Earlier this week, we reported that the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 had a locked bootloader, and that meant it would be unlikely we would ever see custom ROMs like CyanogenMod for the new Android flagship. But just days later, developers have already successfully unlocked the bootloader.
They won’t be releasing the unlock to the public for another month, however.
The HTC One has been incredibly well received since it launched last month, but the handset was just too late to have a positive impact on HTC’s profits during the first quarter. The Taiwanese company made just $2.8 million in profit during the three-month period, which is a 98% drop from the $152 million it saw a year ago.
Samsung has had to defend the Galaxy S4’s plastic form factor quite a bit since the device was announced back in March, and one of the ways it has done that is by touting the handsets durability. Plastic, Samsung claims, makes the device much more robust than competing smartphones because it bends and absorbs impact.
But as we suspected all along, aluminum is stronger. In a smartphone torture test performed by warranty provider SquareTrade, the Galaxy S4 fails to beat the iPhone 5 in drop tests, and even proved to be more fragile than its predecessor, the Galaxy S III.
The HTC One may or may not steal marketshare from the Samsung Galaxy S4, but there’s one thing we can all agree on: It’s a stunning smartphone, and its premium aluminum build makes it one of the few Android-powered smartphones that can rival the iPhone’s build quality — as I noted back in February.
But as a high-end device, it is expensive. Fortunately, HTC appears to be bringing the One’s flagship design to a more affordable device with midrange specifications, as you can see from the leaked photo of the HTC M4 above.
Samsung smartphones have always had plenty of support from custom ROMs like CyanogenMod, allowing owners who hate the TouchWiz user interface to replace it with something a little more like barebones Android. But Galaxy S4 owners on AT&T may not have that luxury.
According to CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik, the AT&T Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader, which could rule out the possibility of flashing custom ROMs. Kondik has advised those who might be interested in this kind of thing to look for another carrier.
