The Samsung Galaxy S III has been rooted ahead of launch…sort of. A developer going by the alias of Chainfire has successfully achieved root with the device’s release candidate firmware but never even had GS3 in hand. Instead he took advantage of a leaked software build and did the rooting virtually. The good news is that if Samsung doesn’t make any adjustments to the phone’s kernel rooting will be an easy process once users have the new Galaxy in hand. The whole process required only reloading the kernel with an altered adb binary and then manually installing SuperUser
Samsung Galaxy S III rooted, sort of
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The ITC is passing down judgement in a patent spat between Motorola and Microsoft, and the decision doesn’t fall in the Android smartphone manufacturer’s favor. After an initial ruling in December of last year found Moto guilty of infringing on at least one of seven Microsoft patents, the international body has agreed and ordered a import ban. Motorola is blocked from bringing new shipments of their smartphones, which include the Droid RAZR, into the US. Given the damage this could have on the company’s sales, it is likely the two parties will attempt to reach some sort of licensing deal before all is said and done. 
Verizon wasn’t shy to tease global roaming capabilities for a number of 4G LTE smartphones, including the LG Spectrum and Motorola DROID 4 . Months later it looks like at least one handset is just about ready to do some globetrotting. An info sheet on display for the HTC Rezound mentions that the ability to use the phone in 185 countries is “coming soon” with a “global feature.” From the wording, it sounds like users may have to pay for a global plan to unlock the world-ready radios already built in to the handset. Employees are being told to post up similar in-store info sheets for the Motorola DROID RAZR and Droid 4, so we could see the feature on all three phones very soon. [via DroidLife ] 
Androinica.com recaps the new and interesting apps in the Google Play Store each week. We select these apps by weeding through the Play Store and trying to find things we think people might be interested in. This week, the theme is “Everything is Social” because every app mentioned, save one, is built around the concept of connecting with others. Click on the install button to get download links. QUICK HITS hi5 has finally released an official Android app for members of the social gaming network, used primarily in Latin America and some parts of Asia
In order to commemorate an important milestone for DoubleTwist, the folks behind the app have decided to launch a special sale promotion for its current paid apps which includes AirSync , DoubleTwist app upgrades, and the DoubleTwist Alarm Clock .