Upgraded to a Galaxy S2

Thanks to my company, who gave me a Galaxy S2 for use with office work.

Have been using it for a few months, and its great!

I may not be updating this blog further specifically for the Spice Mi310, but will post if there is something extraordinary with the Galaxy or Android.

Google Docs Application

For those, who are using Google Docs for maintaining and sharing files with others, Google Docs is here. Well, this has always been there in the Google App set, but Spice chose to exclude it for some reason.

You can get it from the following blogpost:
http://mobileplanet-waryam.blogspot.com/2011/04/google-docs-v104r-android-apk-104.html

Its so much easy for editing your online Google docs.

And BTW, there are a lot of other Android apps available at the same blog:
http://mobileplanet-waryam.blogspot.com/search/label/android%20apps%20and%20games

Enjoy!

Easy way to root Spice Mi-310

Tired of the market problem, I wanted to try out a different ROM configuration.

The first step is to root the phone. After searching for an hour, I found this link of UniversalAndroot. Great!
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Universal_Androot

Installed the App! It gives root access. (Dont know yet if that is true).
On my way to getting a different ROM.

I am using these online guides available to flash my Android:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/05/08/complete-guide-how-to-flash-a-custom-rom-to-your-android-phone-with-rom-manager-full-backup-restore/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Flashing_Guide_-_Android


 Hoping for the best!

Backing up the current ROM!

It gives a lot of options:
Trying Spice Mi7000 (tablet from Spice) failed.
Trying Commtiva... Looks to be proceeding.
10:11pm.
Update: First attempt failed. Trying again.

10:21pm
Update: Stalled again for a second time, but this time it proceeded further

USB init ept@ 0x72000
fastboot_init()
udc_start()
-- suspend --
-- reset --
-- portchange --
-- reset --
-- portchange --
STALL GET_DESCRIPTOR 128 6 1006 0 18

10:30pm
Update 3rd attempt: Looks to be hung. No STALL this time, but hung after portchange, Waiting

11:30pm
The ROM manager software couldn't successfully backup the existing ROM. Without that, it will be too risky to flash the phone.
I have tried it four times, and it went ahead one step with each try. Also, the ROM manager gives a list of options while backig the phone. The correct choice should seamlessly take you through, that is, if you are lucky.

In any case, there is a good amount of information in this post, for anybody, to go ahead and try it, if they want. And so, if you do (try), please post a comment.

I dont think I will get time for that in the next three weeks. Till then, good luck for rooting!

Market problem bugs again

Couldn't resist writing a few words!
I know exactly which app I need, but yet again, the phone doesn't allow me to install it.

For my travel to Vancouver, I need the local train map and bus schedule. How much easier would it be to just open market from the phone, search, download and install it.

Yet again, Spice Mi-310 disappoints. The app uses GPS and is forbidden.
I have wasted the last twenty minutes searching for the app without luck. So, I thought I'll waste two more minutes blogging and forget it!

No response from Spice yet

I havent received a response from Spice yet, which means that, Spice has washed its hands off from the problem. It is pathetic

I will give one last try by calling into their customer service. If that doesnt work out, I am going to use the social media to highlight the problem. I am hoping that would get their attention to the problem.

And, oh by the way, I have had a busy few days attending a conference in Mysore.

I used the Google Maps utility for navigation. Though it works great, I wish I had a navigation application. I had to rely on other person to follow the map while I was driving. Voice-assisted navigation would have been better.

And mind you, while using navigation, the phone eats up battery fast. You can expect 90 minutes of navigation from a full battery. Still far from those handheld GPS navigation devices which can run for 24 hours.

Here are a couple of mapping/navigation apps that you can download:
1. Google Maps: No need to download.Comes with most Android devices. Doesn't support offline maps yet.
2. Locus: Very accurate maps. But the maps are quite large. Be prepared to shell out on bandwidth.
3. Mapdroyd: Very useful offline map utility. GPS isn't very accurate, but makes up for it with smaller mapsize. India map is only 17MB.

More info on the OEM

Here's more info on the OEM.

Spice Mi-310 is manufactured by the Chinese OEM Cellon. 

https://github.com/tjstyle/android_device_cellon_c8093/blob/master/README

android_device_cellon_c8093 / README

Device Configuration for OEM Cellon C8093 variant.

Known device variant:
-Spice Mi-310
-CSL Mi-320

You can also see the same information in Settings > About phone.  Thanks Harikumar.

And to answer questions on the battery life, you'll have to charge it on a daily basis or nightly basis. Be sure you install battery saving applications like JuiceDefender to switch off any unnecessary usage of GPS, Wifi, 3G, etc. Carry your charger if you plan to use them frequently.

Lookalike, is it the original version!

Thanks Mohit for pointing out.

Spice Mi310 seems to be a rebranded version of CSL Blueberry Mi320.
http://www.ciayoo.com/csl-blueberry-mi320-specifications-prices-photos-by-csl-blueberry-mi320/

Surprisingly, the CSL phone carries the Spice logo. Not sure what that means.