HOW TO SPEED UP YOUR ANDROID MOBILE

There’s no doubt that Android is the most
powerful, flexible and intuitive operating
system for smartphone users and perhaps
that’s the reason it has reached a
whopping 40% market share worldwide.

Everyday newer and more advanced
Android applications are being developed
& released in order to cater to this growing
market and since these applications can be
quite demanding, they tend to have an
impact on the speed of Android phones as
well. If you feel that your Android phone is
running a bit heavy and has slowed down
over time, here are some ways to speed it
up.

1. Remove Widgets

Widgets on the home screen of Android
phones such as clock, calendar,
contacts etc. tend to eat up a lot of
resources thereby causing the phone to
slow down. Especially live widgets that use
the internet to update such as weather
widgets etc. have the maximum impact. It’s
best to remove all these widgets and clean
up the home screen, which will have a
major impact on the speed of your phone.
Here’s how to remove these widgets from
the home screen:
- Tap on the widget and hold it until a trash
can appears.
- Now drag that particular widget to the
trash can, following which the trash can will
turn red. The widget will be removed from
your home screen.

2. Remove Unwanted Applications

Just like widgets, applications also have a
major impact on the speed of an Android
phone as they consume a considerable
amount of resources. There is no point in
installing a number of applications since
they will keep slowing down your phone.
Ideally you should only have those
applications installed on your phone which
you use regularly and remove the ones that
are infrequently used. Go through the
installed applications on your phone
regularly and uninstall all the unwanted
ones.

3. Upgrade to the Latest Firmware

If you are still running the pre-loaded
version of Android on your smartphone
and a more latest Android version is
officially available for update, then you go
should go ahead and install it
immediately. Upgrading the firmware will
generally result in faster speeds, more
stability and some new features as well.

4. Kill Background Apps

At times there might be some applications
that may be running in the background and
consuming system resources unnecessarily.
These are generally the apps that you may
have started but forgot to close them
properly so they are still running but not
visible to you. While detecting such apps
and killing it is not all that difficult, you
can install free task killer apps
like Taskiller or Advanced Task Killer that let
you close (kill) all your running applications
in one click.

5. Avoid Live Wallpapers

Live wallpapers (the ones that have some
sort of animation in them) generally eat up
huge amounts of resources and slow down
your Android phone tremendously. While it
may be fun to use these wallpapers and
watch animations liven up your
smartphone, they certainly cost a lot in
terms of performance. So it’s wise to use a
static wallpaperrather than installing all
those fancy live wallpapers out there.

UPGRADING THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S2 GT-I9100 TO ICS WITH FIRMWARE XWLP2

By this time around the official Ice Cream
Sandwich update for the Samsung Galaxy
S2 has already made its debut in some
parts of Europe.

As always, other places
such as Asia and America will soon follow
afterwards.

On the other hand, Russia just
got hold of the Ice Cream Sandwich update
for the Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 with
the XWLP2 firmware,

which you can also
manually install using Odin3.
The XWLP2 firmware is not limited to Russia
alone but can also be flashed in other
parts of the world.

But, if you’re not in
Russia, it is best that you flash the
international European version, which is
XXLPQ.
( www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s2-i9100-install-ics-xxlpq-firmware-manually-65391/ )

The Ice Cream Sandwich update is still
crawling an a steady pace towards Galaxy
S2 devices all over the world, but if you still
want to try it out for yourself, then you can
try XXLP2 firmware.

Compatibility

This ROM and the guide below is only
compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S2
with model number GT-I9100. It is not
compatible with any other Galaxy S2
variants such as the Epic 4G Touch, AT&T
Galaxy S2, and the like..

To check your
device’s model number you can head to
“Settings > About Phone”.

Requirements

Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100
A Windows PC
Uninstall Samsung KIES software on your
PC, as it may interrupt the flashing process.

Disable any security program on your PC
(e.g., firewalls, antivirus, etc.).

