No Custom ROMs for Motorola's Handsets

One of the nicest software solutions available around the Internet for enthusiasts includes various custom ROMs for the mobile phones already available on the market. Most of you might be familiar with the long list of leaked builds we've seen for Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system, which was coupled with customized ROMs various mods made avaialble, as well as with the available ROMs for Google's Android operating system. While savvy users know what they are all about, and are almost always willing to give them a try, it seems that the handset vendors are not so happy with their existence.

One incident regarding custom ROMs and their availability around the Internet was a hot topic a few months ago, when CyanogenMod received the cease-and-decease letter from Google. While Android is open source, thus free for anyone, it seems that there are copyrighted materials included in these ROMs that sometimes violate the law and which result in unpleasant situations. One of the mobile phone makers around not approving custom ROMs is Motorola, which says that copyright violations are the main reason for its stand.

Here's what they say via Facebook: “It is Motorola's policy that customized ROMs are not supported on our products, as it may void the warranty on a consumer device or violate the copyright on the applications that we and or others have created. If you are a developer interested in manually updating the device with custom system images, please refer to the official Android developer guidelines at http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/device.html. If you'd like access to other tools and resources for Android development, or would like to apply to be a part of our MOTODEV App Accelerator Program, please visit http://developer.motorola.com.”

This is not something that will make people happy, that's for sure. Most often, custom ROMs hit the web with additional features and functionality than what is available via official solutions, and users are tempted to go for them exactly for this reason. Not to mention the feeling of control over your own device that the installation of such a ROM gives you. However, there is a dark side of this too, as the installation of such a software solution comes with certain risks that need be take into consideration, such as voiding the warranty, bricking the handset and more. But people would certainly consider Motorola's move as being against the openness of Android, which is not that far from the truth in the end.