14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant Microsoft is reportedly looking into finding a solution that would enable it to patch a bug in its new Windows Phone 7 platform, one that enabled a group of enthusiasts to come up with an unlocking tool for handsets running under the OS.
The said software, called ChevronWP7, was released a few months ago, but has been pulled only about a week or so after its initial emergence.
Chevron’s developers (Rafael Rivera, Chris Walsh and Long Zheng) said at the time that Microsoft contacted them on the matter, and that the company promised support for their initiative.
To be more precise, the idea behind the unlock tool was to enable homebrew applications, and Microsoft said it was willing to support this.
However, things were not settled as of yet, though they might be in the not too far future. Next week, the said team would meet with Microsoft, and all should be discussed at that time.
“We’ll be sharing our perspective on the homebrew potentials of Windows Phone 7 and some of the wider community feedback around the platform,” the team of developers notes in a recent post on their website.
“In addition to our homebrew focus, we will also be pushing for stronger protection of WP7 developer intellectual property (IP) on the platform as we believe both can co-exist on the platform.”
We should note that, as soon as the talks with Microsoft began on this area, the team pulled the unlocking tool, though there still are some who are using it.
According to the team, as soon as Windows Phone 7 tastes its first software update in the coming months, the bug that enabled the building of the unlocking tool would be patched, and the ChevronWP7 software will be no longer usefull.
“On a similar note, we’re aware the ChevronWP7 unlocking tool is still being utilized since it has been discontinued,” the team stated.
“Although this has been subtly communicated before, we’d like to reiterate Microsoft has informed us the “coding error” used in the ChevronWP7 Unlocker will no longer work after the next Windows Phone 7 update (officially announced at CES 2011).”