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T-Mobile G1 Wallpaper Template PSD

CubanitaStylez — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:39:56 +0000

It sounds foolish to say that you need a template in order to make good looking wallpapers for your T-Mobile G1 but sadly it is true. You might have noticed that the wallpapers for the G1 are 640 x 480 but the phone’s resolution is only 320 x 480. The reason is because Android handles wallpapers differently than other phones. Instead of having an image on the entire screen, the image is divided into 6 sections, 3 are visible on portrait mode and the others on landscape mode. This is not a problem if you are mostly using abstract, nature, or wallpapers that don’t focus on an object or person but when you make wallpapers of people, animals, objects, etc. You will notice they’ll get divided into sections and you most likely aren’t going to like the result. The solution to this is to use a template, with a template you can see exactly how the wallpaper is going to look before you put it on your phone and make the adjustments necessary to make it look better. Below is the link to the PSD file to be used with Adobe Photoshop or GIMP. All you have to do is place your wallpaper under all the layers and then make the above layers visible to preview the wallpaper. You can also work on new wallpapers with this template by making the “Sections” layer visible, it will display the guidelines for left , center and right sections. Once you are done with the wallpaper remember to make the preview layers invisible before you save it then share your wallpapers with us at G1Wallz.com!

T-Mobile G1 Wallpaper Template

Free Docks for G1 Wallpapers

CubanitaStylez — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:29:48 +0000

As you might have noticed most of the wallpapers at G1Wallz.com are available in two versions, a regular wallpaper and a wallpaper with an icon dock. Since G1Wallz now allows for any user to submit wallpapers. We thought it was a good idea to share some of the docks we have used so you can use them on your own wallpapers. Here are the PNG files, simply open these on Photoshop or GIMP and add a layer under them with your own wallpaper. Don’t forget to share your g1 wallpapers with us!

Lossless HQ Wallpapers for your T-Mobile G1

CubanitaStylez — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:30:08 +0000

It has been a frustration ever since the T-Mobile G1 was released to see how your high quality images get turn into a blurry mess when you set them as wallpapers. Supposedly this is caused by a JPG filter applied to images when set as wallpaper and this issue will be resolved with the next Android update (Cupcake). Until now G1Wallz.com had been using 800 x 600 resolution wallpapers instead of the default 640 x 480 on the G1 to get better results but now there’s an application in the market called “Wallpaper Set & Save” that sets your wallpapers without applying the filter resulting in sharper lossless images. The application is very simple to use, all you have to do is point to the folder on your SD card where all the wallpapers are saved.

Since this application does not use the cropping tool to set wallpapers, the 800 x 600 wallpapers will appear much bigger on the T-Mobile G1 screen and the docks on these wallpapers will be out of place so G1Wallz.com has now resized all wallpapers to default 640 x 480. The application has a file manager that allows you to move files from one folder of your SD card to another without the need of connecting the phone to a PC so you’ll be able to switch your wallpapers anywhere at anytime.

Step by Step Tutorial:

Download and install “Wallpaper Set & Save” from the Android Market.
Visit G1Wallz.com, find a wallpaper you like and tap the thumbnail.
Long press on the desired version of wallpaper and select “Save Image”.
Open Wallpaper Set & Save and select “Set Wallpaper”.
Go to Settings and type “download” under SD Card folder then Save Settings.
Pick the wallpaper from the drop down menu and select “Set Wallpaper”.
Go to home screen and enjoy your HQ wallpaper!

Video Tutorial:

For those who are unsure whether this application truly works, here are two screen shots of the same wallpaper. The first one was set using “Wallpaper Set & Save”, the second one was set with the default Android application:

How To - Creating themes for the G1

Stericson — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:43:52 +0000

To create themes, or to edit themes to your liking, you will need a working knowledge of android, adb, how to resign apk’s, knowledge of your own O/S.

Before you start be aware that you will probably end up wiping your phone once, if not more. So lets go over the things that you will need.

You will need JF’s RC30, RC8, or ADP1 V1.3, depending on what version you intend to create for.

Here is the link to these: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=466174

You will also want to get the dev bootloader installed on your phone and to HIGHLY suggest everyone trying your theme to install it as well.

