From the moment some people get their new Android device they are longing for a way to get even more from it, which is why we’re certain that many of you will be happy that the Kindle Fire HD 7 can now be seen running Android CM10. It’s currently not fully completed, but the video below will show you just how far development of this process has come.

CyanogenMod 10 was made stable almost a month ago now, so as you can see it’s down to developers to get it to work on certain devices. We already knew how desperate Samsung Galaxy S3 owners were to get CM10 running on their devices, which is why they were running a less stable version in the summer.

You’ll see in the video that the dev has installed CyanogenMod 10 on his Kindle Fire HD 7, so what you get to see is all the fun stuff after a quick reboot. It’s clear to see that things are not perfect and there is still some work to do, but it’s certainly a nice thing to see the CyanogenMod logo appear on the Fire HD screen just spinning round. The work that has been done to CM10 was for an 8.9-inch tablet, so you’ll notice some subtle differences with this port because it’s now working on a 7-inch device.

While there is still a way to go, it’s good to see a full working touchscreen, the soft keys are also there, but stay on all the time, and Wi-Fi is working. However, let’s not get our hopes up too much because there is no sound, Bluetooth, and video is currently not working. Angry Birds fans will be pleased to see the Star Wars edition working on the Kindle Fire HD 7 running Android CM10. The biggest issue that we can see is the size of the screen itself, as many parts of it seem to be shrunk down to phone size instead of tablet size. Reverendkjr is unsure why it is doing it so has asked for a little help in order to resolve the issue.

Samsung has not updated the Europa’s software since mid 2011, therefore consumers are stuck with Android 2.2 FroYo – however the guys over at CyanogenMod.com released an aftermarket firmware version to bring Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread to this smartphone and after just 24 hours of usage we hay to say that it is a great improvement.

You can see a full guide on how to install CyanogenMod on your Europa / i5500 here, we followed this guide to get it working ourself and the attention to detail is great! Here’s just a few reasons why you should install it.

Firstly upon starting up your Europa running CyanogenMod 7 you will be greeted by a much better-looking user interface. There’s more home screens, the ability to use the accelerometer and see home screen icons in landscape (see below left) and a much better menu system (below right).

The Europa’s display is very small for a touch-screen device, therefore typing using the virtual QWERTY keyboard can be a pain as by the time the keyboard is showing there’s no room for you to see the recipient or the body of the message. The good news is that the keyboard which CyanogenMod 7 is fractionally smaller and seems far easier to use, however Swype is not installed as default – you can see the new-look keyboard below.

Android’s pull-down notification feature has been visually overhauled, in terms of functionality there’s no real difference, but it does look better in our opinion (make your own mind up by the screenshot below on the left). Other things you’ll notice a less archaic-looking lock screen (below middle) and a far-less restrictive Settings menu.

We’re not going to go through every change which has been made, but take our word for it when we say it is well-worth installing (if you understand the risks). Overall performance seems better, the native web browser has been updated and and the software layout is tweaked in every way possible – one very annoying feature which locked the screen during phonecalls has been removed and that alone was enough reason for us to look into mods in the first place.

Have you installed CyanogenMod’s custom firmware on your Galaxy Europa / i5500 / 5? If so, what improvements have you noticed the most?