StreakSmart

Dell Streak 5 LCD replacement video surfaces, gives relief to clumsy users

 

If, for whatever reason, you happen to break your Dell Streak 5's Gorilla Glass-plated LCD screen, then I have what will become your favorite video ever. What you see above is a terrific walkthrough video of how to replace the LCD screen on your Streak 5. 

It details every step and is very easy to follow. It's a little longer than a half-hour, but it certainly is worth it if you've managed to render your screen unusable. Maximus (the guy in the video) does a splendid job of detailing every step needed to get your Streak up and running once again. 

Thanks, Maximus!

How to install Dell Streak's Stage UI on StreakDroid 1.9.1

If you're a Dell Streak user who loves Dell's Stage UI, but prefers to use custom ROMs instead of stock Froyo builds, then you're in luck.

TheManii, xda-developer and creator of the complete Gingerbread theme for StreakDroid 1.9.1, has extracted Dell's Stage widgets and moved them to a flashable .zip file, along with a few necessary apps, allowing it to be installed on DJ_Steve's latest foray into Froyo, StreakDroid 1.9.1.

All you have to do to use Dell's Stage widgets is flash the .zip with StreakMod Recovery, reboot, and enjoy!

The widgets included in this mod are the latest Dell Stage widgets, version 1.6 from Dell's 351 build. Also included are Kindle Gold, the stock music app, TuneIn radio, Facebook, Twitter, and Roxio's movie purchasing app, which allow the book, music, radio, social networking, and movie widgets to function.

What's more is that since this .zip is standalone, you might be able to flash it on other versions of Android. This means that Dell's Stage UI is not only readily able to be ported to other custom ROMs, but also to other devices; you may remember that Jenn got an earlier version of Stage running on her HTC EVO 4G last year. One user on xda has installed the widgets on the Dell Streak 7 running 2.2 and reported that they worked flawlessly. 

[xda-developers]

How to get your Dell Streak 7 unlocked for free with a quick email

We here at StreakSmart have covered a few ways to get unlock codes from Dell, from calling their customer support or using the super simple Dell Streak Unlocker software to get the job done. However, there hasn't really been a quick and simple way to unlock the Dell Streak 7 other than emailing the kind folks at UnlockStreak and receiving an unlock code in 1-3 business days for the price of $50.

Luckily for cheap Streak 7 owners like me, member m0bi1e on the xda-developers forum has discovered an even simpler way to get your tablet unlocked very quickly – and for free!

M0bi1e was able to tap out an email to unlockcoderequest@dell.com asking to unlock a work device along with a Streak 7, and within a few hours, he received an unlock code. It really is that simple!

All you have to do is send out an email including your service tag and IMEI, which is found on the flip-down side door on your Streak 7 (you know, the one where you put in SIM cards and SD cards) and you should be able to enter your unlock code within a few hours.

[xda-developers]

How to defend your Dell Streak's battery life

This guest article was written by Brett Kaminski.

At least once a week, a post will pop up on the StreakSmart forums on increasing battery life, getting a second battery, or ways to find apps that are killing your battery. A quick search of the Android Market will lead to numerous apps that claim to increase your battery life . . . and that often don't do anything but waste more precious juice! This can lead to a lot of confusion.

Some people like to go the route of having a second battery, but let’s face it: that isn’t always practical. Inevitably you’ll forget to charge the back-up or forget to bring it with you when you leave the house.

To help this dreadful situation, I've put together a comprehensive system that is proven to make your Streak's battery last extremely long! This system includes some apps that are free and some that are paid but well worth the money. Some of them you may have heard of; others not so much.

I'm not going to just tell you about these apps and leave you to figure out how to use them on your own either. I'll tell you the exact settings to tweak so you can get the ball rolling on maximizing your battery right now.

How to wirelessly manage Dell Streak microSD card from Windows computer

Even though inexpensive spare cables for the Dell Streak are becoming easier to find, I still prefer to do as much as I can without having to plug anything in. I download .zip files and flash new ROMs directly, update software, install apps, and make use of as many "push to phone" services out there. And now I access, transfer files, and manage my Streak's microSD card wirelessly too.

