Hackers Successfully Rooted Google Glass And It Only Took A Few Hours

Jozi · April 27, 2013

Jay “Saurik” Freeman, a well-known hacker in the iOS and Android community, has reported that his developer’s Google Glass has been successfully ‘rooted’.

The news of Freeman’s success in hacking Google’s latest consumer hardware comes just a few days after another hacker, Liam McLoughlin, also claimed to have cracked the Glass’ OS.

According to Freeman, it took him about two hours while eating dinner with his friends to find the Glass’ exploit.

“It took me two hours while I was having dinner with friends at the time,” he reported to Forbes. “The implementation from B1inary is for normal Android tablets and phones, I learned how it worked and then did the same thing on Glass… which was quite simple.”

Having the ability to root the Google Glass could open up new possibilities to owners, especially in regards to protecting one’s privacy. For people who want to store their data locally, instead on Google’s cloud server, rooting their headsets may enable that option. Moreover, rooting may also allow the Glass to swap hands, since Google has specifically stated that if a Glass owner tries to sell the early test unit the device will be “bricked” and no longer functional.

A consumer-ready version of Glass is expected to debut some time in 2014, so it’s possible that Freeman’s exploit on the dev model may not be applicable for the consumer product. Still, Google tend to be more flexible than Apple in that it will allow people and OEMs to gain root access—per the proper consent of course.

http://vr-zone.com/articles/hackers-successfully-rooted-google-glass-and-it-only-took-a-few-hours/19842.html