Install the Samsung USB drivers on your
Windows PC. Download the drivers here:

32-bit 
http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/MOBILES/Samsung/Samsung-Galaxy-S-USB-Driver-for-Windows-x86.shtml

64-bit
http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/MOBILES/Samsung/Samsung-Galaxy-S-USB-Driver-for-Windows-x64.shtml

Backup your personal data and important
files.

Make sure the phone has enough battery
power (at least 70%).

Instructions

NOTE: Use these instructions at your own
risk. We shall not be liable for any damage
or untoward incident arising from your use
of this guide.

1. Download the XWLP2 firmware from here
http://www.hotfile.com/dl/150008409/02fe7e9/I9100XWLP2_I9100OXELP4_SER.zip.html

(I9100XWLP2_I9100OXELP4_SER.zip, 430.6
MB) and save it to your PC.

2. Extract the downloaded ZIP package into a
folder on your PC. You should get two files:
1. I9100XWLP2_I9100OXELP4_I9100XXLPQ_HOME.tar.md5
2. SS_DL.dll

3. Download Odin3 from
here
http://www.mediafire.com/?80hdr07ij033hom

(Odin3 v1.83.exe, 415.5 kB) and save it to your PC.

4. Switch off your phone.

5. Boot your phone to Download Mode so
that you can flash the XWLP2 firmware
using Odin3. You can boot to Download
mode by pressing and holding down the
“Volume Down”, “Home”, and “Power”
buttons until you are prompted with a
Warning! Screen.

6. On your PC, launch the Odin3 application
by double-clicking Odin3 v1.83.exe .

7. Connect your Galaxy S2 to your PC via USB
cable. You should get a message “Added!”
under Odin3’s message box found on the
bottom left of the Odin3 window. In case
you don’t get this message, there probably
is a problem with your USB drivers.

8. In Odin3, click the PDA tab and choose the
file named
“I9100XWLP2_I9100OXELP4_I9100XXLPQ_HOME.tar.md5”.

9. Do not change anything else in the Odin3
window.

10. Press the START button in Odin3 to begin
flashing the XWLP2 firmware. When the
installation is done your phone should
automatically reboot itself. You’ll also get a
PASS message in the top-left box in the
Odin3 window.

11. When you are greeted with the Samsung
splash screen logo, you can now safely
disconnect your device from your PC.

Congratulations!

You have successfully
flashed the official Android 4.0 Ice Cream
Sandwich firmware build XWLP2 on your
Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100.

HOW TO USE PC INTERNET CONNECTION ON YOUR ANDROID PHONE (REVERSE-TETHERED BETA)

If you’re planning to go out on a
vacation
to a place where a Wi-Fi connection
seems
impossible, tethering will be your key to
keep your other devices hooked up to
the
online world.

Tethering is the ability to
share your mobile phone’s cellular data
connection with other devices. This neat
feature, however useful, requires
additional
data connection and relatively increases
your phone’s monthly bill.
If your mobile phone can’t share its
Internet connectivity, why not reverse
the
process instead?

Developers from XDA
Developers have come up with a
solution to
share the broadband connection of your
PC to your mobile phone. Although it’s
currently running as beta with a few
bugs,
the software can be used to browse the
Internet on your mobile phone.

This guide will only work if you have
rooted your device and with a
Windows PC. We will not be liable for
any
damages arising from your use of this
guide. Use the presented information at
your own risk.
Remember that the tool is still beta
software, so expect a lot of kinks and
bugs.

You can surf using Google Chrome,
Firefox,
Opera, or Dolphin Browser, although
Google Chrome complains of not having
an
Internet connection even though it
works.
Ping and low-level ICMP packets don’t
seem to work either. Searching on the
Android Market works, but at the
moment,
it is not yet possible to download and
install apps from the Android Market.
Requirements
A rooted Android phone
Desktop or laptop computer running
Windows
Working broadband Internet connection
on
the desktop or laptop
Android Software Development Kit
(SDK)
installed on the desktop or laptop
(optional
but recommended)
Instructions
1. Download the reverse tethering tools
from
here

