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Transformer Prime To Get ICS On January 12, Boot Unlocker Coming

Posted by Soulskill on from the more-than-meets-the-eye dept.

symbolset writes "ASUS, maker of the popular Transformer Prime Tegra 3 tablet, announced via their Facebook page that Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will be available January 12th. In addition they are developing a boot unlocker which will void the warranty and break Google movie rentals, but will allow modding. They said, 'based on our experience, users who choose to root their devices risk breaking the system completely. However, we know there is demand in the modding community to have an unlocked bootloader. Therefore, ASUS is developing an unlock tool for that community. Please do note that if you choose to unlock your device, the ASUS warranty will be void, and Google video rental will also be unavailable because the device will be no longer protected by security mechanism.' They also announced an intermediate software update to improve the camera and touch experience, and they're dropping GPS from the feature list for poor performance." Another article argues that the Transformer Prime is an example of ASUS struggling while breaking into a new market.

7 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Under that they have to prove that the 3rd party software broke the phone. Just in a car they can't just you put in a 3rd party radio in and say the engine warranty is void.

    1. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by Mistlefoot · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Per the Magnuson - Moss Warranty Act: "The statute is remedial in nature and is intended to protect consumers from deceptive warranty practices. Consumer products are not required to have warranties, but if one is given, it must comply with the Magnuson-Moss Act."

      So your arguement could be invalidated by "warranty is not given if you change the bios".

      This is not much different then a warranty being voided by the sticker being removed (as when a laptop is taken apart).

    2. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Replacing the firmware in a car can cause mechanical failure though, perhaps by causing a transmission to shift gears at the wrong time and strip a gear or making the engine rev too high. Replacing the firmware in a phone isn't going to make an antenna melt or crack the screen. If a hardware component fails that can't be due to a programming error, they shouldn't be able to get out of it by saying "the phone was unlocked".

    3. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Except a warranty was given at the time of sale. And changing the OS on a laptop doesn't void the warranty. Nor does flashing the BIOS. And many of the hardware components are designed to be user-serviceable.

      I think claiming that changing the software/firmware/BIOS on a computing device is a legitimate cause to void the warranty is a big stretch. I can see charging a nominal fee to re-flash the device if it gets bricked but not abandoning the device entirely without first proving that the non-OEM software caused a hardware failure.

      The fact that this is even an issue befuddles me. They're selling these devices, not licensing them or leasing them.

  2. Security mechanism? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just finished watching this youtube speech by Cory Doctorow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HUEvRyemKSg

    "Security mechanism" = root kit + spyware.

    Its in everyones best interest to use real language and not marketing/propaganda speech. Root kits and spyware is not security.

  3. Re:DRM Language by stephanruby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Also, this is weird. Netflix and Hulu+ are able to work on rooted Android devices (they may not be able to run on ICS yet, but that's besides the point).

    How come Netflix and Hulu+ have more liberal policies than Google?

  4. As a token of appreciation... by api_syurga · · Score: 4, Interesting

    and since I'm on the market for a touch pad device anyway, I'll buy this one, even if don't end up modding it. After the purchase I will inform their customer representative that the decision to buy their device is owed partly of them upgrading to ICS and boot unlocking.

    Voting with my dollars.