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Android Handhelds

Transformer Prime To Get ICS On January 12, Boot Unlocker Coming 168

symbolset writes "ASUS, maker of the popular Transformer Prime Tegra 3 tablet, announced via their Facebook page that Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will be available January 12th. In addition they are developing a boot unlocker which will void the warranty and break Google movie rentals, but will allow modding. They said, 'based on our experience, users who choose to root their devices risk breaking the system completely. However, we know there is demand in the modding community to have an unlocked bootloader. Therefore, ASUS is developing an unlock tool for that community. Please do note that if you choose to unlock your device, the ASUS warranty will be void, and Google video rental will also be unavailable because the device will be no longer protected by security mechanism.' They also announced an intermediate software update to improve the camera and touch experience, and they're dropping GPS from the feature list for poor performance." Another article argues that the Transformer Prime is an example of ASUS struggling while breaking into a new market.
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Transformer Prime To Get ICS On January 12, Boot Unlocker Coming

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  • by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:13PM (#38581248)

    Under that they have to prove that the 3rd party software broke the phone. Just in a car they can't just you put in a 3rd party radio in and say the engine warranty is void.

    • by exomondo ( 1725132 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:16PM (#38581264)

      Under that they have to prove that the 3rd party software broke the phone. Just in a car they can't just you put in a 3rd party radio in and say the engine warranty is void.

      The radio doesn't control the engine though, so obviously replacing the radio isn't going to void the engine warranty.

      • by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:27PM (#38581342)

        It all goes back to a law enacted in the 1970s that allows you, the automobile owner, the freedom to choose where and by whom you have your car serviced, all without voiding the car's warranty. So replace CAR serviced with source for apps. As under that law you can go to jiffy lube or any other place for a oil change and not be forced to go to the dealer.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by exomondo ( 1725132 )
          I'm not saying your point is false, I'm pointing out that your analogy is false.
        • by Moryath ( 553296 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:30PM (#38581374)

          And yet the car companies have found ways around this.

          One way was, they went to the reporting computers, but refused to release (even for a proper market rate cost) specs and reading programs that would allow the 3rd party service companies to interact with them. So when the 60,000 mile "service engine soon" lie-light came on, if you wanted it to go off, you HAD to pay the dealership a $100 "analysis fee."

          Another way is how Volkswagen works. They simply refuse to sell parts to the 3rd party market, anywhere, and maintain control of certain things (brake pads in the 2008 Rabbit come to mind) with sensor chips "protected by copyright."

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            In the EU manufactures must by law allow third parties to reset warning lights and have full access to all diagnostic information and specs for the car. Independent garages can buy equipment from independent manufacturers to do that and the car manufacturer must honour the warranty, as well as provide spare parts.

            Even so there is more that could be done. MEPs are working on it. It never ceases to amaze me how little protection US politicians get for their voters.

            • by Moryath ( 553296 )

              It never ceases to amaze me how little protection US politicians get for their voters.

              Why? Their voters don't do anything for them, it's the corporatocracy that owns them, bought and paid for.

            • US politicians are not paid millions of dollars every 2-6 years by their voters.

              • US politicians are not paid millions of dollars every 2-6 years by their voters.

                More accurately, voters cannot provide US politicians with lucrative six or seven figure spots on the payroll after their tenure expires.

      • by AmberBlackCat ( 829689 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:07PM (#38581600)
        Replacing the firmware in a car can cause mechanical failure though, perhaps by causing a transmission to shift gears at the wrong time and strip a gear or making the engine rev too high. Replacing the firmware in a phone isn't going to make an antenna melt or crack the screen. If a hardware component fails that can't be due to a programming error, they shouldn't be able to get out of it by saying "the phone was unlocked".
        • by exomondo ( 1725132 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:18PM (#38581656)

          Replacing the firmware in a phone isn't going to make an antenna melt or crack the screen. If a hardware component fails that can't be due to a programming error, they shouldn't be able to get out of it by saying "the phone was unlocked".

