Good and EVO

How are the latest OTA updates treating your HTC EVO phone?

All three HTC EVO phones that we care about (the HTC EVO 4G, EVO 3D, and EVO Design 4G), and even one that we don't care about (the EVO Shift 4G), recently got OTA updates that turned out to be pretty significant. Not only were all three devices updated at almost the same time (a rare occurence, although not entirely unheard of), but this update also removed one of the most contentious pieces of software in EVO history: Carrier IQ.

Along with the removal came better battery life on all three devices. Additionally, the original EVO 4G is now unlockable via HTC's official method, so those of you with HBOOT 1.50 can hopefully find some peace now.

So now that some time has passed, and everyone has either manually updated or received an automatic notification that an update is available, how is this treating your phone? Are you noticing the better battery life? Are you glad that your phone finally stopped spying on you? Let us know below in the comments!

G&E poll results: 67.1% love Honeycomb on the HTC EVO View 4G

It's been several weeks since we asked you how the latest OTA update to Honeycomb was treating you and your HTC EVO View 4G. I wanted to allow plenty of time for as many readers as possible to vote, and I think we caught most of the stragglers.

So the results are in, and it looks like over two-thirds (67.1%) of respondents  said that they love it, and it's about time they got it! The other third of respondents weren't too thrilled: in fact, over 22% of  you said that you wanted to downgrade back to Gingerbread, and over 10% of you said are still on Gingerbread and don't plan on upgrading at all.

These results are understandable, as the update did ruffle a few feathers: the turning off of the hardware buttons and the funky spacing on the homescreen were just too much for some people to handle. Some people were also disappointed due to compatibility issues with a few apps (HBO GO was a NO GO for me). However, this last point of contention can't really be blamed on HTC, since they don't have any control over individual developers.

In any case, thanks for participating in our latest poll, and be on the lookout for more coming soon!

Class 10 16GB microSD card on sale for $10 after rebate from Newegg

Are you a fan of downloading a lot of apps on your HTC EVO? Me too. When your internal memory gets full, do you move those apps to your microSD card? Again, me too.

Now, check what class your card is (it's that little circled number). Is it a 2 or 4? For best performance, you really should be running a faster (and thus higher class) card for apps-to-SD. 

A lot of us scoff at throwing out $50+ for a Class 10 card, but guess what. Newegg is selling a 16GB Patriot (yes, not some generic Chinese brand from eBay) LX Series Class 10 microSDHC card for $19.99 with free shipping. And when you complete a mail-in rebate (thorough instructions here), you get a $10 credit good for anything at Newegg.com, bringing the final price down to an incredible $9.99.

I haven't quite decided if I will be grabbing one for myself, but this is definitely a steal when it comes to removable media. The deal appears to be going until February 1, so you've only got a couple of days left to make up your mind.

[Newegg]

Use your HTC EVO 3D to run Windows 95/98/XP and Linux

If you've ever had the need to access a Windows or Linux OS from your phone, you've been generally been limited to using products like Remote RDP or Splashtop Remote to access a computer that is turned on and connected to the internet.

Well, as you may remember from our post about being able to install Ubuntu on your HTC EVO last year, you can run other desktop OSes natively on your phone too.

The HTC EVO 3D is capable of running older desktop systems, and while the reasons you would need to run a desktop OS on your phone are probably few and far between, it's an option that's available should you ever need it.

As with any desktop OS running on a phone, it is a hair-pulling experience to do and riddled with annoyances such as having to create a disk image of the OS you're installing, install it, and of course lean in close to see a comparatively tiny little screen.

But, if you've got an irresistible itch to pull out some of your childhood games and attempt to play them on your phone, or if you're running a hideously outdated application that you should hire a developer to update, the link below should get you up and running.

[xda-developers]

Help the EFF defend rooting smartphones, tablets, and game consoles

Section 1201 of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) states, "No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under [copyright protection and management systems]." This is a law to stop people from trying to find a way around copyright protection.

But some device manufacturers believe that Section 1201 of the DMCA states that rooting/jailbreaking/general modding of smartphones is illegal. Yes, illegal. 

Now, we all know who bought this HTC EVO 4G and 3D that I possess. Me. Not HTC. Not Sprint. I'm the end user and I believe I should be able to do whatever I want with this phone.

As a matter of fact, in 2010, smartphone modding was deemed legal. Since then, us modders, themers, and developers have lived in peace. 

However, the bill that stated rooting was legal is about to expire. So the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who protected Trevor Eckhart after he revealed the madness that ended up being Carrier IQ, is trying to get the bill protecting rooting renewed. Not only that, but they want to add tablets and video game consoles to the bill. 

