Looks like Android’s “open” nature has just received it’s potentially most damaging setback yet. New reports from early buyers of the device originating from XDA have noted that the Transformer Prime’s bootloader is locked down. To those not in the rooting scene, a locked bootloader essentially means no custom ROMs, kernels, etc. — essentially, no fun. And considering that the Transformer Prime won’t ship with Android 4.0 ICS right off the bat, the disappointment factor is now even higher.
What’s even more puzzling is that the Transformer Prime isn’t tied to any carrier by cellular radios — a normal source of “bootloader locking” as carriers often hide behind the guise of “security” for such actions. Making matters even worse, the bootloader is also encrypted with 128-bit AES encryption in a sort of sinister “screw you” compliments of ASUS.
It seems pretty ridiculous that ASUS would lock down the Transformer Prime, especially given the nerd-centric specs. Most people who would gladly line up and shell out hundreds of dollars for the privilege of the first quad-core tablet are the very same people ASUS is spiting with the unnecessary bootloader lockdown.
So far, the only acknowledgement from ASUS comes by way of a post on their official German Facebook Fan page (that has already been removed) – (ASUS German FB Fan page):
Hallo Zusammen, wie schon beim TF101 wird es auch beim TF201 keinen offenen Bootloader geben. Unsere Update Politik ist bekanntermaßen gut und schnell, eine Modifizierung des Betriebssystem möchten wir nicht ermöglichen.
Essentially, what they’re saying is “that like the TF101 the TF201 will NOT gets an unlocked bootloader, but the updatepolicy is good and fast, so they won’t let us do any modification of the OS.” (Via: XDA Member HamSummit)
All that said, we’re waiting for ASUS America to respond to our requests for comment.
For Transformer Prime enthusiasts looking to right ASUS’ wrong, a Change.org petition has already been started in an attempt to get the manufacturer to backtrack on their locked bootloader policy.