          Cracked screens aren't usually covered under warranty, but firmware can damage components by forcing frequencies that are not supported by those components, overcharging batteries, etc... Mind you Apple said they wouldn't cover jailbroken devices under warranty but in many cases they still did. So there's probably a good chance that if it's something highly unlikely to have been damaged by firmware they'll still likely cover it, but if you've bricked it you're probably SOL.

          • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

            Cracked screens aren't usually covered under warranty, but firmware can damage components by forcing frequencies that are not supported by those components, overcharging batteries, etc... Mind you Apple said they wouldn't cover jailbroken devices under warranty but in many cases they still did. So there's probably a good chance that if it's something highly unlikely to have been damaged by firmware they'll still likely cover it, but if you've bricked it you're probably SOL.

            That's because it's trivially easy

            • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

              How many warranty claims do you think will be covered by this though? Most of the time it is thinks like the phone not turning on or the flash memory becoming corrupt. It seems fairly unlikely that say one of the radio modules could break and ASUS could point to it and say "unapproved code caused it to fail". It would be almost impossible to prove that it wasn't a hardware issue (as it almost certainly would be, either due to heating/cooling cycles, ageing, electrical problems etc). In fact when radio modul

        • Replacing the firmware in a car can cause mechanical failure though, perhaps by causing a transmission to shift gears at the wrong time and strip a gear or making the engine rev too high.

          That's what you get for driving an automatic.

      • by TheInternetGuy ( 2006682 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:16PM (#38581644)

        The radio doesn't control the engine though, so obviously replacing the radio isn't going to void the engine warranty.

        That's just not true, any self respecting slash doter would hook their cruise control up to the BPM counter of the Audio system. And then they would pre-calculate a play list which will result in the required speed trough out the planned route.

        • Nah, you hook up the GPS to the BPM counter so that the instructions chic can rap to "teh beatz". you hook up the EQ to the RPM limiter to keep the engine in the correct harmonics (wouldn't want engine noise ruin that rap would you?).

    • by DragonTHC ( 208439 ) <DragonNO@SPAMgamerslastwill.com> on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:29PM (#38581362) Homepage Journal

      if you want to use a car analogy, use one that fits.

      If you flash the rom on your ECM and your car stops working, you've voided your warranty.

      • You missed the parent's original point. It's obvious that your point is correct, but let's say if you flash the rom on your ECM and your car keeps on working fine, but develops a completely unrelated leaky roof. Your warranty on the roof should still be valid.

    • by Mistlefoot ( 636417 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:06PM (#38581584)
      Per the Magnuson - Moss Warranty Act: "The statute is remedial in nature and is intended to protect consumers from deceptive warranty practices. Consumer products are not required to have warranties, but if one is given, it must comply with the Magnuson-Moss Act."

      So your arguement could be invalidated by "warranty is not given if you change the bios".

      This is not much different then a warranty being voided by the sticker being removed (as when a laptop is taken apart).
      • by jtownatpunk.net ( 245670 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:27PM (#38581710)

        Except a warranty was given at the time of sale. And changing the OS on a laptop doesn't void the warranty. Nor does flashing the BIOS. And many of the hardware components are designed to be user-serviceable.

        I think claiming that changing the software/firmware/BIOS on a computing device is a legitimate cause to void the warranty is a big stretch. I can see charging a nominal fee to re-flash the device if it gets bricked but not abandoning the device entirely without first proving that the non-OEM software caused a hardware failure.

        The fact that this is even an issue befuddles me. They're selling these devices, not licensing them or leasing them.

        • They're selling these devices, not licensing them or leasing them.

          Yet. How much change in the quote-unquote "sales" channel would be needed to shift the business model from ownership to a two- or three-year lease?

      • by adolf ( 21054 )

        The whole point of the Magnuson-Moss act is to eliminate such gotchas as "warranty is not given if you change X."

        To use a car analogy, I can change the firmware in my car without affecting the warranty on the rest of the car. If something mechanical breaks, it is their duty to either fix it under the terms of the warranty (in compliance with the Magnuson-Moss Act) or prove that my modification caused the failure.

        Saying "we won't fix it because you poked it funny, and we don't understand funny" isn't a lega

    • of what you do.
      also manufacturer defects will have to be covered(this goes _past_ the so called warranty).