Find out how you can do it on your Windows computer below.

How to get Honeycomb boot animation on rooted Dell Streak and Streak 7

You may not have to reboot your Dell Streak or Streak 7 very often—there's usually no need to unless you're doing some hacking/tweaking—but the next time you do, wouldn't you like to watch a few seconds of the Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) boot animation instead of whatever Dell or your carrier wants you to see instead?

Changing the boot animation on the Streak or any other Android device serves no purpose, but since it's something that can be done on a rooted tablet/phone to further customize and tailor it to your preferences, let's do it anyway.

How to watch videos on Hulu.com on your Dell Streak

Hulu has yet to release an official app or allow Android devices to play videos from its website, but that doesn't mean it's been off limits. On the contrary, many users of the Dell Streak and countless other phones have been enjoying Hulu since last year's release of Adobe Flash for Android.

Hulu.com can be accessed via Splashtop Remote, PlayOn Mobile, and similar apps, sure, but your computer has to be on and running the respective software for it to work, which isn't always feasible. There are several versions of an unofficial app (not dependent on a computer) out there, but many of them need to be flashed via a custom recovery and/or involve more than a single file; the last one I used, for example, was made up of two .apks and a .zip that needed to be flashed to fix what was referred to as "demon voice."

Forget about that. Here's a very simple, single .apk way to get Hulu.com working with Flash 10.2 on your Streak.

How to get rooted Android 2.2.2 update on your Dell Streak 7

There's still no known way to root the recent OTA update that delivered Android 2.2.2 to the Dell Streak 7, but there is a way to get an already rooted build of the official software—with some of the bloatware removed—onto your device.

It requires nothing more than flashing a .zip through ClockworkMod recovery (if you need it: video tutorial here, written instructions below), so it's a painless process that will get you from wherever you are now (unrooted OTA, pre-OTA stock, pre-OTA rooted stock) to rooted 2.2.2 in minutes.

There are two .zips to choose from:

• daveid's official update with root access (via daveid at xda-developers)
• daveid's .zip with DJ_Steve's tweaks (via Hellzya at xda-developers)

Download the one you want (I personally went for the one with DJ_Steve's fingerprints on it) and move it to your Streak 7. It doesn't really matter where you put it; I had problems when moving it to an external SD card for some reason, so you may want to move it to the tablet's internal storage  instead.

Once that's done, all you have to do is flash it through ClockworkMod.

Unlock T-Mobile Dell Streak 7 by email, get 3G and 4G from AT&T

Here's some delightful news to start off your work week. When unlocked, T-Mobile's Dell Streak 7 works on AT&T's 3G and HSPA+/4G network!

This sounds like an amazing feat considering that both GSM networks use different frequency bands for their 3G/4G networks (this is why you only get EDGE when you unlock your AT&T-locked Dell Streak and use it on T-Mobile), but it turns out that the Streak 7 actually supports HSPA+ on both 1700/2100MHz (AWS) and 850/1900MHz. That's why there's no hackery involved here—no rooting, no modifying the build.prop, no unearthing hidden settings. Just insert an AT&T SIM card, enter the unlock code (more on this below), and relish the 3G/4G icons that appear in your Streak 7's status bar once the signal is acquired. Go ahead and click on the photo above for a better view.

How to easily flash ClockworkMod Recovery on rooted Dell Streak 7

It's official. The Dell Streak 7 is now on its way to bigger, better, and sweeter things.

Thanks to a team effort by graffixnyc, Kousch, Bogdi1988, binarybishop, lou0611, nledevil, Hellzya, Jobehonda, and KenpoAP from the xda-developers forum, ClockworkMod Recovery is now working on the 7-inch tablet. This custom recovery image plays a critical role in flashing custom ROMs and making Nandroid backups, so its availability is an important achievement and fantastic news.

There's more than one way to flash ClockworkMod on a rooted Streak 7, but the fastest and easiest method is by using the ever-popular ROM Manager app.