Moto X will have an Unlockable Bootloader on Most Carriers

[cereal killer]

VP of Product Management at Motorola, Punit Soni, helped shed some light on some "stuff" that wasn't mentioned in all the Moto X hoopla. According to Punit; Sprint, US Cellular, Rogers and T-Mobile networks will have an unlockable bootloader with Big Red offering a developer edition. Motorola will also be offering a general North American Developer Edition. We are going to venture to guess that since the AT&T model wasn't named specifically as having an unlockable bootloader, the North American Developer Edition will be an unlocked GSM model with AT&T bands. Why this wasn't mentioned or why these details were so murky to begin with is anyone's guess, but there you have it folks.

Via: Moto X Forums

 

[NeoPhoenixTE]

Verizon not immediately allowing an unlockable bootloader. Color me shocked.

 

[kodiak799]

Verizon not immediately allowing an unlockable bootloader. Color me shocked.

And aren't the developer phones on VZW available only at full retail?

 

[combatmedic870]

And aren't the developer phones on VZW available only at full retail?

Yep.

 

[tgyberg]

Yea and isn't Verizon a bunch of :censored:'s? Yep.

 

[liftedplane]

someday maybe the entire US will be on the same network... someday we won't have to mess around with these special developer editions for either ATT or VZW.... someday right... maybe... :disappointed:

we're all allowed to dream right.

 

[KaChow]

According to Forbes an Unlocked Version without all the carrier Bloat, will be coming eventually...

 

[kodiak799]

According to Forbes an Unlocked Version without all the carrier Bloat, will be coming eventually...

I could be mistaken, but it seems the writer didn't do his homework. The "cheaper" version is supposed to be international only, and actually possibly only developing markets. And that actually kind of fits with the point about it only being available in the US. Moto knows what they are doing - call it a strategic mistake to have targeted the enterprise market, but hindsight is 20/20 and at the time it looked like a shrewd move.

Look, I don't care if you could sell 20M of these if your price was $350 - if you lose money on that deal it doesn't work. I'm not sure Moto has screwed anything up. They've put out a quality device that will hold its own. In some respects, they might almost be testing the waters or setting a trend trying to break from the spec wars. Remains to be seen how that works out, but this could be a big win for the consumer (even if you don't buy) if we have options to stop wasting our $$$ on "unusable" resolution, processing power, and blurry megapixels.

 

[SwiftLegend]

someday maybe the entire US will be on the same network... someday we won't have to mess around with these special developer editions for either ATT or VZW.... someday right... maybe... :disappointed:

we're all allowed to dream right.

I'm still hoping Google creates their own mobile carrier

 

[civiksi]

I'm still hoping Google creates their own mobile carrier

I'm still dreaming about that too. I just want to know how much it will be off contract since I'm keeping my unlimited. I've been waiting for this phone for months. Kinda sad. I'm real close to not waiting to find out its $600 and just going with an s4.

 

[Dusty]

I'm still dreaming about that too. I just want to know how much it will be off contract since I'm keeping my unlimited. I've been waiting for this phone for months. Kinda sad. I'm real close to not waiting to find out its $600 and just going with an s4.

I waited until VZW got the S4... Then I waited for the Developers Edition... Then I waited for the Moto X where they announced I'd still have to wait...

After reading ALL about the Moto X on Thursday I went out that evening and picked up an S4. I waited again and again, and you know what, I'm not waiting for the Google Play version to come to VZW, I'm not waiting for the Moto X to be released, I'm not waiting for the HTC One... I had to move on with my life.

By waiting time and time again I wasted my time because the S4 is a GREAT phone. Also, I'm totally happy that the store manager reviewed my plan, lowered my monthly bill by $10, retained my grandfathered unlimited, and sold me an S4 at the subsidized price.

Of course, now my mother (who's plan I also pay for) now has a rooted GNex as her cell phone that just sits next to her bed. LoL!

 

[TheOldFart]

By waiting time and time again I wasted my time because the S4 is a GREAT phone. Also, I'm totally happy that the store manager reviewed my plan, lowered my monthly bill by $10, retained my grandfathered unlimited, and sold me an S4 at the subsidized price.

Of course, now my mother (who's plan I also pay for) now has a rooted GNex as her cell phone that just sits next to her bed. LoL!

I assume that you bought the S4 on your mother's line and then transferred it to your line. I also assume that she already had a smartphone with a data plan without unlimited since she now uses your old GNex. Correct.

 

[civiksi]

I waited until VZW got the S4... Then I waited for the Developers Edition... Then I waited for the Moto X where they announced I'd still have to wait...

After reading ALL about the Moto X on Thursday I went out that evening and picked up an S4. I waited again and again, and you know what, I'm not waiting for the Google Play version to come to VZW, I'm not waiting for the Moto X to be released, I'm not waiting for the HTC One... I had to move on with my life.

By waiting time and time again I wasted my time because the S4 is a GREAT phone. Also, I'm totally happy that the store manager reviewed my plan, lowered my monthly bill by $10, retained my grandfathered unlimited, and sold me an S4 at the subsidized price.

Of course, now my mother (who's plan I also pay for) now has a rooted GNex as her cell phone that just sits next to her bed. LoL!

Thanks. You made me feel better. Maybe I'll go out tomorrow to the vz store. Worse comes to worse the Dev version is available again. Laugh all you want my wife and I are still rocking DX's. ANYTHING is a step up. I'm on CM ICS on it but OMG its on its last legs!

 

[Dusty]

I assume that you bought the S4 on your mother's line and then transferred it to your line. I also assume that she already had a smartphone with a data plan without unlimited since she now uses your old GNex. Correct.

Yeah. She splits a 7GB plan with my wife. I already had $700 ready to lay down on a phone for me, and my mom's phone was 4 months away from eligibility. I griped about it being a Thunderbolt. I don't know how much leeway the store personnel have (he said he was the regional manager and he was there training 3 managers), but he upgraded her phone and rolled the S4 to my unlimited. I didn't expect it and I didn't really ask. Somebody at Verizon actually did me a solid!

As a show of appreciation i have placed myself on a 30 day moratorium where I won't gripe about VZW.