    • Under that they have to prove that the 3rd party software broke the phone. Just in a car they can't just you put in a 3rd party radio in and say the engine warranty is void.

      No they don't. First, their unlocked will no doubt have a EULA that specifically states using it voids the warranty. It's no difference than Ford selling you parts to soup up your Mustang but telling you using them voids the engine and drivetrain warranty. Or, to your radio example, if the radio fries the ECM then you are out of luck; but your example isn't relevant to way ASUS is doing.

  • DRM Language (Score:5, Insightful)

    by exomondo ( 1725132 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:14PM (#38581250)
    Google video rental will also be unavailable because the device will be no longer protected by security mechanism

    Why do they insist on this kind of language? Why can't they just say that, since the content providers don't trust you, they won't do business with you because they can't assert any control over your device? I know it sounds Stallman-ish but it's not about protecting the device at all, that's an outright lie. And it's not about protecting you either, it's about protecting content providers from you because they don't trust you. They really need to change their attitude towards their customers (not consumers, customers).
    • You know why, man. Because that makes the content providers sound like assholes, and those are people they are loosely in business with. Obviously your version is the accurate honest truth, but this is business and marketing where honesty and truth are of little use. You can't actually go to a customer and say, "I'm locking this down because I think you'll try and fuck me later.", they'll tell you to get out.

      The content providers *are* assholes. This is generally known to most people who care even a little

    • by steelfood ( 895457 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:39PM (#38581428)

      The DRM is protecting you from watching the sheer dreck that is coming out of Hollywood these days passing for movies. It's protecting your wallet, your time, and in some cases, your sanity.

      How you can find such protections objectionable is beyond me.

      • These days?

        Go watch Beach Blanket Bngo or Juke Girl.

        No, things didn't just randomly turn to shit.

        I'm more shocked that a jailbroken iPhone hasn't compromised Apple's video offerings but Google is scared shitless about rooting.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by CyberDog3K ( 959117 )
      In at least some cases I know of, the "security mechanism" is used to encrypt and secure payment credentials (cc info, etc) on the new droids. While I am not asserting that this is the case here, it's not impossible that certain apps will fail to work because they can't safely store or access your private data on an altered machine.
    • Re:DRM Language (Score:5, Interesting)

      by stephanruby ( 542433 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:33PM (#38581750)

      Also, this is weird. Netflix and Hulu+ are able to work on rooted Android devices (they may not be able to run on ICS yet, but that's besides the point).

      How come Netflix and Hulu+ have more liberal policies than Google?

      • How come Netflix and Hulu+ have more liberal policies than Google?

        For one thing, they already have a monthly revenue stream, unlike Google which appears to be pay-per-view. For another, Netflix and Hulu Plus have more established brands, and major film distributors are more likely to work with more established brands.

      • by Zebai ( 979227 )

        I have a feeling that this is an intentional feature break. I'm sure somebody will soon figure out how the bootloader is unlocked and provide an alternative means to do so without disabling phone features.

      • How come Netflix and Hulu+ have more liberal policies than Google?

        Because Netflix and Hulu+ were able to get different terms from content owners. Some of that may be how much revenue the content owners get from Netflix and Hulu+, some of that may be how unfriendly content owners are to Google for other reasons, some of them may be due to the fact that Google Movie Rentals include the option to download and play offline while Netflix and Hulu+ are streaming-only services, and content owners may view the latt

    • Re:DRM Language (Score:4, Insightful)

      by QuantumRiff ( 120817 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:52PM (#38581862)

      You are not google's customer.. You are google's product. Their customers are people that buy ad-words and other advertising to show to you.

      • Re:DRM Language (Score:5, Insightful)

        by exomondo ( 1725132 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:59PM (#38581900)

        You are not google's customer.. You are google's product.

        If you are renting movies or buying apps from them then you are their customer, just like if you're a Netflix or Hulu subscriber you are their customer.

        • No you aren't. You are the product, sold by Netflix/Hulu/Google to the Media Companies who will take your money and use it to demand more bad laws like SOPA.

