Smartphones and tablets haven’t replaced computers yet, but they’re well on their way. We can already do a myriad of tasks on smartphones that we used to do on computers, but there is still a lot of functionality computers have that smartphones and tablets don’t. One such feature is the ability to have multiple windows open at the same time. Now, at least the Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000 can do that too.

XDA Forum Member xperiacle has released a mod called Floating Multiwindows. As the name suggests, it combines the concept of floating apps with the concept of multi window. If you’re unfamiliar, floating apps are apps that appear on the home screen of an Android device in a window that is re-sizable and movable. Multi Window is a Galaxy Note II feature where you can have two apps visibly running at the same time. Thus, Floating Multiwindows is multiple apps running simultaneously in windows you can move and shape.

Installation is easy enough. Users will have to edit their build.prop to prepare for the mod, then flash the mod itself. Aside from install instructions, xperiacle has also included a number of tips and tricks on how to use it.

To see more, go to the original thread.

Floating apps have been steadily gaining popularity. They open a window over your current screen, much like how it’s done on desktop interfaces. The windows can be re-sized and moved. They allow users to use applications without taking up an entire screen. One such app is called Popup Browser on the Galaxy Note. It opens up a floating window browser when some links are clicked. Now there is a way to open it at all times on the Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000.

The mod is called Popup Browser Invoker, and it does essentially what it says. It allows users to open the Popup Browser without going into the regular browser and finding a link to click. It was released by XDA Senior Member vijai2011 for use on Jelly Bean ROMs.

Installation is pretty simple. Users can download the app and either install it like a normal APK or move it to /system/app and change the permissions to rw-r-r. Once installed, you can open the floating browser whenever you want. Unfortunately, it’s only compatible with Jelly Bean ROMs with TouchWiz. AOSP offerings aren’t available a this time, as AOSP doesn’t include the Popup Browser. If you’re a fan of the Popup Browser, this is definitely an app to try out.

For more details, check out original thread.

[Writer's Note: This is my 1000th XDA article! Thanks for reading everyone!]
[Editor-in-Chief's Note: Congrats on the 1000th article. It's great to have you on the team! -Will]

There’s a subtle difference between opening up a phone to see what’s inside and getting all the documentation on a device explaining what’s inside. Just opening the device can reveal a lot of things and give you a first hand look at the architecture of a device. Having all the documentation, however, means you know exactly what each piece does. When you know what each piece does, it makes the device significantly easier to hack.

XDA Recognized Developer E:V:A has stumbled upon the service manual and schematics for the Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000. Even thought the schematics aren’t complete, E:V:A was able to pull enough information out of them to deem them still useful. Here’s a few things E:V:A has to say about them:

We are interested in better understanding the hardware in this phone, so that we could (a) develop unbrickable-mod, (b) communicate with phone modem via a virtual serial interface over USB and/or from a local shell and (c) get proper and early debug output for development purposes. But there are many more good reasons…
In addition it is worth noting that:
a) I have good reasons to believe that some component labels are screwed up, including the block diagram, as usual…
b) The similarities to the GT-I9100 are more limited that thought.

There’s a lot of information for you hardware hackers out there. E:V:A has also posted a few things from the schematics and service manual, like the boot pins/modes for the processor and the baseband. With the proper equipment, someone could have a lot of fun with the information. If you do attempt anything, remember to be careful. This is hardware stuff, and messing it up can mean permanent damage to the Note.

If would you like to know more, head to the original thread.

[Photo credit: ifixit]

Unless you’re a professional photographer or a hobbyist, chances are you probably use your phone camera for most of your photography needs. While that may have been absurd 10 years ago, cameras on mobile devices have undergone a significant improvement in recent years. Now they’re good enough for the majority of simple snapshots. In response to increased camera quality, developers have released a few camera mods to make cameras on Android devices better. Now, the Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000 has a camera mod of its own.

The mod not only helps to improve the Galaxy Note camera experience by adding new features, but also helps by removing some features. Posted by XDA Forum Member jobnik, the mod features include:

1. “Unable to start camera while in a call” Alert Disabled
2. Camera “Low Battery” Alert Disabled
3. Camera Volume Up/Down as a shutter
4. Camera “Can’t use flash on low battery” Alert Disabled
5. Camera focus sound Disabled
6. Camcorder “Can’t use flash on low battery” Alert Disabled
7. Camcorder “Low Battery” Alert Disabled
8. Camcorder Better audio quality/video bitrate
9. Camera Power button as a shutter (The Power menu will popup as well, but it will take a picture, just wait until it vibrates.)
10. Camera Self-shot Volume buttons as a shutter
11. Camera “Action shot” shooting mode Volume buttons as a shutter
12. Camera “Panorama” shooting mode Volume buttons as a shutter
13. Camera icon taken from VK 5.1.2

There are some good things put it and a lot of annoying things—like all those alerts—taken out. This should yield a much better experience for Note users. Additionally, jobnik has posted the code changes that were made along with the mod so developers can see exactly what was done. If you do flash it and don’t like it, jobnik has also included a revert zip to change it back to the original camera.

