Sony Ericsson has made a wise move with the publishing of a tutorial that teaches advanced developers, how to unlock the bootloader code incorporated into certain SE Android smartphones, legitimately.  

The unlock applies only to 2011 phones running Gingerbread aka Android 2.3, and to handsets that aren’t tied to a network operator – Xperia Arc, Play, Neo and Pro.

The will-violate-the-warranty and DRM-protected content on the handset may become unplayable warnings remain. Remember, while performing the unlock process, the security keys and the phone’s secure user data partition are wiped out.

To perform the unlock, you will require a copy of your phone’s IMEI code, the Android SDK’s Fastboot tool, and a tweaked android_winusb.inf file, which you can download from Sony Ericsson’s smartphone unlock site. It also provides a walkthrough.

Do leave us comments, we would be interested in knowing how well did the process work.

As per the latest Gartner predictions, Android will command nearly half of the smartphone market in 2012. With expected 49% of new smartphones sold next year, Google operating system will come pre-loaded.

The overall smartphone market will increase by 57.7% from this year’s market, with sales expected to reach 468 million units in 2012. Consequently, Android will be the most popular mobile platform by the end of 2011.

With Android’s rising popularity, Apple’s iOS platform will remain stagnant, capturing 19.4% of the market in 2011 and 18.9% in 2012.

 Though the numbers may differ, Gartner’s predictions are in alignment with IDC. Both predict that Windows Phone 7 will take the number 2 market share spot by 2015 thanks to a partnership with Nokia, the world’s largest OEM.

Price is a vital factor that has stopped Apple from growing despite its popularity. However, Apple intends to tackle the low-cost phone segment, though the company has not disclosed any strategy on how it intends on doing so.

Have you noticed a new magnifying glass icon appearing next to your search results over the last few day?  Clicking this icon launches a new Instant Previews feature, recently introduced by Google.

They offer a unique way for visually searching through sites when the text results don’t provide ample information. Moreover, they’re useful when you are familiar with a web page. In addition, the performance is very fast, so that you don’t wait for ages for previewing the information.

We tested it on our Android phones and received tremendous results. Try it and let us know your comments below.

Samsung Galaxy Pro is headed to THREE. The candybar phone has a touch-screen and half- physical QWERTY keyboard. It’s for those who wants android handset but compatible with BlackBerry style.

The Galaxy Pro packed with a 2.8-inch touchscreen that supports the QWERTY keyboard. It runs Froyo aka Android 2.2. Moreover, you get 800MHz processor, 3-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. The Pro will pre-loaded with a tweaked version of TouchWiz along the Social Hub Premium.

Both pricing and availability yet to be revealed. So keep your eyes glued on your screen for more information on this news.

At Barcelona, VMware showcased a virtualisation application designed to separate personal and business information on any Android device. The software allows two versions of Android to run simultaneously, one managed by the enterprise and the other controlled by the end user.

“Users are free to install any applications they want on the personal side, while enterprises set the policies and manage applications on the corporate side. The application gives users and administrators the choice of using the Android platform, and has all the regular enterprise security features.”

        Hoofar Razivi, director of product management at VMware

He demonstrated the application on the LG Optimus Black, displaying a seamless and instant switch between the two operating systems without the need to reset the device.

IT administrators can set policies relating to the work environment, like turning off the cut and paste to prevent the copying of sensitive data, and disabling the camera, GPS and Bluetooth. Data can be remotely wiped from the corporate side of the phone with secure VPN connectivity built in.

Razavi also commented that the application is independent of the underlying operating system, and will be available over the Wi-Fi, hence, has the potential to work on any Android device.

The virtualisation application will be launched for Android platform later this year, however, the company has plans to make the app available on other systems as well. There is no word on pricing, yet. Keep tuned! 

With the announcement of a second Android-ready processor, Broadcom has been giving Google a lot of love , lately. The new BCM28150 is a big step up from its predecessor, which was released in December, 2010, and sports a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 at 1.1GHz; an HSPA+ modem doing 21Mbps; and Broadcom’s VideoCore IV VPU (vector processing unit).

What’s more, it touts 12-megapixel camera imaging, 3D video and gaming at 1080p, HDMI out, and the obligatory Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS facilities. Broadcom plans to demo the processor at MWC in Barcelona next week, keep logged-in as we will get you more on this amazing processor.