Well here you go.  The random OTA update of Gingerbread for the DROIDX that we talked about earlier is out for everyone to enjoy manually.  Just know that you have to be completely stock on Blur 2.3.340 in order to run this update file.  There is no root at this time, but we’re hoping to have a version with root some time tonight.  And this is for everyone, including non-rooted users.  Actually, this is easiest for non-rooted users.  

A new version of Gingerbread (Android 2.3) for the DROIDX has popped up as an OTA update to one lucky user’s phone and appears to be newer than the leaked version we had a few weeks back.  As you can see in my screenshot above, the leak was system 4.5.573 and the new one that popped up today is 4.5.588. It’s definitely newer, and according to community Motorola guru P3Droid who has the file now, this also includes a new bootloader.  What does that mean exactly?  Well, he’s suggesting that if your phone prompts you with the update, that you might want to hold off for now if having root access in the future is important to you.  

Not a fan of the new blue MotorBlur that was introduced in the leaked Gingerbread?  How does having the stock black and green theme from real Android 2.3 sound?  We’re talking black menus, black menu bar, GB keyboard, etc.; the way it was supposed to look.  Thanks to brenneisec over at MDW, we have just that.

Download:  Alpha-1_2.zip [mirror]

Instructions:

1.  You have to be rooted and running Gingerbread on your DROIDX.
2.  Download the file from above and drop it on your SD card.
3.  Boot into recovery and MAKE A BACKUP.
4.  Mount System, then flash the file.
5.  Enjoy!

If you want to revert back to the blue theme, you really need to make a backup.

Via:  My Droid World

Many of you noticed that that CRT-esque screen-off animation from the Nexus S and stock Gingerbread (Android 2.3) was missing from the leaked builds on the DROID X and 2 and wondered how to get it.  It’s now available below, although you’ll need to run a few adb commands to get it.

Instructions:

*Note* – This will likely not work on anything but Gingerbread.  I would not try to flash this on a 2.2 ROM.

*Note 2* – I have not tested this on a DROID2, just assumed it would work.  Be careful D2 owners.

UPDATE:  There is now a simple .zip file that can be flashed in Clockwork.  [Download]

1.  CREATE A BACKUP FIRST.
2.  Download this file to your computer:  framework-res_CRT_ENABLE.apk
3.  Rename it to framework-res.apk and place in your SDK/Tools folder.
4.  Connect your phone and run the following commands in adb:

adb remount
adb push framework-res.apk /data/local/tmp/framework-res.apk
adb shell
su
stop
rm /system/framework/framework-res.apk
cp /data/local/tmp/framework-res.apk /system/framework/
rm /data/local/tmp/framework-res.apk
reboot

5.  Your phone will reboot and with CRT screen-off set to “Go!”

Full support can be found at this XDA thread.

Cheers Max and Droidzfx!

With the new MotoBlur that comes over top of the leaked Gingerbread (Android 2.3) that we’ve been talking non-stop about for days, there is this nifty little feature that allows you to ignore incoming calls and then quickly reply to them via text message.  As you can see from the screenshot above, this is the pop-up I received immediately after hitting ignore to a call that just came through.  There are some stock messages already built in, but it also allows you to create your own quick hitter which is a bonus.  You can also turn it off completely if you’d like.

Any other tips like this that you guys have stumbled across?

As many of you know by now, Gingerbread for the DROID X and 2 was released over the weekend giving all of us a taste of Android 2.3.3 and the new blue Blur from Motorola, only there was one thing missing.  Root access.  Well, that problem has now been fixed by our friends over at My Droid World, and we’ve got full instructions for you after the break if you jumped on GB early.  Yep, we walk you through every single step including flashing an SBF file which is something you won’t find anywhere else.  

Earlier today we were poking fun at the official 3G mobile hotspot apps for the DROID X and 2 on Gingerbread because they erroneously told us to go sign-up at att.com/mywireless in order to use the service, but we should have dug deeper.  It’s now looking like the feature is free on both devices as long as you are on Gingerbread.  As far as I can tell, this hasn’t been the case up until now, so maybe with this version of Android 2.3 not being official, it’s possible that it had not been turned off yet?  As you can see in the screenshots above, I’ve successfully tethered my DX to my XOOM over 3G.

If you do decide to use this, understand that we have no idea how this could affect your bill.  What we do know is that tethering really gobbles up data, so you might want to be careful.

Anyone else?  Am I just out of the loop and this service has been free for a while?  Maybe they decided to make it free along with the Thunderbolt until May?

And we’re talking the official 3G mobile hotspot app, not a 3rd party app like Barnacle.

Cheers Robert!