Hasta La Gadget!

Motorola’s Droid 3 debuted on Thursday, though phone modification enthusiasts aren’t happy with its locked-down software. (Photo courtesy Motorola)

For phone modification junkies, the Android software platform comes with a host of mod-friendly features. It’s too bad, then, that Motorola’s latest Android phone lacks all of them.

Motorola’s Droid 3 features a locked boot loader, which is a program that loads the operating system software on every smartphone when it’s turned on. The company said it planned to change the policy this year.

The news first came from a Motorola support forums representative.

“As we’ve communicated, we plan to enable the unlockable-relockable boot loader in future software releases, starting in late 2011, where channel and operator partners will allow it,” said a Motorola spokesperson in a statement provided to Wired.com. “Droid 3 is not built on a software version that includes this feature.”

Locking down the boot loader is a big pain for those who want to modify their Android phone operating systems. Essentially, it drastically limits the extent of modification and customization you can accomplish on your phone. If you wanted to install a particularly popular piece of modding software like, say, CyanogenMod — a very popular custom Android build that optimizes a phone’s hardware performance and adds a number of nifty flourishes — with a locked boot loader, you’re out of luck.

In today’s smartphone landscape, handset manufacturers face pressure from wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&T to lock down phone boot loaders. This is done especially to prohibit the potential installation of software used to do things that carriers don’t want you doing, like, say, capture licensed streaming content. There’s also software available that lets you tether your phone to your computer — providing it with an internet connection for free — a feature for which wireless companies normally charge users. Bypassing that charge means cutting into a carrier’s bottom line.

Motorola doesn’t want to deal with the tech support nightmare that widespread phone hacks entail. “If you brick your phone messing with it” — which basically means rendering the device useless, like an electronic “brick,” as it were — “we don’t want to have to fix it under warranty,” a Motorola representative wrote in a message board post.

Because of all this, hacker-unfriendly phones aren’t uncommon. Motorola’s Atrix debuted with a locked boot loader, as have many of the company’s phones since the release of the Droid 2. Motorola’s upcoming Photon 4G smartphone will also be locked down.

Android modification junkies aren’t happy about Motorola’s decisions. In March, one Motorola smartphone owner started an online petition, asking others who don’t agree with the company’s locked boot loader decisions to sign and bring up the issue on Moto’s Facebook page. As of this post’s publishing time, the petition has over 10,000 signatures.

Given the hardware specs on the Droid 3, it’s especially disappointing for hackers to see the phone debut as mod-unfriendly. The Droid 3 has a beefy dual-core 1GHz processor under the hood, which, when used in conjunction with modding software, can be overclocked to faster speeds.

The future isn’t entirely grim for phone hackers. Motorola continually promises a change in locked boot loader policy come late 2011, and other companies like Sony Ericsson have even begun to court the modding community, providing a detailed list of instructions on how to unlock the company’s phones.

It seems as if the predominant feeling is “we’ll believe it when we see it.”

“There’s not a single reason to believe that Motorola has truly changed their views,” wrote an angry Motorola message board user in a post. “We’re not saying you have to unlock all our devices now, but a little sign of good faith would be much appreciated.”

A number of Sprint customers report difficulties receiving SMS text messages from cellular customers outside the Sprint network.

Beginning in late June, Sprint cellular customers started complaining of long delays in receiving SMS text messages — sometimes hours, sometimes days — while others said some of their texts did not arrive at all.

“We are aware of a text-messaging issue that is impacting a small percentage of incoming text messages,” wrote a Sprint representative in a statement provided to Wired.com. “We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

The issues come at a bad time for Sprint, as the company is embroiled in a war with AT&T over the latter’s possible acquisition of T-Mobile. To remain competitive in a market dominated by telecommunications giants Verizon and AT&T, Sprint’s service has to be more reliable than ever.

And this isn’t the first time Sprint has faced customer ire due to network disruption. As recently as May, Sprint acknowledged downtime for both its SMS and voice services across multiple states.

The current problems seem to be isolated to inbound texts coming from people not on the Sprint network, as user reports claim messages from other Sprint users are being received intact and on time. Customers are also able to send outbound texts with no difficulty.

Still others ran into problems with 0001/0002 messages, or those that are split in half because of a 160-character limit. Users either received the first part of the message without the corresponding second part, or multiple segmented messages were truncated far below the 160-character limit, arriving out of order.

As one user described it on a Sprint message board July 1: “Sometime texts show up perfect, and sometimes I have to try to reassemble the puzzle pieces or just call the person, which defeats the point of having texting in the first place.”

The problem does not seem to be isolated to a specific type of device, as both feature-phone and smartphone users complained about disrupted service on the Sprint forums.

Two Sprint technical-support representatives confirmed the company is working to resolve the SMS issues, but as of July 6, no time frame for fixing the service has been announced.

“As already stated multiple times, unfortunately, we have not been given an ETA for the fix,” wrote Sprint.com administrator ‘ClaudiPo’ in a July 6 forum post. “All we know is that they’re working on the issue.”

The iPhone 4 is currently only available through AT&T and Verizon.

Sprint may be next in line to join Apple’s iPhone ranks.

It’s highly probable that a Sprint iPhone will debut before the year’s end, according to Shing Yin, an industry analyst at Citadel Securities.

Because Verizon is ending its unlimited data plans Thursday, and because Sprint features cheaper pricing for comparable plans on AT&T and Verizon, the carrier “could offer an attractive proposition for more price-conscious users (a demographic that we think is increasingly important to Apple following the rise of Android),” and “could be a relatively stronger seller than the Verizon iPhone,” according to Yin.

