Would an Unlocked Bionic be the same as a Nexus Brand device?

[diesteldorf]

Everyone is getting pretty excited over the possibility of the Nexus Prime being on Verizon.
It is definately a phone that has gone to the top of my list, along with the upcoming Bionic.

If the Bionic is released and either has it's bootloader unlocked via a 3rd Party or by Moto themselves, would it also have the same capabilities of a Nexus branded device in terms of updates and functionality?

If Vanilla Android (Ice Cream or Bananna Split, Rocky Road or whatever else may arise in the future) is released, would an unlocked Bionic have the same freedom to load as a Samsung Nexus device?

Obviously, Moto has great hardware, already announced 4G support, and will be releasing shortly. If the bootloader is broken, would there be any potential advantage for waiting for a true Nexus?

Is it a fair statement that the Droid 1 was as close to a Nexus as Verizon has had since the bootloader was already unlocked?

 

[androidjunkie30]

I dont think so

 

[terrapin01]

If the Bionic is released and either has it's bootloader unlocked via a 3rd Party or by Moto themselves, would it also have the same capabilities of a Nexus branded device in terms of updates and functionality? Probably but it's not clear yet.

If Vanilla Android (Ice Cream or Bananna Split, Rocky Road or whatever else may arise in the future) is released, would an unlocked Bionic have the same freedom to load as a Samsung Nexus device? Probably but it's not clear yet.

Obviously, Moto has great hardware, already announced 4G support, and will be releasing shortly. If the bootloader is broken, would there be any potential advantage for waiting for a true Nexus? It's not clear.

Is it a fair statement that the Droid 1 was as close to a Nexus as Verizon has had since the bootloader was already unlocked? Probably.

 

[clearrants]

Well, by definition, the Nexus devices are the purest Google devices. They get updates straight from Google as soon as they are ready to make them commercially available.

An unlocked bootloader just would allow you to install a custom ROM. You would need to wait for someone to optimize the Android update for the hardware, test it and then release it which may take several months.

We can also safely assume the Nexus will have an NFC chip as the Nexus S now does. While it's possible, it's probable that the Bionic won't have such a chip.

Along those lines, since Google has their hands in designing Nexus phones, they can bake in any functionality they want and foresee using in the future.

 

[p08757]

Not close at all!

 

[stfoley23]

Everyone keeps mentioning the nexus prime, I dont even know what that phone is haha I haven't even bothered looking it up yet, is it really suppose to be so much better than the bionic?

 

[irl Panda]

The answer is yes. You won't get OTA updates, of course, but an unlocked bootloader means the Bionic won't be locked to whatever Android version the stock kernel is on. If it is locked then the Bionic will be stuck on GB until Moto/Verizon releases an ICS update. All functionality (software wise) you have on your OG Droid (overclocking, custom roms, custom kernels, timely Android updates) will be the same as the Bionic as long as there is a good dev community or CM support.

Edit: Hardware features is another story, of course.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

The answer is no. It would still need proprietary software (that's not open source) from Motorola, so updates to new Android versions can only happen when Motorola would update the normal Bionic.

Samsung and LG phones are completely unlocked, but development still depends on the manufacturers releasing things like drivers and other needed libraries.

 

[rkeller62]

The answer is no. It would still need proprietary software (that's not open source) from Motorola, so updates to new Android versions can only happen when Motorola would update the normal Bionic.

Samsung and LG phones are completely unlocked, but development still depends on the manufacturers releasing things like drivers and other needed libraries.

Well, not entirely true. I am running a version of Gingerbread 2.3.5 on my OG Droid. I am pretty sure that Motorola did not support this.

While you do need these proprietary files they can often be pulled from the software that the manufacturer did release and used with an AOSP build of another Android version. So my OG Droid has Motorola proprietary files from the FRG83G software release from the manufacturer and a ROM built from AOSP Source that is all Gingerbread otherwise.

 

[redraider133]

Well, not entirely true. I am running a version of Gingerbread 2.3.5 on my OG Droid. I am pretty sure that Motorola did not support this.

While you do need these proprietary files they can often be pulled from the software that the manufacturer did release and used with an AOSP build of another Android version. So my OG Droid has Motorola proprietary files from the FRG83G software release from the manufacturer and a ROM built from AOSP Source that is all Gingerbread otherwise.

I was going to say because the tb had gb before htc sent out the leaked version and many samsungs/moto's have versions of gb before moto/sammy sent the things out. But agree nothing is truly on the level of a nexus because if something is wrong and needs fixed they will get it first without waiting for dev's or OEM's to fix. I mean look how long it took htc to issue an update for the thunderbolt lol.

 

[irl Panda]

I was going to say because the tb had gb before htc sent out the leaked version and many samsungs/moto's have versions of gb before moto/sammy sent the things out. But agree nothing is truly on the level of a nexus because if something is wrong and needs fixed they will get it first without waiting for dev's or OEM's to fix. I mean look how long it took htc to issue an update for the thunderbolt lol.

I can agree with this. I think my major issue with Nexus devices is that they always seem to be released just a little too soon. Unless I recall incorrectly, we haven't seen a Nexus device with any serious hardware advantages over other phones released around the same time frame. To really get me on board, I'd like to see if leading in hardware designs as well. Without that, it's just another phone to me. Oh, and Verizon supporting it, of course.

 

[mjforte]

Yeah everyone that is getting excited about the Nexus Prime, remember that neither the Nexus One or Nexus S were huge hardware upgrades over everything else coming out at around the same time. As long as the bootloader is unlocked I could care less
about the software. And if you had a Nexus phone you'd most likely be running a custom ROM anyway so just because you got updates from Google first, the devs could build off of it pretty quickly. Look at the OG Droid, Pete already released 2.3.5 for it.

 

[Johnly]

Everyone is getting pretty excited over the possibility of the Nexus Prime being on Verizon.
It is definately a phone that has gone to the top of my list, along with the upcoming Bionic.

If the Bionic is released and either has it's bootloader unlocked via a 3rd Party or by Moto themselves, would it also have the same capabilities of a Nexus branded device in terms of updates and functionality?

If Vanilla Android (Ice Cream or Bananna Split, Rocky Road or whatever else may arise in the future) is released, would an unlocked Bionic have the same freedom to load as a Samsung Nexus device?

Obviously, Moto has great hardware, already announced 4G support, and will be releasing shortly. If the bootloader is broken, would there be any potential advantage for waiting for a true Nexus?

Is it a fair statement that the Droid 1 was as close to a Nexus as Verizon has had since the bootloader was already unlocked?

If moto builds a nexus (I really like that thought) it will be hardware only, they won't have a ting of software control, or it wont be a nexus

 

[mjforte]

If moto builds a nexus (I really like that thought) it will be hardware only, they won't have a ting of software control, or it wont be a nexus

I would LOVE a Nexus built by Moto! Wonder why they didn't get a chance to build it?

 

[rkeller62]

If moto builds a nexus (I really like that thought) it will be hardware only, they won't have a ting of software control, or it wont be a nexus

Not entirely true. As far as i know, the manufacturer writes all of the code that interacts with their hardware, including the kernel.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

An unlocked bootloader on the Bionic would be pretty close to a Nexus but what would set the Nexus apart would be the fact that updates come straight from Google. Often times, the phone will get the update before the source code is actually released so you would get updates just a little bit slower.

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