Note: IF you are plan on upgrading, I HIGHLY recommend researching the process before you start, and if you don’t feel comfortable with the terms, process, and cold reality of turning your phone into a brick, then do not even attempt the upgrade. I take no responsibility for what you do to your device.

Side note: If you tried to ring or text me on Thursday/Friday, this is most likely the reason I didn’t answer.

The stock ROM for the Verizon (VZW) XV6800 is good…it works…it has some of the usual “quirks” of a Microsoft operating system (OS). Unfortunately, the stock ROM also makes limited use of the phone’s hardware – namely the GPS – and it seems to me that Verizon has no interest in ever taking advantage of it. Earlier this year Sprint and HTC issued updates for the device enabling GPS, EV-DO Rev A, and the much needed Windows Mobile 6.1. Thanks to some fine members of the interwebs, the updated ROMs have been modified to work on other phones and networks. A major OS update, faster data, and GPS were the reasons I was willing to venture to the void.

My early research led me the decision to load dcd’s Titan ROM v3.1.2 on my phone. dcd is a senior member at XDA and head chef in the custom ROM kitchen, IMO. His popular Titan ROM seems preferred by VZW users over no2chem’s ROM.

Point of clarification: The radio and operating system are each distinct ROMs.

The first step in the upgrade: replacing the bootloader. The instructions for this were on the XDA wiki and very clear. I established an ActiveSync connection, ran Hard-SPL-2.40 by olipro, then followed the on-screen instructions. It was easy. Afterward the phone showed only the bootloader – a practically non-functional state, whose three color bars are terrifying! – and went no further. This was expected.

Next came upgrading to a compatible radio; from the stock Verizon version 1.30 to the leaked Sprint version 3.39. Again I followed the instructions on the XDA wiki and it was easy enough, though it took two tries to successfully complete the upgrade. Next step was to load the OS. I expected installation to be the same as the radio: connect via USB, use the ROM update utility (RUU), follow the instructions, reboot, blam! Right? Wrong.

After upgrading the radio I couldn’t establish a USB connection between my PC and the phone, and I was not expecting that. The phone wouldn’t do anything but show those awful colors of the bootloader. I was freaking out like my phone was one bad move away from being a $400 paperweight. Shit.

Do I try and undo what was done so far and get back to the stock VZW bootloader, radio, and ROM? Or, do I press forward and try to finish the upgrade?

Keep calm and carry on.

I re-read the XDA wiki looking for instructions I had earlier ignored: using a micro SD card to load a ROM. The instructions were very clear and shed some light on the USB issue. Since the phone could boot, placing the ROM on an SD card simply created a disk to load. I put dcd’s ROM on my SD card, inserted it in the phone, and blam! In less than a minute the ROM was installed, booting, and running smoothly. The hard part was over.

With OS loaded and running smoothly, carrier CAB installed, and a noticeable improvement in Windows, I called Verizon, programed the phone, downloaded their sync client, and spent some time configuring the device to my liking (pretty straight forward stuff in this line of work). Confident in my success, I reviewed some threads at XDA, installed Google Maps, and checked out the GPS.

It’s my understanding that while GPS can be utilized on VZW network, there is no formal service running to support it. Connecting is hit or miss. It may take 10-15 minutes and even then your lock may only be based on one satellite. It may take only 20 seconds and your lock will be dead on, based on six satellites. I don’t know, don’t really care. GPS works, which it didn’t before, so it works well enough.

Pleased as punch, I decided I needed a break. I had been hunched over my phone for waaay too long and resolved to let it be for a while. There will no doubt be more work to do after upgrading, but I won’t be posting about it. I would like to post a concise, technical, Verizon-specific tutorial for upgrading the HTC Titan, something to help the kids in the PPC community. Stay tuned. Until then, keep calm and carry on.

Here’s my wish list of things that will make it an even more productive office tool:

I’d like to see better Exchange server integration. While the current sync for contacts and events is good enough for me–I sync it with my laptop when I get in the office. The ability to push mail and sync wirelessly would be nice, and is something that is essential for some ZCoBbers I know.

I would like to be able to copy and paste between applications on the iPhone. I foresee a software update to enable this and perhaps spawning a new gesture to learn.

From third party developers, I’d like to see a good encrypted password keeper like SplashID.

As for bugs, I really haven’t experienced too much. Safari was crashing on me, and a simple reboot fixed it. More reports to come.

