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

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

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 3, 2012 @03:05PM 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.

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Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by Joe_Dragon · 2012-01-03 15:13 · 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 exomondo · 2012-01-03 15:16 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  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.
  The radio doesn't control the engine though, so obviously replacing the radio isn't going to void the engine warranty.
2. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by Joe_Dragon · 2012-01-03 15:27 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It all goes back to a law enacted in the 1970s that allows you, the automobile owner, the freedom to choose where and by whom you have your car serviced, all without voiding the car's warranty. So replace CAR serviced with source for apps. As under that law you can go to jiffy lube or any other place for a oil change and not be forced to go to the dealer.
3. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by DragonTHC · 2012-01-03 15:29 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  if you want to use a car analogy, use one that fits.
  If you flash the rom on your ECM and your car stops working, you've voided your warranty.
  
  --
  They're using their grammar skills there.
4. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by Moryath · 2012-01-03 15:30 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  And yet the car companies have found ways around this.
  One way was, they went to the reporting computers, but refused to release (even for a proper market rate cost) specs and reading programs that would allow the 3rd party service companies to interact with them. So when the 60,000 mile "service engine soon" lie-light came on, if you wanted it to go off, you HAD to pay the dealership a $100 "analysis fee."
  Another way is how Volkswagen works. They simply refuse to sell parts to the 3rd party market, anywhere, and maintain control of certain things (brake pads in the 2008 Rabbit come to mind) with sensor chips "protected by copyright."
5. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by Mistlefoot · 2012-01-03 16:06 · 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).
6. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by AmberBlackCat · 2012-01-03 16:07 · 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".
7. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by TheInternetGuy · 2012-01-03 16:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  The radio doesn't control the engine though, so obviously replacing the radio isn't going to void the engine warranty.
  That's just not true, any self respecting slash doter would hook their cruise control up to the BPM counter of the Audio system. And then they would pre-calculate a play list which will result in the required speed trough out the planned route.
  
  --
  If my comment didn't sound as good in your head as it did in mine, then I guess we all know who's to blame
8. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by exomondo · 2012-01-03 16:18 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  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".
  Cracked screens aren't usually covered under warranty, but firmware can damage components by forcing frequencies that are not supported by those components, overcharging batteries, etc... Mind you Apple said they wouldn't cover jailbroken devices under warranty but in many cases they still did. So there's probably a good chance that if it's something highly unlikely to have been damaged by firmware they'll still likely cover it, but if you've bricked it you're probably SOL.
9. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by jtownatpunk.net · 2012-01-03 16:27 · 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.
10. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by tlhIngan · 2012-01-03 17:28 · Score: 2
  
  Cracked screens aren't usually covered under warranty, but firmware can damage components by forcing frequencies that are not supported by those components, overcharging batteries, etc... Mind you Apple said they wouldn't cover jailbroken devices under warranty but in many cases they still did. So there's probably a good chance that if it's something highly unlikely to have been damaged by firmware they'll still likely cover it, but if you've bricked it you're probably SOL.
  That's because it's trivially easy to undo a jailbreak - you just put the phone in DFU mode, and click "Restore" in iTunes. Voila, jailbreak wiped.
  ASUS, HTC, they know when you unlock the bootloader because you visit their website and enter in the serial number (the unlocks are keyed to the devices). So just that act already invalidates the warranty.
  If you push the issue, they can probably check the NVRAM and determine if you really did or didn't apply the unlock (the unlock changes some variables to allow the bootloader to boot unsigned binaries). In the case of the ASUS, it looks like it clears the DRM key fields as well which breaks Google Movies and can't be recovered by flashing an official image again.
  (Archos does this - using their jailbreak erases all the DRM keys and disables DRM functions which cannot be restored even using official firmware).
11. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by justforgetme · 2012-01-03 21:31 · Score: 2
  
  Most electro manual transmissions (DSG, PDK, etc) work by this principle. The user just tells the CPU that he wants to change gear and the firmware does the rest, canceling the request if it is invalid. By that principle a badly written firmware could do much more than just strip a gear. Also in general you don't need a clutch to change gear, you need it to change gear smoothly and non destructively.
  
