Unroot Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTE N7105, Restore to Stock Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

This process of unrooting and resetting the binary flash counter of your device shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. Remember that in case you stumble upon any major problems, then you will be forced to repeat the entire tutorial. Also, it would be best for you to ask for extra help in comments or at XDA Community dedicated forum page for this tutorial here.

Advanced Android users should use this guide, which is why you should only use it in case you know what you’re doing. Note that you might end up bricking the phone if you’re applying the wrong steps.
In order to successfully complete this tutorial, you need to take a look at the preparation guide below. It should help you to correctly configure your PC and the Galaxy Note 2 Unrooting process, so that you’ll manage to finish all tasks at your first attempt. Here’s what you have to do:

• use the guide only with the Galaxy Note 2 LTE model number N7105.
• don’t try to unroot any other smartphone using this tutorial nor the files found in it.
• make sure to backup all the data that is currently stored on your phone’s internal and external storage.
• your PC should have the Samsung USB Drivers installed on it, otherwise it won’t recognize the smartphone.
• enable the USB Debugging option from the Developer Options.
• make sure that your computer doesn’t run the Samsung KIES software when connected with the Galaxy Note 2 LTE.
• any antivirus and security programs shouldn’t be running on your PC, as these will interfere with the unrooting process.
• make sure that the device’s battery has enough power left in it, so that it won’t switch off while you’re applying any chnages.
• this is a guide for advanced Android users, don’t try to use this tutorial if you don’t know what you’re doing, as you’ll risk bricking your phone.
• you cannot held us responsible in case you lose data or you brick your smartphone in the process.
• if you cannot complete the tutorial, then you should ask for extra help in comments.

Now that you know all of the above, continue to the next part of this article and learn how to unroot your device, restore it to stock Jelly Bean 4.1.2  and reset the binary flash counter.

How to unroot Galaxy Note 2 LTE N7105 and restore it to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean stock ROM:

1.  Download the stock Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean from HERE. Save the file on your PC.
2. > choose the region that’s corresponding to your location.
3. Extract the contents of the zip and place them into a single folder. You will get a file with the .tar.md5 extension, don’t extract it any further than that.
4. Download Odin3 v1.85 from HERE. Extract its contents and save them on your PC.
5. Power off your Galaxy Note 2 LTE completely.
6. Boot the phone into Download Mode using Volume Down, Home and Power buttons simultaneously. Confirm that you wish to boot into Download Mode by pressing Volume Up.
7. Launch Odin exe on your PC.
8. Connect the phone with your computer via USB data cable.
9. > wait for Odin to recognize and add the device.
10. > if the phone is not recognized, then you should change USB ports or try to reinstall the Samsung USB Drivers with the link provided in the preparation part of this post.
11. Click the ‘PDA’ button from Odin main screen.
12. Browse your PC for the .tar.md5 Android 4.1.2 JB file. Load it into Odin.
13. > don’t edit any other Odin default settings.
14. > make sure to disable the Re-partition option.
15. Press the START button when you’re ready for the installation of the ‘new’ and stock Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean firmware.
16. Wait several minutes for the installation to complete. When that happens, the phone will reboot and you can unplug it from your PC when the Samsung boot animation screen appears.
17. Enter your Google Account details when you’re at the main screen of the new OS.

These were all the steps that you had to take in order to complete the installation of its original stock Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean firmware. This is only the first part of the ‘unrooting process’, as you will still have to reset the binary counter and wipe the data that keeps the information about how many times you’ve changed the device’s internal OS. The ‘reset binary counter’ part is listed after the NOTE below.
NOTE: In case your device doesn’t boot successfully then you will be forced to ‘factory reset’ it. Do it like this:

• power the Galaxy Note 2 LTE completely.
• boot into Recovery Mode using Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.
• Select ‘wipe data/ factory reset’ option and confirm this process.
• go back to the first Recovery screen and select ‘reboot system now’.

