Last week Motorola announced what’s probably the most gorgeous Android device we’ve ever seen in our lives, the RAZR. They like to call it “impossibly thin”, and it is at just 7.1 mm, but what makes it stand out is the industrial design. The back boasts a layer of Kevlar, the internal frame is built out of steel, the 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Advanced display is covered in Gorilla Glass, and while we could bitch and moan about the battery being non-replaceable, we’ve gotten used to that thanks to the iPhone. Now there’s yet another reason to love it even more. According to AusDroid, a site for Android fans based in Australia, the RAZR will ship with an unlocked bootloader. What exactly does that mean? People who want to load up custom versions of Android, such as CyanogenMod or MIUI, will be able to do so without having to go through the painful process of unlocking their device, potentially even breaking it in the process.
There’s a slight catch though. Folks in America, the UK, and several other markets, typically buy their devices from an operator. When they do that they’re at the operator’s mercy when it comes to bootloaders. Christy Wyatt, Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Mobile Devices at Motorola, the guy who spoke to AusDroid, has already confirmed that when Verizon sells the RAZR in FreedomLand, they’re going to revoke your freedom of choice when it comes to Android ROMs. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to many, but we’re still deeply saddened that operators hold so much power.
What can you do to guarentee that your RAZR comes with an unlocked bootloader? Buy it off contract from an electronics store that’s not tied to a particular operator. The price tag may be a bitter pill to swallow, but you’ll be able to stay on top of the latest work being done by the hardcore Android community.