Motorola promised that a bootloader unlocking solution would be made available for its recent phones in late 2011 but as the year came to a close, the company’s self-imposed deadline came and went with no release. To make matters worse, the manufacturer launched the RAZR with an unlocked bootloader overseas while the American version was locked and encrypted. Motorola blamed Verizon, claiming the carrier requested the device be locked even though other companies were offering unlocking solutions. On Mon...

Asus recently confirmed on Twitter that an official tool for unlocking the bootloader on the Transformer Prime will be made available in February. The company didn’t give an exact date for when the tool would be released, but the good news is Transformer Prime owners have just a few weeks to wait until they can unlock the bootloader on the quad-core tablet. Asus originally promised that the tool would be made available after upset customers lashed out in January. An unlocked bootloader allows Android us...

HTC continues to be true to the company’s word regarding bootloader unlocking tools. Through HTCDev, the Taiwanese company now offers its bootloader unlocker for the Desire HD, Wildfire, DROID Incredible, Desire Z, T-Mobile G2, Aria, ChaCha and Status. Even if a handset hasn’t received official support, the tool might still work. When the trend of locking bootladers began in 2010, HTC was one of many companies to promise unlocking tools and devices in the future, however, they are one of the few t...

Last May, HTC’s chief executive officer Peter Chou responded to customer feedback and announced that the company would no longer be locking the bootloaders on its devices. HTC later introduced the web-based HTCDev unlocking tool, giving users a simple and safe way to unlock their devices. The solution was not perfect though, and phones such as the HTC Vivid and HTC Rezound were released with locked bootloaders and users had no method to unlock them. HTC has made good on its promise once again, however...

HTC has issued a statement naming the first phones that will receive unlocked bootloader updates this coming September. In a statement to BGR via email, the company said that the international version of its Sensation smartphone, T-Mobile’s Sensation 4G, and Sprint’s EVO 3D will be among the first phones to receive a patch that enables bootloader unlocking.”While we wish we could flip a simple switch and unlock all bootloaders across our device portfolio, this is actually a complex challeng...

In a quick statement just published on HTC’s Facebook page, HTC CEO Peter Chou said:“There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we’ve listened. Today, I’m confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience,” Peter Chou, CEO of HTCFor anyone out there that roots their devices to customize them, this is probably the best news you...

“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.” Those were the words of Motorola in response to a very persistent customer. Irwin Proud, an Australian national, purchased a Motorola Atrix 4G during a recent trip to the United States. Proud acquired the handset hoping that Motorola would follow through on its promise to provide an unlocked-bootloader...

Motorola definitely hasn’t won over the hearts and minds of the most hardcore Android tinkerers — thanks in large part to the company’s locked-down hardware and software. But Moto is showing signs of life. In a recent tweet, Motorola quipped that:The XOOM will have an unlockable/relockable bootloader that will enable developers to access hardware for developmentNot a bad starting point, and certainly a great way to get developers excited about the world’s first Android 3.0 tablet. Now&...

Motorola is disseminating a brief statement that confirms the eFuse technology included on its handsets will not brick your phone. According to Motorola, the eFuse technology is designed to ensure that the device is running only the updated and tested versions of software. If un-approved software is detected on the device, the device will not boot until the approved software is restored. Though eFuse will not brick an Android device, it will lock it down and prevent users from modifying the software on the d...

A post by p3Droid on the My Droid World forums claims to shed some light on the rumored locked bootloader of the DROID X. According to the posting, the Droid X ships with an e-fuse chip that locks the bootloader and will brick the phone if the bootloader is modified. The news is spreading like wildfire with many would-be ROM flashers wondering if they should avoid the DROID X like a plague. This breaking news may not be as dire as many are claiming, as a google search of OMAP3 and e-fuse reveals that current...

Already own a G1 and disappointed that the G1 Developer version is now out? Be sad no longer as the bootloader for the G1 Developer version is now in the wild. Supposedly T-Mobile unwittingly provided a G1 Developer version as a warranty replacement to an adept hacker, with a little help from his friends, the proud new owner proceeded to then extract the unlocked bootloader from the phone and provide it to the masses. The instructions to convert your regular G1 to an unlocked developer G1 are amazingly simple...