Good guy Microsoft. The Redmond based technology giant recently launched its first ever Android device, the Surface Duo. It is available for preorder now, with a projected ship date of September 10.
And while the company has shared a bunch of details, new information about the Surface Duo continues to, well, surface.
This latest intelligence is an important one before the handset ends up in the hands of customers. And it concerns the bootloader, which is what defines how easily the community can customize and upgrade the handset.
So, what’s the good news?
Well, Microsoft offers the Surface Duo with an unlocked bootloader.
This means that it is possible for third-party Android developers to create custom ROMs that could be installed on the Duo. That is to say, the experience the company offers with the Microsoft Launcher can be customized by users if they so want.
On top of that, the community can also code up custom upgrades for the Duo. For example, it only comes with mono sound, and owners could have the possibility of a digital stereo solution.
It all depends on whether the Android community starts investing time and resources into building these custom solutions, ROMs and mods for the Surface Duo. All this can help improve the usage experience of the dual-screen smartphone.
Not only this, since Microsoft is already working on a second-generation unit, the company can build on top of these efforts to create a new model that better matches expectations.
Community plays a vital role for products like these.
And few companies know this better than Microsoft.
