HTC Unlocks Its Own Phones 145
itwbennett writes "Having just announced that it would continue to run Android on its best phones, HTC is now 'needling' Google by making good on 'promises it made earlier in the year to deliver bootloader unlock tools for many of its most popular Android phones,' writes blogger Kevin Fogarty. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, HTC CEO Peter Chou said that HTC views unlocked OSes as a way to encourage both ISVs and owners to get more involved developing apps and mods for the phones. Google, which has been trying to lock Android down more, probably doesn't see it that way."
Re:Wait...what? Huh?? (Score:4, Informative)
Most people believe that Google purchased Motorola Mobility for their patent portfolio to protect against the likes of Oracle and Apple since they are currently so sue happy. That has nothing to do with locked or unlocked bootloaders.
Re:Wait...what? Huh?? (Score:5, Informative)
Since Google decided to delay releasing Honeycomb's source because they didnt want more half-cooked tablets on the market, suddenly the loud-mouth brigade is trying to paint them in a bad light. Google exerting a little control on the wild-west world of tablets and its own phoneOS is a good thing. Heaven forbid AOpen or some other shit shop wait a few weeks for google to iron out the bugs, have them verify their hardware can run Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich and make them sign a contract that they will updates the OS to the newest versions for a period of 18 months. The de facto world of release garbage and buggy phones, never supplying updates and hurting Android's reputation is no longer welcome, and I'm glad.
Re:Lock Android down? (Score:4, Informative)
Try again:
"We are using compatibility as a club to make [Android vendors] do things we want." - Android manager Dan Morrill, email from August 6, 2010 [electronista.com]