hey comoc85
welcome to the stepchild thread, lol
easy to root this phone with superoneclick
here is a link to the Samsung Kies Program that has the usb drivers bundled for our phone for rooting, etc.
http://org.downloadcenter.samsung.com/downloadfile/ContentsFile.aspx?CDSite=US&CttFileID=4132035&CDCt[/url] tType=SW&ModelType=C&ModelName=SGH-T589HBBTMB&VPath=SW/201106/20110625042859732/TMO_T589_Kies_20.exe
here is a link for a youtube video for rooting our phone as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMg5LfPW5m4&feature=player_embedded
are you familiar with using adb commands?
if so, easy to grab all the system apps for us or yourself for later
just by entering "adb pull /system/app/" and it will dump your system apps
probably zip them for uploading, be sure to factory reset prior to dumping so that your information isnt included.
remember, don't unistall any system apps once rooted till we get a developer to make a rom for us. some people have bricked this phone doing that. also note this is a "touchwiz" phone and do not remove and apps named "TW....." or it will cause errors..
titanium backup does not backup system apps, i found out after i unistalled them... it acts like it does but only backs up the data, not the app itself...
it would be wise, even for yourself, to dump your /system/app/ folder to your computer incase you need to replace a app you borked somehow... our firmware isnt available on samusngs website yet, or samfirmware.com
i wish i had known to dump my /system/app/ folder prior to uninstalling a few things... but my phone still works... anyway, found some build.prop edits that work on our phone for a lil tweaking..
hopefully someone will pick up development on this phone..
i dont understand how to cook a rom or i'd attempt it, and without a recovery to make a backup, i surely don't want to attempt it..
have a great day