Cranking out news for the geeks, music buffs and gossip junkies, my way. -Greg

Beginning today AT&T will begin rolling out an update to the Samsung Captivate Glide to support Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS). The update will be simliar to the update recently released for the Samsung Galaxy SII that I just posted recently. This will bring the Captivate Glide to Android 2.3.6 and will include fixes for Exchange Active Sync as well. The roll out will begin in NYC and Washington, D.C. first and the rest of the US to follow. Here is an excerpt from AT&T:

Effective December 21, 2011 AT&T will release new software for the Samsung Captivate™ Glide that supports Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS). CMAS is a new public safety system that allows customers who own an enabled mobile device to receive geographically-targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area. Consumers will receive only three types of alerts through CMAS:

• Presidential Alerts (automatic alerts that cannot be disabled by the customer)
• Imminent Threat Alerts (FEMA type alerts – customers can opt out of messages – see screen shots below)
• Amber Alerts (e.g., child abduction alerts – customers can opt out of messages – see screen shots below)

Note: While the emergency alerts are free, customers may opt out of receiving the “Imminent Threat” and/or “Amber Alerts” but they may NOT opt-out of receiving the “Presidential Alerts”. To opt-out go to; Messaging application > Menu > Settings > Notifications settings > Emergency Alerts and uncheck the box for each type of alert you do not wish to receive; a) Extreme alerts, b) Severe alerts, and/or c) Amber alerts. (See screen shots below)

The initial AT&T roll out is to its customers with compatible handsets in New York City and Washington, D.C. The CMAS software update for the Samsung Captivate™ Glide will enable the device to be Wireless Emergency Alert Capable (WEAC). The update also supports a Google security patch which upgrades the Samsung Captivate Glide operating system to 2.3.6 and a fix for Exchange Active Sync (EAS). This is an OTA update (no side load option is available).

 

Looks like we will continue to see this hit more phones as time goes on and will likely be included on future phones from the factory as they are released. I’m curious how soon and often we will begin to see the types of alerts and if there will be any type of user interaction requested. I’m sure with the Presidential Election next year it could be interesting to see how much electoral spam we receive. -Greg

Just when I had finally given up, the word “Craptivate” was on the tip of my tongue. I was ready to join the mob of angry Captivate owners. Samsung and AT&T deliver. It was officially announced via the Galaxy S twitter account and the AT&T Facebook page that Captivate would be getting the long awaited update to Android 2.2, Froyo beginning tomorrow. This is of great excitement to anyone who has made there way to using custom ROMs. I’ve been running an unofficial official version of Froyo on my Captivate for quite some time, only recently have I started using fully custom ROMs. The most exciting thing to me is whether they have fixed the GPS issue 100%. Well I can safely say that this was long overdue and had me finally throwing my arms up at Samsung. Let’s just hope its bug free. -Greg

My unbiased story of another users experience leaving the iPhone to Android. Originally an iPhone user he finally made the break of Apples tight grip of an OS to Android. First choice was the Samsung Captivate, a Galaxy S phone. I think it was the obvious choice for him as it was the best option of the 3 Android phones from AT&T at that time. Not to mention I was very happy with mine. First impressions as an owner was not the greatest as he quickly noticed some problems. No easy 1 button click to a silent mode and syncing email to exchange was problematic from the start. Soon he updated to Froyo 2.2 (found here) and quickly followed with using custom ROMs, via ROM Manager and Cognition. His happiness was only short lived with the Captivate and the new ROMs as he began to have the phone shut-off at random. This seemed to be strictly a hardware issue and was resolved with a trip to AT&T and getting a replacement. Since email was high priority use of his phone and the issues for email continued, He actually contemplated going back to his iPhone. Enter the htc Inspire, the latest Android phone from AT&T. Within 28 days of first purchasing the Samsung Captivate he had, upgraded to 2.2, used custom ROMs, replaced the phone and finally traded it back in for the htc Inspire. He has only had the Inspire for less than 24 hours as I write this, but has implied clearly that it has been a better purchase than the Captivate and may lie on the same playing field as the iPhone.

So to summarize the issues and ratings he has suggested; Captivate had problems with exchange and playing music stored on the phone. He rates the Captivate under the iPhone for these reasons and currently rates his new htc Inspire at the same level as the iPhone. He is as of now still currently happy to be away from Apple and I will update this once he has had the Inspire longer.

I tried to keep my own thoughts and opinions away from everything up to now, you honestly didn’t think I would leave my opinion completely out did you? Some things I would like to point out is obviously the no easy button for silence is user preference, working with anything custom is always prone to bugs, however he did point out that he had the email issue prior to touching the OS. I know of another Captivate user that seemed to be having problems with email as well. His wasn’t exchange, but actually Yahoo. Myself I get to much personal email to mess with my main Yahoo email, so I send only a very small amount to my Gmail account which I get on my phone. Another few that I’d like to point out is that the Captivate and Inspire have the same speed CPU. Captivate has 4 times the internal memory and a Super AMOLED screen. The Inspire has an 8megapixel camera with an LED flash as well as .3 inches more of a screen. Inspire is also a 4G phone, although it’s not wide spread yet. I think the biggest thing to point out is that the Inspire comes with Froyo. This is huge because it works and is made to work and will be less likely to have bugs unlike the Captivate which is sure to have many since Samsung doesn’t care. Having 2.2 can only be accomplished using custom ROMs’ or custom upgrades which although helps getting flash and hotspot ability, it also brings more bugs.  Overall I think the Captivate was a big shot that only has become a failure due to the lack of OS support and updating from Samsung. The biggest example of this is the GPS a feature that only works well if you have used a custom ROM. They have taken a great piece of hardware, shoved it out the door and never looked at it again.

