[Dell Venue] social-design-concepts:
Dell Venue Tablets Developer-Edition BSP / Intel® Mobile Development Kit ( Intel MDK )

First I want to take a second to thank and commend Dell on their efforts thus far on working with the open source / android community. Even if currently I can not directly benefit from it.

What is the Intel® Mobile Development Kit for Android* ?

" Are you a system or middleware developer? Use the Intel® Mobile Development Kit for Android* to create Android* system or middleware software that takes advantage of the latest innovations that Intel platforms have to offer. This solution provides access to an x86 Intel® architecture-based tablet, development tools designed to seamlessly create software for this device, and technical collateral about the OS, the tools, system software, middleware, and hardware. Get a device to experiment with and use non-commercial tools from Intel® System Studio to understand the advantages of the Intel platform helping you build apps that are power-efficient and that have the best possible performance."

Link : https://software.intel.com/en-us/intel-mobile-development-kit-for-android

Which hardware is directly supported with the Intel® MDK for Android?

"The proper usage of the Intel® Mobile Development Kit for Android requires an unlocked Android system to allow developers to execute several profiler daemons that come with the Intel® MDK. Specific Board Support Packages (BSPs) are available for the following devices :"

Links :

Dell Venue 8 3830 http://opensource.dell.com/releases/Venue_8_3830_CloverTrail_plus/

Dell Venue 7 3740 http://opensource.dell.com/releases/Venue_8_7840_Merrifield/

Dell Venue 8 3840 http://opensource.dell.com/releases/Venue_8_3840_Merrifield/

Dell Venue 8 7840 http://opensource.dell.com/releases/Venue_8_7840_Merrifield/

Dell Venue 7 3741 http://opensource.dell.com/releases/Venue_7_3741_Baytrail/

Dell Venue 10 5050 http://opensource.dell.com/releases/Venue_10_5050_Baytrail-CR/

Unfortunately Dell / Intel have yet to make this option available for the Dell Venue 7 3730

( why I currently can't directly benefit ) / only the kernel source is available.

Link :

Dell Venue 7 3730 http://opensource.dell.com/releases/Venue_7_3730_CloverTrail_plus/

Personally I don't agree with Dell's decision to not make this option available to the Venue 7 3730 and hope Dell will make it available in the near future.

If you own this device or even if you don't own this device please show your support for the open source community and email Dell's open source department opensource@dell.com

and request that they release the dev-edition option for the Dell Venue 7 3730 we simply are asking Dell to treat all users / devices fairly and to finally make this option available for the entire Intel line up of Venue Tablets we shouldn't be forced to buy a new device simply because we liked the 7 inch size over the 8 inch.

-- update additional information later --

-- will update this evening to explain the process of unlocking the bootloaders , Dell's instructions have you flash a complete android system which isn't necessary if you are simply wanting the bootloader unlocked to be able to install custom recovery / custom ROM's. Following the instructions as provided by Dell will leave your device not able to receive ota updates.

-- future topic unpacking the boot , recovery , fastboot , and droidboot images.