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Motorola tells Android developers to buy HTC phones

Motorola tells Android developers to buy HTC phones

Posted: 04 Mar 2010, 11:39, by Alan F.

Categories: Motorola Motorola HTC HTC Android Android Software Software Bookmark

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Motorola tells Android developers to buy HTC phones

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Macy's doesn't tell Gimbels went the old saying. It would be even stranger for Macy's to tell customers to go shop at Gimbels. As strange as that seems, imagine Steve Jobs telling would-be iPhone buyers to pick up a Palm Pre Plus instead. That is akin to the situation that Motorola found itself doing to Android developers. While the Motorola DROID can load custom ROMs, get overclocked past 1GHz and basically can be hacked into without a problem, the handset's European relative, the MILESTONE is locked up tighter than the Queen's Jewels. Digitially signed firmware makes it impossible to load custom ROMs on the MILESTONE and developers were asking Motorola for some help.The response came from Lori Fraleigh from the Motodev team. Her response was that the company knows there are Android developers who want to go beyond application development to experiment with Android system development and re-flashing phones. She recommended that for those doing such work, buying a Google ADP1 developer's phone, or a Nexus One as both of those models were "intended for those purposes". Motorola's Android phone, she explains, are made for the consumer. the DROID, she added, was a deviation from their common business practice and when such deviation occurs, it is because of a specific business reason.

Motorola has released 9 different Android handsets under 12 different names and the DROID is the only one to accept unsigned images and the manufacturer won't discuss the business reason that made the DROID different. With talk of a Motorola built device heading for Google's phone store, will the latter force the former to open up that model? In the meantime, developers have the answer to their question. It might not be something that the Schaumburg based company wants repeated like a mantra, but developers looking to experiment with Android should buy HTC.

Motorola MILESTONE Specifications | Review
HTC Nexus One Specifications | Review

source: MOTODEV via MotorolaOwnersForum, AndroidandMe

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1. Striker13084 posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:45 0 0

ummmmm, foot in mouth.

2. remixfa posted on 04 Mar 2010, 15:03 0 0

yea, they didnt say buy HTC, they said buy a developer phone.. which basically means a base android unlocked phone (for the most part). That doesnt mean they wont develop one.. Obviously the Droid fits the bill. They do have a right to protect their customizations and lock them down.. as fun as that isnt for developers. I say that as i hold a cliq.. wishing i could load a dozen different roms on it.. LOL.

3. deschats posted on 04 Mar 2010, 18:03 0 0

um im not so sure about the milestone. they have already gained root access, might wanna check your facts.

5. remixfa posted on 05 Mar 2010, 08:41 0 0

root access and the ability to load custom roms are NOT the same thing. They have made it quite difficult to flash a different rom onto the device. Think HTC sence running on a DROID.

4. nomass posted on 04 Mar 2010, 21:51 0 0

Could the mysterious "bussiness" reason be that they wanted a phone that would compete with iPhone, which is jailbroken? Having a device that is hackable would make it appeal to both the average consumer who doesn't have the time or knowledge to load custom images on AND to the developer community and the people who follow them around the internet waiting for the next piece of bleeding edge software to drop in to their download folders. I can see having a lots of devices that focus on user friendliness but I can also see the point of having some that they know are going to be cracked and pushed to the limits by developers, it all equals more sales.