Motorola Atrix 4G Bootloader to be Unlocked With Gingerbread Update!

In a huge departure from their past stance, apparently Motorola is going to unlock the bootloader on the Atrix 4G once they release the Gingerbread update for the device, according to a report by the guys over at Brief Mobile.  This is a big deal because it will pave the way for Custom ROM's such as CM7 to be ported over to the device.

Traditionally, Motorola has not been very hacker friendly as they have secured the bootloader with software keys that prevented unauthorized access.  This has been true of nearly all Moto phones that have been released in the last few months.  However, recently, fans of Motorola phones have been stepping up pressure on the cell phone manufacturer to unlock those phones to allow for advanced customization, such as custom ROM's to be loaded on the device.  

More details after the break.

The update is rumored to be scheduled for a July release as an over-the-air (OTA) update for the phone.  According to Brief Mobile, they tried the unlock on their own Atrix 4G with a leaked copy of the Gingerbread update and were able to confirm that the it is possible.

From there, we tried it on our AT&T Gingerbread leak and confirmed with representatives of Motorola that the unlock would be kept available in the finalized versions of the AT&T Gingerbread software for the Atrix.

As of now, it's only be determined that the AT&T and Chinese varieties of the Atrix 4G will get this functionality.  No word yet and as to whether it will extend to other carriers, such as Bell.

This is a huge deal as it triggers a fundamental change in Motorola's philosophy and their willingness to embrace "hackers" who want to fully customize their phones through ROM's and custom kernels.

So what do you Atrix 4G owners think of this change?  Are you excited about it?  Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: Brief Mobile