AT&T Issuing Updates to Select Android Phones to Enable Sideloading
It’s time. Time for AT&T to give you a bit more freedom over your Android smartphone, that is. It’s been leaked that they’ll begin issuing updates to select Android handsets – including the HTC Aria and Inspire 4G and the Samsung Captivate – that’ll allow users to sideload applications. (IE, install applications from sources outside of the Android market.)
We knew of their plans back when the Amazon Appstore launched. AT&T had a page specifically for the incompatibility and assured everyone that updates would allow users to take advantage of Amazon’s Appstore in the near future.
They didn’t hint toward what solution they’d be going for at that time. (Some speculated they were working with Amazon to customize the Appstore to install applications without using Android’s native .APK installer.) We’re glad they just chose to open the phones up, though.
It’s worthy to note that the newly-released Samsung Infuse 4G already has this functionality. And oddly enough, Motorola’s stable of phone – including the dual-core ATRIX 4G – are missing from the equation. Let’s hope that changes sometime soon. [AC]