[Tutorial] How To "Un-Root" The HTC ThunderBolt And Return It To Stock

One of the most popular questions about rooting the ThunderBolt is how to undo the process and return to stock, which renews your eligibility for customer support. Well, here you go:

Instructions

Please read the whole tutorial first, and pay attention to every detail. Note that your battery needs to be charged to at least 40% at the beginning of the process, and remember to check the MD5 sums of all downloaded files before diving in. As always, neither Android Police nor Team AndIRC are responsible for any damage this may cause to your phone, and, needless to say, returning to stock means you will no longer be able to use root apps like ShootMe and Titanium Backup.

First, download the following files:

• Stock firmware (MD5 sum: 7141f5620f6128af77d50587e341f4b0)
• exploits.zip  (MD5 sum: 3b359efd76aac456ba7fb0d6972de3af)

Next, push busybox and misc.img.

    adb push misc.img /data/local/

    adb push busybox /data/local/

    adb shell chmod 777 /data/local/busybox

To gain root and flash misc.img:

    adb shell

    su

    /data/local/busybox md5sum /data/local/misc.img

If the output is anything other than "c88dd947eb3b36eec90503a3525ae0de," stop and start over again.

Now let’s write misc.img:

    dd if=/data/local/misc.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p17

Rename "PG05IMG_Mecha_VERIZON_WWE_1.12.605.6_Radio_1.16.00.0223r_NV_8k_1.41_9k_1.64_
release_174685_signed.zip" to "PG05IMG.zip" before placing it on your SD card.

Finally, reboot into bootloader mode by entering the following command. Allow the stock firmware to flash.

    adb reboot bootloader

You’re done – your phone should now be stock, S-ON.

HTC Representative: Gingerbread Hitting HTC ThunderBolt in q2 2011

Here’s some news that ought to make ThunderBolt owners smile: an HTC representative reportedly told a customer that Gingerbread will be made available for Verizon’s new flagship phone in – wait for it – Q2.

According to Droid Life, John (or rudyt83) emailed HTC customer support after experiencing some issues with Bluetooth on his new ThunderBolt. HTC’s (rather lengthy) response included this little nugget of information:

We are excited to announce that the Thunderbolt will receive the Gingerbread (Android 2.3) update in Q2 2011. Stay tuned for details as we get closer to the update availability.

The rep proceeded to list features added in Gingerbread, though the similarity to Google’s ownAndroid 2.3 changelog leads us to believe that the additions aren’t specific to the ThunderBolt.

So there you have it – now all that’s left are a few months of inevitable (and likely countless) release date rumors!

Source: Droid Life

CyanogenMod May Soon Allow Users To Revoke Specific Application Permissions,

One of the ways Android protects application users from unwanted activities is by requiring every app to declare a set of permissions and allowing users to view those permissions during the installation phase. Don’t like what an app can do? Just don’t install it.

However, this all or nothing approach doesn’t allow you to selectively turn off specific permissions, so if you don’t like that an application accesses your phone state, you can’t just disable that and still have the app installed. This forces you to either potentially compromise your privacy or miss out on what could be a great piece of software. Annoying, isn’t it?

A change to this core Android paradigm may be coming soon to CyanogenMod users in the shape of a proposed patch, posted to CM’s bug tracker by psychoi3oy (clever name, isn’t it?) and developed by Plamen K. Kosseff. The patch would add currently non-existent methods to get and set permissions for specified apps, together with a related Settings area and a newandroid.permission.REVOKE_PERMISSIONS permission that would guard the new methods.

Adds support for revoking permissions.

- 2 new methods in PackageManager: set and getRevokedPermissions.
- new permission android.permission.REVOKE_PERMISSIONS that guards the new methods.
- new widget that can revoke permissions and is to be used in Settings app.

Change-Id: I19aace30b6e2bd2075231f8a8581c22b428e86e8

Patches get submitted to open-source projects all the time, and having one in no way means it will be accepted by the project admins. However, Steve Kondik, aka Cyanogen himself, left the following comment, which not only didn’t dismiss the patch but made its integration with CyanogenMod seem quite a bit more likely:

Steve Kondik Mar 24

Going to save this for 7.1.

If implemented, the new permissions would revolutionize the way applications are handled in CM, but I am foreseeing a lot of problems if apps are suddenly denied access to what they would normally be able to do. Considering that in Android, once a permission is granted, it is guaranteed, I would guess most developers don’t ever bother to catch SecurityExceptions. Guess what an unhandled exception results in (hint: it rhymes with "Smores Roses"). That’s right – the app will crash, and you will start experiencing conflicting feelings of safety and rage.

As an Android developer myself, I hope the CM team will take these consideration into account and in case the patch is implemented, it is tweaked in such a way that it would deny permissions by faking requested resources rather than outright refusing them.

Nook Color Android ‘Froyo’ 2.2 Update Gets Detailed

Tablets are quickly becoming all the rage now that just about every different hardware manufacturer has gotten down on the game. As you’re sure to knowApple’s iPad 2 is leading the pack but seeing how even the starting model is priced quite high it might be out of reach for many consumers. Luckily, there are many different alternatives to the iPad 2 that give consumers access to a full fledged tablet.

In fact, one of the more popular tablets that falls into this category isn’t marketing as a tablet at all but instead a eReader in the form of the Nook Color. However, after some clever hackery consumers have been able to turn the device into a full fledged tablet complete with access to the Android Market, Bluetooth connectivity and much more.

Well, Barnes & Noble is looking to make hacking less necessary by bringing an update to the device in the near future including access to application downloads and more. While we had already known this for a while we weren’t sure exactly what the update was to entail or when exactly it was dropping. Luckily, our friends over at Engaget spotted the device on HSN this morning where they announced taht the Barnes & Noble Nook Color would be getting an update to Android 2.2 which includes access to an app store, Flash videos and much more.

