Jerry Hildenbrand's blog

Motorola employee Matt has stated in their official support forums that Moto plans to address the low volume of notifications on the Droid X with an upcoming software release.  Note that no mention of Froyo was made, so this could very well be a minor bug fix -- which nobody would be mad about.  He also goes on to say that certain ringtones are louder than others and gives a list of the loudest.  The top three are:

• BollyWood
• Dancin' Fool
• Digital Phone

You can see the full list of the 10 loudest notification tones on the Droid X at the source link.  How's the notification volume on your X?  Sound off in the comments and in the forums! [Motorola support via Android Central forums]

TweetDeck has announced that it will be holding a public beta for its Android Twitter application sometime this week.  No, we don't have the exact date -- just like Froyo for your device it will come when it comes.  A few things from their announcement (read it at the source link) really stand out -- the application is not a port of their iThing client, they have built it from the ground up; and retomeier (a well known Android Developer Advocate)  has said "it's a thing of beauty."

That's enough endorsement for me.  As soon as the trial begins, we'll let you know! [TweetDeck via Android Central forums]

My heart has officially been broken, as Google has told LaptopMag that the Augen Gentouch78 tablet's usage of the Android Market (and other Google Apps) is unauthorized.  To be more precise, Google claims that "Augen included proprietary Google software in their product via an unauthorized vendor. Google only licenses its software to partners and OHA members directly."

We have no idea who or what the unauthorized vendor is, but I promise it wasn't me.  It certainly explains why you couldn't really download anything from the Market without a bit of hacking wizardry though.  It's starting to look like I'll never get the uber-cheap family refrigerator calendar tablet of my dreams, and this raincheck from Kmart will have to suffice. [LaptopMag]

Yes, an overclocking method has been found for the Droid X, but no, the bootloader is not cracked.  Using the same method as the Milestone hackers, an injectable kernel module has been built that will overclock the Droid X's processor to about 1.15 GHz.  Yes, we realize that a mere .15 GHz gain doesn't make that much difference -- we're not concerned with the speed increase as much as we are with the simple fact that no matter how hard manufacturers and carriers try to keep us out, someone finds a way in.  Rooting and altering the CPU frequency on one of the most locked down Android phones to date is proof positive of this.

A quick read of the source link will tell you that this isn't quite ready for prime-time just yet, but give it a little time and even if a large speed increase doesn't come of it, the method looks like a good way to extend your battery life by dropping the voltage and clock cycles while the processor is asleep.  [Droidforums] Thanks Chris, for the tip and the method!

Holy moley!  What you're seeing is thisisbenji's poor HTC Evo 4G after an early morning bicycle mishap.  While we hate to see any smartphone in such a clearly painful condition, especially an Android phone, we're as amazed as you are that it still runs.  Read the whole story, and see the carnage up close in pictures, in the forums! [Android Central forums]

Yes, you read it right -- it's being rumored that Verizon and HTC may be joining forces to give us all the Android world phone we've been asking for sometime early next year.  For those wondering, a world phone is a dual-radio CDMA/GSM device (CDMA is what Sprint and Verizon use; GSM is what T-Mobile, AT&T and the rest of the world use.) That means the phone can be used outside the USA with a local SIM card, and it's something that Android is sorely lacking.

We're still dealing with a bunch of unknowns, but the rumored specs are a 4-inch screen, horizontal sliding qwerty keyboard, and a minimum 1.2 GHz processor.  Bring it, I say!  There's a couple more pictures after the break if one just wasn't enough.  [The Droid Guy via @matrix2004 on Twitter]

You might remember last month when we talked about AppBrain's new Fast Web Install, the application that allows you to install applications from the Android Market directly to your phone right from the AppBrain web page. 

That just got waaay cooler.  AppBrain announced it has enabled extensions that allow a new Fast Web install link to be placed on any web page.  When the link is visited from your Android phone, you go directly to the application's Market page, but the real trick happens when you visit from your computer.  Rather that talk about it, have a look.  Visit the link below from your PC's browser.

Download the Android Central Widget

I know we'll be using the heck out of this new service, and I'll bet developers will, too. [AppBrain]

I love it when the little guy gets hold of the big guns, and Cinci Bell has a winner on their hands with the Motorola Milestone.  It's not the newest or biggest Android phone on the block, but ask anyone who has one -- the Milestone is one hell of a phone.  It'll cost you $199.99 after rebate and on a two year contract, which is pretty standard for a carriers top-of-the-line phone.  If you're a Cinci Bell subscriber, be sure to head in to a store and have a look at the Milestone, you might just fall in love. [Cincinnati Bell] Thanks for the tip Josh!

Not every new phone is a 1 GHz box of thunder, nor does it have to be. The Motorola i1 is built tough, even if the specs aren't very high: 3.1-inch LCD screen, 600 MHz ARM 11 processor, Android 1.5, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, basically everything you'd expect in an Android phone, all running on the Nextel IDEN network -- which means Push-To-Talk.

We'll have a proper review for this one shortly, as there's no way we can overlook the first IDEN Android, but for now here's a quick glance, after the break.

If you're adventurous, there's no need to wait for HTC to get you "back on track" with the official Froyo, as the RUU has been leaked out.  A RUU is a Windows program that's usually used by technicians to restore or upgrade an Android phone to the latest version.  Using one is easy:

• Charge your Evo's battery to at least 75 percent
• Make sure HTC Sync is installed on your PC
• Turn on USB debugging on your phone
• Connect to your computer, and use the charge only USB profile
• Double click the RUU and follow the prompts

Warning -- this will erase all your data, as well as break any and all known root methods.  And we'll remind you of a long talk we had during last night's podcast (and which was reiterated by HTC). In fact, we'll just quote HTC: "When official (software) updates are ready, HTC or your carrier will notify you. Unofficial software can create future issues." Words to live by.

All that said, See the source link for the download link. [xda-developers] Thanks salomy!