The device should boot now in normal mode.
Now you can reset your device’s binary counter using the instructions that I have listed below:

1. Power off the Galaxy Note 2 LTE device.
2. Boot it into Download Mode and check its status info. If it says ’0′ or ‘NO’, then you’re done and the warranty has been restored.
3. > If otherwise, then you will need to continue with this tutorial.
4. If the ‘device status’ says ’1′, then you will be forced to root your device and use Triangle Away app from Google Play store here.
5. Install and use Triangle Away on a rooted firmware of Galaxy Note 2 LTE N7105.
6. Now, return to this tutorial and flash the stock firmware above once again. This means that you will unroot the device for a second time.
7. The counter will be restored to ‘zero’ value, but it might say that it is ‘modified’. In that case you need to perform a ‘factory wipe’ and then the device will be restored to 100% factory firmware.
8. That’s it, now you can reboot the phone and you should check the phone’s version of the firmware, by going through Settings, then About Phone and check its version.

I hope that you’ve managed to complete this guide and reset the phone’s binary counter so that it will have its warranty restored. If you have any other questions, then you should ask for extra help in our comments field. Make sure to post a detailed comment so that we will be able to offer you a viable solution for any problems that you might’ve encountered in your quest to unroot the Galaxy Note 2 LTE smartphone.

Source : http://www.android.gs/

Sony i1 Honami specs allegedly leaked, and we’re hoping it’s a Nexus device

If a recent report is true, and we sort of hope it is, the upcoming Sony i1 Honami is a monster device. Allegedly shown in the blurry pic you see below, not much can be learned about the aesthetics of the device. The specs being mentioned, however, are something to behold.
If you’re wondering what a true next generation device would have under the hood, look no further:

• 5.0-inch screen at 1920×1080, 2000:1 Contrast Ratio
• Snapdragon 800, clocked at 2.3 ghz
• 2 GB RAM
• 3000mAh battery
• NFC
• WIFI Miracast
• 32 GB Internal memory, with MicroSD slot
• 4G LTE
• IR Remote
• 2/3″ 20/13 MP Exmor RS camera with Sony G lens, a Cybershot Camera, and Interchangeable lenses
• BlueTooth 4.0
• 1080p, 2.2 Megapixel front camera
• Android 4.2.2
• Shatterproof front glass
• Metal and/or Carbon Fiber shell

In addition to that, we could see a revised Xperia UI, S-Master MX mobile audio amplifier, and dual speakers. The report also suggests an improved stamina mode, so that big battery could last quite a while. All told, this is one device that will turn heads, Sony or not. If we’re making a wish list, we hope this list of goodies is really a Sony Nexus 5. The report suggests the device will make an appearance in the fall, and with Google giving I/O back to developers, it’s clear the fall is Nexus time. Sony makes really nice devices, and a Nexus phone could give them a needed lift back into smartphone prominence.

Source : http://www.androidauthority.com/

White Nexus 4 available with free wireless charger on T-Mobile

The white version of the handset, rumored very intensely before finally being officially confirmed, can now be purchased together with a free wireless charger, for a limited time. The interesting thing is that T-Mobile doesn't actually explain what the “limited time” is, so presumably the offer stands until the stock of chargers is depleted.

If the Nexus 4 is your dream phone, it can be yours for $19.99 down, plus $17 per month for a period of 24 months. However, if you prefer to purchase it from T-Mobile by paying for the device in full, you'll have to shell out $427.99.

In that case, it would probably be a better idea to just head to the Google Play Store, where the same 16 GB version, also in limited edition white but including a free bumper, can be purchased for $349.

And if you're still sitting on the fence regarding the Nexus 4 and whether you want to buy one or not, you can always take a look at our review below to get a better idea. There is also a really cost effective plan you can sneak your way into, which could end up saving you quite a bit of cash.

Do you plan on taking advantage of T-Mobile's offer?

Source : http://www.androidauthority.com/

25 HTC One Tips and Tricks

I’ve had the pleasure of using the HTC One as my main phone for a little over a month now, and I have learned a lot of cool little tips and tricks along the way. In this article, I want to share some these tips and tricks with you. How many tips exactly? 25 and counting! I’ll be updating this list as I discover more or as you guys suggest them to me in the comments. While you may know some of these tips, I’m sure you’ll find at a few that you didn’t.