If you would like to help, then heed the words of the EFF: "The Copyright Office needs to hear from people who depend on the ability to jailbreak to write, use, and/or tinker with independent software." If that's you and you feel like making a difference, here's the link. 

[Electronic Frontier Foundation]

Official touch-based ClockworkMod Recovery may be around the corner

If you've ever used ROM Manager, DeskSMS, or the new ClockworkMod Tether on your HTC EVO, then you're familiar with developer Koushik Dutta (better known as koush). He's always hard at work on something but now he's about to take his best work, ClockworkMod Recovery, and give it quite the upgrade.

As you can see in the video above, he's adding touch screen controls to the very popular custom recovery. Some other recovery developers have put together touch screen recoveries in the past, yes, but in my personal opinion, the yet-to-be-released touch ClockworkMod is looking to be the best. 

What do you think, is a touch-based custom recovery a must-have feature on your rooted EVO?

[+Koushik Dutta via Android Central]

Clearwire performs slightly better in Q4 than most analysts thought

Remember Clearwire? You know, the company that only half-way built out Sprint's 4G network and almost went bankrupt? Well, as it turns out, they had a slightly better fourth quarter in 2011 than most analysts expected.

Clearwire's Q4 revenue came in at just over $362 million, which was slightly higher than what many expected. This was partly due to lower operating costs and increased smartphone usage. However, the bad news is that Clearwire is still relying on handouts from Sprint to continue its operations, and it's still looking for investors to cover about $300 million of its present debt so it can continue with its planned LTE rollout.

In any case, it's definitely good news for EVO-owners that Clearwire had a somewhat decent quarter - that ensures that it will have the funds necessary to maintain the present WiMAX network, but only if you're already lucky enough to have decent coverage. On the other hand, I'm glad that Sprint has decided to take matters into their own hands, not totally relying on another company for the new LTE build-out. Clearwire was a costly mistake, but at least it allowed Sprint bragging rights for the first 4G smartphone.

[Engadget]

HTC EVO 4G spotted on FOX's Touch

We've had our fair share of HTC EVO 3D sightings in the past few months, but the original EVO 4G has seemingly all but disappeared from the mainstream spotlight. However, that changed several nights ago, when Kiefer Sutherland was seen using the OG EVO throughout FOX's new show, Touch.

The show premiered Wednesday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. It centers around a father trying to connect to an emotionally distant son, who he discovers can predict things before they happen. A semi-religious, metaphysical drama, the show has been met with a fairly decent critical response, so it may be worth giving it a shot if you missed it. If nothing else, it might be fun to play "spot the EVO!" and take a drink each time you see it being used.

In the video below, the EVO 4G is one phone of many that ring at the same time, but it also appears in other places throughout the show. But I don't want to give too much away, so if you're intrigued, check out the show yourself!

Heart Container Battery Meter brings Legend of Zelda health monitor to home screen

Heart Container Battery Meter is a small 2x1 widget that displays your phone's remaining battery life in three hearts on your home screen.

Fans of old school gaming will recognize the familiar Legend of Zelda health monitor being used here to indicate remaining battery strength.

Aside from looking quite awesomely 8-bit retro, it also packs some functionality underneath the hood with quick links to toggles and settings (as shown in the screenshot at right).

It's not quite on par yet with great applications such as Battery Monitor Widget, but it just makes my nerd heart happy. And if the theme on your HTC EVO is old school Nintendo, then it's probably a must have.

Heart Container Battery Meter is $0.99 in the Android Market, which may seem a bit pricey for a simple battery monitor, but if you're going out for battle with your heavily 8-bit-themed EVO, you should know it's dangerous to go alone! Install this.

Links: Market (EVO) | Market (web)

HTC EVO 4G OTA update 4.67.651.3 unlockable at HTCdev

While not listed on the drop-down menu at HTCdev, it seems that the newest OTA update for the HTC EVO 4G, which is currently unrootable via Revolutionary or UnrEVOked, is officially unlockable by using the "All Other Supported Models" option.

This unlock method is not the same as S-OFF. It gives users a bootloader that allows flashing, but radio images cannot be flashed. So if you've lost root and are attempting to go back to a normal flashing life, you may need to learn a couple of new steps to flash kernels, and you're simply not going to be able to flash radios.

While unlocking via HTCDev can theoretically void your warranty, at the moment if you're stuck with version 4.67.651.3/HBOOT 2.16.0001+, you'll need to unlock the bootloader officially or wait to see if any developers can crack HTC's newest HBOOTs (it's not looking so promising lately, by the way).

After unlocking, you'll then need to flash a recovery and use it to install either superuser or a ROM.

[HTCdev] Thanks, Captain_Throwback!