Following the ATRIX HD, the recently announced Electrify M destined for U.S. Cellular is Motorola's newest member of the bootloader unlock program. The Electrify M is basically the RAZR M with minor visual tweaks but, unlike its Verizon sibling, won't come in a separate, more expensive developer-friendly flavor. Instead, like the Photon Q on Sprint and the RAZR i/HD outside of U.S., it's unlockable out of the box.

An unlocked bootloader means Electrify M owners will have full blessing of US Cellular and Motorola to customize software on their devices and flash custom ROMs, in exchange for losing the warranty, of course (in case there is any confusion, Motorola specifies: "Once you get the unlock code, your device is no longer covered by the Motorola warranty; in other words, please don't blame us if things go wrong, even if they appear unrelated to unlocking the bootloader.").

While it's encouraging to see more regular devices added to the program, it's obvious that the two biggest carriers in the States are continuing to call the shots and are perfectly satisfied with offering unsubsidized dev editions. In their eyes, it's an acceptable compromise, so don't be expecting all handsets to come unlockable on Verizon and AT&T any time soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb8YIpHfBYc