HTC launches new developer portal

Smartphone manufacturer HTC has announced the launch of its new HTCdev developer portal. The new site replaces the Taiwan-based company's former developer.htc.com Developer Center.

HTCdev is the new home for kernel source code and binaries for the company's Android-based handsets, such as the Desire, Desire HD, Incredible, Sensation and the Flyer tablet. HTC's OpenSense SDK – a framework that provides APIs for the Tablet Pen on the Flyer, the Stereoscopic 3D used on the EVO 3D and Common Controls – is also hosted on the site.

The HTCdev portal will be the home of the upcoming bootloader unlocking solution. With the web Bootloader Unlock tool, users will be able to unlock the bootloaders and disable the NAND protection on a number of HTC devices. In late May, HTC announced that it would no longer lock the bootloaders on its devices; however, exactly when the new policy will be implemented has yet to be confirmed.

Having unlocked bootloaders makes it easier for modders and developers to install custom firmware, like that provided by the CyanogenMod project, onto their devices. Custom firmware typically provides additional features and newer versions of the underlying Android mobile operating system.

See also:

• HTC posts Hero kernel source code, a 2009 report from The H.

(crve)