1. Scroll to the top of a list: Tap the notification bar to scroll to the top of the list or feed you’re looking at. Note that this only works with apps built by HTC (excluding the browser).
2. Scroll by letter or date: In certain apps (like messaging, contacts, call logs, etc) you can filter through the list by scrolling with two fingers to search by letter or date.
3. Volume key controls: On certain apps, you can use the HTC One’s volume buttons as controls. For example, the volume rocker controls the volume on your TV when using the remote app.
4. Touch to capture: You can take pictures by pressing anywhere on the screen (instead of just the shutter) by going to the settings within the camera app, go to shutter options, and then check touch to capture.
5. Wireless shutter: Perfect for group shots, you can take a picture with a connected Bluetooth headset in the camera app by pressing the “call’ button.”
6. Quickly switch cameras: You can quickly switch back and forth between the One’s front facing and rear cameras by swiping across the screen from one edge to another in the camera app.
7. Continuous shooting: You can take multiple pictures at a time by pressing and holding the shutter button in the HTC One’s camera app. After taking these photos, you can choose the one you like most and delete the rest automatically by using “best shot.”
8. Remove continuous shooting limit: You can remove the 20-shot limit for continuous shooting by going into the camera app’s settings, tapping on continuous shooting, and un-checking the “limit to 20 frames” option. This will allow you to take up to 99 photos in one sequence.
9. Increase battery life: Use the power saver mode to conserve battery life on the days you think you might need a little more juice. Enable power saver mode by either swiping down the notification shade and checking “power saver” or by going into the main system settings, then power, and flip the “power saver” switch to ON.
10. Hide apps:  You can hide the apps you don’t use (but can’t delete) by opening the app launcher, swiping your finger down when at the top of the list, hitting the menu key, and then finally hide apps. Check the apps you want to hide and press done when you’re finished.
11. Edit tabs: You can either hide or rearrange the tabs in the phone and clock apps. To do this, simply press menu, then edit tabs. Unlike when hiding apps, this time keeping a tab checked means it will be visible and vice versa.
12. Taking screenshots: There are two ways to take screenshots on the HTC One. The quickest way is by pressing and holding the power button and then quickly pressing the home button right after. The second (but easier to use) way is to simultaneously hold the power and volume down buttons until you see a screen animation.
13. Customize LED notifications: You can choose which type of notifications make your LED light flash by going into the main system settings, tapping on display, and then notification flash. Check the notifications you want the LED light to flash for.
14. Magnifier: You can enable an option to show a magnifier glass when selecting text. To do this, go into the main system settings, tap on accessibility, and check the show magnifier option.
15. Calibrate the keyboard: If you use the stock Sense 5 keyboard, calibrating it can help improve its accuracy. Go to the main system settings, tap on language and keyboard, choose HTC Sense input, tap on advanced, and select the calibration tool.
16. Speed up the phone: To make the phone feel a little bit faster, shorten the transition animations. You can do this by going into the main system settings, tap on developer options, go to advanced, then change the the animation scales (there are three) to either .5x or off. If you don’t see the developer options, you have to unlock them first by going into settings, about phone, software information, and then repeatedly tap on Android version.
17. Offline voice controls: To be able to use voice controls when offline, go to the main system settings, tap language and keyboard, select voice search, and then tap download offline speech recognition and select your desired language.
18. Car mode: If you haven’t checked out that care mode app in your app drawer, I suggest you do so. It makes using your phone in the car a lot more convenient by making the icons easier to see, giving you only the information you’d need in a car, and turning things like Bluetooth on automatically.
19. Change messaging font size: You can easily change the font size in the messaging app you using pinch to zoom to make the text either larger or smaller
20. Move BlinkFeed: While you can’t disable it completely, you can move BlinkFeed off to the side by pinching out on the home screen or pressing and holding on an empty space. Add a new panel or select an existing one (that isn’t BlinkFeed) and set it as your main home screen by holding on it and moving it to the “set as home” button that appears at the top left of the screen. After you’ve done this, press and hold on the BlinkFeed screen and move it off to the side.
21. Restarting: Being that there is no removable battery, a good tip to know is that you can restart the phone by pressing and holding on the power button for ten seconds. This is useful just in case the phone locks up or freezes on you.
22. Fast boot: Speaking of restarting, you can speed up the boot up times by enabling fast boot. Do this by going into the main system settings, choose power, and then check the fast boot option at the bottom.
23. Make more space: Should you run out of room on your HTC One, you can easily find ways to free up some space by going to the system settings, choosing storage, and then selecting make more space. Note that choosing to use this option will delete whatever you select.
24. Lower ring volume: When you’re getting a phone call, picking the phone up will lower the volume of your ringtone automatically (which is good considering how loud those speakers are).
25. Video highlights: The HTC One can make you little Zoe montage clips from your pictures and videos with background music and awesome effects automatically. To access this feature, go to your photo gallery, tap my photos, and sort your media by “events” in the top left corner drop down. Tap on an event (the phone sorts them by date and location) and the top option you’ll see will be a video highlight of the event.

