US variants of Galaxy S4 ship with locked bootloaders

30 April, 2013
All models sold through carriers in the US will include a locked bootloader on the Galaxy S4.

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  • AnonD-26572
  • p%n
  • 30 Apr 2013

Anonymous, 30 Apr 2013But even that can be jailbroken. Thereby invalidating your hardware warranty. That is the real point here. Why should loading different software on hardware I own invalidaate the hardware warranty?

    • g
    • gtoexpress1966
    • IEU
    • 30 Apr 2013

    Locked bootloader first of all if u don't buy your phone straight up why cry and whine about a locked bootloader the phone is not yours til the contract ends then u should be able to do what u want to with the phone

      • D
      • AnonD-26572
      • p%n
      • 30 Apr 2013

      AnonD-123779, 30 Apr 2013I don't need anyone to monitor me, its the case with custom ROMSWhat precisely a custom ROM has to do with monitoring I cannot see. Even Apple were found to monitoring people a few years back on a stock iPhone. That is dwn to individual applcations and the networks ultimately.

        • D
        • AnonD-26572
        • p%n
        • 30 Apr 2013

        Anonymous, 30 Apr 2013You are wrong. Who says these elements should be exposed t... moreThe ROM is not equivalent to the BIOS. The BIOS is the equivalent of the recovery partition. If the stock recovery partition allowed for the installation of any ROM then why would I ever need to change it? The vendors created that problem themselves. I do not need to change the BIOS on my PC to install a different O/S. Why should the recovery partiton not allow me to load up a custom ROM. Were the bootloader unlocked and were the Stock recovery to allow installation of any ROM then why should I not be permitted the option or are you suggesting PC vendors should ship them with a BIOS that does not allow you to install any O/S other than the one shipped it with and no service packs until they so, which of clourse could ne months after it is publicly available. You seem to be advocating that locking down everything is a good idea. I'm afraid I beg to differ. It is about choice. Anyone be it installing a custom ROM on their phone or a different O/S on a PC should have that permission. After all I am the owner of it.

        Lets not also forget that overclocking a PC by changing BIOS settings is taken for granted on most PC's. Even Dell ships PC that are overcloked now. Using your logic I am not allowed to do this because the PC vendors should stop me as I cannot be trusted.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • mgi
          • 30 Apr 2013

          AnonD-26572, 30 Apr 2013Agreed. The mobile industry gets away with this because mos... moreYou are wrong.
          Who says these elements should be exposed to the user with such customizable levels?

          You cannot reprogram the Bios software on your Motherboard in your PC right?
          Why not??? You bought it!!!

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • MVf
            • 30 Apr 2013

            AnonD-26572, 30 Apr 2013So in other words the more locked down and non user configu... moreBut even that can be jailbroken.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • tAW
              • 30 Apr 2013

              LOL AdaM Outler@ XDA will find a way to unlock the bootloader similar to the Verizon GS3 and Note2.

                • D
                • AnonD-123779
                • vLy
                • 30 Apr 2013

                Samsung’s 20nm 4GB LPDDR3 Mobile DRAM goes into production


                ___________________________________________________

                  • D
                  • AnonD-123779
                  • vLy
                  • 30 Apr 2013

                  AnonD-26572, 30 Apr 2013So in other words the more locked down and non user configu... moreI don't need anyone to monitor me, its the case with custom ROMS

                    • D
                    • AnonD-58020
                    • ibn
                    • 30 Apr 2013

                    more evidence that sony is the only company that cares about customization. all of their phones can be unlocked, no problem

                      • g
                      • ganjaboy03
                      • vxt
                      • 30 Apr 2013

                      i cant get it!!!!!!!

                        • m
                        • mixa
                        • 0vP
                        • 30 Apr 2013

                        AnonD-134497, 30 Apr 2013I wonder how Galaxy S3 manages to sell in millions of quant... moreYou dude just said nothing, lol.
                        How can you "let the ppl do what they want", if you lock their device and w/o root rights?!?....cool thinking meng, keep it up.

                          • D
                          • AnonD-26572
                          • p%n
                          • 30 Apr 2013

                          Anonymous, 30 Apr 2013Should unlock... choice for customers who wants to load oth... moreAgreed. The mobile industry gets away with this because most people are ignorant of what it really means. In PC terms it the equivalent of Dell telling me I cannot install a different operating system, or even have Admin rights on my own brand new system, becasue that will invalidate the hardware warranty. In the PC market that would be totally unacceptable but becuase of people's ignorance the mobile vendors get away with it. I see no justification why I should not be able to install what ROM I like on a device I own.

                            • D
                            • AnonD-26572
                            • p%n
                            • 30 Apr 2013

                            AnonD-123779, 30 Apr 2013Thats y i love apple ____________________________ All t... moreSo in other words the more locked down and non user configurable the better? The iPhone is the most locked down device you can get.

                              • D
                              • AnonD-123779
                              • YQR
                              • 30 Apr 2013

                              Thats y i love apple

                              ____________________________
                              All the way to iPhone 5s

                                • D
                                • AnonD-62795
                                • TkA
                                • 30 Apr 2013

                                Coming from the S3 and having bought every single HTC since the HTC Hero, i'm glad i went with the HTC One this year, not saying the S4 is a bad phone but the One this year is the logical choice, people are going to have Iphone sheep syndrome though and buy it in droves, for people in the know who use custom roms and are in the dev scene, there is only one clear choice and thats the One, news like this article is just supporting that theory, not to mention the fact that the hardware is the same in both phones, so why bother with the S4? For touchwiz and a few gimmicks? I don't think so.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • thp
                                  • 30 Apr 2013

                                  Samdung, 30 Apr 2013Samsung hasn't been supportive at all to the custom ROM com... moreSo your saying, dont buy samsung because of the 2% of people who root their phones, are unhappy?

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • bEK
                                    • 30 Apr 2013

                                    Sony and Google are the only good vendors left. :-)

                                    I for one wouldn't buy anything from HTC, Samsung or LG because of how locked down they happen to be.

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-58527
                                      • uBS
                                      • 30 Apr 2013

                                      Samsung pays me more for telling people that WPs have no games and apps. Which is weird because they make a
                                      windows phone. But we are updated with an email as what to say each month. Mainly the focus has been WP

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • t78
                                        • 30 Apr 2013

                                        watch this lg optimus g! why people switching to lg now a day...

                                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv8jknw-o8k