14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, mobile phone maker Motorola went official with a new Android-based LTE smartphone, the Photon Q 4G LTE, which is set to make an official appearance on shelves at Sprint in the near future.
The new device, a high-end, appealing smartphone, brings along a change in the manner in which the company looks at the bootloaders on its handsets. Motorola announced that, starting with Photon Q 4G LTE, it would focus on launching smartphones with unlocked bootloaders, thus providing users with the possibility to easily load custom software on their devices.
Users have been long asking for this feature inside the company’s Android smartphones, and it appears that their prayers have finally got a response.
“For quite some time now, we’ve been working closely with our carrier partners to find a way to make that possible — all while keeping the networks secure and protecting other users’ experiences,” Motorola notes in an official announcement on the matter.
“We’re excited to announce that Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE, just announced today and coming soon to Sprint’s fast 4G LTE network, will have an unlockable bootloader.”
Moreover, the company noted that specific info on the matter would be provided as the device nears its official launch, and that other devices would also receive the feature, but it did not offer other details on that.
“We’ll share more details on how to take advantage of this feature closer to availability. And moving forward, we’ll be looking to offer this option on other devices as well,” the mobile phone maker said.
For many users, this move comes as good news, though it remains to be seen to which extent the handset vendor will be able to include the unlocked bootloader inside its devices.
Some wireless carriers out there, such as Verizon, will certainly disapprove. In fact, the carrier already opposed to having an unlocked bootloader inside DROID RAZR, and was also the only US operator to launch Galaxy S III locked down.