The developer team over at alldroid.org has  managed to gain root access to the version of the Motorola Milestone which was recently released by Telus Mobility in Canada.  At first glance this doesn't seem like news; both the Droid and Milestone were rooted months ago.  The difference is the Telus version was released with the root exploit patched.

A few days after the Droid/Milestone exploit was discovered, a developer submitted the patch for it to the Android Open Source Project.  The patch was accepted and merged into the source code.  Interestingly, this developer was Steve Kondik aka Cyanogen who is best known for his custom ROMs which he has developed for rooted HTC phones.  You can review the patch here.

The way to root a Telus Milestone is covered in detail here.  Basically it consists of completely wiping the memory of the phone and then flashing the memory with the Brazilian Milestone's operating system.  This version of the Milestone software doesn't have the exploit patched.  Once this is flashed, you simply continue as normal by downloading and running a modified 'update.zip' file which piggybacks the root access inside an over the air update file.

Although this does give the user root access, none of the Milestone branded devices will run a boot image unless digitally signed by Motorola.  This means no overclocking, custom roms, or custom recovery menu; but there are already tutorials for running interactive wallpapers, blocking unwanted advertisements, removing unwanted apps, and installing customized themes available over at alldroid.

I wonder how long until these guys figure out how to digitally sign custom ROMs?  At this pace we should see them by Friday.

Sources:  alldroid.org; telusmobility.ca

The developer of this widget pack modestly describes this as "just another weather widget".  This is perhaps the most polished and well put together weather forcast widget pack available for the android.  He also has some amazing flipclocks that moderately resemble clocks from some paid applications (Check out the 'Weather forcast 4x2 widget.)  Definitely a 5 star application.

This widget is so handy that I am surprised it doesn't come on Android phones from the factory.  This is simply a 1x1 widget that displays one of ten gmail icons and will show how many unread messages are in your gmail account.  Tap the widget and it opens up the  Gmail application and goes to the inbox.  Simple, beautiful, customizable and functional.

The premise of this widget is simple: allows you to put more icons on your homescreen.  This widget app allows you to put 3 applications in the space of one; the fourth location links to the widget's settings screen.  At first it seems as if the icons might be too small, but the developer has done a good job and it's easy to select the icon you're after.  This  is a perfect addition for people like me as it allows for more room on the homescreens to put widgets.

This is an app that almost everyone would find useful at one point or another.  It's an open source task list that is simple to use and works very well.  The widget alone is enough to generate 5 stars.  The widget will display one of your todo lists in a nice and easy to read format.  Even if you don't use Astrid task manager, the widget can synchronize with other applications such as 'Remember the Milk, Locale and more.

Although it does consume an entire page, the 4x4 widget is stunning.  The widget gives buttons for the important musc player functions and displays the album art.  Beneath the surface this player will also scan through your music and make recommendations based on the songs you are listening to.  All around a great application over and above being an awesome widget.

UPDATE: My bad, I confused two different programs both titled 'Weather Widget' and after looking through the Android Market, there appears to be a few others. Anyhow, here is the link to the barcode image for the one I originally posted. Even though it's not what I had intended to post it is still very nice and is pictured above.

What happens when spare electronics , cold weather, and ingenuity come together? If your answer is "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" then you can stop reading now. However, if you thought of a remote car starter that involves a pre-paid cellphone then you are correct!

Apparently, a gentleman named Dave created a remote starter out of parts cribbed from a pre-paid cellphone so that he would not need to encounter a cold vehicle in the morning. As told by Autoblog

To make it work, Dave removed the vibrating mechanism that would signal a call after receiving pulses from the phone's circuit board. Then he wired the phone to send those pulses to the remote starter's switch, and voila: two rings and the car starts up. He is no longer limited by proximity when using the remote start; as long as the phone gets a signal, he'll have a warm car whenever he gets there. Total cost of the hack was $71.03, but that doesn't include the remote starter unit you'll need to buy and install in your car.

Source- Dave Hacks via Engadget

For instructions, see Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 on Dave's blog!

If you have are running a custom ROM that has Sense UI (AKA Touch Flo 3D 2.5) as its main user interface, there is now a cab available that allows you to enjoy the glories of landscape mode.

Previously, Sense UI has only offered a Portrait-only point of view as the device that it originally runs on, the HTC HD2, does not have a slide-out keyboard and therefore does not require a landscape mode.

You can go to XDA and download it here. Please note, there are some issues known with this release, including the Calendar page having some display issues and the retractable slider button may whiten out at times. Also, you must install Mortscript and follow the guidelines in the post. Below are the steps required to perform this hack. All required files are located in link  posted above. If you are a ROM Chef, he has included files so that you can bake this into your next ROM.

STEP 1 -INSTALL MORTSCRIPT 4.2

STEP 2- DISABLE MANILA

STEP 3- INSTALL MY CAB

STEP 4- INSTALL SMALL REG TWEAK (CAB)

Source- Pocketnow.com

The U.S. Postal service has launched a new mobile site. While the new site currently only offers package tracking, post office location search and two-way zip code look-ups, it is a solid start. The site will work on any phone with Internet access and is very easy to navigate.

The USPS is also apparently working on new apps for the Blackberry and iPhone. For more information, or to track that all important cellular accessory that you are expecting in the mail, go here.

Source: Lifehacker ]]> http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/22/u-s-postal-service-offers-new-mobile-site/feed/ 3 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/22/how-to-configure-your-sprint-mobile-broadband-card-on-a-linux-os/ http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/10/22/how-to-configure-your-sprint-mobile-broadband-card-on-a-linux-os/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:32:39 +0000 BigDiesel07 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/?p=963

Do you want to configure your Sprint Mobile Broadband Card with your Linux OS-running Computer and don't know how? You are in luck as I have found something that will make your life easier. While rummaging around in the PPCG HQ News Bunker, I came across a .PDF that details how a user can set up a Sprint Mobile Broadband Card with a Linux computer. You can go to the link below to view the guide. Happy mobile broadband surfing!

Sprint Mobile Broadband Setup Guide for Linux (PDF)

One more screenshot after the break..

If you are the owner of a Touch Pro2 and text fairly regularly, you may have encountered a phenomenon I like to call "Phantom Text Messages". I have found a way to temporarily squash this bug until a ROM update can fix this annoying issue.

Read on to find out how!

The issue at hand occurs when you are in the threaded text messaging view (not the new TF3D version, but the older, stock WM 6.1 version) and you receive 2 or 3 new text messages.

Then, after reading and replying to the messages, you leave your threaded text message conversation and go to the window where it shows all the threaded text messages for every person.

The so-called "Phantom Text Messages" occur when the conversation you were just in still shows (1) or more new text messages. For most users, this makes no sense because you were in that threaded chat and thus read the new text messages.

I found a way where you can make that go away. This will only work if you are in landscape mode and have the keyboard slid out. It does not matter if you have the screen tilted up or not.

Now when your phone is in this position you can use the arrow keypad on the keyboard to scroll up and see previous messages in the threaded chat.

Well, if you scroll up and highlight the text messages (they turn a shade of blue in Sprint TF3D when highlighted) and then scroll back down to the part where you type in return messages, it will not indicate that you have new texts when you go to the main text window.

I know this is a temporary fix, but it does stop the annoying "Phantom Text Message".