Google Glass hacked in a matter of hours

Google Glass, the search giant’s upcoming wearable computer with a heads-up display, has been hacked by two different hackers in just a few hours after they received it.

Google has begun shipping Glass in mid-April. Recently, the company said that the first version of the wearable computer was on its way to people who have paid $1,500 on it.

Google Glass has been rooted by Saurik and unlocked by Hexxeh.

Google Glass hacked by two different developers in just a few hours

The first model goes by the name of Explorer edition and some of the people who bought it or who won it through various contests have started doing interesting things with it. For example, two hackers did what they do best: they rooted the device.

Although, at first, Google suggested that Glass is not running on Android, the company caved in and admitted that the software behind the computer is a modified version of Android 4.0.4.

This means that jailbreakers will have an easier task than expected, since the mobile operating system is usually very easy to root.

First Hexxeh with the unlock…

The first to announce the hacking of Google Glass has been Liam McLoughlin, also known as Hexxeh. He said that rooting Glass is easy and that he used the “fastboot oem unlock” procedure to crack the device.

Hexxeh is known for hacking Google’s Chrome OS among others and it seems like he has added another important bullet point to his CV: “Google Glass hacked by me!”

A couple of Google developers immediately reacted to the news saying that the company has intentionally left Glass open, in order to see what developers can do with it and because they paid $1,500.

Then Saurik with the root

However, unlocking the computer is not actually the same thing as rooting it. Just a few hours later, Jay Freeman revealed that he exploited a bug in the Google source code and even posted a picture to prove it.

Jay Freeman, who goes by the name of Saurik, is a well-known hacker. He is the creator of Cydia, one of the biggest app stores for jailbroken iPhones. He says that his Glass’ bootloader continues to be unlocked, as he did not make use of the fastboot oem unlock procedure.

Still, this means that Google Glass has been both unlocked and rooted, which is most likely a good thing, since it invites developers to put their creativity to a test and a lot of people are already waiting to see the results.