Category: Technology

I know you are just like me – before you could get your hands on the Evo, you talked to all of your Droid and Nexus One tottin’ friends and played with their phones.  Then you saw the amazing Gallery integration with Picasa and thought – that is EXACTLY what I need to keep my photos backed up from my phone.

Then you got the Evo – and the honeymoon started… but the second you opened the Gallery – the honeymoon wasn’t over, but certainly not as nice as you expected.  No worries, right?  A quick trip to the Market and there must be an app or upgrade or something, right?  Sadly – Nope.

How are you ever going to get that Picasa goodness on your phone?  Not to mention the 3D style of the albums that is pretty awesome too.  You could do what I did and search the internet for hours (in fact, you may already have, which is how you ended up here)… But I’m not going to tell you I got it working without giving you the apk file!

You can get it here – Gallery 3D.apk but here is a word of caution – the first time it opens, it takes forever to load.  You may get a force close error message – open it again and don’t fret.  The camera button in the top right hand corner of the app will give you an error (see screenshot below)

UPDATE: What’s that? You DON’T want Picasa albums – just the cool 3D gallery features for your pictures on the phone?  If that’s the case – you don’t have to install this apk with all its buggyness – you can get the same 3D gallery effect by installing the 3D Gallery plug in for the “Flikie Wallpapers” app.  Both the plug in and the wallpaper apps are available in the Market, work well on the Evo and do not have the Force Close error message pictures above.  You also get the added benefit of a great way to find and download new wallpapers.  For me – not having Picasa is a dealbreaker.  But if Picasa isn’t your thing, here is a link:  http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/tools/n1-3d-gallery-addon_hosl.html

Notes:

I got the apk from the xda forum here (requires a logon):

I spent several hours reading over the HTC EVO reviews, speculations, rumors, and forums – just like some of you guys did.  Then I heard about the mandatory $10 upcharge for “premium data services”.  I read that and thought 4G – which I don’t have because I’m in the Phoenix area.  So I called Sprint to ask why its mandatory and what I will personally receive for the additional charge.  After getting nowhere with the customer service, I send a letter to Dan Hesse (Sprints CEO).

That letter certainly did recieve attention from Sprint as I was called and emailed by two different teams from Dan’s offices.  It was nice to know that there is a way to get noticed – but I didn’t exactly get the answer I was looking for.  But I did get an answer.

Sprint has good reason for the $10 charge EVEN when you are not in a 4G area – but it would not be understood or go over well with the general population.  They say “premium data services” and in a 4G city – I’m not guessing many people complain.  But in a 4G VOID, a lot of people have complained – even didicated entire websites to the issue (http://www.noevofee.com/).  BTW – Thanks goes to NoEVOFee.com for giving me the contact information I needed to raise attention at Sprint.

When you call Sprint – they will quickly tell you that the charge is NOT for 4G access but instead for the “rich user experience” provided by the Evo.  Like me, you are thinking, “hmmmm…. that sounds like they are charging monthly for features provided by the hardware that I already paid for!”  The short answer is, yes they are.  But allow me to try to do a better job explaining why that actually does make sense.

The office of Dan Hesse was able to give me enough information to understand the charge – but only after a LOT of questions.  If you will endulge me – I’ll explain what I understand the reason for the charge REALLY is using an analogy:

Imagine you are a utility company that delivers water.  Your customers want an unlimited amount of water delivery for a single monthly fee.  You have one inch pipes to deliver the water and a faucet with the turn style valve.  Accordingly you price your unlimited option based in part on the maximum amount of water a one inch pipe can deliver in a month, but also considering the average amount of time your customer will spend drawling water using the turn style valve.

Now imagine you install a new three inch pipe for some clients and a brand new valve that is easier to use, easier to turn on, easier to leave running, and can handle the new three inch pipe.  The customers with the three inch upgrades are very pleased and understand that you have to adjust the pricing plans accordingly.  Those customers with the one inch pipe are able to purchase the new valve, but will still have the one inch pipe.  In theory, they have the same access to the water as before – but because the valve is easier to use, even these customers are going to use the current pipes to consume more water than before.  Do you charge those customers with the new valve more for better access to the water?  How would you react if they were upset despite their new “rich user experience”?  They may feel since they paid for the valve, they shouldn’t have to pay more for the additional water consumption…

Now – if I lost you in the analogy, then either I am a poor communicator or the title of this post is true.  I’ll concede that my communication skills are weak – you are most likely brilliant.  Personally – I’ve already seen an increase in my own data consumption…

*** Update: I was WRONG ***
I was completely off – the REAL reason seems to be the agreement Sprint has with Clearwire – for every 4G device Sprint has activated on their network, they are paying a fee to Clearwire. That’s right – a fee to Clearwire EVEN if the device is not in a 4G area. I was wrong.

I’m not suggesting you do anything to violate your Terms and Conditions but if you were interested in how someone with an HTC EVO might be able to share their 3G or 4G connection with their laptop or other wireless devices – You could do the following:

• Goto Settings -> Applications -> and check Unknow Sources
• Then goto http://unrevoked.com/m/
• installed unrevoked
• Then goto http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/downloads/detail?name=wireless_tether_2_0_2-pre14.apk&can=2&q=
• and download, install the apk
• Find the new wireless tether app in your list and run it
• when Superuser Permissions asked you if want the app to run as root (or super user – whatever) just click yes.

Not that I would ever do something like this – but if you were so inclined based simply on the fact that you have to pay $10 a month for “premium data services” EVEN though you don’t live in a 4G city – I would understand!

***** Update *****  06/30/2010

After the OTA update from Sprint – you will need to revisit http://unrevoked.com to re-root.  Then you will need to install the latest version of the tether app found here: http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/downloads/list?q=label:HTC

***** Update ***** -7/16/2010

unrEVOked.com has done it again!  Ok, here is how to get your mifi back…

Download unrEVOked.com v3 from here: http://unrevoked.com/recovery/

Make sure your phone is on USB Debug mode. (MENU > Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging = Checked )

Download the Evo driver from here: http://www.unrevoked.com/rootwiki/doku.php/public/windows_hboot_driver_install

Install the Evo Driver by following the instructions on the link above.  Then run reflash.exe from unrevoked v3.  It will do its thing… I think it does stop to wait for you to reboot the phone into hboot_usb at one point… and If you are running windows, you will get the pleasure of seeing “waiting 5 seconds because widows sucks” at one point…