This is in sharp contrast to the software-only approach at Google, Yahoo's hotter and younger rival.
One company, iPhoneSIMfree, said last month it had developed a software-only modification it planned to sell only to iPhone vendors.
Rumors are that going software-only is an option that is being investigated.
The Dev Team, whose research was instrumental in Hotz's initial hacking of the iPhone's hardware, isn't the first to offer a software-only unlock.
Pretty powerful stuff from Ballmer, whose company has ridden its software-only strategy for almost 40 years to become one of the most successful corporations in the history of American business.
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Dominating this mid-tier, software-only realm is the Adobe (nasdaq: ADBE - news - people ) digital editing application Premier, which has recently seen its market share dip from 55% to 53%, while Apple's Final Cut Pro has already cornered 30% of those sales.
NetSuite, a California-based software firm, is the only large-cap company to achieve this near-perfect score.
There is a raging debate about the importance of mobile first and mobile-only software.
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Add a few circuits with a pinch of software and the sensor-only camera can produce up to ten images per second, but the catch is Duke's only works at microwave frequencies.
Other under-the-cover changes include giving browsers the sort of sophisticated software-control features usually found only in operating systems.
They came together only through the Internet where they exchanged stolen software in secret Web sites or by invitation-only chat rooms.
The Register is reporting that PA Semi had a close relationship with Apple in the months prior to the switch, and that the two companies were working together to gauge the feasibility of running native PowerPC-coded software on 2GHz dual-core chips that PA Semi claims run at only a third of the 21 to 25 watts consumed by Intel's Core Duo models.
Google also developed a new operating system called Chrome OS that is derived from its browser technology and designed to run only Web-based software.
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But unlike those projects, OONI uses only open-source software and plans to make the raw data gathered by its tools public and accessible to any researcher.
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Likewise Digital Equipment focused on its profit margin in computer-aided design and manufacturing software only to be destroyed by its lower margin but higher volume competitor AutoCad.
You'll also find a bevy of Microsoft and Toshiba software pre-installed, and while it only tips the scales at 3.79-pounds, you'll have to lug around an external optical drive if you need to spin any discs.
We gadget nerds have to endure unspeakable atrocities in order to slake that early adoption jones: first-run gear shipped DOA, buggy pre-release software, and months of waiting after a product leaks only to be greeted by a jacked-up price premium at launch.
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Matsumoto-san is not the only programming language creator to take up residence at a software-friendly commercial company.
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The caveat is that Windows RT devices can only install third-party software from Microsoft's own Windows Store.
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For the value-consumer requiring only single-PC backup and recovery, Rebit now offers SaveMe Express backup software, which does not include SmartSave.
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RIM's first phone with the new software, the BlackBerry Z10, is a touch-only device.
We also had a conversation around software-as-a-service, and the only asset they had was Business By Design.
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HackRF is far from the only attempt to create an affordable software-defined radio.
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The problem with the current crop of voice-activated devices and software tools is that they only provide an alternative to what is currently available.
And then there is the need for new talent: only by developing designs and software in-house can HTC give products a unique look and feel.
The software works only on the company's top-of-the-line CT machines.
Unlike with Foursquare or typical consumer location-broadcasting software, which either shows your location only to friends or announces publicly that users are checked in at a busy bar, museum, or restaurant, the tracking of Gibbons was extremely granular and showed her on a boat, by herself, in a wooded area devoid of crowds.
They could run only simple spreadsheets and word-processing software.
The BlackBerry 10 software made its debut a few months ago on the touch-only Z10.
For a limited time, the software upgrade will be pushed out in phases over Wi-Fi only.
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