Jail-breakers of the world unite! Well, not so fast. Engadget’s Brad Molen reports that HTC ^[1] will begin rolling out bootloaders in August to the global HTC Sensation, with the Sensation 4G on T-Mobile and EVO 3D on Sprint to follow. The release is a two-step process that involves first a “maintenance release” to the phones, then the release of the unlocking tool in early September.

This is great news for those who want both freedom and functionality. But there’s a catch (of course). None of this promised freedom will mean a thing until—or unless—the carriers give the go-ahead. And as Molen notes, U.S. carriers are notoriously tight-gripped when it comes to subsidized handsets.

Read more at Engadget ^[2].