Chainfire’s Systemless Root for Pixel Phones is Coming

We all knew it was coming. It's basically tradition that within days of Google releasing a new device, XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire finds a working root method. In keeping with that tradition, earlier today Chainfire demonstrated he had achieved root access on his Pixel phone with a picture of ADB shell requesting superuser access. The news understandably brought much excitement to fans of the Google Pixel phones, but Chainfire quickly clarified that the method he used to achieve root access required modifying /system and disabling dm-verity.

Frequent readers of our Portal might recall that we wrote an article explaining the possible difficulties with rooting the Pixel phones, and it seems we were right on some fronts: Chainfire initially confirmed that disabling dm-verity would be problematic, and for a while he thought it would be impossible to disable dm-verity without changes to the kernel. But eventually he found a way to disable dm-verity, as usual, and within a day of poking around he achieved full systemless root by modifying the boot image:

Victory is mine! Full systemless root achieved. Boot image mods only, /system fully intact, dm-verity switchable. #pixel

— Chainfire XDA (@ChainfireXDA) 27 October 2016

This is exciting news for all Pixel owners, as systemless root has become the most common way of rooting devices since Android Marshmallow and now Google's latest phone can enjoy the benefits of root access, without the need for altering the kernel. Chainfire has once again worked around Google's changes to Android in order to bring root access to millions in the Android community, but the method is not ready for release yet. Chainfire says it'll take a few days to automate the process, clean up his work, and package it into a flashable zip, so please wait patiently for the release!

Keep in mind that to even attempt to root your device requires you to unlock the bootloader, which will cause SafetyNet to fail, so don't expect to play Pokemon Go or use Android Pay on your Pixel. Even with SultanXDA's temporary SafetyNet bypass patch, it's only a matter of time until Google updates SafetyNet to fix this loophole. Still, we were worried that disabling dm-verity would require modifying the kernel, but Chainfire proved us wrong. We can only hope that the ingenious developers on our forums can continue finding workarounds should the need arise, but at this point it's basically a game of whack-a-mole between developers and Google.

Feature image credit: The Legend

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Android BBQ Vlog Day 2

The second day of the Big Android BBQ of 2016 was a bitter sweet experience. It was announced that this would be the last BBQ as there was no longer the sponsor presence needed to keep the event going. The event was a lot of fun and this video captures some of the final bits of the BBQ.

We were lucky enough to go to the Big Android BBQ thanks to our sponsor UMi. Their latest phone, the UMi plus, has 4GB RAM, a 4,000mAh battery, and stock Android for $149. Click here to check it out!
umidigi.com

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XDA Forums Live for the Elephone S7 and Elephone R9

The curved display Elephone S7 and the almost bezel-less Elephone R9 now have their own sub forums over at XDA! Head on over!

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AOSP 7.1 Lands Unofficially on the MT6752-based Jiayu S3

If you are looking to try out the absolute latest of Android, and have the MT6752 based Jiayu S3, try out the AOSP 7.1 builds from Team MAD.

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Check out Unofficial CyanogenMod 13 on the Huawei P8!

XDA Senior Member nexolight's Unofficial CyanogenMod 13 is a Work-In-Progress ROM that showcases the stock Android experience on the Huawei P8. Be wary of the bugs though!

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Qualcomm to Acquire NXP Semiconductors for $47 Billion

Qualcomm has officially announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire NXP Semiconductors. The agreement allows Qualcomm to purchase all issued and outstanding common shares of NXP for $110 per share, which gives NXP a total enterprise value of around $47 Billion. The acquisition has been rumored for a while, and Qualcomm has now made it official.

NXP's acquisition will help broaden Qualcomm's scope as areas of focus under NXP were primarily related to the automotive industry. This will reduce the dependence of the parent company on smartphone chips, as Qualcomm is seeing rising competition from Chinese and other Asian manufacturers in this area, which is likely to have its toll on profit margins in the future. The combination of Qualcomm and NXP is expected to have an annual revenue totaling more than $30 billion.

It is not all money though. Qualcomm will also see benefits in the form of additional expertise in the automative silicon market as well as the acquisition of sales channels, along with the sharing of NXP's portfolio of security solutions which in turn will complement Qualcomm's IoT solutions.

The acquisition transaction is expected to be complete by the end of 2017. While the tender offer is not subject to any financing conditions, the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in various jurisdictions.

Source: Qualcomm

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LG Looking to Incorporate MST Tech For Mobile Payments in LG G6

LG plans to go in strong with the G6. We do not really know a whole lot about the G6 at this stage, but recent developments have pointed that LG may finally be ready to move past dead technology and favor newer tech that offers more convenience.

A new report coming out of South Korea indicates that LG is giving up on the "White Card" payment method for mobile payments, which it was reportedly developing for its smartphones for about a year now. The White Card method needed the possession of a physical card in order to undertake mobile payments. LG is abandoning this method due to the White Card's "low usefulness, problems with batteries and lack of sales strategies", though the presence of a physical card (thus defeating the purpose of using your phone and not using a debit/credit card in the first place) sounds like a very good reason to not use this mobile payment solution from a consumer perspective. The White Card method sounds like adding inconvenience where it should not exist, and LG moving on is probably for the best.

LG's White Card that it was developing for LG Pay

What LG will use instead is the kind of MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) technology that Samsung uses in Samsung Pay. Of course, Samsung does have patents on MST which should have granted it exclusivity over the technology. But LG is keen on avoiding infringement of Samsung's patents, which it will do by developing its own MST technology. LG will not outsource the development of this tech, and it has already selected partners to provide components for MST linkage. LG will start working with card companies at the end of this month for linking its payment system.

This MST tech will then be part of the LG G6, which is scheduled to come out in spring of 2017. The report also mentioned that the G6 will come bearing NFC and wireless charging as well. A separate report mentions that the LG G6 will also ditch the "Friends" module ecosystem as LG is not keen on staying aboard the sunk pseudo-modularity ship. We hope LG also manages to clean up on its QA systems, so that problems on its current flagships are not repeated in the future ones.

What are your thoughts on LG moving towards MST for LG Pay? Let us know in the comments below!

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Source: ET NewsFeature Image: News1.kr

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