Link to dev bootloader: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=455860

You will also need to resign all the apks located in /system/app and framework-res.apk located in /system/framework. When you push all of these to your phone, you will need to do a wipe.

JesusFreke was kind enough to build a custom signing tool for me that would allow me to right click on an apk and resign it from there. I am posting it here for others to use as well. Note that this is a courtesy of JF, so thank him for it. I cannot stress how much time this has saved me and will save you.

Here is the link: Http://www.FightForthePits.com/testsign(2).zip

Before using this you need to know how to set this up(For XP):

I will assume that you have the sdk downloaded and extracted somewhere(if not, do that now), extract both files to the tools directory of your sdk.

Now you will need to add the tools dir of your sdk to the environment variable CLASSPATH.

To do this, right click on My Computer click properties, then choose the tab that says advanced. Click the button that says environmental variables. Go to system variables find the one that says CLASSPATH, double click it, go to the end of variable value. There should be a semicolon ; at the end. type in the path to the testsign.jar located in the tools directory of your SDK, for example the path to my testsign.jar was c:\sdk\android-sdk-windows-1.0_r1\tools\testsign.jar If CLASSPATH is not in your system variables then create it.

If you find the right click menu not working for some reason you can type the following in cmd to sign your files: java testsign whateverfiletosign

Now right click the reg file that you extracted and choose to install it, or merge.

Now, right click an apk, do you see an option that says ResignApk? If not hit the windows key and R at the same time. Type in regedit. go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and expand it. Now find .apk and click it. Double click on (Default) and erase apk_auto_file. Hit ok and close the Reg editor. Now right click an apk and the option ResignApk should be there.

Now through doing this you have done two things, first off you have made the resigning process extremely easy, secondly you will not have to cd to the tools dir of the sdk to use adb or any other tool in the sdk.

You will also need a version of linux installed or running vmware with linux, so that you can create an update file which will install the theme onto the users phone.

You need to make sure that you do this correctly, because if you don’t then you will have the potential to create problems for people trying to install your theme. You also need to be specific in addressing what version your theme is for, RC8, RC30, or ADP1. Make sure every file gets signed. Make sure you test the update.zip before you release it.

Every .apk contains the images relating to itself. However, every apk has the ability to use the images in framework-res.apk. The images for every apk is located inside of res and more specifically in folders that are named Drawable, drawable-land, drawable-port, etc. Some things you cannot edit unless you rebuild the entire apk from source, which we will not go into here.(another tutorial, another time) Just know that at this time you SHOULD NOT edit, or even open images with the extension .9.png. If you do you will have problems…Trust me. These are special images called ninepatch images and android resizes these images to fit wherever android, or any other apk, needs it to. if you do open them or edit them they will no longer render correctly when resized. I believe that in order to edit these you must do so and then put them into the source and rebuild the entire apk.

Before getting started you must also realize that you cannot simply resign one or two apk’s and stick them in your phone and expect them to work. You must resign every apk inside of /system/app and framework-res.apk and put them on your phone at the same time.

To simplify this process for you though, I have provided an update which will do all of this for you. Note that these updates will not completely wipe your phone, your apps will be retained, however, they will require you to re-enter your Google info, and you will lose you call history.

Rc8 resigned: down again (needs to be tested, should work)

Rc30 resigned: down, again (needs to be tested, should work)

ADP1 resigned: down, again (tested by me and works.)

Just put the correct update.zip, depending on what version you are running, onto your sd card, boot into recovery and hit alt + s.

Now you can push your own apk’s one at a time without re-wiping your phone.

Now, your ready to start changing things up.

You will now need to open the apk, which you can do by adding .zip after .apk, effectively changing it to a zip. Note that if you are using windows you will need to unhide known file extension types.

See here to unhide known file extension types for Xp: http://www.mediacollege.com/microsof…on-change.html

See here to unhide file extension types for Vista: http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-v…ile-extension/

After changing the apk to a zip open it go to res and copy the folders that have drawable in their name. Go to your desktop, or wherever, create a new folder called Images, or whatever. Open the folder, paste the drawable folders in there. Now you can see what the files look like without opening them. Btw, you may also want to add -frame, or -launcher, to the end of the folders you cope over to keep them separated from others.

