Frost

I am a lover of Technology and programming. I have about 12 years of programming experience and work as IT Support.

HTC EVO 4G Smart Phone from Sprint Review

HTC EVO, Reviews 3 Responses »
Jul 182010


Introduction
All images hosted by Imgur.com You can view the full album at HTC EVO Pics at Imgur.com
I recently ventured into the realm of Smart Phones with my latest purchase of the HTC EVO 4G by Sprint. Really I have been holding off on upgrading phones mainly due to the fact that I found the data plans to be too much for my needs. Well I have had a mobile broadband card for just general trips with my computer.


Well I was doing some searching and I found for less than double the price (about $10 less) of what it cost to run my mobile broadband I could get a new smart phone, so here I am with the new HTC EVO 4G and these are my findings about the phone, to hopefully help you decide if it is right for you.

The Look and Feel
The HTC EVO 4G is a pretty cool looking phone. HTC EVO is a decent sized phone. To put it into perspective here is the phone next to a credit card. The phone's colors can be changed by buying it either in one of the colors offered or by buying a "skin" for the EVO. The EVO fits pretty nice into my hands, I have probably average hands although at times the side of my hands press random items and makes my phone seem like it is wigging out, which is just mainly due to my lack of attentiveness and is easily remedied by paying a bit more attention to how I hold it.

The screen is amazing, I love the touch screen with the "flick" and "pinch" type technology. It is so easy to run and navigate through. It does get smudges depending on what is on your hands, but they are usually easily cleaned by a cleaning solution or just putting the phone into Stand-By and wiping it down with your shirt. I do not know how it works with the screen protectors as I did not buy any, but that may help with the smudges and preserve your screen. The 4 buttons at the bottom of the phone help the navigation and make it easy to get back to "Home" or find extra options for certain applications. All in all the EVO looks awesome and the EVO feels great in my hands.

The Software
HTC EVO has a superb interface, granted I have never used it's competitor the iPhone, but from what I can tell this interface is just great. Once you get the hang of it everything kind of just flows together and is pretty smooth and fluent motions. The "Home Screen", which has 6 screens around it when zoomed out, is fully customizable with Widgets. For instance, my home screen has 3 rows of applications with the top row being the Clock and Weather. I have not messed around with designing / rearranging it to be much different, but I will eventually get around to finding more widgets and implementing them. For now, I like how I have my HTC EVO setup.

Since the HTC EVO is ran off of the Android technology this allows for ample applications (both free and paid). So far I have found just about an application for all of my needs, such as a Craigslist App a GPS Mapping App a Ping.FM Posting App and an IRSSI + SSH Connection App so I can login to my SSH server and do IRC Chat from there! Not to mention it has awesome Speech to Text technology built in. If you talk clearly into the phone when this is activated, it does a really accurate translation, I was very impressed by the Speech to Text technology. The wide variety of applications that are offered for the HTC EVO, plus the fact that anyone can pretty much develop the Apps, just makes the EVO superb in that all you have to do is learn how to and boom, you can generate your own App!

The Hardware
I am no expert on Phones or phone hardware. Perhaps the biggest downside of the HTC EVO is the battery life right now. Since the screen is so big and with the 4G connection plus Bluetooth, GPS and WiFi / WiFi Tethering (requires a $30 / month charge) Capabilities, well they tend to drain the battery pretty fast. After probably a good 2-3 hours of "normal" usage (without talking on the phone) the HTC EVO tends to drop to half the battery. This is with WiFi enabled, WiFi tethering disabled, 4G disabled (no 4G in my area yet) and BlueTooth disabled. Just normal usage tends to drain the battery pretty good, luckily I have a USB car charger from a previous item I bought and I can just swap out the USB cord. Since it did come with 1 USB Cord and the HTC EVO can be charged by computer / laptop that is my main source. If I am just at my laptop typing, like I am now, I tend to have my HTC EVO connected up and charging, this may be overkill, but I would rather have it charged incase something comes up unexpectedly.


The HTC EVO comes with an 8GB MicroSD Card, it is not the biggest but works for an out of the box card. You can buy multiple 16GB Cards for around $30/card or go for the big boy 32GB MicroSD card, which will run you at $100+ right now. This brings me to my first pet-peeve about the HTC EVO. In order to switch out SD Cards you have to pull the battery out. This can be an annoyance, say you want to have a card with just your music on it and a card for just normal use, well you have to turn off the phone, pull the battery pull out the card put the new one in put the battery back in and wait for the HTC EVO to boot up (around a minute).

I love having the GPS ability of my HTC EVO, this will allow me to go hike trails and map where I have been or even drive to a location and generate a map / GPS data with way points. This is huge for me as this way I will not have to buy a "GPS" tracker separate, this is all done on my phone, not to mention that there is probably a TOM TOM type App, which I have not looked into / tried yet. With the GPS enabled, you can easily post where your current location is at and the Google Maps app auto detects your location and will pull up the map to where you are now. If you are not one who likes GPS, this is easily turned off (I tend to leave mine off unless I am going somewhere I want to track). But none the less is an awesome feature.

