HTC Thunderbolt, Incredible S First in Series of Devices With Tightened Encryption?
1
Any Android enthusiast knows HTC gets a lot of love for producing devices that aren’t terribly difficult to hack. In fact, it’s often times so easy that you’d think HTC published the methods to gain low-level access. Unfortunately, those times may be coming to an end.
The HTC Thunderbolt is the first device from HTC’s new generation and quickly landed into the laps of developers. The community was a bit distraught after learning it had a locked bootloader, but many chalked it up to being Verizon’s doing. that may not be the case at all.
Those developers have found similar encryption techniques in the HTC Incredible S, a phone that was announced in Barcelona last month and is not specific to any carrier for the time being. (For the record, the HTC DROID Incredible 2 will be Verizon’s version of the device here in the states.)
When asked why they were doing this, HTC said they were simply tailoring to carriers’ needs. I understand why a carrier might want to lock devices down – it allows the users to do things that they shouldn’t be able to do. When that happens, phones can break and Verizon, HTC, Asurion or whoever is responsible for fulfilling warranties aren’t happy.
The only sliver of hope comes from the fact that Verizon is indeed getting some form of the HTC Incredible S. It remains to be seen if devices like the HTC EVO 3D and the HTC Pyramid (a phone that has yet to be announced for T-Mobile) will get the same treatment. [via Android Police]