For more details, check out the original thread.

The Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 has received significant attention in the ROM development department. CyanogenMod, AOKP, AOSP, ParanoidAndroid and of course TouchWiz-based ROMs have all made an appearance. The trouble with all these ROM variants on the N7000 is that TouchWiz-based kernels cannot be used on CyanogenMod ROMs and vice-versa. Naturally, this limits the choice of kernel depending on your choice of ROM.

XDA Recognized Contributor g.lewarne has broken through this barrier and developed a custom kernel that is compatible with both Touchwiz and CyanogenMod based ROMs. HydraCore Universal kernel comes in both a stock frequency/voltage version, and an overclocked / undervolted version for those who prefer to tinker a little more. It also contains all the usual kernel tweaks such as additional governors, I/O and scheduler tweaks, memory optimizations, and much more.

If you’re sick of swapping kernels between TouchWiz and CyanogenMod based ROMs, or just want to try out another tweaked kernel, head on over to the HydraCore thread.

We’ve brought you regular updates on the hard brick situation on the Samsung Galaxy Note, including what Samsung is doing to fix it. In short, the issue has been a bug in certain ICS kernels that causes hardware failure. XDA Member Advocate Admin egzthunder1 said it best in his great article about it:

It turns out that there is a major bug in the leaked ICS kernel that affects the /data partition in the eMMC chip, which apparently gets corrupted during certain operations such as wiping and flashing.

Well, that’s not all for the Note. As it turns out, there’s an issue with some temporary CWM.zip files floating around that can also cause these hard bricks. XDA Elite Recognized Developer Entropy512, who has been on the forefront of preventing further damage to users’ devices, has managed to find the specific problem. There is a string in the binary that’s been shown to be dangerous, and moderators are working currently to get it off of XDA thanks to Entropy512. This only appears to affect the Touch version of the temporary CWM, and no issues have been reported with the standard version.

To help alleviate the confusion, XDA Recognized Contributor dr.ketan has written up a tutorial on how to root the Galaxy Note without the troublesome CWM.zip. There are two methods, one that uses Odin and Triangle Away so that the flash counter gets back to zero and stays there. The second one, which is a little longer, prevents the flash counter from being tripped in the first place. For all intents and purposes, this is the root method that should be followed from now on. Dr.ketan has also been kind enough to include Entropy512′s explanation in the first post so users know exactly what’s going on.

For more details, Entropy512′s explanation, and the new root methods, check out the original thread.

Whenever a new kernel is released, it is subject to the GPL. This means that full kernel source code for all publicly released kernels and firmware based on the Linux kernel must be made publicly available. This is usually no big deal, as most OEMs and kernel developers provide the legally required GPL-compliant kernel source shortly after releasing a new update or device. However, the difficulty is often in finding all source code links that you would need conveniently. While going into the kernel thread and grabbing link is fine, having a centralized space for this would help many looking for a base upon which to add commits.

This is now available on the Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000 thanks to XDA Recognized Contributor chasmodo, who has put the links to all of the kernel sources in one place. The thread is split up into two pieces, one for the Samsung Touchwiz kernels and one for AOSP kernels. Inside the thread, users will find two links for each kernel. The first takes users to the original thread so they can grab up the source links, and the other is a download link for those kernels.

So, if you’re looking for a kernel or kernel source on the N7000, this is likely a thread you’ll want to keep bookmarked, as it stands as a central hub of sorts to help users get the kernels or source code they want. For additional information, check out the kernel repository thread.

Dual booting has always been a mixed bag. On some devices it’s deceptively easy to get a second ROM booting. In some cases, it’s even possible to boot more than two. On others, it’s a process that can take hours and can be wrought with problems if the process is not handled properly. In any case, dual booting is a fun experience and can even be practical. Now, users can dual boot on the International Samsung Galaxy Note.

The method was developed by XDA Forum Member chuandinh and includes a few different pieces. Users will have to flash a number of scripts in recovery first and install a modified kernel. While not overly difficult, there are a lot of steps. It is not without it’s issues—CM9 and other AOSP-based ROMs are not compatible, so users will not be able to save them on their SD card. Users should also not wipe data while the kernel is installed. As chuandinh explains:

But I don’t recommend do a wipe with any ICS kernel. If you want to wipe the data, flash safe kernel like Abyss GB kernel.

Aside from that, the process is pretty straightforward as long as users keep to the instructions. Users flash the ROM they eventually want installed on their SD card. Then they flash the scripts in recovery to save that ROM to their SD card. Finally, users flash the modded kernel to enable dual booting and they can flash another primary ROM, while retaining access to the one saved on the SD card. Easy as pie.

For instructions, download links, and more, check out the original thread.