There you have it, that’s our list of the top 25 tips and tricks on the HTC One. Know of some tips and tricks that we missed? Let us know down in the comments below and we’ll add them to this official list!

Source : http://www.phonebuff.com/

Root Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean firmware for Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

This tutorial will teach you how to root the Galaxy Tab 2 7 inch tablet using Chainfire’s CF Auto-Root exploit files. Read this entire post and you should be able to complete the root in under 10 minutes.

The firmware supported with this tutorial is the Android 4.1.2 XXCME2 Jelly Bean build and in order to successfully root it, you will need to read the guidelines below:

• use this post only with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 with the model number P3100.
• don’t try to root any other Samsung tablets or smartphones with this tutorial.
• make sure that you have the Samsung USB Drivers installed on your computer.
• by rooting your tablet you will lose the warranty, but you can restore it by reinstalling / updating your device to an official Android OS firmware upgrade.
• backup all the data that’s currently stored on your PC.
• disable any Samsung KIES software programs that are running on your PC along with any other antivirus or security programs that are currently enabled. Such apps will interfere with the rooting program and you might not be able to complete the tutorial.
• this is a guide for advanced users.
• do not blame us in case you lose any important data in the process, also we cannot be held responsible in case you lose any important files in the process.
• don’t skip any steps.
• read the entire post and if you cannot complete the root, then you should ask for extra help by leaving a detailed comment at the end of this guide.

Now that you know all of the above, get to the next part of this post.

How to root Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 P3100 on Android 4.1.2 XXCME2 Jelly Bean:

1. Download the CF-Auto-Root zip for this tablet from HERE. Extract its contents and save the files on your computer.
2. > after you extract the files from CF Auto Root, you will get a file named ‘CF-Auto-Root-espressorf-espressorfxx-gtp3100.tar.md5‘. Don’t unzip any further than that.
3. Download ODIN3 v3.07 from HERE. Unzip the file.
4. Power off your tablet.
5. Next, boot the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 into Download Mode.
6. Launch the Odin exe on your PC.
7. Connect the tablet to your computer using the USB Data cable.
8. > wait for ODIN to say that the device has been ‘added’ and then continue to the next step.
9. > if the tablet is not recognized by your PC/ ODIN, then you can try to switch between USB ports or reinstall the Samsung USB drivers -download link listed in the guidelines above.
10. Click the PDA button in ODIN.
11. Browse your PC for the CF-Auto-Root-espressorf-espressorfxx-gtp3100.tar.md5 file and load it into ODIN.
12. > don’t mess around with any other Odin settings.
13. > make sure that the Re-Partition option is not enabled.
14. Hit the START button when everything is set for the updating process to begin.
15. When the installation of all root files is complete, ODIN will display the ‘PASS’ alert and your tablet will reboot.

If you have any problems with ODIN, then you can choose to unplug your tablet from PC, close ODIN and then repeat the entire tutorial once again. Also, before re-trying to root the tablet you should power it off completely by removing its battery and after 5 seconds are passed you can retry to root the tablet. Make sure not to skip any steps listed above.

Source : http://www.android.gs/

Clear all your Android app caches

The apps on your Android device typically use a cache to improve performance. Over time, the cache for certain apps can grow quite large. Clearing the app cache can free up precious space and sometimes resolve problems you might be having with the app.

To clear the cache, you normally go to the Android app manager, click on the app from the list, then tap on "Clear cache." If you want to clear the cache for all your apps, you have to repeat this procedure for every single app, unless you use a cache cleaner like App Cache Cleaner.
App Cache Cleaner lists the apps on your Android device by the apps with the largest cache. You can tap on the individual apps to clear their cache, or tap on the green "Clear All" button at the bottom to clear all the caches at the same time.

If you prefer a hands-off approach to managing the cache for your apps, you can configure App Cache Cleaner to clear them at regular intervals.

App Cache Cleaner is relatively small in size and focuses on just managing the cache. If you want to try an advanced cache management app, take a look at Clean Master, which also erases Snapchat files.

Source : http://howto.cnet.com/