          • No you aren't. You are the product, sold by Netflix/Hulu/Google to the Media Companies who will take your money and use it to demand more bad laws like SOPA.

            You don't cease to be a customer just because they also sell targeted advertising, it's not that hard to understand.

      • Ad vs. PPV (Score:4, Informative)

        by tepples ( 727027 ) <.tepples. .at. .gmail.com.> on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @12:00AM (#38581912) Homepage Journal

        You are not google's customer.. You are google's product. Their customers are people that buy ad-words and other advertising to show to you.

        Since when are Android Market movie rentals fully supported by advertisers? I thought they were pay-per-view.

      • I think you're confusing their pay-per-view movie rental service with their youtube service.

    • by Divebus ( 860563 )

      That's proper wording. The device will no longer be protected from you!

      You aren't the customer, either. You are in fact the consumer. Google's advertisers are their customers and you and your data are what's for sale to them. The conduit for Google scraping your data is no longer protected if you jailbreak.

      • You aren't the customer, either. You are in fact the consumer.

        You're the customer, you're buying a product or service from them so by definition you are the customer.

        Google's advertisers are their customers and you and your data are what's for sale to them.

        Google's advertisers are also their customers.

        • by Divebus ( 860563 )

          I still think you're Verizon's customer (or Sprint or AT&T or [insert_carrier]). The Google software comes with the phone, installed by the carrier which makes you a user of Google's software but not their customer.

          The carriers are Google's customers directly. Google doesn't care about you as a customer, otherwise you'd be able to get updates on your device directly from Google. You're not receiving anything from Google directly. Google gives Android to the carriers and they receive billions of nano-pen

    • by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

      "Google video rental will also be unavailable because the device will be no longer protected by security mechanism" Why do they insist on this kind of language?

      I think what they mean by it is "Google video rental will also be unavailable on our device you think you own just because you paid for it, because our device will be no longer protected from you by security mechanism".

      If it has DRM, it isn't your device. It doesn't matter that you bought it and have a sales receipt, it isn't yours -- at least in th

  • by spyrral ( 162842 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:31PM (#38581376) Journal

    some definition of popular I'm not familiar with.

  • Fucking crybabies (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:34PM (#38581406)

    A company makes it easy for you to mod their tablet, and all you can do is whinge. Reading these comments, I doubt they will bother next time around.

    • This comment is severely underrated.
      What the **** happened? Are Locked devices the new cool?
      Is the next generation of hackers only interested in writing fart apps?

    • We whine because their good deed brought a skeleton out of their closet we didn't want to see.

    • by Raenex ( 947668 )

      A company makes it easy for you to mod their tablet, and all you can do is whinge.

      Because we're not groveling sycophants willing to heap praise for every crumb given. Oh, sure, you can unlock your device, but you have to ask permission, your warranty is void, and your capabilities are diminished. Gee, thank you master!

  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @10:43PM (#38581446)

    "Please do note that if you choose to unlock your device, the ASUS warranty will be void, and Google video rental will also be unavailable because the device will be no longer protected by security mechanism.'"

    That's OK, I'll just pirate the movies for free without the idiotic DRM and not give anyone a dime. How's that working out for you, corporations?

  • Security mechanism? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Just finished watching this youtube speech by Cory Doctorow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HUEvRyemKSg

    "Security mechanism" = root kit + spyware.

    Its in everyones best interest to use real language and not marketing/propaganda speech. Root kits and spyware is not security.

  • It's nice to see more and more manufacturers providing the option for customers unlock the bootloaders for their Android devices, but does it really have to void the warranty? I mean, can't they determine if a failure was a direct result of unlocking the bootloader? If you unlock your phone's bootloader and then brick your phone trying to install some weird crap, then it's clearly your fault and shouldn't be covered by your warranty, but if your screen dies or your battery explodes, it probably has nothing
  • Just got mine... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Fez ( 468752 ) * on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:05PM (#38581572)

    I just got mine this afternoon, ordered just before Christmas from Best Buy and it came today. So far, I'm impressed with it.

    I will probably not root the thing, and have no interest in custom ROMs, so aside from the impending ICS update it's great for me as-is.

    I've been playing on it non-stop since I pulled it off the charger about 3 hours ago and even with all manner of app installing and game playing it's barely below 75% charge.

    • Re:Just got mine... (Score:5, Informative)

      by SpazmodeusG ( 1334705 ) on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @12:04AM (#38581936)

      I just got mine this afternoon ... I will probably not root the thing.

      I suspect you feel that way simply because you haven't had enough time to see how limited it is without rooting it. Basically step outside the realm of any task that has an app for it and you'll need to root it. As an example i had to root my Asus Transformer to log in to an openVPN network. It's a fairly simple task that even my phone can do but the Transformer can't do it without root access (yes, it does support l2tp without rooting but i needed openVPN).

      • by Fez ( 468752 ) *

        OpenVPN would be nice, but I have had an android phone for over a year and have had no desire or need to root that, either. It supports IPsec in a way that works fine for me, as does PPTP.

        Though the Transformer Prime doesn't have the "Advanced IPsec" options my Droid X does, unfortunately. (Perhaps ICS will bring that... would be nice)

      • Supporting one specific app that is not in the usage case for 99% of the prospective owners does not make a device "limited". I too have rooted my device, but I honestly couldn't name a single application that actually would need it. Titanium backup maybe, but there's an application that any normal person who doesn't flash new firmware every week could very easily live without. Why I rooted? Well it was just a feature of the rom I installed.

        The reality is quite on the flip side. Every advertised feature wor

    • Did you get it with a dock? Have ASUS actually got a battery indicator for the dock battery yet?
      • Get the Dual Battery Widget. [android.com] It's free.
        • I know, I have it already. It's just another example of ASUS being bone-headed by making a tablet with two batteries and only displaying the charge status and levels for one of them.
      • by Fez ( 468752 ) *

        I want to get the dock but nobody had it in stock yet. It works great without it, so I don't mind waiting until the current craze dies down.

        The stock Asus Battery widget looks like it displays indicators for both the tablet and dock batteries. I have a screenshot of the widget preview for proof if someone really wants to see it.

    • by rdnetto ( 955205 )

      I just got mine this afternoon, ordered just before Christmas from Best Buy and it came today. So far, I'm impressed with it.

      I will probably not root the thing, and have no interest in custom ROMs, so aside from the impending ICS update it's great for me as-is.

      I've been playing on it non-stop since I pulled it off the charger about 3 hours ago and even with all manner of app installing and game playing it's barely below 75% charge.

      It really depends whether you use it as a tablet or a netbook. As a tablet, it's a nice device. As a netbook, Android is the most painfully limited OS I've seen. You can install the GNU tools and a terminal emulator, but it's not long at all before you start to really miss the functionality of a proper Linux distro.
      I have a first gen Transformer dual booting Kubuntu, and I only ever use Android for things the Ubuntu kernel doesn't yet support.

      • by Fez ( 468752 ) *

        I have dozens of unix boxes I can ssh to if I need to do anything like that. I plan on using it as a tablet myself, even if I do get the dock it's main purpose is internet apps + games.

        If I need to do anything more complex, I can always ssh or vnc/rdp to another box and do it remotely.

        The transformer prime does a bit nicer job of multitasking though, the recent apps button lets you easily swap between running applications or kill ones you aren't using. I'm not sure if that's an Asus thing or a Honeycomb thi

      • by kcitren ( 72383 )
        How's the performance of Kubuntu on the Transformer? What works and doesn't work?
        • by rdnetto ( 955205 )

          Kubuntu runs comfortably (20 sec boot time from emmc), though there are a few things which don't work [xda-developers.com]. Most notably, video playback (dependent on hardware acceleration) and the external speakers. The 768 MB of RAM can be a bit limiting if you try to open Firefox with a bunch of tabs though. (Chromium won't render anything until we get graphics acceleration working).

          In terms of software, mplayer doesn't work (but VLC does, and I think mplayer could be fixed with a recompile) and plasma has an odd bug where y

  • just a question, (Score:5, Insightful)

    by lister king of smeg ( 2481612 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:24PM (#38581678)

    Why is it that they will not let you access their service on a rooted phone/tablet but I can use their service on a Pc which I have admin access to and in the case of browser based delivery such as hulu or netflix I have the source code of the browser through which they send their content that they think they must protect so dearly. What is the deal? I am far more likely to pirate on a Pc then I am on the phone by far.

    • Possibly, the Google DRM is tied to some unique signature in the firmware. It sounds more like poor DRM design for the platform than any kind of intentional restriction.

  • by api_syurga ( 443557 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @11:37PM (#38581776)

    and since I'm on the market for a touch pad device anyway, I'll buy this one, even if don't end up modding it. After the purchase I will inform their customer representative that the decision to buy their device is owed partly of them upgrading to ICS and boot unlocking.

    Voting with my dollars.

  • One for work and one for fun.
  • Seems like they are listening to their (prospective) customers ... I so want one ;)
    Also, as long as they supply timely updates, and there's no bloatware on the pad, there's no real necessity for unlocking (n.b.: I rooted and re-flashed both my Android phones within days (and hours in case of the second one) of getting them ...) ... so let there be ICS and JB (whatever the next version is called - was that going to be Jelly Beans?), and the users will be happy!
    Now if I could only find a decent place to get o

  • Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a 3G version of this tablet.

    They should really come up with a standard small USB slot (similar to the express card, but smaller and USB-only) that would allow them to use the same tablet hardware for WiFi, GSM, LTE, WiMax, and CDMA devices. An industry-standard would be nice, but even an ASUS-only standard would be good. That way, they only have to get FCC approval once for the tablet, and they could keep their inventories smaller too.

    • by Rennt ( 582550 )

      They do have a standard for that kind of thing: Bluetooth.

      I do think it would be nice to have the choice, but how many would actually use the built-in 3G capability? Consumers would rather tether than pay for two data accounts, and for most people those are their only choices.

  • by gru3hunt3r ( 782984 ) on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @05:36AM (#38583286) Journal

    Hey tablet vendors - pay attention, Asus isn't just catering to the home user - they're catering to the corporate IT user.

    Our employees don't need Google videos ..
    But to get OpenVPN on android 4.0 I (currently) need to root it.
    Making rooted devices is incredibly appealing.

    ASUS - Nice job!
    Guess which device just went to the top of our "IT recommended devices" list for employees.

    Can't wait to see it - if this device officially "supports" roots .. in the sense that I don't have to worry about you deciding to remote kill + brick the device then we'll just make this the only device employees can receive reimbursement for.

    God I can't wait for a decent Windows 8 tablet. This android ipad walled garden policies *crap* is so incompatible with the company I work for. While I'm not a microsoft fan, at least they understand business.

  • ... they come blank, and you can install your O/S yourself, with YOUR choice of features enabled, and have complete control over all of the hardware, just like a PC - without having to jump through a million hoops.

    I just went through this process on my phone just so I could get OpenVPN installed and working. What a pain.

  • You mean struggling to build enough units of the previous version to keep it on shelves? (http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/55579-asus-eee-transformer-sold-out-on-best-buy)

    It seems like the version has some problems but it also seems like ASUS acknowledged them and delayed the launch. Hopefully they will be fixed on the devices which reach consumers.

  • They bash the tablet for a hundred lines only because:
    a) its gps receiver is poor;
    b) its bootloader is locked.

    Bid deal? The American market leader for the same product category sells devices that are locked as hell and occasionally have defective (main!) antennas. Did techcrunch review those gadgets with the same language?

    Then Asus declares that they will unlock the bootloader, thereby invalidating three quarters of the techcrunch article, but its author just adds a post scriptum at the end of the arti

  • ASUS is also facing a lawsuit from Hasbro, who feels that the name "Transformer Prime" might just be infringing on one of its trademarks... http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/it-had-to-happen-eventually-hasbro-sues-asus-over-transformer-name/ [techcrunch.com] Hasbro's asking for an injunction to halt sales until the case is resolved...
    • ASUS should just laugh at Hasbro. A tablet computer is not a toy. It is especially not a transformable robot action figure.

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