Update: Further probing has shown bootloader is ‘signed’ not ‘encrypted’. This makes things a little easier for devs to try and crack, but it’s still not ideal.
Just last night the Motorola Atrix was rooted, even before it’s released to the general public, but that’s pretty much where the good news stops. With the newly attained root access, developers over at XDA got straight into ripping out the Atrix’s system files to check for a locked bootloader, and lo’ and behold, it is locked up. So this isn’t a phone Motorola are making ‘developer friendly’.
What does this mean? Well, with root access you can install apps that have more control over your phone, which are usually cooler and have more features. The locked bootloader on the other hand means that you won’t be able to flash any custom builds of Android (ie, CyanogenMod). This usually isn’t a big deal for the average user, but if you’re reading this site you’re not that average user, so you may question this device before you purchase it from a carrier here.
