Hasta La Gadget!

Motorola’s initial promise to allow unlocked bootloaders came across to many enthusiasts as somewhat hollow: as long as there was an escape clause, carriers like AT&T and Verizon could clamp down and maintain the tough-to-modify status quo. RAZR-philes will be happy to know that there’s a plan to cut their own chains loose, after all. Starting with the Photon Q 4G LTE’s August launch, owners will have the option to unlock the bootloader of at least some devices in an official way that reportedly keeps carriers satisfied. Details of how the process works will come later; we don’t know if Motorola will take a cue from HTC’s identifier tokens or try something more exotic, even if it’s likely in either case to offer a big, fat disclaimer regarding the warranty. The option won’t be the same as buying a phone that’s unlocked from the start, but we don’t think too many custom ROM lovers will mind after knowing that one more Android manufacturer is on their side.

[Thanks, RTbar]

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola to allow bootloader unlocking from Photon Q 4G LTE onwards originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That didn’t take long. The boys behind CyanogenMod promised a quick turnaround for its upcoming JellyBean-based update and are already teasing workable CM10 ROMs. CyanogenMod’s Ricardo Cerqueira tossed a video of an early CM10 build on his YouTube page, declaring “it lives!” The early build is running on an LG Optimus 4X HD, and runs through unlocking the screen and recording and playing back a video. The build is still having some trouble with Google’s revamped search integration, but considering Android 4.1’s source code was released only days ago, the quick development is promising. Check out Cercuiera’s quick demo for yourself after the break.

Continue reading CyanogenMod developers slap Jelly Bean on an Optimus 4X HD, tease CM10 (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

CyanogenMod developers slap Jelly Bean on an Optimus 4X HD, tease CM10 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhoneArena, AndroidCentral  |  Ricardo Cerqueira (Google+)  | Email this | Comments

Based on Samsung’s hacker-friendly track record, you’d generally expect one of it smartphones to come with an unlocked bootloader, making it easy to update or tweak with unofficial ROMs. That’s not the case with Verizon’s imminent version of the Galaxy S III, however. As the folk at XDA know only too well, this particular iteration of Sammy’s flagship comes with a sealed bootloader, which makes it resistant (though not impervious) to hackery.

Of course, Sammy has nothing to gain from snubbing the modding community in this way, so it stands to reason that VZW pushed the Korean manufacturer to supply them with a locked bootloader — despite the fact that all other variants have been left open. We’ve reached out to Big Red for comment, but in the meantime a clever soul over at Rootzwiki claims they’ve already found a workaround for root access. (At this point, though, we’d better provide our usual disclaimer: be very careful before you poke around in there, because going up against a locked bootloader can be risky. The apparent safety of modern life is just a shallow skin atop an ocean of blood, guts and bricked devices.)

Verizon Galaxy S III has locked bootloader (but it’s been rooted anyway) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 08:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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