Tag Archives: bootloaders

Samsung Galaxy S III Developer Edition for Verizon Wireless now available to order

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Samsung Galaxy S III Developer Edition for Verizon Wireless now available to order

Ever since the bootloader of the Galaxy S III for Verizon Wireless was cracked wide open, there's much less of a clamor for the Developer Edition of the handset from Samsung. That said, the unsubsidized smartphone is now available to purchase -- for backorder, anyway -- directly from the manufacturer, which gives all owners the ability to easily unlock the phone's bootloader and thus delight in the world of custom ROMs. As of now, only the Pebble Blue variant is available, but purchasers may choose from the 16GB ($600) or 32GB ($650) versions. We still maintain that Verizon Wireless gave its subscribers a pretty raw deal with the Galaxy S III, as all other carriers left it to the owner's discretion of whether to unlock their phone's bootloader. We wouldn't expect Big Red to change its tune any time soon, but you can take solace knowing that the hacking community and manufacturers have your back.

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Samsung Galaxy S III Developer Edition for Verizon Wireless now available to order originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kindle Fire HD 7-inch rooted in spite of Amazon, unstoppable force meets the unhackable object (video)

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Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7-inch review

We were worried there, for a minute. After code explorers found that Amazon's Kindle Fire HD 7-inch had both a locked bootloader and extra security measures, there was a brief concern that the pseudo-Android tablet might be very tough to hack. As it turns out, there was no reason to lose faith. Hashcode, Justin Case, Reverend Kyle and Sparklym3 from the XDA and RootzWiki forums have successfully rooted the smaller Kindle Fire HD in a repeatable form, giving anyone courageous enough to load ADB the control they want over the tablet they bought. Just remember the usual caveats if you choose to dive in: while the root isn't a lengthy process, as you'll see in the video after the break, there's still the ever-present risk of bricking the device should something go wrong. Having seen what can be done with the original Kindle Fire after a little tinkering, we're intrigued as to what happens with its more capable sequel.

Continue reading Kindle Fire HD 7-inch rooted in spite of Amazon, unstoppable force meets the unhackable object (video)

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Kindle Fire HD 7-inch rooted in spite of Amazon, unstoppable force meets the unhackable object (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Police, DroidDog  |  sourceRootzWiki, XDA-Developers  | Email this | Comments

Motorola to allow bootloader unlocking from Photon Q 4G LTE onwards

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Motorola to allow bootloader unlocking from Photon Q onwards

Motorola's initial promise to allow unlocked bootloaders came across to many enthusiasts as somewhat hollow: as long as there was an escape clause, carriers like AT&T and Verizon could clamp down and maintain the tough-to-modify status quo. RAZR-philes will be happy to know that there's a plan to cut their own chains loose, after all. Starting with the Photon Q 4G LTE's August launch, owners will have the option to unlock the bootloader of at least some devices in an official way that reportedly keeps carriers satisfied. Details of how the process works will come later; we don't know if Motorola will take a cue from HTC's identifier tokens or try something more exotic, even if it's likely in either case to offer a big, fat disclaimer regarding the warranty. The option won't be the same as buying a phone that's unlocked from the start, but we don't think too many custom ROM lovers will mind after knowing that one more Android manufacturer is on their side.

[Thanks, RTbar]

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Motorola to allow bootloader unlocking from Photon Q 4G LTE onwards originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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