Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S III

16 07 2012

Rooting your phone means modifying the operating system (OS) that comes with your device enabling you to have complete control over it by giving you root or superuser permissions on the Linux-based OS widely known as the Android OS. This would be like the equivalent of “jailbreaking” the Apple iPhone.

I am no Android expert. However, let me share here the steps on how I rooted my Samsung Galaxy S III (SGH- I747M). [Reference: XDA Developers Forum]

Before starting with the actual root process, make sure all necessary drivers for the Samsung S III are installed correctly. I use Windows 7 on my laptop and when I plugged in my phone, it automatically looked for the necessary drivers. If yours does not automatically download/update the drivers, get the drivers on Samsung’s website.

Also, if you do not have ODIN yet, you will need to download and install it. ODIN is the software that is used for Samsung phones to load updates, ROMS, etc. Click HERE to go to XDA Developers Forum to find links to download ODIN.

1. Download the stock odin tar that has a rooted system image injected into it. Check for download links HERE.

2. Extract the stock_root67.tar from the .7z file you downloaded.

3. Turn on your Galaxy S3 and go to Settings>Developer Options>USB Debugging > check USB debugging > tap OK to the security warning.

4. Turn your phone off.

5. Press Volume Down + Home (Center Button) + Power until the phone boots up to Warning screen.

6. Plug your phone into the USB port on your computer.

7. Open ODIN 3.07 and make sure Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are checked under Options.

8. Once connected, it will show the COM port. In my case, it was COM 9.

9. Check the box beside PDA and click on the PDA button then select your .tar file.

10. Click Start and wait until it completes the process and the phone reboots.

Congratulations! Now you have finished rooting your Samsung Galaxy S III!

The above process is only for getting a stock, rooted phone with no custom recovery, no plans to flash custom roms, etc. If you wish to do more with your phone, check the XDA Developers Forum for more tips.

To check and confirm that your phone is rooted, download ConnectBot, SuperUser, or BusyBox from the Play Store (formerly Android Market). If you are not able to download these, then your phone may not be rooted properly.

(Above) Screenshot of ODIN 3.07 after the successful rooting process.


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Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy S III

15 07 2012

I was due for a cellphone hardware upgrade since October 2011, but I just didn’t get it until recently. The reason why I didn’t get the upgrade right away was that I wanted to negotiate my contract first to see if I could somehow get it cheaper. I did get a few discounts for my cable/home phone/wireless bundle when I called in (internet used to be part of the bundle, but I switched over to another provider for that), and thought I would call in at a later time again to try to get a few more discounts. Anyway, since I have been very busy with everything else in my life, I didn’t get a chance to call in again. Now, the Samsung Galaxy S III (S3) is out, and I figured, oh well, just go ahead with it and whatever you currently pay for, just renew the 3-year contract.

I picked up my 32GB Marble White Samsung Galaxy S III on July 3rd, and was in love with it when I got it (currently, the other colour option is Pebble Blue). I was a bit hesitant before that to switch to an Android, since I have been a BlackBerry user for over two years and I felt I did not want to part with my BBM and BlackBerry keyboard. Anyway, I’m fine with it now, although I haven’t actually started using it.

See below for the photos of the unboxing of my Samsung Galaxy S III. I forgot to take a photo of the back of it before I got it armored. Included is a photo of the back of my phone after I got a pink Ghost Armor [www.ghost-armor.com] for it (thanks to Steve L. at the Scarborough Town Centre location for the discount).

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The Samsung Galaxy S III is the flagship Android smartphone of Samsung Electronics released in 2012. Like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S II, the S III is a touchscreen-based, slate-sized smartphone, with a significant addition of software features, expanded hardware, and a redesigned physique. In particular, it employs an intelligent personal assistant (S Voice), eye-tracking ability, wireless charging, and increased storage. Depending on countries, the 4.8-inch (120 mm) smartphone comes with different processors and RAM capacity, and 4G LTE support.


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Samsung Infuse 4G VIP Tour Party (Canada)

30 07 2011

I got an invite to the Samsung Infuse 4G VIP Tour Party held at Brant House on 522 King Street West, Toronto last July 19, 2011. It was one fun night – music, food, games, prizes – and of course we got to test out the various Samsung products including the Galaxy Tab, and phones (Galaxy SII, Infuse, etc).

The Samsung Infuse 4G is an Android smartphone which features a 8–16 GB internal Flash memory, a 4.5 inch 480×800 pixel Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen display, a 8-megapixel camera and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera. In Canada, it comes shipped with Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread and capable of 720p video recording and was released in July 2011 by Rogers Wireless.


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Unboxing the Nokia N8

20 11 2010

WOM World/Nokia contacted me again if I wanted to trial a Nokia N8. I gladly accepted and I got the Nokia N8 by courier two days ago. Here are photos of the unboxing. Review on the product in another post coming soon.

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Nokia N8 Launch Party (Canada)

12 11 2010

Two nights ago on November 10th, 2010, I attended the Nokia N8 Launch Party in Toronto, Canada where I was invited by Chris from WOM World/Nokia. It was held at Bang & Olufsen at 175 Avenue Road.  It was a cool place and a cool party. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres were served, hip music was played. On one side was a section where anyone can play games using the Nokia N8s which were plugged into two big screen TVs.

There was a section where someone was showing the game/apps features of the phone, and another section where someone was explaining the technical specs of the N8. I got to try out playing two games on the N8 — Avatar and Angry Birds. The screen was nice and very responsive. I noticed though that when you have 2-3 apps open while playing, it slows the game down. So if you ever want to play games on it, better to close all the other apps that you have running.

-More after the jump-

When I headed over to the technical section, the guy who was there was still talking to someone. So I stood nearby kind of waiting. And then Glenn, the nationwide sales manager of Nokia Canada who was standing nearby too, asked if he could answer any questions I had although he probably wouldn’t be more specific as the N8 technical guy there. He was really nice as he answered my inquiries about the phone. I mentioned that it was really light and I was curious what kind of material was used to make it; he said it was anodized aluminum. I probably wouldn’t have needed to ask that question if I did some homework on the product before going to the launch party. We talked about how good its touchscreen was. I mentioned that based on my experience with other Nokia models with touchscreens, this one was really good while the older ones were not so good. Also the N8 has 16GB internal memory but is expandable up to 32GB with a MicroSD card.

Welcoming remarks were made after an hour I was there by another important person from Nokia Canada (sorry can’t remember who it was) and also the host that was the owner of Bang & Olufsen. It was mentioned that the N8 is sold only on Rogers Wireless for $79.99 on select 3-year plans. Also on a side note, interesting that the host mentioned that Bang & Olufsen and Nokia had something in common, that is they are both Scandinavian. And then they showed a video on the big screen which was shot with the Nokia N8. It was sharp and had good picture quality.

After the welcome remarks, I hung out for a bit more, had some more hors d’oeuvres and played again with the N8 in the games section, then I had to go home because I had work early the next day. Anyway, eventhough I’ve had a short experience with the N8, I was already really impressed by it. I can’t wait to test it out for a couple of weeks (coming soon!).

Oh yeah, I got a free Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-804 in a small giveaway Ovi bag. That was pretty cool.

P.S. The photos I took are kinda crappy because I didn’t have my camera with me so I used my BlackBerry Curve.


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