Motorola to Unlock Atrix 4G Bootloader with Gingerbread Update, Code Leaked

The Motorola Atrix 4G will be the first Android smartphone to have its bootloader unlocked by the manufacturer with the forthcoming rollout of its long-awaited Android Gingerbread update. Motorola has previously stated that it would begin to ship devices and updates unlocking the bootloaders on select Android smartphones as soon as this Fall, but the release of an early Chinese Gingerbread build with an unlocked bootloader suggests that the manufacturer is ramping up to offer the option as soon as the middle of the third quarter, beating its own projections.

In addition, The codebase to unlock the bootloader has been extracted from the early build and has been backported to the Atrix Froyo build as well as a stand alone update, effectively allowing the complete opening of the Atrix 4G hardware to the Android mod community after months of attempts to force the bootloader open without much success. Further updates are expected ahead of the release of the official AT&T Gingerbread update in July.