December 2014 -- XDA Developers

Unofficial CyanogenMod 12 for the Xiaomi Mi3

Tomek Kondrat December 31, 2014

Xiaomi is rapidly becoming one of the most important Android OEMs. Currently, this Chinese company shares the podium with Samsung and Apple. Despite such popularity and numerous devices sold across the globe, Xiaomi refuses to publish the source code for their kernels, standing in clear violation to the GPL licensing. A lack of ability to create...

Sea, Sailfish & Haddock: Shipping Linux to Devices and the Community w/ David Greaves – XDA:DevCon 2014

Jimmy McGee December 31, 2014

In his presentation Firefox OS Architecture and Collaboration Opportunities at XDA:DevCon 2014, Asa Dotzler talked about Firefox as a web browser and mobile OS, and how it exists to ensure there is choice in the marketplace. As it stands right now, the big players are Android and iOS, but a little group of hackers has another...

Nvidia SHIELD Tablet vs the Google Nexus 9 – XDA TV

Jimmy McGee December 31, 2014

Almost one year ago, Nvidia announced their latest Tegra system on a chip. The Tegra K1 was a desktop-based fab brought to the mobile arena. While this advancement is great and brings a lot of power to robotics and the like, device adoption has been lackluster. The main recipients of this new chipset are the Nvidia...

Google Fixes Lollipop Memory Leak, Android 5.0.3 Incoming?

Tomek Kondrat December 31, 2014

Every major OS release is a big test both for users and developers. The small, internal group of testers almost never catches all the malfunctions, and an OS system often ends up being "bleeding edge" rather than "cutting edge." The same applies to Android and its recently released version 5.0 Lollipop. This OS revision is great...

Android App Review: Simple Explorer Receives Material Design Updates

Mario Tomás Serrafero December 31, 2014

At XDA we like to highlight projects that are not only from the community, but also open source, and Simple Explorer, a file explorer by XDA Senior Member DF1E, is just such a project. We first mentioned it when it came out and then when it received a root management update soon after. Now DF1E has given it...

Make Your CM11 ROM Look Like Xperia Z3’s Firmware

Tomek Kondrat December 30, 2014

Unlike some themed firmware by various OEMs, every AOSP ROM looks pretty much the same. Porting applications and features from Sony's or Samsung's firmware is difficult but absolutely possible if you know what needs to be done. The Sony Xperia Z3's firmware has loads of interesting things that can be used with almost every AOSP...

Manage Partitions with UAPM

Tomek Kondrat December 30, 2014

To flash an image like a kernel or recovery, you usually need to have access to your PC and properly configured fastboot drivers. This isn’t too convenient, especially when you’re traveling and there is a new version of your kernel to try out. Advanced actions on partitions can now be performed directly from your device...

Analysis of New HTC Flagship, the HTC “HIMA”

Mario Tomás Serrafero December 30, 2014

New leaks provided by @upleaks point towards a new HTC device, codenamed “HIMA” (model HTC6535LVW), that sports an interesting set of specifications. The source provided a screenshot of an AnTuTu benchmark information sheet that gives us insight on what to expect from HTC’s latest and greatest. It is assumed this will be a flagship device,...

Beyond Smartphones: How To Get There w/ Troed Sångberg – XDA:DevCon 2014

Jimmy McGee December 30, 2014

Today’s XDA:DevCon 2014 session video continues from yesterday’s talk by Andreas Göransson entitled Building Wearable Apps with Android. Today’s talk is from another Sony staff member. Earlier we heard from Sony staffer Alin Jerpelea’s with his session AOSP For Sony Devices: Past, Present and Future. Our presenter Troed Sångberg is a developer advocate with Sony Developer Relations. His...

Must Have App Review: Pushbullet – XDA TV

Jimmy McGee December 30, 2014

Every day, we are subject to a barrage of incoming notifications. If you are working on a computer or playing on your tablet and you get an SMS, you have to stop what you are doing and check your phone only to find out that it’s your mom asking you how to use the DVR...

Samsung Allegedly Discontinuing Galaxy Alpha Line

Tomek Kondrat December 30, 2014

Samsung has been on fire for the last few days. The Korean OEM recently announced a new version of Note 4 phablet able to download big files in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately not all news from this manufacturer is good news. According to the Korean IT news site etnews, this leading OEM plans...

Samsung Expands European Galaxy S5 Lollipop Rollout

Faiz Malkani December 30, 2014

A while back, we spoke about the start of the Android 5.0 Lollipop rollout to Galaxy S5 users in Poland. According to reports, the update is now rolling out to users in Spain. While the Polish release was bug-free for the most part and much faster than previous versions, the rollout was restricted to users located...