http://www.mediafire.com/?1orhlo28iykz75b

and save the file to your computer.
The ZIP file contains AndroidTool.exe
(Android USB Tunnel tool for your
Windows machine), ADB, and the
Android
APK (Beta Android USB Tunnel tool for
your Android phone).
2. Extract the ZIP file to a folder on your
computer.
3. Enable USB debugging on your phone
by
going to Settings > Applications >
Development > USB Debugging.
4. Go to the folder where you extracted
the
ZIP file’s contents.
5. Run AndroidTool.exe.
6. Connect your phone to your PC using
a
USB cable.
7. In the Android USB Tunnel window,
click on
the Refresh Devices button.
8. From the list on the right of the
detected
devices, select a Domain Name Server
(DNS) to use.
9. Click the Show Android Interface
button.
This will install the app and other
needed
binaries to your phone.
10. If the Superuser app on your phone
asks
whether to allow “USB Tunnel,” choose
to
allow the app. If the process crashes
after
receiving Superuser rights, close the
Android USB Tunnel Windows
application
and repeat the procedure from the
start.
11. Click on the Connect button on the
Android
USB Tunnel window on your computer.
12. Again, if the Superuser app on your
phone
asks, choose to allow “USB Tunnel.”
Congratulations! You have successfully
reverse-tethered your Android phone to
your PC.

UPGRADE THE AT&T GALAXY S2 SKYROCKET TO ICE CREAM SANDWICH VIA LEAKED FIRMWARE UCALC4

Are you a uscper of the AT&T Samsung
Galaxy S2 Skyrocket?

Several Android
phones have already been updated to Ice
Cream Sandwich (ICS),

yet your device is
still stuck with Gingerbread firmware.

What to do?

You don’t have to worry because there is

now a leaked firmware that will let you
enjoy Ice Cream Sandwich on your device.

An ICS-based firmware for the AT&T
Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, with
baseband version UCALC4, has been
leaked. For now it’s the best thing for the

AT&T Skyrocket until the official Ice Cream
Sandwich will be rolled out.

The firmware leak, however, is not the final
version and it still has some bugs and
issues in it. But, if you really want to try Ice
Cream Sandwich on your device then give
this thing a try. Check out the requirements
and the installation instructions below.

Requirements

AT&T Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket SGH-
I727

A Windows PC

You will lose all your phone data when you
apply the UCALC4 update. So, back them up
before starting.

Be sure to charge your battery sufficiently
to avoid interruption due to power loss.

Uninstall Samsung KIES (if you have it)
because it can interrupt with the
installation.

Disable all security suites on your computer
(e.g., firewalls, antivirus).
Download and install the necessary phone

drivers from here .

http://hotfile.com/dl/141326918/ca68c7d/Samsung_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1_3_2200_0.exe.html

Download UCALC4 firmware update
package from here

http://myatts2.com/files/get/SP2iSlyLDL/i727ucalc4-oneclick.exe

or here .

http://www.imnuts.org/downloads/I727UCALC4_OneClick.exe

(I727UCALC4_OneClick.exe, 673 MB)

Caution

Some users have reported problems with
updating their phones using a Windows
Vista computer.

Instructions

NOTE: Use this guide at your own risk. We
will not be held liable for any damage on
your device as a result of using this guide.

1. Double-click on I727UCALC4_OneClick.exe .
This will launch Odin3 on your computer.

2. Switch off your phone completely.

3. Plug one end of the USB cable to the
computer.

4. Hold down the Volume Down and Volume
up buttons on your phone as you plug in
the other end of the USB cable into your
phone. Release the Volume buttons once
the download mode screen appears.

5. Observe the ID:COM box in Odin3. It
should turn yellow. You will also see
Added! displayed in the Odin3 window. If
not, Odin3 has not successfully detected
your phone. The most likely cause is the
device drivers. Another potential cause is a
defective USB cable.

6. Click the Start button in the Odin3 window.

7. It takes about 3 to 7 minutes for the
installation to finish, after which you
should see a PASS message displayed in
Odin3. Your phone will also automatically
reboot. You may disconnect the phone
from the computer once the phone has
rebooted.

Congratulations! You can now enjoy
Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich on your
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket SGH-
I727 by installing the leaked firmware
UCALC4.