Android World Update # Android and Me

Android and Me Meet Your New Android Friend. Your Community For All Things Google Android.

AT&T says it will not support unlocked bootloaders once and for all Aug 5th 2013, 18:51, by Dima Aryeh Verizon has long been on an anti-modding streak, locking down every Android phone that comes through their doors. This includes offerings from HTC, Samsung, and Motorola. In fact, Verizon’s Motorola devices used to be the king of locked bootloaders, with a system that took quite a while to crack. But they aren’t alone anymore. It seems that, with the Galaxy S 4 onward, AT&T is joining the movement to keep you out of your own device. The latest Samsung Galaxy S 4 has a locked bootloader on both AT&T and Verizon, despite the Galaxy S III not sharing the same fate on AT&T. And from now on, it seems that they will be locking down all the phones they can. When asked by Android Police about the Moto X bootloader status, AT&T replied with: To ensure a safe and consistent experience on your wireless device, we do not support unlocked bootloaders.AT&TOn Locked Bootloaders That’s pretty much a definitive statement that all of their phones will come with locked bootloaders from this point forward. You can’t really misinterpret that. This will definitely upset a lot of people, but we shouldn’t act like we didn’t see this coming. Motorola even announced that the Moto X will be locked down on AT&T, but will be open elsewhere. While this is an absolute shame for many (I am an avid flashaholic and a happy AT&T customer), there are always ways to fix it. Though it’s unlikely, you can try to reverse this decision by voting with your wallet. There aren’t too many phone modders compared to Android owning public at large, so it may be difficult to make your voice heard. However, if it’s that big of a deal to you, you can always switch carriers. While not viable for everyone, T-Mobile is heading in a great direction. And of course, you can just buy unlocked phones for full price. None of these solutions are ideal for everyone, but at least there are other options out there. What do you think of AT&T taking this stance on phone modification? Leave a comment! Moto X will have unlockable bootloader on most carriers, dev editions in the works Aug 5th 2013, 17:47, by Dima Aryeh When it was announced that the Moto X will come with a locked bootloader, there was a lot of backlash from the community. Power users were already disappointed with the device when it was announced, they didn’t need more bad news. Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom. That bootloader on certain models may be locked, but it will unlockable (just like with Nexus devices). Unfortunately, not all carriers will offer this. Motorola’s Vice President of Product Management, Punit Soni, has taken to his Google+ page to discuss which carriers will allow an unlockable bootloader for their Moto X model. Sprint, US Cellular, Rogers, and T-Mobile will have unlockable versions, while AT&T and Verizon (as always) go against their customers desires and lock their phones down without any unlock method. Even if you are on Verizon or AT&T, there’s still hope. For those who can buy off contract, there will be Developer Editions for both Verizon and AT&T, the latter of which will come as a general North American Developer Edition. This will allow those on the evil carriers to modify their phones, but at a high price. Despite being developer devices, unlocking the bootloader will still void the warranty. As you may recall, there is also a Google Play edition of the Moto X in the works. We don’t know how that will work out, but we’re excited to see it and the features it will ship with. So don’t lose hope if your carrier is intolerant of freedom. There are ways around it. Does this change your opinion on the Moto X?

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions