Well, this is some good news on this fine morning. After Sony Ericsson announcing official support for bootloader unlocking on their Android phones, HTC has just stepped it up a notch: the company's CEO (no less) has announced on Facebook that going forward, HTC will no longer lock down any of their phones' bootloaders.
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Member since:
2005-09-10
I always loved HTC handsets - so do many people on xda-developers. One of the reasons is that they were always hackable. I had winmob 6.5 + latest HTC sense on my old Blackstone. They also build very very solid phones. I threw the Blackstone across the room once (by accident, was just gesturing wildly and it flew off my hand) - battery cover fell off, put it back, no damage whatsoever (minor scratch only). Same with my Nexus One - it's very sturdy. I'd say it's almost like old NOKIA sturdiness.
Another thing I recall reading on xda-devs is that one of the members asked them a technical question (related to hacking the phone) and they actually answered in detail. I also heard a few times that HTC is cool about warranty - ie you don't loose it if you try other mods if the problem is obviously hardware related.
I hope the next Nexus is done by HTC again (though I can't see any reason to change my N1 in the next 1-2 years). Their only weakness is their shitty camera - but I never cared for that, I have my pocketable ultrazoom with me all the time (PANASONIC TZ7) - and I never really used the camera on my phone.
Edited 2011-05-27 11:01 UTC
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2005-09-10
The N1 camera is crap for both 
But as I said, I don't mind it at all. Curiously, the Blackstone had better camera than the N1, even though it's 2 years older. NOKIA, SonyEricsson are probably the best. My N1 camera is comparable to the SE W800i, and that's a really ancient phone (over 6 years!).
Member since:2007-03-26
Member since:2006-06-12
Mine is much better than the old SE 1.3mpx I had on the side flip version of the same phone. Of course, "dark shot" are not stat good, but overall, it's better than SE W***i. If the N1 camera is that bad for you, you probably had a faulty device. Have you tried with Cyanogen and the stock firmware? They have different way of doing the focus and color balance.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:
2005-07-06
This is great, now they are off my don't buy list again.
Now I only wish they could ship phones with vanilla Android as an option, or at least make it possible to turn off Sense, and still have a full set of standard Android apps. Not that there is something wrong with Sense but in my oppinion less is more and I find vanilla android more elegant.
Member since:2005-11-13
Yes, absolutely. I wish there would have been as big of a campaign to get them to offer vanilla as an option. Since Google won't (or can't) offer a CDMA phone in the US, HTC seems to be the next best option, but Sense really blows whale cock. I know some people like Sense, but then again... some people are retarded.
Note: I've heard people say you can get rid of Sense by installing Launcherpro or something similar. That's like saying you can get rid of Internet Explorer in Windows by deleting the IE icon from the desktop
Edited 2011-05-27 16:25 UTC
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2007-09-22
Member since:2005-11-13
Yeah, but for whatever reason, once a new vanilla version of Android comes out, it takes hackers awhile to get it working and stable on phones that don't run vanilla. For example, when Froyo came out, it was many months before they had all the glitches worked out with vanilla on Froyo, and even then, with the most stable vanilla ROM I could find, my LED notification light didn't work right.
I'm not sure why it takes them so long, but I'm guessing it is because of driver issues. Whatever the case, consumers shouldn't be at the mercy of hackers on XDA working in their spare time to get updates.
Note: I don't mean to sound like I'm bitter towards the hackers - I very much appreciate the work they do. God bless them
Member since:2007-09-22
Code takes time, especially if you don't have detailed documentation of the device.
It makes perfect sense, think about it, when a manufacturer releases a new device for the public the driver development already started months before it was released and they have knowledge of the device.
Member since:2005-08-22
Yes, absolutely. I wish there would have been as big of a campaign to get them to offer vanilla as an option. Since Google won't (or can't) offer a CDMA phone in the US, (snip) "
The Nexus S 4G which is offered by Sprint is CDMA.
Member since:
2006-05-11
Member since:2005-07-06
an open bootloader means it's trivial to boot a non-standard operating system firmware image on the phone, and hence a whole third party environment - so an alternate build of Android, or even a different OS entirely, if the hackers can make it work. It's pretty common to port Android to phones HTC released with Windows Mobile, for instance.
it became trendy recently for phones to lock down the bootloader: it wouldn't run a firmware image that wasn't digitally signed with a specific key controlled by the manufacturer. obviously this makes things much harder for tweakers; you have to crack the protection to load unofficial firmware images.
HTC did this with their last few models - I think the last six or seven high-end phones they released, Engadget's story on this has a list. Now they've promised they'll stop doing it in future. They haven't promised to update the phones that already have locked bootloaders to unlock them; I'm not even sure if they _can_ do that with an OTA update.
Member since:
2007-09-06
5$ of every HTC sold goes to Microsoft due to an out of court settlment over allegations of Android patent infringement. I guess actually publicly addressing those claims or going after Google direct, as the manufacturer of the infringing product, wouldn't be nearly as profitable.
http://www.reghardware.com/2011/05/27/ms_royalty_deal_htc_android/
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2007-09-06
At least with your choice of Windows Phone 7, the licensing fees are obviously relevant.
Not owning an HTC runing either platform, I'm not directly affected by the Android extortion racket either. For me, it just falls under the catagory of Microsoft's ongoing unsubstatiated claims against the Linux kernel and any OS that happens to include it.
Member since:
2010-06-08
Member since:2011-01-28
shmerl,
"In the future I feel handsets won't be different from regular computers in a sense of what one could do with them."
You might want to rephrase that a bit in case there are any lawyers reading - a future where computers and smartphones are equally locked down wouldn't be any fun at all.
With all the current DRM being pushed onto consumers on the desktop (windows and elsewhere), there's still a possibility that future computers will be become less open and less capable.
"Waiting for Meego compatible device from HTC."
I'd also like something running Meego. I vote with my wallet, does it count if it's empty?
Edited 2011-05-27 19:30 UTC
Member since:2007-09-22
Member since:2005-07-06
Waiting for Meego compatible device from HTC.
You know what would be really awesome would be the ability for a vendor like HTC to sell devices - same specifications and hardware across the board and then leave it up to the customer at 'installation time' to decide what operating system to install (downloads the OS image in the background then installs it via the internet) and then allow the user to change OS's if they wish.
For example, you buy an Android phone, find that the operating system is not what you expected so you log onto the client software, spend $10 for the Windows Phone 7 operating system and replace your existing operating system with a new one
Now that would be really awesome IMHO 
Member since:2010-06-08
Member since:
2006-05-11
Member since:
2009-05-30
Remember trs80's c64 and so on All locked platforms by firmware.
XT from ibm comes along with pity much stock hardware and someone clones the bios and it takes off.
Android is really slowly creating the same thing in the phone market.
Really I am waiting for the first phone that has choice of OS's. Ie Windows phone, Android and Meego. Depending what SD card you insert depends what OS it is.
Then hardware makers will be able to tell MS to get stuffed as well.
Member since:2005-08-09
Member since:
2008-04-15