  --
  -- no sig today
12. Re:Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act by LizardKing · 2012-01-03 22:42 · Score: 2
  
  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.
  That's what you get for driving an automatic.
DRM Language by exomondo · 2012-01-03 15:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

Google video rental will also be unavailable because the device will be no longer protected by security mechanism

Why do they insist on this kind of language? Why can't they just say that, since the content providers don't trust you, they won't do business with you because they can't assert any control over your device? I know it sounds Stallman-ish but it's not about protecting the device at all, that's an outright lie. And it's not about protecting you either, it's about protecting content providers from you because they don't trust you. They really need to change their attitude towards their customers (not consumers, customers).
1. Re:DRM Language by SalsaDoom · 2012-01-03 15:23 · Score: 2
  
  You know why, man. Because that makes the content providers sound like assholes, and those are people they are loosely in business with. Obviously your version is the accurate honest truth, but this is business and marketing where honesty and truth are of little use. You can't actually go to a customer and say, "I'm locking this down because I think you'll try and fuck me later.", they'll tell you to get out.
  The content providers *are* assholes. This is generally known to most people who care even a little bit about the topic. Who *rents* a movie on their phone anyway? I guess people do but it always struck me as a bit insane. This is just business speak. Yes its annoying, but even I do it when talking to customers. Its the language of the land.
  Anyone who knows why they might want to unlock their bootloader can probably translate from business-to-normal speech transparently anyway.
  
  --
  "Computers will never truly be free until the last windows user is strangled with the entrails of the last mac user."
2. Re:DRM Language by steelfood · 2012-01-03 15:39 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  The DRM is protecting you from watching the sheer dreck that is coming out of Hollywood these days passing for movies. It's protecting your wallet, your time, and in some cases, your sanity.
  How you can find such protections objectionable is beyond me.
  
  --
  "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
3. Re:DRM Language by CyberDog3K · 2012-01-03 16:33 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  In at least some cases I know of, the "security mechanism" is used to encrypt and secure payment credentials (cc info, etc) on the new droids. While I am not asserting that this is the case here, it's not impossible that certain apps will fail to work because they can't safely store or access your private data on an altered machine.
4. Re:DRM Language by stephanruby · 2012-01-03 16:33 · 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?
5. Re:DRM Language by QuantumRiff · 2012-01-03 16:52 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You are not google's customer.. You are google's product. Their customers are people that buy ad-words and other advertising to show to you.
  
  --
  
  What are we going to do tonight Brain?
6. Re:DRM Language by exomondo · 2012-01-03 16:59 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You are not google's customer.. You are google's product.
  If you are renting movies or buying apps from them then you are their customer, just like if you're a Netflix or Hulu subscriber you are their customer.
7. Re:DRM Language by Divebus · 2012-01-03 18:51 · Score: 2
  
  That's proper wording. The device will no longer be protected from you!
  You aren't the customer, either. You are in fact the consumer. Google's advertisers are their customers and you and your data are what's for sale to them. The conduit for Google scraping your data is no longer protected if you jailbreak.
  
  --
  
  Most of the stuff on /. won't survive first contact with facts.
this must be... by spyrral · 2012-01-03 15:31 · Score: 3, Funny

some definition of popular I'm not familiar with.
1. Re:this must be... by LordKronos · 2012-01-03 15:48 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You aren't familiar with the definition of popular that includes so many people preordering that, by the time release day hits, Amazon has a 5-7 week backlog, which continued to grow until Amazon has to stop accepting preorders? Nope, that doesn't sound popular at all.
2. Re:this must be... by martin-boundary · 2012-01-03 16:25 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  some definition of popular I'm not familiar with.
  
  Yup, popular is one of the more decepticonly versatile words in the English language, but I believe it's being used optimusly in this case, though.
3. Re:this must be... by Samantha+Wright · 2012-01-03 16:51 · Score: 2
  
  Well. That's just prime, then.
  