The bluetooth chip works as normal. I have not had any issues pairing the EVO with any headset yet and the sound quality is decent, although it could be a bit louder, which is another pet peeve about the EVO. The sound seems to be really soft when listening to media / using the speaker phone. I am pretty sure this is a hardware issue. But if you plan on listening to the EVO on Air planes, it maybe wise to buy those fancy headsets that does the noise canceling, as I cannot see being able to hear the tunes very well without some of those (given the max volume). But again, this issue is easy to work with and I may be missing a setting to turn up the main volume of the phone (I need to investigate that). But given that the HTC EVO is in it's early stages perhaps updates will alleviate the sound issue or maybe there is an App that can override the sound and boost it. All in all the hardware seems to be very sturdy and built / thought out very well, at least in my opinion.

Miscellaneous Items
There are some minor items I wish to address here as a buyer information. The HTC EVO has a special USB Cable needed, these cables are cheaply bought on Ebay (around $5). I plan on getting an extra cable to keep one at work, maybe one for the car and home. The sound on the EVO, as stated above, is not the best (The phone call quality is good, just the media / speaker phone sound). I wish it could go a bit louder and easier to hear. The SD Card being under the battery is another minor issue in that it is a pain to switch out cards, given that the 32GB MicroSD Cards are so expensive. The battery life, which is known, could have a better life, this may be alleviated later on with a better battery that can be purchased, I am hoping for that and will probably by the replaceable battery with extended life when it comes out.

But aside from the Cons the EVO has many Pros, which definitely out way the cons, such as the numerous number of Apps that are Free and work decent, it's flawless integration with Google Technology, such as Gtalk, Gmail, Gcal, Gvoice and other google services. And since it is Google Technology, you can rest assured that it will stay above and beyond the curve of technology in general, such as with the Speech to Text.

Ending Notes
Well I am very pleased with the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. It is exactly what I wanted in a smart phone and more, in fact the HTC EVO is exactly what I have been looking for since the early 2000's when Palms / Windows Mobile were coming out. The HTC EVO's ability to Sync with Google Calendars flawlessly, integrate Google Voice, so your number always shows up from Google Voice and it's software seriously sets the HTC EVO above anything I have used before (which as stated wasn't anything recent). The main thing that I like about the HTC EVO is Android backed software. If you are thinking about buying the HTC EVO I would highly recommend it, I have not regretted my purchase yet.

Posted by Frost at 11:02 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Root and Wireless Tether the HTC EVO 4G Device

HTC EVO 5 Responses »
Jul 142010


Introduction
I just bought my new HTC EVO 4g after doing my research and waiting for a week for the backorders to clear up. Well I finally received my HTC EVO 4g and was going to start off with it by Wireless Tethering. Well following my original instructions, Free Wireless Tethering (HotSpot), yielded now results due to an OTA update that ships with the newest EVO's.


Well I set out to find a new method to Root my EVO 4g and to my delight I found it! And my success would not have been remotely possible without the help from the XDA Developer Forums and particularly the thread by jiqqaman titled SimpleRoot .1 ---- 3 Click Root w/ nand unlock!!, which unfortunately, I found out was not the right thread for the newest OTA. For the newest OTA, this thread, SimpleRoot OTA 1.47.651.1 Edition, is the correct one and I have uploaded the file to my site for the first 400 downloads. You can download SimpleRoot for OTA 1.47 here to show my support and appreciation, but it will be limited to 400 downloads. If as time goes on I feel I can spare the bandwidth I will up the download limit. Your IP will be logged on the download, and only allowed to download once. Please do not download more than once as a courtesy to my server and everyone else. Without further delay, here is my trials and errors in attempting to root my new HTC EVO 4g!

Background on Rooting EVO Attempts
I spent the majority of the night testing and retesting. At first I just tried to install UnRevoked with Wireless Tether, well since the new OTA, of course this would not work. Because my phone was brand spanking new, it came with the OTA updated. The newest OTA caused some minor heartache once I found out that it blocked most prior Root attempts. Well I was thoroughly bummed and in search of an answer. I went over to the XDA Developer Forums and found a thread, (see SimpleRoot .1 ---- 3 Click Root w/ nand unlock!! link above) and tried as I might to get it to root my HTC EVO. I kept getting “Main Version is Older!" error, which thoroughly baffled me and confused me. Well I searched that forums and found make shift “solutions", which none worked. Finally I went back to google and searched the XDA Site...well I found a similar post SimpleRoot OTA 1.47.651.1 Edition that was for the newest OTA, /facepalmed my self to oblivion. I was following the old guide and not the new one. Well since I started following the newest SimpleRoot guide, let's just say things go a bit smoother. So now that the background informations is set, here is the actual guide of the steps I took.

Root the HTC EVO
Pre-Requisite Alert!!!!
Before attempting this you will need the Microsoft .NET 4 Framework installed and HTC Sync . So obviously this will only work on a Windows Computer. If you are an avid Linux User like myself, simply find yourself a copy of a Windows, I chose Windows XP as I had a CD for it and install it. You should be able to accomplish this within the 30-day Trial Period.

