The Glade 4.0

We don't really like the Droid X as a phone, but that part barely matters now. You probably shouldn't buy the phone because doing so supports something very wrong—something anti-customer and anti-innovation—that Motorola is doing.

According to a forum of Android modders, as pointed out by MobileCrunch, the Droid X is locked down with an authentication chip called an eFuse. Even if you aren't a hardcore techie, you can grasp what it does.

The eFuse is there to verify what's called a bootloader—the very first process to load filled with important stuff encompassing the core software of the phone, like firmware. And if the eFuse doesn't see specific, pre-programmed code within Motorola's guidelines, it will essentially short out and the Droid X will cease to function at all. (To resuscitate the phone, you'd need specialized hardware only found at Motorola.)

Now, I know what the skeptics may be thinking: Why would anyone be messing with the core software of the phone anyway? Great question.

Motorola's software sucks. Their 100% unnecessary Android skin on top of the Droid X ruins the experience of the phone, killing the speed and cluttering the UI, making it pretty much unusable.

But maybe you like Motorola! Maybe you're just a Motorola guy. Maybe you appreciate everything impressive they've done in terms of hardware with the Droid X. Maybe you just want to buy American as much as you can and realize that Motorola and Apple are (sort of) our last bastions of hope in a mobile marketplace dominated by excellent designer-manufacturers like HTC, Samsung, LG and RIM.

So maybe you want to buy the Droid X and load Android 2.2 yourself. Because Google, another bastion of American tech innovation, has this fantastic, newer, faster, better version of its operating system...not crummy old Android 2.1, the OS preloaded on the Droid X.

Motorola is telling you—maybe its most ardent customer base—don't even think about loading Android 2.2. Don't even think about messing with the phone's drivers or firmware. If you do this, we will break your phone.

Hey Motorola, imagine if Henry Ford made the Model-T blow up any time someone lifted the hood. Imagine if Thomas Edison shorted a homeowner's wiring if they tried to change their own lightbulb. Where would we be now?

If you'd rather not support your product if someone else meddles with it, that's totally fine. Void their warranties; don't kill your own product to spite them.

You are not inventors. You are profiteers afraid of people, at home, doing what you do better than you.

And maybe you should be.

Because some people like the OS and not everyone is obsessive about having buttons to click?

Fair enough, but screen keyboards suck.

Fair enough, but screen keyboards suck.

I used to think the same thing. It made me hard pressed to find a good phone with AT&T. I had a blackberry for the longest time but browsing without a touchscreen on a phone sucks and Blackberrys have **** browsers and are absolutely cumbersome (in general) to operate.

The iPhone's sensitivity is absolutely brilliant. It is the only phone I would even consider posting on and once you get used to it becomes ever faster. I have confidence that HTC, LG and Samsung will continue to improve to the quality of Apple in thus area.

And I will NEVER use another HTC device again.

I *hate* the touchscreen keyboard on my iTouch.

In publishing and graphic design, lorem ipsum[p][1][2] is the name given to commonly used placeholder text (filler text) to demonstrate the graphic elements of a document or visual presentation, such as font, typography, and layout. The lorem ipsum text, which is typically a nonsensical list of semi-Latin words, is an edited version of a Latin text by Cicero, with words/letters omitted and others inserted, but not proper Latin[1][2] (see below: History and discovery). A close English translation might be "pain itself" (dolorem = pain, grief, misery, suffering; ipsum = itself).
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Today's popular version of lorem ipsum was first created for Aldus Corporation's first desktop publishing program Aldus PageMaker in the mid-1980s for the Apple Macintosh.[1] Art director Laura Perry adapted older forms of the lorem text from typography samples - it was, for example, widely used in Letraset catalogs in the 1960s and 1970s.[1] (Anecdotes suggest that the original use of the "Lorem ipsum" text was by Letraset, which was used for print layouts by advertising agencies as early as the 1970s.) The text was frequently used in PageMaker templates.

Enough With The EFuse DROID X Talk Already

For some reason we’re seeing news all over this morning (and 1,000 emails) that there is a mysterious “eFuse” in the Droid X that will “blow up your phone” should you tamper with the encrypted bootloader. Seriously? First off, this news was reported 4 days ago as “a bit of conjecture” and has not been confirmed by, well, anyone. Second, I’ve heard from 2-3 sources already within the dev community that have said this is as far from the truth as possible. It’s the same bootloader as the Milestone. Has anyone’s Milestone blown up from an eFuse yet? Someone find me one.
If this turns out to be true, then this is awful news, but until Motorola or one of their developers comes out and admits that this is the truth, take it for it’s worth people, a “guess.”

Update 1:


Update 2:

"Motorola's primary focus is the security of our end users and protection of their data, while also meeting carrier, partner and legal requirements. The Droid X and a majority of Android consumer devices on the market today have a secured bootloader. In reference specifically to eFuse, the technology is not loaded with the purpose of preventing a consumer device from functioning, but rather ensuring for the user that the device only runs on updated and tested versions of software. If a device attempts to boot with unapproved software, it will go into recovery mode, and can re-boot once approved software is re-installed. Checking for a valid software configuration is a common practice within the industry to protect the user against potential malicious software threats. Motorola has been a long time advocate of open platforms and provides a number of resources to developers to foster the ecosystem including tools and access to devices via MOTODEV at http://developer.motorola.com.

I dunno, might wanna ask the Android community that seems obsessed with rooting.

I *hate* the touchscreen keyboard on my iTouch.

I'm guessing you probably also hate top sirloin, punching hippies and blowjobs too.