It’s been a few months now since HTC CEO Peter Chou announced that the company will no longer be locking bootloaders on their devices, and enthusiasts have had nothing to show for it. Many of HTC’s recent devices are still locked up tight, prompting many to wonder when they would deliver on their promise. Thanks to an updated Facebook post and a well-timed tweet, though, we now have the answers we’ve been waiting for.
The process will begin with a web tool (due out later this month) through which you register an account and waive all liability in the event things go horribly wrong. That’s right folks, since unlocking the bootloader gives you a much greater level of control over how the device operates, you can kiss parts (or all) of your warranty goodbye. Once that’s done, you connect the Android device in question to computer with the SDK installed, and you’ll receive a “device identifier token” which gets plugged into the web tool to generate a unique unlock code.
Sounds simple enough, right? The first devices that are set to benefit from the unlocking treatment are the global version of the HTC Sensation, followed buy T-Mobile’s version of the device and the Sprint Evo 3D. Since unlocking the bootloader is one the of the first steps to running a custom ROM and really having some fun with your Android device, it’s heartening to see them focus on getting newer hardware opened up. Hopefully the floodgates will soon open, and we can start messing with our HTC toys with reckless abandon.