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One of the best things about owning an Android phone is that you can customise your gizmo to no end with open source software that is available and well-made by a committed community of enthusiasts.
Yes, I’m talking about custom ROMs that replace the operating system that comes with your phone. In particular, the popular CyanogenMod 9 (CM9) version of Android 4.0 that is now very mature and have reached “release candidate” status – in other words, it is very stable for many phones out there.
A couple of days ago, I finally decided I’ve had enough of Samsung’s version of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.3) on my Galaxy S II and flashed it with CM9. Since then, I’ve never been happier with my phone.
The interface is understated and cleaner than Samsung’s rather cartoony Touchwiz interface which it layers on top of its Android operating system. Better yet, CM9 doesn’t come with a lot of the useless stuff that the phone maker deems it necessary to include. Without that bloat, the performance is very zippy.
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Four affordable – yet fast – ultrabooks for about S$1,500
Nokia Lumia 925 goes metallic, still has great camera
Hands on: BlackBerry Q10
Commentary: MDA tells SingTel to show BPL matches on rival channels
What to buy: Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One or Sony Xperia Z?
