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The Motorola Droid 2 might not be out on shelves yet, but that hasn’t stopped at least one Best Buy store from getting accessories for the next member of the Droid family out on display. Droid-Life got their hands on some pics of a case for the phone that doesn’t yet have an announced release date (or any official announcement for that matter). I’ll just tell you that we probably won’t be waiting much longer, as this phone is rumored to be getting the official treatment towards the beginning of August, and I’m obliged to agree. If you want to pick up a Droid 2 case and fill it with wishes and hopes for the time being, you may want to check out your local BB.
[via Droid-Life]
Since it has a ridiculously locked down boot loader, I won’t be recommending the Droid 2 to any of my friends or family. Not that they care, but I do.
Everyone in Evans family….
“Dont talk to Evan about android phones… he just starts rambling about boots and gets really sweaty…”
@Paul hahahahaha yeah evan why should u care about that? its for them and chances are they could care less
I care about it because I like Motorola hardware but I won’t buy a moto phone if it has a locked boot loader because I won’t be able to run custom ROMs. Imagine buying a computer and not being able to upgrade the OS, this is exactly the same thing. Might as well buy an iPhone, jk.
Motorola stated: “When we do deviate from our normal practice [locking down our devices], such as we did with the DROID, there is a specific business reason for doing so”. Yeah, that business reason was to win over geek mind share and in turn actual market share, now that they have market share they’ll do whatever their carriers tell them to do.
I’m a software developer so this stuff is very important to me and others programmers that share a similar mindset. You know the one’s without whom, there would be no Android, cuz there would be no GNU Linux.
evan take a deep breath and remove your tampon
Yeah, I just walked down to my local best buy, and sure enough, droid 2 cases.
So you won’t recommend a great phone to someone based on a nerdy feature that you know the people you’re recommended it to won’t even use?
How incredibly nerdy and pompous.
it’s not really like not being able to upgrade your OS. Not at all. You can upgrade it. With official signed releases. So it’s not like buying a computer and not being able to upgrade. It actually IS buying a computer and not being able to run hacked versions of the OS.
Nitpicking aside, it’s bound to be a great phone with a great OS for about 85 or 90% (or so) of the people that buy it. And yet I can’t bring myself to support a manufacturer that locks down an “open source” OS device.
In a weird way I’m mostly agreeing with Evan. Just not with his bad analogy.
…and your family probably agrees with Evan’s family.
@ Evan M, I sure hope your family and friends don’t take any of your recommendations seriously.
You know what Evan M, I take that comment back. It’s possible that their nerds just as you are and do care if the Droid 2 is contain a locked down boot loader — who knows, right? But, still…re-f*kin-lax. It’ll still be great device.
@aceofspades Those officially signed upgrades may never come from the hardware manufacturer. I’m worried that this is what Motorola plans to do, tie the phone more closely with the version of the OS. Google should be the ones pushing out software updates, not Motorola, we’d get them a hell of a lot faster.
If PC manufacturers locked down boot loaders you probably wouldn’t be able to run alternative OSs on them. Yes you could probably update the OS that came with the system, but only for as long as the manufacturer decides. If they had this much control they would use it to only allow minor software updates, they’d force you to buy new hardware if you want a major software update, even when the hardware can handle it.
droid x is already rooted so what will be different from this?
@Max Getting root access is different from being able to boot unsigned images. You can get root access on the Droid X but if you change the OS not only will it not boot, it’ll trip the eFuse which will brick the phone.
@Evan, how many computers are within visual range of you right now that you can put custom software onto? Do you burn new software into your car to optimize it? An electric toothbrush? Coffee maker? Microwave oven? Wrist watch? People live with those kinds of things being restricted.
@uprooted there are 4 devices within visual range of me right now that I can put custom software on. An IP phone, my DROID and 2 desktops. There are hundreds in my building. I can’t see my car right now, but I _can_ run custom ROMs on it to boost performance.
Smart / Super phones are a lot closer to computers than toothbrushes. I do have a Sonicare though, which is great, but I don’t think it’s flash-able.
I do look forward writing software that will interface with coffee makers, microwave ovens, dish washers, washing machines, dryers, TVs, set top boxes, etc. Hopefully the APIs to interface with these devices will be some kind of open standard so that any ISV can write software to control them. The more opportunities for me and other software developers, the better.
It’d be pretty cool to be able to control my coffee maker from my phone, or to be notified by text message when the laundry is done.
evan … dont’ wate your time trying to enlighten sheep. once a major virus hits or moto ‘accidentally’ wipes their devices ota, they’ll see. until then, let the sheep enjoy the comfort of the herd and bask in their abominable ignorance.
Evan great stuff. I like Post #11. Rock on. You are right.
“evan take a deep breath and remove your tampon” classic