HTC’s unlocked bootloader tool may void warranty

Remember when we mentioned that HTC would be unlocking the bootloaders of several handsets this August? It was pretty great of HTC to listen to their customers and give them what they want, although for those living in the US and who get their updates through their carriers, an unlocked bootloader update may be quite tricky to get approved.

We’re thinking that because of all the carrier bloatware that comes preloaded onto smartphones, carriers would probably prefer if their users did not tamper with them despite the fact that said bloatware causes the phone to become laggy and ultimately detracts from a great user experience that the OEM had in mind.

Perhaps this was an issue that HTC managed to foresee and have come up with an alternative method of unlocking your phone’s bootloader through a web tool that they will be releasing this month. There is a catch however; according to HTC you will be required to register an account with a valid e-mail address and “accept legal disclaimers that unlocking may void all or parts of your warranty.”

For those who care a huge deal about phone warranty this could be a deal breaker, but if you’re confident that you won’t need your warranty, all you would have to do is connect your phone to a computer that has the Android SDK, launch the web tool and a unique unlocking key will then be sent to your email which you can use to unlock your device.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones, Web
Tags: Bootloader, HTC, Smartphones