. Once the jar file has
finished downloading, check your version of Java is up to date by visiting
http://www.java.com/en/download/installed. jsp?detect=jre&try=1. If it
isn’t, you’ll need to update before you can launch CASUAL.
Once you’re ready to root, enable USB
Debugging and attach your Samsung to the PC. If your device isn’t recognized,
try another USB port. Then, simply press Do It and follow any instructions that
appear onscreen to root your AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III.
CASUAL
is an easy-to-use, one-click rooting solution
Which devices are best for the hacking scene?
Samsung Galaxy S4
Rooted: Yes
Active Development: Medium
Samsung
Galaxy S4
You can expect this new device to be adopt
by devs just a widely as its predecessor the Galaxy S III was.
Sony Xperia Z
Rooted: Yes
Active Development: Low
Sony
Xperia Z
Minimal ROMs or mods for the Z so far, but
bloat-free ROMs are available. Remember you will need to unlock the boot loader
first as well.
HTC One
Rooted: Yes
Active Development: Medium
HTC
One
Most of the usual suspects are present and
correct. Hopefully there will be more unique tweaks and mods still to come.
Nexus 4
Rooted: Yes
Active Development: Yes
Nexus
4
At such a low price the Nexus 4 is set to
become one of the must-have devices for developers. Great news for the rest of
us!
Jargon buster
Get up to speed on all the terms you need
to know when hacking your phone
OS
Short for ‘operating system’. Often the
Android ROM will be referred to as the OS - this just means the system files on
the Android device that make up your user experience, similar to Windows, Mac
OS X or Ubuntu on a desktop computer.
ROM
Stands for ‘read-only memory’. In the
context of Android, the ROM refers to the files that make up the operating
system installed on your device. Gaining root privileges allows for replacement
of the standard ROM with a custom one.
Root
‘Rooting’ your phone gives apps access to
parts of the OS that are normally hidden from consumers. This enables you to
run more powerful software and install custom ROMs on your phone.
ROM Manager
An app available from the Android Market
that enables you to install a whole new version of your OS with a single click.
It requires a rooted phone to use and is ideal for those new on the scene.
Titanium Backup
This app from the Market enables you to
back up everything on your phone - apps, data, settings and all. It means that
you can restore your phone to how it was, even after you’ve updated or changed
the ROM.
Unrevoked
Available from www.unrevoked.com, this is a
one-click tool that can be used for rooting many popular HTC smartphones.
ADB
Stands for ‘Android Debug Bridge’. ADB is
mainly used for software development, but it also has some uses for hacking
your phone. It can be used to push files onto the system folder, for instance.
Nandroid
You might come across the phrase ‘perform a
Nandroid backup’. This means using a custom recovery tool to make a back-up
image of everything currently on your phone: OS, apps, data, etc. It’s very
useful should you wish to restore your phone to its previous state later.
Radio
‘Radio’ refers to the software on your
Android device that deals with making phone calls and data connections.
Updating your radio version can bring better battery life and signal strength
to your device. Some ROMs require the latest radio.
Flash
The storage in your device comprises flash
memory, a type of solid-state storage. The terms ‘flash’ or ‘flashing’ mean
installing new software onto your device’s storage.
