Tuesday, August 9, 2011

HTC launches htcdev.com

Yesterday HTC launched a new developer portal at www.htcdev.com.

HTC announced the following: "Our developer portal went live today! Currently on HTCdev.com you can check out an early access version of the OpenSense SDK for the 3D display on Evo 3D, the Tablet Pen used with HTC Flyer and also download kernel source code for HTC Android devices with even more to come. The site is also the future home of bootloader unlock process. Check it out!"

This means that the kernel sources for the HTC Evo 4G running Android 2.3.3 are now available for download and the workaround in my previous post is no longer needed.  Hopefully HTC keeps their kernel sources up-to-date with this new site.

The other intriguing part of the announcement is the HTC promises a web tool that will unlock the bootloader on HTC devices. So how will this work? "The Web tool, which will launch this month, requires that you register an account with a valid e-mail address and accept legal disclaimers that unlocking may void all or parts of your warranty. Then plug in your phone to a computer with the Android SDK loaded to retrieve a device identifier token, which you can then enter into the Web tool to receive a unique unlock key via e-mail. Finally, apply the key to your device and unlocking will be initiated on your phone."

While I applaud HTC for making it easier for anyone to unlock their bootloaders (which means trivial rooting, custom kernels, and awesomeness), I think it's pretty lame that HTC will require disclosure of personal identifiable information and a voided warranty to use the tool.  I'll be interested in seeing exactly what information HTC collects.

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