We broke the news yesterday that Motorola had promised unlocked bootloaders for future and current Android devices, and already the news has flashed around the web.
In particular, we had the following quote from an unnamed source within Motorola:
We completely understand the operator requirement for security to the end user, and as well, want to support the developer communities desire to use these products as a development platform. It is our intention to enable the unlockable/relockable bootloader currently found on Motorola XOOM across our portfolio of devices starting in late 2011, where carriers and operators will allow it.
Our exclusive has made it to a number of high-profile sites, including Engadget, and we thought that a quote from an unnamed source is just a little unsatisfactory. This kind of news needs to be confirmed, because as we all know, there are a lot of Motorola users out there anxiously waiting to find out whether they too can fully join the Android enthusiast and developer communities with their Motorola devices.
Chris from Ausdroid HQ made contact with Will Moss, Director of Communications – North Asia, in Motorola Mobility. We asked whether Will could confirm the quote and Motorola’s intentions with regards to unlocking bootloaders on new and current devices. Will advised:
I can confirm that the quote you have is accurate, but I can’t add anything at this time other than that further information will be released via MOTODEV (http://www.motorola.com/developer) as it becomes available.
There you have it folks – it doesn’t get any more official than that. The downside is that it won’t take place until later in the year, but the upshot is that Motorola appear to recognise that Android is an open platform, and this openness extends into the enthusiasts and developer communities who want to really grab a hold of what their phones have to offer, so they can develop and experiment with their hardware.
“where carriers and operators will allow it.” erases anything that preceded it.
Looks like the story has now made it to Wired, however they gave you guys ZERO credit 🙁
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/motorola-bootloader/
The cheering is quite premature indeed.
All this latest email from Motorola does is confirm what was earlier quoted was fully and accurately quoted.
This latest email does not change anything in or about the earlier email and the vagueness in it about unlocking the bootloader.
What about us with existing Motorola phones? I’d really like to be able to have total control over my Milestone. People far more skilled than me have gotten Gingerbread working on the recently-released Froyo kernel from Motorola. But memory is tight and being able to compile a custom kernel with swap enabled would be really useful!
Would I be correct in thinking that the AT&T version of this device will the 4G ready. So I could get an AT&T one from Mobocity and use it on the NextG network initially. Then won’t need to upgrade the handset for a 4G one when 4G is available?
Heh. Engadget coverage. Good work.
Having the confirmation doesn’t exactly change anything though, as Motorola can still use the vagueness of their statement to suit their own timeframe (and any other criteria).
about time.
That is excellent news! But also we still need more info!
That is excellent news! But also we still need more info!