Motorola Xoom will have an unlockable bootloader

By George Wong on 02/23/2011, filed in Home > Tablets

Motorola has just announced in a tweet that their upcoming Xoom Android 3.0 tablet will have an unlockable bootloader – just like the Nexus S and the Nexus One before it. What this means for most people isn’t much, but to developers and the folks who like tinkering with the advanced settings on their devices, this news is heaven sent. A way to drive up sales of their device? Perhaps. But despite its sky-high price, this news makes the tablet a much more ideal choice for developers – stock operating system and an unlockable bootloader, what more could anyone ask for?

Android: Android is the mobile operating system from Google. The software was originally built by a company called Android Inc, that was purchased by Google in 2005. From its modest debuts, Android has become a powerhouse that powers not only smartphones and tablet, but a host of other less high-profile devices and gadgets. Although Android is not a community-driven project, Google does release the source code as open-source under the Apache license. You can follow Ubergizmo on Android with Google Currents.

Bootloader: Bootloader is the code that contains instructions required to boot any operating system's kernel. Basically, the code that is executed before an operating system powers up is called the bootloader. All Android devices contain their own specific bootloader version, as they're required by Android OS to boot normally. Manufacturers tend to lock bootloaders on their devices so as to make users stick to their own Android version and it also restricts the installation of custom ROMs.

Motorola: Motorola is an American telecommunication company that has been split in two: Motorola Mobility (now a Google company) and Motorola Solutions. Motorola Mobility now focuses on handsets and set top boxes, while Motorola Solutions works on infrastructure and enterprise products. Motorola Mobility's best products are the Motorola RAZR M, RAZR HD, and RAZR Maxx HD. In Europe, Motorola has partnered with Intel to build the Motorola RAZR i.

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