CyanogenMod for Android Devices (in Off-topic)

On Monday I installed the new version of the CyanogenMod (http://www.cyanogenmod.com ) on my HTC Magic. It's a community created custom rom based on Froyo (2.2).

Installation was a bit annoying, as I had to reinstall all apps and backup messages/call logs/data.

But it's pretty damn awesome! Battery life is 50% longer (due to better usage of power saving states) and the browser got a quadrillion times faster (compared to Android 1.6).

For the Android users among us: Either try to get the official 2.2 release for your device, or (if your experienced) try Cyanogen!

I don't know anything about the mods since I'm not an Android user, but I was playing with a friend's Android Galaxy and got jealous. What's the downside to the mod? 50% longer battery life must come at a cost somewhere.

Not really, the mod just handles power a bit better than stock...

I'm still running stock 2.2 on my Moto droid, just got the Flash update last night, pretty cool.

Been waiting for a long weekend with lots of time to try all the different options as far as mods and kernels.

The 50% is between 1.6 and 2.2, I believe it would have been less from 2.1 to 2.2.

The downside is that the phone sometimes behaves sluggishly as the CPU is in some low MHz area and has to "wake up".

@novice: I too was waiting for some spare time and as I was very happy with the state of my phone (I had a WinMo 6.0 device before..) I also was afraid that it only can get worse. ;)

Unfortunately I don't have Flash on my device (it's said that 'some instructions are missing' on it's architecture - duh), which was the main reason for the upgrade.

How can I tell what version I'm running currently? :/

Settings -> Phone Info (Or alike)

There you have a field: "Android Version"

Most likely you will either have 2.1 or soon get it. (Maybe even 2.2.) But with the older devices (like my HTC Magic) odds are bad, so I flashed it myself.

Firmware version 2.1-update 1?

Is there anywhere official I can go to get 2.2? Is it on the android market?

Nowhere official in the UK for your phone GL. Mine is just about to get the 2.1 upgrade (Sony have been slow) but as for 2.2 the only way you're going to get 2.2 (froyo) is to get your phone rooted and do it unofficially.

We might get 2.2 on Sony by Christmas....

I'm currently running Cyanogen 6 on my G1, it's the best open source thingy I've been part of since I was using XBMC on my old xbox.

Also I like that it enables USB debugging and a bunch of other features.

Great stuff. Now I kinda wish my phone was a little faster. :)