The developers behind the ChevronWP7 jailbreaking tool have discontinued it after striking a deal with Microsoft to integrate homebrewing options directly into the operating system itself.
The ChevronWP7 developers, which include Rafael Rivera, Chris Walsh and Long Zheng, were contacted by Brandon Watson, Director of Developer Experience for Windows Phone 7 at Microsoft about the possibility of bringing some of the jailbreak features into the main OS.
The developers decided to discontinue the tool in order to “fast-track” discussions with Microsoft on how homebrewing can become a pivotal aspect of Windows Phone 7.
It was only last week that Windows Phone 7 was jailbroken with the ChevronWP7 unlocking tool, less than a month after the operating system's initial release.
With Microsoft now offering “to open the Windows Phone 7 platform for broader access to developers and users”, it appears that the walled garden approach it was previously taking may be losing ground.
The unlocking has allowed a number of opportunities for development within the homebrewing community, including a new Windows Phone 7 custom ringtone manager that the ChevronWP7 team have been working on.
It remains to be seen what kinds of homebrewing options will be added to the OS and if ChevronWP7 will resurface again. With some reports indicating a major update to Windows Phone 7 in January 2011, some of those features may come sooner than expected.
www.real-privacy.edu.tc
maybe you can now have some of apple's pie ;)
On mostly every phone I had, I was able to download and install a binary from no matter where I got it. I got a message stating installing unsigned code can damage your device, and the user takes all responsibility for whatever said programme does. That makes sense.
The chroot'ed prison Apple created to protect users is bollocks. The anti-pornography crusade of Steve-o is also codswallop in my opinion. An adult user should have the ability to install whatever the content is, no matter how morally offensive it is. Once you create restrictions, people will find ways around it. The cat-and-mouse game distracts from real development because you are keep trying to win a losing battle against crackers with nothing better to do.
"Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products. With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant." [1]
Their "embrace" of homebrew in WP7 isn't about securing more control, not encouraging community.
[1]: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20021836-52.html
See: http://mashable.com/2010/11/20/microsoft-kinect-hacks/
as well as other places, google "Microsoft OK with Kinect hacks" or something similar.
Before people bring about more comparisons between apple and microsoft, one must remember the relationship each company has to the hardware. Apple is in charge of both, so it's a bit more like a gaming console, in that there's a profit to be made in keeping things secret, you buy the phone and it only runs "approved by manufacturer" applications *mostly* developed by others. Microsoft however is more like the game developer, in that their only vested interest is the software and getting as many people to get whatever hardware suits them so they will have this software. They make money when people buy a wp7 phone because of the license. It is in their interest to get as many people to buy the phone as possible. Of course even they have limits to their openness as it is an operating system for a "complicated" device that other manufacturers must rely on.
Essentially, the profit scales tip in favor of allowing homebrew on WP7, while they tip against Apple.
P.S. Samsung Moment android owner
Those who don't understand the space or those who don't get to decide about their phones (as in corporate bulk contracts) might get to suffer non-Apple hardware.