Can Android be truly 'open' on the T-Mobile-locked G1?

**Brenda** · 09-23-2008, 02:31 PM

All the way up until the official announcement of the T-Mobile G1 phone, we constantly heard about T-Mobile's status as a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance and how Android was to be a truly open piece of software, allowing third-party deve... Read more

**cevatt** · 09-23-2008, 03:09 PM

even if its unlocked wont it be kinda worthless considering 3G is using the 1700 band

**DesignDawg** · 09-23-2008, 03:35 PM

I think that the fact that the hardware is designed to run an OS that everyone in the world will have access to at the source level means that there's really no possibility of these phones staying locked. I also doubt TMobile would go to any lengths to combat "hacking". They probably have a simple little check in there to make sure it sees a TMobile sim, and it ends there.

Something IMPORTANT TO NOTE about all this is that the source is being relased under Apache v2, which means that developers are NOT REQUIRED to re-contribute anything they've added to the code. This is a business-freindly side of open source, because it allows people to have intellectual property they can control and charge for.

So, while it may not be easy, possible, or ideal to hack a TMobile release of the software on the phone, I doubt it will be much more difficult than just replacing the software on the phone istelf with a fresh, unbranded version of the OS.

**divestoclimb** · 09-23-2008, 09:59 PM

not if the bootloader is looking for signed firmware... that's how the Motorola Linux phones can be "open" but you still can't modify them.

**schecska** · 09-24-2008, 06:53 AM

NO carrier provides unlocked phones. Its bad business. An open source OS does not mean Tmobile wants to encourage you to buy their phones and use them on other carriers. They make money from the service, not the hardware. That said, Tmobile will unlock any phone, including the G1, after 90 days. I am on Tmobile and have unlocked my last 3 phones with no problem. Why would you want to pay $400 for a G1 to use on AT&T with no 3G?

**walscobry** · 10-01-2008, 08:39 PM

Its not the network lock that I'm worried about, this is not about taking the phone to another service provider.

This about me installing my own OS via the firmware boot loader. Yes, I do have my own OS. Yes, I want it on my phone.

**tread** · 10-01-2008, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by schecska

NO carrier provides unlocked phones [in the united states]. Its bad business. An open source OS does not mean Tmobile wants to encourage you to buy their phones and use them on other carriers. They make money from the service, not the hardware. That said, Tmobile will unlock any phone, including the G1, after 90 days. I am on Tmobile and have unlocked my last 3 phones with no problem. Why would you want to pay $400 for a G1 to use on AT&T with no 3G?

fixed it for you