We normally don't want to weigh too heavily on rumors, let alone rumors about counter-espionage/intelligence that companies take in order to protect their upcoming releases.

But this time we have a little something to add to the story that we can now go public with.

Evidently, Eldar Murtazin from Mobile Review, has told Engadget Mobile that HTC has made "controled [sic] leak of some devices" and has been putting out false information to throw people off their trail. That article focuses on Android, tablets and the sort coming from HTC.

While the above applies to hardware, HTC is also engaging in this behavior in software too. How so?

Remember that T-Mobile HD2 ROM leak a few weeks ago that we broke here at WMExperts? That was v2.01.  We have it on good word that it really ticked off HTC as they considered that ROM pretty secure--it was limited access only.

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To prevent that from happening in the future, they purposefully leaked another ROM, v2.02, the famous "landscape in Manila" version. They were trying to out the leaker and they knew no one could resist leaking that upgrade, even if it wasn't complete yet.  

We were told, from one of our most trusted sources, that

...its a trap, they have a certain Serial and IMEI of the device that it was suppose to be for...

Yup.  According to our source, Manila 2.5 with landscape was a 'Canary trap' by HTC (thanks BigDiesel07 for the reference).

HTC is getting aggressive in trying to prevent further leaks, especially ones that are related to high profile devices.  Whether they will be successful or not remains to be seen, but they are actively trying to find where these leaks are coming from within the company and they will use subterfuge to do it.  

So if we see a reduction in the future of "new builds", you can point to that moment as the turning point. Then again, you sure can't fault HTC for wanting to cut down on the leaks and protect their property.  Just part of the biz.

[Thanks anonymous]