  --
  Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
Fucking crybabies by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-03 15:34 · Score: 5, Insightful

A company makes it easy for you to mod their tablet, and all you can do is whinge. Reading these comments, I doubt they will bother next time around.
1. Re:Fucking crybabies by Raenex · 2012-01-04 01:47 · Score: 2
  
  A company makes it easy for you to mod their tablet, and all you can do is whinge.
  Because we're not groveling sycophants willing to heap praise for every crumb given. Oh, sure, you can unlock your device, but you have to ask permission, your warranty is void, and your capabilities are diminished. Gee, thank you master!
Oh, no, no google video? What ever shall I do? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-03 15:43 · Score: 3, Insightful

"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.'"
That's OK, I'll just pirate the movies for free without the idiotic DRM and not give anyone a dime. How's that working out for you, corporations?
Re:Google movie rentals ? by exomondo · 2012-01-03 15:54 · Score: 2

When did Google begin renting movies ?
A while ago.
Security mechanism? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-03 15:59 · 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.
It's a start. by Dremth · 2012-01-03 16:01 · Score: 2

It's nice to see more and more manufacturers providing the option for customers unlock the bootloaders for their Android devices, but does it really have to void the warranty? I mean, can't they determine if a failure was a direct result of unlocking the bootloader? If you unlock your phone's bootloader and then brick your phone trying to install some weird crap, then it's clearly your fault and shouldn't be covered by your warranty, but if your screen dies or your battery explodes, it probably has nothing to do with whether or not you unlocked the device's bootloader.
Just got mine... by Fez · 2012-01-03 16:05 · Score: 4, Insightful

I just got mine this afternoon, ordered just before Christmas from Best Buy and it came today. So far, I'm impressed with it.
I will probably not root the thing, and have no interest in custom ROMs, so aside from the impending ICS update it's great for me as-is.
I've been playing on it non-stop since I pulled it off the charger about 3 hours ago and even with all manner of app installing and game playing it's barely below 75% charge.
1. Re:Just got mine... by SpazmodeusG · 2012-01-03 17:04 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I just got mine this afternoon ... I will probably not root the thing.
  I suspect you feel that way simply because you haven't had enough time to see how limited it is without rooting it. Basically step outside the realm of any task that has an app for it and you'll need to root it. As an example i had to root my Asus Transformer to log in to an openVPN network. It's a fairly simple task that even my phone can do but the Transformer can't do it without root access (yes, it does support l2tp without rooting but i needed openVPN).
2. Re:Just got mine... by Fez · 2012-01-03 17:12 · Score: 2
  
  OpenVPN would be nice, but I have had an android phone for over a year and have had no desire or need to root that, either. It supports IPsec in a way that works fine for me, as does PPTP.
  Though the Transformer Prime doesn't have the "Advanced IPsec" options my Droid X does, unfortunately. (Perhaps ICS will bring that... would be nice)
3. Re:Just got mine... by thegarbz · 2012-01-03 21:03 · Score: 2
  
  Supporting one specific app that is not in the usage case for 99% of the prospective owners does not make a device "limited". I too have rooted my device, but I honestly couldn't name a single application that actually would need it. Titanium backup maybe, but there's an application that any normal person who doesn't flash new firmware every week could very easily live without. Why I rooted? Well it was just a feature of the rom I installed.
  The reality is quite on the flip side. Every advertised feature works. Nearly all of the applications on the market work. Things as basic as stock tickers to advanced network discovery clients, ssh clients, remote desktop, file managers, applications which manage the system like task killers, and applications which fundamentally modify the behaviour of the phone like noLED as well also work on non-rooted devices.
  There's a few cases where some apps work better than others on rooted phones due to different methods of doing things, such as the program Adfree is neat on a rooted phone since it modifies the host file rather than staying memory resident like other adblockers, but on the whole there is very little that you can't do on a non-rooted phone even as an advanced user.
just a question, by lister+king+of+smeg · 2012-01-03 16:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

Why is it that they will not let you access their service on a rooted phone/tablet but I can use their service on a Pc which I have admin access to and in the case of browser based delivery such as hulu or netflix I have the source code of the browser through which they send their content that they think they must protect so dearly. What is the deal? I am far more likely to pirate on a Pc then I am on the phone by far.

