It all began with a Dream, and that dream led to over 850,000 Android devices now being activated each day. HTC takes us back by announcing unlock bootloader support for the HTC Dream. You heard that right, you can now root Android’s roots. If you happen to have an unrooted Dream laying around and feel like kicking it old school, head over to HTCdev.com and go back to the future — just try not to create a time paradox while your tinkering around.
Having a device that’s “Playstation Certified” hasn’t meant much thanks to a dismal Playstation Suite. Promises of premium exclusive content has fallen short due to the lack of development. In an attempt to gain increased developer interest, Sony has announced it will be releasing an open beta version of the Playstation Suite SDK next month with an official version to follow later in the year. While the open beta will be free to all, the offical release will cost $99 annually and will allow developers to distribute their content through the PlayStation Store. Sony has to do something to entice consumers to purchase a “Playstation Certified” device and while having the branding alone is a nice incentive, without content, it’s nothing more than a marketing ploy.
In a move that would surely have Steve Jobs — the man willing to go thermonuclear war against Android — rolling over in his grave, Apple has apparently offered licensing deals to Samsung and Motorola in an attempt to settle ongoing and future patent suits. According to sources speaking with Dow Jones Newswires, Apple has offered licensing deals in the tune of $5 to $15 per device or the equivalent of 1% to 2.5% of net sales per device. Interestingly enough, these fees are on par with what Apple deemed “unreasonable” after attempts to license patents from Motorola.
Verizon today announced a list of devices they expect to receive the Android 4.0 update. Many manufacturers have already confirmed this information but it’s always nice to hear it straight from a carriers mouth. While no official dates have been given, the list includes devices from HTC, Motorola, Samsung and LG. You can find the full list after the break so stay tuned to see if your Verizon device was given the thumbs up from Big Red.
The patent saga continues with U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner in Chicago ruling that Motorola and Google must provide Apple with information regarding Android development as well as information about the impending merger. It’s unclear exactly what specific “information” must be provided and while everyone goes ahead and assumes it’s some sort of top secret documentation, I’m betting it’s nothing of the sort and Apple won’t be gaining any trade secrets out of this. It’s all ridiculous and will only end as all of these patent suits have ended, with nothing more than a software update.
