When talking about the Android ecosystem, the first thing that comes to mind is its “open” nature wherein a person with enough technical know-how and guts can open up his handset to tons of customization and personalization options which isn’t possible in other platforms. However, the jump off point for you to enjoy this is for your handset to have an unlocked bootloader. However, not all OEMs release handsets with their bootloaders already unlocked and this complicates the process unnecessarily.
However, manufacturers started assisting users in getting the bootloaders of their handsets unlocked in an official manner. The way they do this is by setting up websites where users can go to get help in unlocking their bootloaders. HTC already has its HTCDev.com support site and Motorola has recently setup its Unlock My Device website. One caveat though – you still void your warranty even if you use these websites to have the bootloader of your handset unlocked.
If you happen to be a fanboy of Motorola and have passed on the Motorola Atrix HD because of its locked bootloader, you will be interested to know that the manufacturer has already announced the Developer Edition of the Motorola Atrix HD. With this Developer Edition, you can easily take the handset for a spin and have its bootloader unlocked through Motorola’s Bootloader Unlock program and start enjoying infinite customization and personalization possibilities.
Sad to say, Motorola is yet to release details regarding the price point and availability of the Motorola Atrix HD Developer Edition but the handset can be expected to come with a pretty hefty price tag. Of course, these details will be made available in the near future but it is nice to know that hackers and power users already have this option looming in the horizon.
As for the Motorola Atrix HD Developer Edition, the handset comes with the same specs sheet and features as the original version of the Motorola Atrix HD except for the unlockable bootloader part. Should you be interested in getting your hands on the handset, please be reminded that regardless of the fact that Motorola will allow you to have the bootloader of the Motorola Atrix HD Developer Edition unlocked officially, your warranty will still be voided if you go through the whole process.
Design-wise, the handset measures 133.5 x 69.9 x 8.4 mm and it tips the scales at 140 grams. Under the hood, the Motorola Atrix HD Developer Edition runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for its operating system and this is powered by a QualComm MSM8960 SnapDragon chipset with its dual-core Krait processor clocked at 1.5 GHz and 1GB of RAM. The handset packs 8GB of onboard storage and though a bit meager for some, this shouldn’t be much of an issue because the handset has a microSD card slot for memory expansion purposes. As for its display, the Motorola Atrix HD Developer Edition sports a 4.5-inch TFT panel with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels while its dual-shooter configuration is composed of a rear 8MP shooter and a front 1.3MP snapper.
