It seems you can never assume anything in the Android world. Don’t assume HTC is always going to be developer friendly. Don’t assume Motorola and Sony are not ever going to be friendly. One of the companies in the last statement just broke through the barrier enforced on devices such as the Xperia X10.
The announcement that rang out form Sony’s development blog last month came as quite a shock to some people. Sony would now be offer unloackable bootloaders on their new devices? Skepticism was almost guaranteed. However Sony has delivered with the launch of their bootloader unlock site, which is now live. As said in the initial statement made by Sony only the new devices are supported (Xperia Play, Arc, Neo, Pro), although the devices listed are not readily available everywhere (like here).
The process involved requires the Android SDK, a SIM unlocked device, and the input of a few commands. Simply stated if none of it makes sense to you don’t do it.
Hopefully more manufacturers go this route and allow further development to their devices. Sony has definitely delivered where some others haven’t. They said they were going to do something and they did it, which is a standard not present in many companies or people for that matter. I think they deserve a pat on the back.
Source: Android Central via Sony Ericsson
