HTC OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES OPEN BOOTLOADERS

HTC CEO Peter Chou has decreed from on high, through the HTC Facebook page, the company's controversial policy of locking bootloaders is no more.

There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we've listened. Today, I'm confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience.

There is still the possibility this new ruling will be retroactive and HTC will open up the Thunderbolt, Evo 3d, Incredible S and the Sensation.

GOOGLE'S ANDY RUBIN SAYS ANDROID STILL OPEN

Last week reports surfaced claiming that Google was clamping down on what its Android partners could and could not tweak in newer versions of the operating system. One report filed by Bloomberg Businessweek cited “dozens” of industry executives who said that Android partners will no longer be able to make “willy-nilly tweaks to the software” if they want early access to new builds. On Wednesday Google’s Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering for Android, wrote a blog post in an effort to address concerns. “We don’t believe in a ‘one size fits all’ solution,” Rubin wrote. “The Android platform has already spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices – many of which were not originally contemplated when the platform was first created. As always, device makers are free to modify Android to customize any range of features for Android devices. This enables device makers to support the unique and differentiating functionality of their products. If someone wishes to market a device as Android-compatible or include Google applications on the device, we do require the device to conform with some basic compatibility requirements.” Rubin said Android’s “anti-fragmentation” program has been in place since Android 1.0, and exists as an effort to help create some consistency for developers. He added that Google remains committed to keeping Android an open platform and confirmed Google’s coders are hard at work bringing Honeycomb features to phones.

AMAZON ANDROID APPSTORE OPENS; FREE ANGRY BIRDS RIO

Amazon has opened its AppStore for Android. Early visitors can get Angry Birds Rio for free today, after today the price jumps to $0.99. Amazon is planning on making one paid app free every day and with 3,800 apps currently in the store they will have a lot to choose from.

You can download the apps using Amazon's AppStore App, download here, or directly from the Amazon website. The nice thing about the website iss that it offers a Test Drive ability that allows you to try out a program for 30-minutes before purchasing. Apps will be available from dozens of developers, spanning big names like Gameloft, Handmark and Glu Mobile.

Selling apps is not a particular stretch for the company since it already dabbles in a lot of digital content, like music and e-books.