Yin’s report is careful to mention that he doesn’t think the actual device will be priced less than an iPhone from a competing carrier — just that Sprint’s service plans cost less.

Expanding to other carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile would help give Apple a leg up against increasing competition from Android, which by many reports show it outpacing Apple sales and taking up a large chunk of the smartphone market.

Now that Apple’s exclusive partnership with AT&T is over, it makes sense for the company to target the remaining big carriers in the United States to increase the iPhone’s presence.

“The main thing for Apple is increased distribution, which is more important now than when the iPhone was first released,” Yin told Wired.com in a phone interview. Distribution is a big advantage for Android phones, which are available in a multitude of models across multiple carriers, he added.

Apple rumors have increasingly focused on the company potentially releasing a more affordable iPhone for the masses. A statement by Apple COO Tim Cook saying that the company is “not ceding any market” seems to be the catalyst for much of the speculation, including the idea that there may be two new iPhone models in September. Currently, an unlocked iPhone 4 without a data plan goes for a whopping $650.

Although Yin’s analysis is primarily speculation based on industry trends, a May report from AllThingsD from another analyst, Peter Misek, agrees that Apple’s next iPhone won’t be limited to AT&T and Verizon.

“Industry checks indicate AAPL has or is about to announce new carrier deals in time for the holidays with T-Mobile and Sprint,” Misek wrote. “Additionally, we believe another China carrier could launch the iPhone in the next 12 months.” On Apple’s last earnings call, management was asked about launching the CDMA iPhone at other carriers, and responded: “We are constantly looking and adding where it makes sense, and you can keep confidence that we’ll continue to do that.”

And although competitors Verizon and AT&T would likely be displeased by Apple sharing the iPhone wealth with other carriers, they would be “unlikely to attempt to block Sprint from getting the iPhone,” according to Yin.

Yin also says he wouldn’t rule out T-Mobile from selling the iPhone in the near future, as well. Since Sprint is the next largest carrier after Verizon and AT&T, it makes sense that Apple would open the iPhone to their customer base next. “I would expect a T-Mobile iPhone soon after, though,” Yin says.

CATRA is an invention of MIT’s Media Lab which uses a cellphone and a cheap plastic eyepiece to detect cataracts. Not only is it cheaper and easier to use than existing solutions, it actually provides much better results.

Cataracts cause blindness by fogging the lens of the eye, scattering light before it reaches the retina. Normally, they are diagnosed using a “backscatter” device which shines light into the eye and measures how much of it is reflected by the cataract. This requires a skilled user, a fancy machine and still doesn’t detect the problem early, nor tell the operator what the patient actually sees.

CATRA uses a smartphone with a custom app, and a cheap eyepiece. The patient holds it up to their eye and the app fires light successively at each part of the eye. The patient uses “the phone’s arrow keys” to adjust the brightness of these beams until they match. The app logs the differences in intensity required to reach the retina and creates a map of the eye. Thus is can detect the problem early, and also reflects the actual experience of the patient.

But most important, it requires no special hardware except for that simple eyepiece.

The product is about to undergo field testing for a future launch. The market for this is clearly the developing world, which is also the place where cellphone usage is taking off. It might be time to forget about programs like One Laptop Per Child and instead concentrate on the using smart-phones instead.

CATRA: Cataract Maps with Snap-on Eyepiece for Mobile Phones [MIT Media Lab via Cult of Mac]

See Also:

• Cellphones Affect Medical Equipment Says Study
• Android App Tracks, Helps Wandering Alzheimer's Sufferers
• MIT Exoskeleton: A Partial Success

You could buy this $6,800 Froyo phone, but if you do, I’ll never talk to you again

“Luxury” phones always seem to be filled with last year’s technology. It’s as if the makers think that either A) their rich customers are out of touch and easily bedazzled by fancy leather and gold trimming or B) that the tech really doesn’t matter because the phone will last forever, like a fine watch.

The trouble is that, while a Tag Heuer watch will indeed last you a lifetime and still perform its function perfectly, a phone will be all but useless in a few years’ time. Still, that won’t stop some idiots from dropping €4,700 ($6,800) on the Tag Heuer Link Smartphone.

Inside, you’ll find an 800×400 3.5-inch screen, a 5MP camera, the usual radios and Android 2.2 Froyo — an OS first announced in May 2010, all running in just 256MB RAM.

Outside, you’ll find all the ostentation money can buy. Calfskin, alligator skin, diamonds, titanium, gold. If it’s shiny or exotic, it’s in there. And lest you forget that Tag Heuer is a watch company, there’s even a watch-winder shaped knob on the side.

And it doesn’t stop there. The Link takes a style tip from 1980s stereo equipment, which was covered in meaningless, techy-sounding slogans. Etched into the steel patterns on the back you’ll find the legends “Avant-Garde Communication” and “Autolock System.” In ALL CAPS, naturally.

Should you wish to acquire this anachronistic toy, go explore the rather recursive Flash-based Web site. You won’t find the Link on there yet, but that kind of scarcity just makes it even more desirable, right? Right?

Tag Heuer phone product page [Tag Heuer via Uncrate]

See Also:

• New Vertu BlingPhone Revealed
• $15 MP3 Player Mimics, Outperforms Vertu Phone
• The Worst Diamond-Encrusted Gadgets Of All Time