Should MSFT/Nokia Release Unlocked Devices to Devs?

So once again twitter has sparked up another glorious Meego Vs. WP Vs. Symbian debate,this time as is usual it all came back to the fact that most of the tech aware online community are geeks; and geeks love to tinker with stuff (it's in our blood), how bad would it be to make a developers device that has an unlocked bootloader for some geeks to mess around with? If the fear is sideloading apps/pirating then they could simply add a premium to the initial cost of the device (say another 50-100 $) to cover any possible piracy fears and pay those over to devs, or reduce the app hub membership to be fair to all (of course then choosing to buy the phone with this App premium would only be for people who plan on messing around and wouldn't be forced onto all WP adopters).

 

Wouldn't it be great if they gave out some dev. devices like RIM just did with BB10 (which btw looks pretty sweet); I personally can't see the harm in it, nobody is better at unlocking the true potential of an OS than Hackers and Geeks (take WebOS as your prime example, it's buggy as $hit but once you slap on some plugins from the unoffical store it becomes beautiful). I personally think that allowing people to tinker with the OS could expose some unexpected bugs as well as provide some interesting foresight into what future OS adopters would want, as well as some interesting features/fixes (just include a clause that says that MSFT can use any SW changes/hacks in future updates or something..). And the other huge benefit is that it wouldn't give anyone else any chances to poke holes in MSFTs platform strategy by saying it's worse than iOS and it's "too closed" for their taste.

Side Note: I used to live off side-loading apps on my N8 (still do) and I was always looking forward to trying the next tweak or fix; but for some weird reason WP/Lumias have tamed that beast inside me; I no longer feel the need to try tweaks or mods or even to sideload any apps. I'm not sure this is a good thing but at least it gives me alot less to worry about (Possibly the main reason is that WP simply works meaning I don't have to go behind anybodies back to improve it).

When I look back at it I think my love/desire to sideload/tweak the device rose out of necessity rather than true desire, which is the only reasonable explanation why that urge has faded; simply because WP delivers directly so you don't have to dirty your hands hacking and sideloading. 

How To: Jailbreak/Sideload onto your Lumia device- a full guide.

Ok, so you got your brand new spanking awesome Lumia; but you feel a bit claustrophobic with it's walled in garden of a marketplace-
Here's something that will ease the pain a bit: (Steps are easy to follow and although it may seem long it's not)

So here’s how to do it (seems long but it’s really easy).

• Head over to Dreamspark.com
• Create an Account/Sign-in with your LIVE ID (the one you use on the marketplace)
• Once your account is complete you’ll be asked to enter your .EDU email address for verification (usual steps of logging in and clicking the link in the confirmation email)
• Go back to dreamspark after verifying your .edu email
• From Developer and Designer tools select ‘Windows Phone and App Hub’

• Choose ‘Map Your Live ID’

• Set it so your .edu email is linked to you LIVE account that you use on the marketplace (unless you want to use your .edu email as your live account)
• Now once your done with that feel free to go ahead and download & install the Windows Phone SDK tools (direct link) and get that out of the way.

Now that you’ve made a dreamspark account and linked it to your Windows LIVE & .edu email you want to register on the app hub- which basically gives you the ability to side load apps and publish apps to the Market place WITHOUT having to pay any fees (cause we’re poor students after all  )-

Note: I’m not sure of the exact order of the next steps as I can’t view them after making my account so I’m going off memory here.

• Go to the AppHub site
• Create an account, while creating select ‘As A Student‘ (which was the whole point of the dreamspark account)
• At this point depending on your university/school it might take a while for you to be verified as a student; do not panic- it took me about 24hrs (no notification that it went through so you’ll have to go and try again)
• You’ll be asked for your location; choose the correct location; and if it’s not available the closest one possible (not guaranteed to work- but if you choose a distant location it will tell you the country address is incorrect later on)
• Complete the rest of the form (since your filling it in as a student it’ll magically skip the payment step)
• Once your done just go verify or confirm the email that you’ll receive.

Up till this point we’ve basically created the  AppHub account which will give your live ID recognition on the phone you want to unlock. Now for the actual unlocking process- pretty easy and straight forward-

• Connect your Lumia device to the computer (must have Zune running and Lumia screen must be unlocked)
• Open  Windows Phone Developer Registration (also part of the SDK package you should have installed)
• Enter your Live Id & Password(that you used on the AppHub)
• Hit Register
• AND YOUR DONE!

 Now that you've unlocked it here's how to sideload apps:

 All done? Great either have some fun or go bake some cookies; up to you after all your no longer walled in :D