Motorola: Droid X isn't a dev phone, buy the Nexus One if you want ROMs
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 14, 2010 by Kyle Gibb
So the bootloader on the Droid X is locked. We know this. For many developers and hackers, it's a bit of a disappointment as the original Motorola Droid became a de facto dev phone because it ran stock Android 2.0 and had an unlocked bootloader. That allowed them (and us) to easily flash new ROMs onto the phone.
So what's the deal with the Droid X? Motorola's Lori Fraleigh explains in a recent blog post from way back in February:
"We understand there is a community of developers interested in going beyond Android application development and experimenting with Android system development and re-flashing phones. For these developers, we highly recommend obtaining either a Google ADP1 developer phone or a Nexus One, both of which are intended for these purposes. At this time, Motorola Android-based handsets are intended for use by consumers and Android application developers, and we have currently chosen not to go into the business of providing fully unlocked developer phones.
"Securing the software on our handsets, thereby preventing a non-Motorola ROM image from being loaded, has been our common practice for many years. This practice is driven by a number of different business factors. When we do deviate from our normal practice, such as we did with the DROID, there is a specific business reason for doing so. We understand this can result in some confusion, and apologize for any frustration."
That's the way Moto wants it, and that's the way it will be. For the time being, it looks like the Nexus One will remain Google's official dev phone. It is also a sure bet that the Android hacker community will descend onto the X like a swarm once it is released, so have no fear. And it also stands to reason the "unannounced" Droid 2 might be seeing the same "feature."
Our question to you: Is this a deal-breaker? Or can you still not wait to get your hands on Moto and Verizon's new hotness?