Posts Tagged ‘Cyanogenmod’

You’ll remember that I recently rooted my TMobile G1 so that I could run a WiFi tether and use my Apple iPad on the TMobile 3G network. Boy, is it sweet! That process (rooting) turned out to be more conceptually frightening than actually difficult. So with all the Android action at Google’s recent I/O conference (much of which can be found online here), I’m pretty excited to upgrade my device to the newer versions of Android OS.

At I/O, Google confirmed that running the 2.x operating system on the Dream/G1 was “technically possible”. That seems to be geek code for “you’re unlikely to see the upgrade via official channels” (e.g., the operators and/or Google itself) but, (b) “Dear hackers, go forth and prosper”. Cyanogen (and the community that have sprung up around his original work) seems to have heard that loud and clear. They’ve got Android 2.1 nearly baked.

This is great for a couple of reasons. The most important? It shows Google has gone to lengths to assure that their original hardware is still supported. We’re still very early in what is likely to be a very long game and it would have been unfortunate if Google decided to cut life-support. It’s worth noting, though, that the operators themselves are not being supportive of Google’s efforts. By appearances, they’ve determined the right approach is to make their G1 customers upgrade to a newer phone (which will likely require re-upping for a 12- or 24-month extension to contract as well). Nonetheless, in the past there was no avenue to upgrade an older phone. Google has, at least, given us one with Android.

The major reason to go to extremes (metaphorically) to get Android 2.1 is speed. These later releases of Android have, we hear, seen a lot of work on performance. So, it’s not just the modern hardware making Android fast – it’s Android itself. As with other open source projects, we’ve got lots of eyes on Android, and a community generating requirements. That seems to be pushing Google in the right direction.

In addition to speed, there are a number of new OS and application-level tweaks and features available with the 2.x OS upgrade. The list is virtually identical to this description provided for the Nexus One. Wow, it would be a shame to miss out on this stuff!

So, I’ll be upgrading as soon as Cyanogen gives the word. A quick thanks to both Google and Cyanogen for keeping Android’s original fans current!