Just yesterday a tool called ChevronWP7 was released. It is designed to unlock your Windows Phone 7 and allow “side-loading” of apps and games without the Windows Phone Marketplace. This will unlock your phone and let apps install that could access private or native APIs.
Microsoft have now responded by saying that doing this could potentially brick your handset. They rather sensibly advise against doing this..
“We anticipated that people would attempt to unlock the phones and explore the underlying operating system. We encourage people to use their Windows Phone as supplied by the manufacturer to ensure the best possible user experience. Attempting to unlock a device could void the warranty, disable phone functionality, interrupt access to Windows Phone 7 services or render the phone permanently unusable.”
Now, when we say “side loading” we basically mean that many people will be able to load games and apps that they may not have paid for. Sure, the guys behind this state that they’re against this, but I doubt it’ll stop what will undoubtedly happen.
Links – Winrumours.com – ChevronWP7.com