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HTC confirms future phones will have open bootloaders

By on May 26, 2011 at 9:39pm in Mobile News

The people have spoken, and HTC have listened! It was only a couple of days ago that HTC decided to review their bootloader policy, and presumably wanting to ride on the wave of that positive buzz, have decided to amend their current bootloader policy going forward. According to CEO Peter Chou,

‎”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.”

But one has to keep in mind that open bootloaders are a security threat, and that it is more than likely the phones will ship much like the Nexus series does: with locked bootloaders that can be unlocked with a simple line of code. Nevertheless, this is a huge victory for everyone who spent months harassing HTC to reverse the locked-down direction in which they were going, and proves that a smart business is one that listens to its customers. Sony Ericsson learned this lesson; let’s see if Motorola follows suit.

Source: HTC Facebook Page

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  2. Quote: Locking phones is “like a dictatorship in this country”
  3. Future Shop confirms pricing of the Bell Motorola ATRIX accessories
  4. Future Shop puts unreleased Palm Pre as “Available”; confirms price for Touchstone

Discussion

22 comments for “HTC confirms future phones will have open bootloaders”

  1. Great news – this can give extra life to devices after they are no longer getting official updates from HTC.

    The downside is that some media apps won’t work on the 3rd party firmwares – rooting the device brings the integrity of its DRM into question.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 5

    Posted by Tom | May 26, 2011, 9:45 pm
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  2. the heavens have opened.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Dave | May 26, 2011, 9:49 pm
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  3. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 67

    Posted by Vlad Mihaelescu | May 26, 2011, 9:55 pm
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  4. They finally realized that the group who upgrades their phone to the latest tech regularly is the same fickle mob that will take their business to whoever offers them what they want. The average user doesn’t care about boot loaders but that same user won’t upgrade or promote a certain brand like the diehard users will. Keeping your brand popular should be more important than pleasing the archaic rule-makers of antiquated telecoms.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 22 Thumb down 5

    Posted by Skrutor | May 26, 2011, 9:57 pm
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    • Don’t understand how you’ve gotten so many thumbs down, you said exactly what I was thinking!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 3

      Posted by Corks | May 27, 2011, 12:56 am

  5. If an open Sensation 4G launches on T-Mobile that will be my next phone. Unless the Nexus 3 arrives soon. :)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Charles in Vancouver | May 26, 2011, 10:00 pm
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  6. Htc is solid

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 0

    Posted by crunch204 | May 26, 2011, 11:10 pm
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  7. I dont want to be a Motorola Rep right now;

    They could at least provide the Atrix with Gingerbread RIGHT FRIGGIN NOW!!

    Do they really have to wait for the Atrix2 to be released?? (Which will come with 2.3.x six months after Ice Cream release for Nexus S)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1

    Posted by wewewi | May 26, 2011, 11:30 pm
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  8. I love HTC phones. I personally think the Incredible S is the best android phone in the market at the moment (along with the Nexus S).
    I am using the Incredible S (moving from the Galaxy S), and even though the galaxy S seemed faster and had better GPU (sets higher score at nenamark1 for example), I enjoy using the Incredible S more. The phone is well built, and the software (Sense UI) is very refined.
    I hope HTC and Bell release Gingerbread soon on the incredible S. I can imagine how the experience will enhance.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Sub-Joker | May 26, 2011, 11:41 pm
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  9. HUGE win for the consumer (whose willing to put the effort in). Love my milestone, but up next will certainly be an HTC!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Corks | May 27, 2011, 12:59 am
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  10. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 10

    Posted by chieftain | May 27, 2011, 2:45 am
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  11. Power to the People

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Bill | May 27, 2011, 8:39 am
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  12. Very nice, this’ll give more devices to Cyanogenmod’s support list.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

    Posted by sookster54 | May 27, 2011, 9:17 am
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  13. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 19

    Posted by Vlad Mihaelescu | May 27, 2011, 9:40 am
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  14. HTC phone owners are the only ones who chose what to do with their phones. No one else can decide for them whats best for them and HTC understood that. HTC FTW !

    Btw, HTC phone owners are no sissies, as opposed to Iphone owners.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0

    Posted by VAK | May 27, 2011, 10:02 am
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  15. lol, how is a normal user knows how to choose different boot load. They don’t care. I don’t care less as long as it works. I trust HTC boot load more than a third party one over the Internet. Do you really know what you are loading?

    Have a hard enough time to safe guard your phone with different apps. Don’t need to worry about a boot loader. Totally a waste of time except for the developer.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 5

    Posted by beavertail2 | May 27, 2011, 10:45 am
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  16. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 19

    Posted by Vlad Mihaelescu | May 27, 2011, 10:46 am
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    • Yes. They also invented touchscreens, tablets, portable players, computers and music.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0

      Posted by JFrosty | May 27, 2011, 12:05 pm

  17. Now gimme a dual core, aluminum body phone and i’m game

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Raz | May 28, 2011, 10:16 am
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  18. [...] …So You Want To Know About Bootloaders, Encryption, Signing, And Locking? Let …InquirerHTC confirms future phones will have open bootloadersMobileSyrup.comPocket [...]

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by HTC Officially Stops Locking Bootloaders - Sony Ericsson Phone News | May 28, 2011, 3:42 pm
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