14 DAY TRIAL // Xperia Z, the latest Android-based flagship smartphone from Japanese vendor Sony Mobile, is already available for purchase in the United States with support for T-Mobile’s network, featuring a locked bootloader, recent reports suggest.
The handset, confirmed to land at the carrier on July 17, won’t provide users with the possibility to install custom ROM’s on it, as XDA-Developers forum member HoOnZ has found out (see the screenshot above).
Of course, enthusiasts are likely to find a way around this, but that would void warranty and, as XperiaBlog notes, will also wipe the DRM keys from TrackID and the Mobile Bravia Engine.
However, given the fact that Sony’s Xperia handsets landed with locked bootloaders at wireless carriers in the UK, there’s little surprise in the fact that the same happened with Xperia Z in the United States.