14 DAY TRIAL // Mobile phone carrier AT&T has just made some changes to its policy regarding the sideloading of applications on devices running under Google's Android operating system on its airwaves, and also provided the necessary details on the matter.
First of all, we should note that the carrier has been keen on tightening the security on its Android-based devices, and that its refusal to allow users load applications that do not come from official channels, which would be the Android Market in this case, was part for this plan.
However, with new application stores available for users to download applications for them, AT&T had to change its approach towards this, especially since many come from trusted sources.
The fact that Amazon has launched its own software portal for Android marked the major shift in the carrier's standing towards sideloading of applications, that's for sure.
A while ago, the company announced that it was working on offering its users the possibility to access the Amazon Appstore and download and install applications from it, and the move was finalized a few days ago.
Further more, as part of its new vision, AT&T launched an Android device that enabled sideloading of apps right from the start, namely the Samsung Infuse 4G.
But this marked only the beginning of AT&T's shift towards a more open approach on the loading of application.
The carrier also plans on releasing software updates for some of its existing Android devices so as to enable users sideload applications on them.
“Over the next few weeks, we will also roll out this capability to existing devices in our base for which an upgrade is possible,” the wireless carrier reportedly announced.
The bad news is that the update might arrive only on mobile phones running under Android 2.2 Froyo or higher, and that those on older releases of the platform would be left out of this.
The roll-out would supposedly start with HTC Inspire 4G, HTC Aria, and Samsung Captivate, and include more handsets soon, but not specific info on the matter emerged for the time being.