With all the devices coming to the market at increasing speed, everyone’s phone is sure to be outdated by the time they get it home. So, I guess what should become a big part in the decision of you next phone isn’t as much the hardware, but more will the maker support the damn thing after you get it home and update the OS. Samsung obviously won’t. Will I trade in my Captivate for the Inspire or the upcoming Atrix? No, I’m still going to stand behind my Captivate and keep it as it still does what I want it too and works pretty well. -Greg

**UPDATE – Froyo will never becoming to the Captivate.  

So it looks like the Vibrant on T-Mobile won’t be the only Galaxy S phone that is getting the long over due Android update to 2.2, Froyo. Recently I have spoke with my own source from within AT&T and they tell me that they are going to be having a meeting later this week. The meetings main topic is helping Captivate customers with any problems associated with getting the OTA update to Froyo. So, either its pure coincidence or the recent uproar about the cell phone carriers not paying Samsung for update has kicked the Galaxy S line of phones updating into high gear. The meeting is to take place this week and following that meeting we should know more about when we will actually see the update hit the phones. I’m not holding my breath, but I am pretty excited. -Greg

Turning your Samsung Captivate into a mobile hotspot with Froyo (Android 2.2) couldn’t be any easier. Setting this up is easier than setting up your home network. Its minimal options make it both easy for the average joe and boring for the geeks. I had this setup with 2 iPhones connected to me in under a minute. The speeds were getting better than 250k down and 75k up. Considering that’s over 4 times the speed of dial up, I’d say it’s not to shabby. This of course was through AT&T’s lovely 3G network. 1 thing to note is I’m using the leaked I897UCJI6 version of Froyo from xda, which I’ve posted just recently. Lucky for me I was grandfathered into the unlimited data plan so I can suck it up for now. I’m very curious to see when the official Froyo build comes out if AT&T will have removed the Mobile AP feature altogether or add some nifty feature that tells AT&T to start running the meter. If that’s the case I will hang on to my leaked Froyo even after the official release.
Accessing and setting up the hotspot is pretty simple so I’m not going to narrate, but if you do have any questions let me know I’d be glad to help. -Greg

Torrents for both official versions of Android 2.1 and 2.2, for the Samsung Captivate, have been added below and on Demonoid. These are the official versions posted by designgears in the xda developers forums. These are odin 1 clicks, so it can’t get any easier.

Android 2.1 (stock) for Samsung Captivate – Torrent
Android 2.1 (stock) xda developers forum – link

Android 2.2 (froyo) for Samsung Captivate – Torrent
Android 2.2 (froyo) xda developers forum - link

Thanks again to designgears and xda! -Greg

“The snap of a few sparks, a quick whiff of ozone, and the lamp blazed forth in unparalleled glory.” Ok so maybe that’s not exactly how it went, but that unforgettable line from A Christmas Story is exactly how I felt flashing and booting Froyo (Android 2.2) for the first time on my Captivate. XDA forums user designgears has become mine and many others hero with his post where he shared the freshly leaked official Froyo build for the Samsung Captivate. I spent a fair amount of time trolling through the already popular thread reading everyones comments looking for complaints or proof that it was not the official build. It seemed that it was true the official (leaked) Froyo build was upon us. I pained through over 20 minutes downloading the Froyo Odin build, while biting my nails and sitting on the edge of my seat. I will be adding the Stock and Froyo Odin Roms to a torrent later tonight and posting it here, so check back. I backed up my paid apps using Titanium, then pulled my external SD and copied it completely to my PC. I also downloaded the stock Odin build for the Captivate just to be safe. I’ve added my own version of an easy to follow guide to share with anyone who needs it. 

Keep in mind a few things. My phone is running JH7 and is rooted. I’m not saying you need either of these, I just want you to know where I’m starting from.

* Make sure you already have your Windows drivers, which you can grab from here, installed for the phone before you begin.
* Make sure to run Odin with Windows admin privileges.
* Make sure to back-up anything and everything you might have stored on your phones internal storage. (phone book, pictures, music, documents)
* Also note that your phone will be wiped of all history, call logs, text messages, root access, the bloatware will return (which is easily hidden with Launcher Pro and if you need it back for warranty purposes its easily returned), it will be a stock phone running Froyo.

• Power off phone
• Remove SD Card (if you have one)
• Start program on computer
• Plug USB cable into computer
• Hold both volume up and volume down buttons (it can be done, you will feel them both go down)
• Plug USB cable into phone
• Odin will detect the phone in whatever com port its attached.
• Release Vol up and Vol down
• Press the START button in the program
• This will give some info in the program, wait
• It will have a progress bar on Odin and on the Phone.
• The phone will reboot itself and install Froyo
• The phone will reboot itself again and BAM you have FROYO!!

That’s it for now, I’m going to be posting later today about some of the great things I’ve found using Froyo, such as the new task manager, added hotspot, updated cut and paste, and the almost fixed GPS. What you think I haven’t played with it yet? Yeah right, those are what I think are the biggest things and I can’t wait to talk about them!! -Greg

A special big thanks goes out to designgears and XDA!