Finally, you’ve edited the images put them all in the apk renamed it back to an apk and resigned it. Now it’s time to push it to your phone and see the changes you’ve made.

Important! : Whenever pushing files to the phone NEVER do it while the phone is running. Do this in recovery mode! If you do this while the phone is running normally you will begin to lose space in /system.

So, boot into recovery plug your phone in and open a cmd prompt. From the cmd prompt type adb shell mount /system then type the following: adb push c:\whereveryourfileis\whateveryourpushing.apk /system/app (system/framework if your pushing framework-res.apk)

Now reboot your phone. If it doesn’t boot, try doing a wipe, if that doesn’t work reinstall an update and try again. There are alot of things people can do wrong, I can’t explain them all here. If you get real stuck, you can ask for help here or contact me on Gtalk Stericson.G1@gmail.com.

So now your theme is done and your ready to make an update.zip for others to install your theme.

This must be done in LINUX! Not WINDOWS! Yes it may work for you if you do it in windows but other people’s phones will enter an indefinite loop! Just do it from Linux! If you absolutely cannot make your own update.zip, contact me and we’ll see if I can make one up for ya.

I have created a template for you to make your own update.zip. Just download, open in Linux, and add the system apps to app, and framework to framework. Zip it up, SIGN IT, TEST IT YOURSELF, and then distribute it!

Empty update.zip template: Http://www.FightForthePits.com/Andro…date_empty.zip

If anyone has any questions please try asking for help in this thread before emailing me for help Usually I will respond to questions in this forum.

I hope this Tutorial has been helpful. I will add on to it as needed.

Stericson

Links of interest:

Downloading SDK: http://code.google.com/android/intro/installing.html
Using ADB: http://code.google.com/android/reference/adb.html

Android OS X - Macandroid?

CubanitaStylez — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:41:43 +0000

If you are a long time Apple/Mac supporter but recently decided to get a T-Mobile G1 instead of an iPhone, I’ve put together a set of OS X wallpapers that will help you feel more at home with your T-Mobile G1. We all have to admit that even if Android can very soon become the best OS for mobile devices, Apple has always been the best with graphic user interfaces and wallpapers. You’ve already seen OS X themes for Windows XP, Vista, Linux, and all customizable graphic user interfaces from your video game system to your cell phone. It is inevitable that you will see Mac OS X themes for your Android phones, but since themes are still not possible, I’ll start with some wallpapers. I’ve already trashed Apple enough with my “Piss On Apple“ wallpapers so now I’ll show them a little support to even things out. Here are some cool Android x Mac OS X wallpapers for your T-Mobile G1:

Android Skinning Making Progress

CubanitaStylez — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:25:15 +0000

About a month ago Living Sword over at ModMyGphone was able to change some of the icons on the status bar of his jailbroken T-Mobile G1. Unfortunately, most people already got the RC30 update on their G1 and so far there isn’t any way to jailbreak G1s with the RC30 update. In the mean time it seems that people who do have jailbroken G1s have been taking advantage of Living Sword’s finding and now not only the status bar has been skinned but also a lot of other aspects of the Android GUI. Stericson over at the AndroidCommunity forums just released some screen shots of his G1 today. As you can see he has recolored all the orange high lighting objects to a grayish white, and replaced the G next to the Google search widget with an Android. Although these are minor changes, it means progress is being made towards theme making. Skinning is the first step towards making themes so we might soon start seeing themes for Android!

A Merry Android Christmas

CubanitaStylez — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:00:07 +0000

It’s that time of the year, add joy to your Christmas celebrations and let your Android phone show your Christmas spirit. It has become a tradition for people to use Christmas wallpapers and ringtones around this time every year so today I picked up a couple of Christmas wallpapers for your Androids and collected a few Christmas ringtones to go along for this Christmas season, Merry Christmas!

Wallpapers

Ringtones

Rudolf The Reindeer

Rocking Around The Xmas Tree

Christmas Chipmunks

Carol Of The Bells

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Custom Ringtones For Android

CubanitaStylez — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 11:07:31 +0000

Yes, there are already thousands of ringtone sites and a few applications for Android offering free ringtones but, What ever happened to being creative? If you are like me, you’ll probably find yourself in an endless loop trying to find a good ringtone on one of those sites and then you’ll find out that the one ringtone you liked is the same one that everyone else downloaded, so now you are stuck with the same old ringtone everybody has.

