Android Phone powered robot

Some clever California hackers, Tim Heath and Ryan Hickman, are building bots that harness Android for their robo-brainpower.

Their first creation, the TruckBot, uses a HTC G1 as a brain and has a chassis that they made for $30 in parts. It's not too advanced yet—it can use the phone's compass to head in a particular direction—but they're working on incorporating the bot more fully with the phone and the Android software.

Some ideas they're looking to build in soon are facial and voice recognition and location awareness.

If you're interested in putting together a Cellbot of your own the team's development blog has some more information.

How to unlock and root a Nexus One

This is not a beginners guide. If you are a beginner, you should not be hacking your phone. These instructions assume you have previously hacked at least one Android device.


Before we begin

Make sure you have accomplished the following things

* Installed the USB drivers (grab them from Google or XDA)
* Confirm your device is recognized by ADB (see CyanogenMod Wiki or XDA for help)
* Backed up any important data from your device

Watch the video walk through once to get a preview of the entire process. Your first time might take you 30 minutes, but it can be completed in less than 10.




Step 1: Unlock your bootloader

In order to flash a new recovery image, you must unlock your bootloader. This process is quite simple, but it will wipe your phone.

* Reboot phone into fastboot: Power off device and hold down trackball while powering back on. (The fastboot screen is the one with the Androids on skateboards)
* Open a command prompt and navigate to your Android SDK tools folder.
* Type ‘fastboot devices‘ to make sure your phone is recognized.
* Type ‘fastboot oem unlock‘ to unlock the bootloader.
* Use volume keys to navigate to yes and press the power button to confirm.


Step 2: Flash a new recovery image

Next we will download a new recovery image that allows us to flash custom zip packages.

* Visit XDA and download Amon_RA’s recovery image for the Nexus One.
* Copy the file to your Android SDK tools folder.
* Open a command prompt and navigate to your Android SDK tools folder.
* Type ‘fastboot flash recovery recovery-RA-nexus-v1.5.3.img‘. (Note filename will change as recovery image is updated)



Step 3: Boot into recovery mode and flash N1 Addon

Now that the new recovery image is installed, it is time to reboot into recovery mode and flash a custom zip package. Since your phone was just wiped, you might have to enable usb debugging again so ADB and fastboot commands will work.

Double check: Go to Settings > Application settings > Development > USB debugging (enable)

For this guide we will be flashing Cyanogen’s N1 Addon.

* Visit XDA and download Cyanogen’s N1 Addon. (or any other custom .zip file you want to flash)
* Copy the .zip file to the root directory of your SD card.
* Open a command prompt and navigate to your Android SDK tools folder.
* Type ‘adb reboot recovery‘ to reboot the phone into recovery mode. (The recovery screen says “Android system recovery” with green text on black background)
* Use the trackball to navigate to “Flash zip from sdcard” and then select the zip file you wish to flash.
* Follow the on screen instructions. Press the trackball to begin the flash when prompted.
* When the flash is complete, navigate to reboot and press the trackball to reboot.

Congratulations, you are finished and it is now time to download some root apps from the Android Market. Search the Market for SetCPU for Root Users, Nexus One Torch, or use the term “Nexus root” and see what you find.

Android Modder Attempts to Outmaneuver Google

The creator of a popular souped-up version of Android thinks he's found a way to avoid a further tussle with Google over distribution of the company's mobile applications.

Google recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to Android guru Steve Kondik asking him to stop distributing applications such as Gmail with Cyanogen, his modified version of the open-source Android operating system. Cyanogen adds a load of enhancements such as an MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) shortcut and support for the FLAC audio format.

People are allowed to modify and redistribute the Android operating system because it is open source software, but Google's mobile applications are not. They're available through the Android Market online apps store, and are preinstalled on some Android devices under the name Google Experience. But by bundling the applications with his modified software, Kondik violated Google's copyrights, the company said.

"We make some of these apps available to users of any Android-powered device via Android Market, and others are pre-installed on some phones through business deals," wrote Dan Morrill on the Android developer blog.. "Either way, these apps aren't open source, and that's why they aren't included in the Android source code repository. Unauthorized distribution of this software harms us just like it would any other business, even if it's done with the best of intentions."

Kondik has backed down but thinks there is a workaround that may allow users of his software to continue to access Google's applications such as Maps, GTalk, Android Market and YouTube, while keeping Google's lawyers at bay. Installing Cyanogen means reflashing the phone, a process which erases the original software before reinstalling the modified version of Android.

He now intends to release a "bare bones" version of Cyanogen without the applications, leaving it to modders to make a backup copy of the Google applications that shipped with their phone for later reinstallation before hacking away at the Android software.

"The idea is that you'll be able to Google-ify your CyanogenMod installation with the applications and files that shipped on your device already," Kondik wrote. "I will include an alternative app store (SlideMe, or AndAppStore, not decided yet) with the basic ROM so that you can get your applications in case you don't have a Google Experience device."

Google did not have a comment on the plans.

The first Android phone was released about a year ago by T-Mobile, and up to two million of the phones may have been sold, according to analysts. Up to a dozen Android devices may be on the market by the end of the year. Cyanogen is one of the more popular versions of Android, with up to 30,000 active users, according to Kondik.

How to Root your T-Mobile G1

.. from phonehacking.blogspot.com