Disclaimer:
The following instructions can potentially HARM or BRICK or BREAK your HTC EVO phone. Follow them at your own risk. This is simply a “learning guide" and nothing else. I take no responsibility in any adverse effects that may come to your phone from this. This may void your phone warranty or your phone companys TOS, so be sure to read them before trying and know that you are TRYING THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. ALSO NOTE: This may remove your 4G capabilities. If you have 4G Available and want to continue using it, DO NOT PROCEED!

The Steps to Root HTC EVO
First of all the software will be needed, as long as the download limit of 400 has not been reached, you should be able to download it here, if it has well see the forum for extra download links using Megaupload. Once the files are downloaded, extract them anywhere you want. I chose the Windows Desktop, given that it was just a temporary install. Once they are extracted it is time to do some prep work on your phone. First up, you will have to wipe all your data. If you have data (I did not as my phone was brand new) I would suggest finding ways to back it up, I do not know of any but I am sure Google.com can assist you in finding more information about backing your data up. Your phone needs to be in USB Debugging mode, to do this you will goto MENU > Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging and check it. This is a key step and the rest will not work without that mode set.

Open the SimpleRoot program, I believe it is called OTARoot. Once it is opened up you should see an image like below with 4 buttons:

Now before you connect up, make sure that you do want to do this. If you are, connect your phone up and press the first button “Push files + Factory Reset". A command prompt screen should pop up and give you instructions, be sure to follow them. Read the whole thing first before you act. The factory reset I had to manually execute it on the phone, the instructions should tell you how.

Once the factory reset and the instructions tell you to move on to Step 2 it is time to push the second button “Clear Browser". I am sure this does what it says, but I cannot recall exactly. Just be sure to read and re-read the instructions before acting on them that pop up. Once it is finished, time to move onto Step 3, which is “Use Flash Hack". Now this step I think I messed up on which gave me the “Main Version is Older" error. Make sure that after you goto the website it instructs you to, to refresh the page after it is loaded, if you do not well, it is not a complete loss as there is a way around that problem. It is better to follow the instructions.

If you did not follow the instructions, to re-mediate the problem that comes up with “flash_image" not found, simply copy the flash_image from the extract OTA SimpleRoot archive to your Phone. This is a pain because you have to un-plug your phone from the computer, plug it back in, set the USB Mode to Disk Drive and copy the flash_image to the root of the SD Card. Once that is done, un-plug your phone again, switch it back to Charge Only and then re-run Step 4.

Step 4, “Reboot + Scan" is the most important step. Make sure to read the instructions fully. This will basically install the earlier version of the OTA which will allow you to root your HTC EVO device. After the image is pushed, the initial boot will take around 5 minutes. So be patient. Once it is back online, you are set up! If the USB Cable is still connected, on the SimpleRoot program goto Extras > Clean Root Files. This will clear up your SD Card automatically. Once that is done, you can unplug your device, set the USB Debugging mode off if you want and poof! You have a Rooted device.

Wireless Tethering on HTC EVO
Since my ultimate goal was to setup my device as a WiFi hotspot, here are those instructions as well, I credited the writer / originator with the link up top, please feel free to view that post if you want. For ease of the guide I will post similar instructions here.

First up we have to allow “unknown source" applications to be installed (you can change this back after installing the following software if you like). To do this on your EVO Press Menu > Settings > Applications > Check the Unknown Sources. Once this is done, go back to the Home screen.

Next, open your EVO's Internet Browser (Applications > Internet) and browse to: Unrevoked and download / install their application. This is straight forward simply click on the screen when prompted. Once it is downloaded and installed, it is time to get the Wireless Tethering software installed.

Open your Internet Browser and browse to http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/downloads/list Or, I setup a goo.gl located at http://goo.gl/4lac (after the 4 it is an L just lowercased) to shorten the amount of typing you would need to do. Download the “wireless_tether_2.0.5-pre2.apk" and install it to your HTC EVO. Once downloaded and installed go back to the Home screen. Goto the Applications and open up Unrevoked (you will need to do this anytime you turn off the tethering or reboot the phone BEFORE you start the Wireless Tethering). Once at unrevoked press “Start" this will take a few seconds and will go green. Once the start is no longer green or you get a message that says “Rooted" go back to the Home screen to the Applications and start up the “Wireless Tethering" This should start up and you are good to go! Modify your settings for the SID / WPA Key etc and now you have a Wireless HotSpot with your new EVO.

Conclusion
Rooting the HTC EVO OTA 1.47 has been a great journey and learning experience for me. It was frustrating at times finding all the quirks of information, but in the end I got it done. If you find your self needing advanced help I can try via comments, but probably better to post the threads listed above, they are much smarter than I am and have more experience with the EVO. I am mainly writing this as a log for me in-case I accidentally update my phone and have to do this again. Hope it all works well and this guide saves you some hassle in the future.

Gods Speed!

EDIT:
Changed the unrevoked part, as that is not needed. The image should be rooted with out it.

Posted by Frost at 5:59 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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