HTC has today announced that its new ChaCha and Salsa smartphones, will be available from July 6, exclusive to Vodafone and 3. But in an odd twist, it’s been revealed that the bootloaders on these new Gingerbread “Facebook phones” will be locked. Updated.
A few weeks ago, HTC said that it’d be reviewing its policy on locking bootloaders on select phones, before HTC CEO Peter Chou announced that bootloaders on all its Android devices will be unlocked.
The Taiwanese company’s change of heart was welcomed by (potential) customers frustrated by the lack of freedom to root and flash custom ROMs on what was supposed to be an “open source” platform.
So why doesn’t this new global policy apply to the ChaCha and Salsa in Australia? None of HTC’s people were forthcoming with explanations at last night’s launch, least of all willing to provide an official statement on this decision. We’ll look into this and keep you posted.
Update: We’ve contacted VHA and a spokesperson has told us that they’ve requested an official response from HTC regarding the locked bootloaders. Until then, it’s “no comment” from the carrier.
The Salsa and ChaCha will be available for $0 upfront on Vodafone’s $29 cap over 24 months, or $0 upfront on the $45 Infinite plan over 24 months. The ChaCha is also available as a prepaid offer for $299. [Vodafone]
Julian
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 10:05 AMfrom what i understand, a phone touted as a “facebook phone” is likely to be a lower end type offering. I think it’s unlikely people interested in these are looking to load on custom roms.
still, i see no reason for that option to be locked out, especially considering HTCs previous announcements.
Sam
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:47 PMI can only agree with the above comment. People looking to put custom ROM’s on their phone really won’t be looking to purchase either of these devices. If they are – they’re barking up the wrong tree.
While I agree that this news seems to be going back on what HTC announced previously – I think a better example of a company treating their customers with contempt is Skype and their new Android app. I mean working on 3-4 devices only? C’mon seriously?!
Chris
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 10:22 AMMaybe if they have an agreement with Facebook to ues their name then they also want control over the phone. Who cares though really, I won’t buy HTC due to their skimpy amounts of RAM and who wants a Facebook phone anyway.
HTC is like HP, save 10c per device by doing something cheap so the board gets a bonus but piss off your customers and sell less later because you have tarnished the brand.
jy
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 1:29 PMI realized what is HTC’s product by using Salsa..I will never give a sight on HTC product. It’s a nightmare..