So folks mark your calendar, the Nook Color becomes a tablet for real next month.

Top 10 Android Phones in India with Prices

1. LG Optimus one ( Rs. 12,300)

LG Optimus One is a mid rage Android phone and you can’t really expect it to be having a host of features. It has Android 2.2 Froyo OS and will be updated to Gingerbread 2.3.

It boosts a 3MP camera and 150 MB of Internal memory with microSD card support. 1500 mAh Battery is a really good addition.

If you want to experience some Android magic and are NOT on a very high budget, this is the one!

2. Samsung I9000 Galaxy S ( Rs. 28,000)

With its successor Nexus S still in the boxes, this is yet the most successful as well as the most powerful phone in the Indian Market.

Samsung Galaxy S I9000 is about 9.9mm thin and runs on the Android platform 2.2 and equipped with a 1 GHz processor.

This phone also has a Super AMOLED display of 4 inches, 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and 720p video recording capability with a frame rate of 30 fps.

If you are a speed hawk and have money to shell out then you must go for this!

3. HTC Desire ( Rs. 27,900)

HTC Desire may not be the best Android device available worldwide right now, but it was certainly a boon for Indian Android fans. With Google ditching India for Nexus One, HTC Desire certainly filled that void.

Talking about this Android 2.1 powered smartphone, it comes with a 3.7 inch SLCD display, powerful 1 Ghz Snapdragon processor, 576 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, 4 GB SD Card in-the-box with 32 GB total support and 5 MP Camera with LED Flash. It sports HTC’s very own Sense UI which is pretty good to work with.

The HTC Desire just doesn’t get to the marks set by the Galaxy S. With a price tag somewhat equivalent to that of Galaxy S, I think you should get it only if you are a beloved lover of the HTC Sense.

4. Motorola Milestone XT720 ( Rs. 24,300) (Not in top 10 anymore)

The Motorola Milestone XT720 has the specifications of Android 2.1 OS, an 8 megapixel camera with Xenon flash, 720p video recording, 3.7 inch Display.

Though many  Smartphone pundits say this is just the Milestone without a QWERTY keyboard, it also features something which may appeal to a person looking for a high-end Android device, like a 8MP camera, a large touch screen and a 1GHZ processor.

This Smartphone doesn’t seem to stand the competition of the Galaxy S or the iPhone. Personally, I think the only great feature of this phone is the 8MP camera.

5. Samsung Galaxy 3 ( Rs. 11,750) (Not in Top 10 anymore)

If you are a budget customer, then Samsung Galaxy 3 is a good choice. Samsung Galaxy 3 is a device which comes under Galaxy series by Samsung. Samsung Galaxy 3 has very outstanding features at an affordable price.

Samsung Galaxy 3 has Android 2.1 (2.2 upgrade), Quad band GSM/3G HSDPA, 667 MHz processor, 3.2 inch TFT touchscreen, 16M colors display with screen resolutions of 240×400 pixels. Its has a 3 MP camera equipped with zoom and auto-focus.

In comparison to LG Optimus One, this has a weaker processer, RAM and OS. In my opinion you should rather go for the LG Optimus One!

6. Motorola Milestone ( Rs. 22,350) (Not in Top 10 anymore)

If you are looking for a Qwerty phone which is equally good in all other aspects too, then this is it! It has a 5MP camera which can record video at 720 x 480px resolution with LED flash. It has a capitave screen of 3.7 inches.

The Motorola Milestone sells for approximately Rs. 22,000. It is a good phone featuring Google’s Stock UI and has the features of old Android 2.0.

7. Acer Liquid E ( Rs. 19,199) (Not in Top 10 anymore)

Acer Liquid E has a 3.5 inch capacitive display Touchscreen. It runs on a powerful Snapdragon processor and has a display resolution of 480 x 800 pixel.

It also has  5 megapixel camera and 1350 mAh Li-Ion battery.

Running on Android 2.1 with a price tag of Rs. 19,000 , it isn’t worth the money.

8. Micromax Andro A60 ( Rs. 6,999)

This is Micromax’s first Android phone. The Andro A60 has a 3.2 Megapixels Camera with Video Recording and Autofocus, Android  v2.1 and a 600 MHz processor. It has a 2.8 inch screen with a resolution of 340 x 240. It contains a 1280 mAh Li-Ion battery.

With this price tag, it is worth trying this Android phone. Thats the reason why its called “my first Android phone” (experiencing Android for the first time)

9. Motorola Flipout( Rs. 14,999) (Not in Top 10 anymore)

If you want a phone with a completely new design and a form factor, then this is just for you! Flipout features a five-row QWERTY keypad that pivots from its 2.8-inch display.

On the hardware side, the Moto Flipout runs on a modest Texas Instrument’s 600 MHz processor. It has 512MB of Internal memory and a 2GB SD card that can be expanded up to 32GB.

It runs on Android 2.1 and its design is its unique selling point!

10. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 ( Rs. 27,949) (Not in Top 10 anymore)

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 is a phone running on Android OS 1.6 (upgradeable to 2.1 but Gingerbread 2.3 is here) and featuring 32GB internal memory, 4-inch capacitive touchscreen and Rachael User Interface.

It has a 8MP camera with a resolution of 852 x 480 pixels and its runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1 GHz processor.

To round it all up, according to me, if you have a budget of :

• less than 10,000 then go for Micromax Andro A60
• less than 20,000 then go for LG Optimus One
• and if you have budget of more than 20,000 then you must get a Samsung Galaxy S

Update: Some Good Android Phones available now are Motorola Defy, Samsung Galaxy Ace, HTC WildFire, Samsung Galaxy SL.