--
---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
As a token of appreciation... by api_syurga · 2012-01-03 16:37 · 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.
Ad vs. PPV by tepples · 2012-01-03 17:00 · Score: 3, Informative

You are not google's customer.. You are google's product. Their customers are people that buy ad-words and other advertising to show to you.
Since when are Android Market movie rentals fully supported by advertisers? I thought they were pay-per-view.
hardware parts stay under warranty regardless by gl4ss · 2012-01-03 19:13 · Score: 2

of what you do.
also manufacturer defects will have to be covered(this goes _past_ the so called warranty).

--
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Hey tablet vendors - pay attention by gru3hunt3r · 2012-01-03 22:36 · Score: 5, Insightful

Hey tablet vendors - pay attention, Asus isn't just catering to the home user - they're catering to the corporate IT user.
Our employees don't need Google videos ..
But to get OpenVPN on android 4.0 I (currently) need to root it.
Making rooted devices is incredibly appealing.
ASUS - Nice job!
Guess which device just went to the top of our "IT recommended devices" list for employees.
Can't wait to see it - if this device officially "supports" roots .. in the sense that I don't have to worry about you deciding to remote kill + brick the device then we'll just make this the only device employees can receive reimbursement for.
God I can't wait for a decent Windows 8 tablet. This android ipad walled garden policies *crap* is so incompatible with the company I work for. While I'm not a microsoft fan, at least they understand business.
I'll get a tablet when... by EmagGeek · 2012-01-03 23:46 · Score: 2

... they come blank, and you can install your O/S yourself, with YOUR choice of features enabled, and have complete control over all of the hardware, just like a PC - without having to jump through a million hoops.
I just went through this process on my phone just so I could get OpenVPN installed and working. What a pain.
Re:dead pixels, dead buttons etc. by SteveTheNewbie · 2012-01-04 01:38 · Score: 2

In both Australia and New Zealand, the onus would be on the manufacturer to prove that flashing new firmware caused the flames to spout from the USB port (or the dead pixels etc). US law may be different, but a lot of countries have some pretty decent consumer protection laws. In the case of ASUS, they would still need to honour the warranty on the rest of the device, and if flashing caused loss of DRM keys and such forth that were not able to be recovered with a factory restore, they would quite probably have to make this abundantly clear to the consumer that this was the case or it could get messy.
The techcrunch article is gratuitously bitter by peppepz · 2012-01-04 02:56 · Score: 2

They bash the tablet for a hundred lines only because:
a) its gps receiver is poor;
b) its bootloader is locked.
Bid deal? The American market leader for the same product category sells devices that are locked as hell and occasionally have defective (main!) antennas. Did techcrunch review those gadgets with the same language?
Then Asus declares that they will unlock the bootloader, thereby invalidating three quarters of the techcrunch article, but its author just adds a post scriptum at the end of the article saying that its point still stands because "Asus has to learn how to properly handle consumer electronics". This sounds like the fable of the wolf and the lamb to me. If Asus manage to release CE stuff with the same price/features ratio that they offered in the PC/components market, I for one will definitely feel properly "handled".
Content owners write the rules by DragonWriter · 2012-01-04 06:15 · Score: 2

How come Netflix and Hulu+ have more liberal policies than Google?
Because Netflix and Hulu+ were able to get different terms from content owners. Some of that may be how much revenue the content owners get from Netflix and Hulu+, some of that may be how unfriendly content owners are to Google for other reasons, some of them may be due to the fact that Google Movie Rentals include the option to download and play offline while Netflix and Hulu+ are streaming-only services, and content owners may view the latter as less vulnerable (whether or not that is actually the case is less important than how they view it.)