To solve that problem all you need to do is get your hands on Audacity (Free Audio Editor & Recorder) and start making your own ringtones. The process won’t take longer then a couple minutes and you won’t have to hear the same song everyone else has on their phone. You don’t have to be an audio expert to make your own ringtones. If you are computer literate, then you shouldn’t have any problems with Audacity.

Download the files below:

Audacity

Audacity needs a plug-in to export files as Mp3 so you’ll also need:

Lame MP3 Encoder

The video below shows how to make ringtones on Audacity. The video is a little fast paced but that’s what pause and play are made for and if you are having trouble, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be glad to help. This video only shows how to make ringtones from full songs or long clips you might have, but with Audacity you can get creative and make ringtones from your own recordings and mixes!

Here are a few Audacity tips before the video:

Make the ringers 30 secs or shorter, it takes less then that to go to voice mail
Wav, Aiff, Ogg, and Mp3 All work for ringtones
Wav is better but you won’t be able to tell the difference, use Mp3 to save space
Use Effect… Amplify… to make ringtones louder but watch out with clipping
Use metadata to keep Mp3s organized in the Music Player

Once you made your ringtone, make a folder on the root of your microSD card called “ringtones” and place all your ringtones there, they can be in the formats mp3, wav, aiff & ogg. If you want to use a ringtone as an alarm or notification, create two new folders on the root of your SD card called “alarms” and “notifications“. Then you can set the ringtones by Pressing MENU on the home screen then go to: Settings - Sound & display - Phone Ringtone or Phone Notification for messages.

5 Ways To Customize Your T-Mobile G1

CubanitaStylez — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:51:05 +0000

Although we still don’t have many options as far customizing the GUI on the G1, since the release of the phone many options have opened up to change the external appearance of the T-Mobile G1. Here are 5 ways to customize your T-Mobile G1.

1- Unique Skins - Price: $6.99

Use your own photos to customize your T-Mobile G1
Takes only seconds to install
Precision fit to your T-Mobile G1
Vibrant colors with a high gloss finish
Non-permanent backing will not leave any residue
Will never fade, wear, smudge, or smear
Will not void the warranty on your T-Mobile G1

2- iStyles Skins - Price: $6.99

Takes only seconds to install
Free matching background wallpaper included
Will not void the warranty on your T-Mobile G1

3- Jelly Cases - Price: $8.95

100% premium silicone
Light-weight option to cover
Anti-dust, scratch-free, and protects your G1
Will not void the warranty on your T-Mobile G1

4- Snap On Faceplates - Price: $11.69

Easy snap-on assembly requires no additional tools
Slim, thin design
Access to volume/side buttons, camera lens, and charger socket
Will not void the warranty on your T-Mobile G1

Receive FREE SHIPPING with Any Purchase at Wireless Emporium

5- Colorware - Price: $175 (Main) - $190+ (Multi-Color) - $770+ (Buy New)

Send In or buy new
Professional paint job
High-gloss metallic and solid colors
Scratch resistant finish
Voids the warranty on your T-Mobile G1
Warranty offered for new G1s purchased from Colorware

T-Mobile G1 Wallpapers

CubanitaStylez — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:09:26 +0000

Set G1 wallpaper from your G1:

Visit G1wallz.com, find a wallpaper you like and click on the thumbnail to see the large preview.
Long press on the image, and tap “Save Image”.
Select the image from download history, press MENU, and select Set as..Wallpaper.
Make sure the orange highlighting surrounds the entire image, and tap “Save”.

Set G1 wallpaper from your PC:

Connect your G1 to your PC, and you will receive a notification on your G1 that says “USB Connected”.
Go to the notification, tap on “Mount”, and your SD card should come up on your computer.
Visit G1wallz.com, find a wallpaper you like and click on the thumbnail to see the large preview.
Right-click on the image, select “Save Image As…” and save the image anywhere on your SD card.
Disconnect G1 from PC, press MENU on the home screen..tap Wallpaper, then tap Pictures.
Select image from the gallery, then make sure the orange highlighting surrounds the entire image, and tap “Save”.

Video Tutorial:

Some Wallpapers To Try out: