There seems to be something in the water over at Sony Ericsson’s offices.
Not long after announcing it was reversing its decision to upgrade the Xperia X10 to Gingerbread (Android 2.3), Sony Ericsson has today said it will be opening up the bootloader on certain models of its Xperia smartphones, enticing developers to look into its newest devices.
The company will enable the opportunity within the next couple of months but is only opening up its bootloader on certain releases of its smartphones; specifically on the Xperia arc, Xperia neo, Xperia pro and Xperia PLAY.
To keep on the right side of operators, Sony Ericsson ensures that devices with a SIM lock will not be able to have their bootloader unlocked with the Xperia X10 completely off-limits due to technical and legal reasons.
Owners of a new Sony Ericsson device will be able to determine whether their device is eligible to be unlocked by using the Fastboot tool in the Android SDK. If it can connect, you’re in luck.
Unlocking the bootloader does mean that you instantly void your warranty, meaning this option should only be pursued if you know what exactly what you are getting yourself into.
It’s nice to see Sony Ericsson listening to the Android community. With the release of Gingerbread and now the unlocking of specific bootloaders, the company could see a lot more Android users looking to come back to their devices.
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