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

Found Yum on the FreeMacWare blog today, thought some folks in the ZCoB might like it…

Yum brings recipe organization to your Mac. I really like the feel of this application. It’s easy to create new recipes and add a list of ingredients. You can tab between fields and choose from a drop-down menu of previously entered quantities, units, and ingredients. The drop-downs come pre-filled with quantities like quart, tablespoon, or pinch and ingredients like chili sauce, milk, and lemon juice, and you can of course add your own. Then specify the instructions and how many people it serves.Yum also…calculate[s] how much of each ingredient you’ll need if you want to scale up or down what a recipe will yield.

http://news.com.com/2061-10812_3-6124053.html?tag=cnetfd.mt

Friday night we flew into NYC LaGuardia airport for an 11 am Saturday meetup with Mo to install a VPN box on his network. We took a bus over into Manhattan and then a subway down to pick up the keys to the apt we had secured from Craig’s list. Once we had the keys in hand, and had handed over some hard earned cash to in exchange, we headed back to the subway and down to our apt. Miraculously there was an apt there, the keys worked, and it was an excellent pad. Once oriented we went out for NYC pizza and beer, right down the block, then off to the Apple Store on 5th Ave to pay tribute. We got back pretty late. In bed by 12:45 or so.

At 2:45 am on Saturday morning the cell phone rang. It was Tom Root who was on IT duty for the weekend covering for us. There was a problem with the firewall blocking all communication between the various networks. As soon as we got clear on that sketch the cell phone died and we had no reception. Cranking up the laptop to the apt wireless brought us nothing – the net connection appeared to be down. So Craig and I got dressed, grabbed the laptop and cell phones and hit the street. About a block away on Columbia we found some cell phone reception and were able to get Tom on the phone again and proceed with troubleshooting the problem. Craig worked on getting us an open wireless connection and we found some stacked barricades in front of a cafe to sit on. The cabs rolled by, the drunks stumbled by, and the people begging or selling were respectful when we told them we were working. After two hours we solved the problem and were able to go back to bed.

Showers in the morning started at 6 am for a 7:30 departure time to the Empire State Building.

Billie’s version:
We didn’t really leave at 7:30am. Apparently no one else set his alarm. Luckily, Joe got up shortly after me. We decided to find some coffee. Amazingly, *nothing* was open within 5 blocks of the apartment except Starbucks. We brought back coffee and juice for the rest of the team.

Elph and Craig got up for a while to explain what had happened the night before (so *that’s* what the voices and door slams were…) So letting the midnight heroes sleep in, Brian, Joe and I took off for some sightseeing.

For all its onscreen glamour, the Empire State Building was pretty nondescript – we almost walked right past it. The observatory was on the 86th floor. There was a chilly breeze and light haze in the air. Though the view was mostly fuzzy, we could still make out a few notable buildings and spaces (“Is that huge blank gray thing over there Central Park?” “Hmmm. Yeah.”) All in all, it was a nice fun thrill. Random tidbit: It takes a minute for the elevator to climb 80 floors.

We sat in the Starbucks across the street (they’re unavoidable!) to write postcards and wait for Elph and Craig. There was a woman sitting at a table behind us reading the paper and drinking coffee… from a Dunkin Donuts cup. Hilarious.

Okay, back to Elph…
Craig and Elph slept in until 9 and met up with the rest at the 32nd Street Station for our commute to Brooklyn to surprise our client.

We got off the F train in Brooklyn and walked to Mo’s apt for our 11 am ‘phone date’ arriving at 10:59. Not bad for 650 miles and planes, buses, and trains. We had a bit of stress when Mo didn’t first answer the phone but it all came together and we pleasantly surprised him (he was a great sport), we setup the VPN box, and then off to lunch together at Mexicana Mama’s.

The rest of Saturday was a lot of walking. Chelsea galleries, Vosges chocolates, The Strand bookstore, Pomme Frittes, Automat, Anyways bar, Agozars Cuban Tapas and then home to our apt.

Billie:
That’s it?! One line?? Dude, we walked FIFTEEN miles! Okay, someone’s gotta fill in the blanks here. Guys, help out here…

Elph resumes…
Sunday was sleeping in til 9 then leisurely heading to the Met to wander for an hour and half, then the subway down to Union Square Cafe where we met up with Joe’s brother Mark and his partner Erik. A bit of a wait for a table, but very nicely handled by the staff. The service was incredible and the food matched the service. We were all really impressed. For me it was the kind of meal that leaves you feeling really good – mind/body/spirit.

We were running a little late for our rendezvous with Spirit at the airport and after several local trains came and went we were told by an Oracle that the express was not running and we hopped the local for the 12 stops up to 125th. Fortunately we came into a station with an express across the tracks and switched over. The M60 bus on 125th came quickly but got stuck in traffic before breaking loose. We came in kind of later than we had hoped into LaGuardia, got delayed at the ticketing counter, struggled through security and had about 10 minutes before getting on the plane.

Throughout the weekend everything fell into place so well it felt graceful and easy. Looking for more extra miles.

See our photos.

Fill it up, set the temp for green, oolong, or black tea, and fill up whenever you need.