Motorola In Spring: “Unlocked Bootloaders Coming In Late 2011.” Late 2011: Just Kidding.

Previous claims by high up Motorola executives that Q3/Q4 of this year would see the release of a handful of software updates to unlock the bootloaders of older devices, as well as see the release of new hardware with already unlocked bootloaders was…false. To date there has been one phone that’s received an update to go back and unlock the locked bootloader — the AT&T Atrix 4G.

Unfortunately today’s newly announced Motorola Droid RAZR ships with a locked bootloader. When pressed for the lack of new, unlocked hardware and software updates for previously released devices, Motorola responded by claiming that they “had to lock the bootloader due a request from Verizon” and that “security, safety and regulatory guidelines” made them do it. Reality: Bullshit. There are 0 “regulatory guidelines” or any other law that requires the bootloader to be locked — a fact made evident by the large number of HTC and Samsung (Nexus-branded devices specifically) phones that ship with an unlocked bootloader.

In short: Motorola lied. Let’s hope that if the Google/Motorola merger is approved Google forces Moto to be a bit more…open with future devices.

Contest: Free Chocolate And Chance To Win 1 Of 4 10.1″ Samsung Galaxy Tab LTE Tablets.

Residents of northern Indiana near South Bend can score some free chocolate and possibly even 1 of 4 10.1″ Samsung Galaxy Tab LTE tablets. Starting October 20th (that’s this Thursday) South Bend/Elkhart will be blanketed in VZW’s super fast LTE network. In celebration, VZW is holding a special event at the Ireland Road Verizon Store that will see the first 100 visitors rewarded with a free chocolate bar. Straight out of Willie Wonka, four of the chocolate bars will have a “Golden Ticket” inside meaning the owner of the fancy chocolate bar is also the new owner of a 10.1″ Galaxy Tab.

The party goes down this Thursday at 560 W. Ireland Road, South Bend, Indiana @ 9am. Local GS readers who line up: Take pics!

Forgetting To Change Family Plan For 2 Week Canadian Vacation Results In $201,000 Roaming Bill.

We’ve heard of some pretty outrageous 4 and 5-digit overage bills for cellular roaming snafus. But Florida resident Celina Aarons easily takes the award for largest roaming/overage bill. Ever. A recent two-week vacation by Celina’s two, mute/deaf brothers north of the border racked up quite the bill due to the trio relying on text messaging to communicate, and of course a healthy appetite for mobile data. Celina already pays ~$175/month to cover the three for normal, U.S. coverage but regrettably forget to switch to an international plan for the brothers’ vacation. As you all know, roaming fees are exponentially higher in price.

The damage after two weeks in Canada and roaming without any international plans: $201,000

Luckily once Celina (and a local news agency) contacted T-Mobile the carrier was kind enough to lower the bill down to $2,500 and give Celina six months to pay all of the overage fees.

Reminder: If you travel internationally, subscribe to an international plan or, better yet, unlock your phone and use local pre-paid SIM cards.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich Widget Screenshots Leak Out Ahead Of Official Launch Event.

If there’s one thing Android enthusiasts love more than anything else it’s unannounced Android apps/services leaking on the interwebs for the world to see. On that note, Android Police snagged some screenshots of Ice Cream Sandwich’s new Gmail, email, and calendar widgets. While on the surface there isn’t too big of a change from the same widgets in Honeycomb, changes, whether big or small, are still changes nonetheless. We’ll go out on a limb and say we actually like the Honeycomb widgets more, though we’re sure a few of you out there will care to disagree. Let us know your favorite (and why) in the comments.

£1.9million Elemment Palazzo Is The Motor Home Of 2050.

Take every belief you have about motor homes being out of date and throw it out the window. An Australian-based company (Marchi Mobile) has a new £1.9million mobile palace they’d love to show you. The “eleMMent palazzo” features a space-age like design that first and foremost, takes wind resistance into account for what Marchi Mobile calls is the most fuel efficient motor home ever created. A quick stroll through the interior of the Palazzo shows that it is indeed a miniature mansion thanks to spacious, well-designed interior amenities.

While we definitely like the glow-in-the-dark paint job (added night time visibility), 510hp/93 MPH top speed, “rainforest” shower, working fireplace, full-use TV/internet, and 13 mpg fuel efficiency, the coolest thing to catch our eye is the rotating propeller-like windshield wipers (see above and left).

For the 430 sq. ft. of mobile living space you can take with you, is the asking price of £1.9million really all that pad? Ok, yes it is. Still, that doesn’t make us want the Palazzo any less. You?

Gallery after the break…

Weekly Google News Wrap-up: From The Plex Episode 1

Starting today we’ll be posting weekly wrap-ups of Google news for the week compliments of Google at a Glance co-founder, John Hanlon. “From The Plex” will consist of short and to the point headlines from the Google world cramming in as much info into the shortest amount of time possible — perfect for people on the go.

Google at a Glance is a weekly podcast covering everything Google/Android on Thursday evenings at 10pm (EST) — Website.

For more information about Google at a Glance, contact John (Google+ profile) or Nick Hanlon (Google+ profile)

Catch the first episode of “From The Plex” after the break…

BlackBerry DevCon Recap (Short And Sweet).

RIM has a lot to do in the coming months if they want to remain relevant…hell, if they want to keep the lights on. Today’s DevCon conference gave us some insight as to how they plan on doing that with their next-gen platform, BBX. There’s plenty to see so grab a snack and hop inside…