Hack reveals Android tablet within Sony e-reader
£129 E Ink fondleslab, anyone?
Sony's latest e-book reader, the Wi-Fi enabled, touchscreen-equipped PRS-T1, is now on sale in the UK for £129, making it one of cheapest big-name Android gadgets out there.
That's right, Android. Sony has used the Google OS as a foundation for its own e-reader UI. And owners have already rooted the gadget to bring the standard Android interface to the fore.
One Russian hacker has posted a set of instructions to walk the brave through the process. And he's uploaded not only a set of tools to help you open the PRS-T1 but also a rescue package to restore the Sony look'n'feel.
The details are in Russian, but as always Google is your friend.
Blog The Digital Reader has tried the trick and found it works.
We have to make the inevitable 'proceed at your own risk' warning. The hack may invalidate your warranty.
Meanwhile, hackers examining the new Kindle Touch and the Kindle touchless - aka the Kindle 4 - have found that Amazon has upped its security, with firmware updates now requiring official sign-off before they will unpack. That had been a trick used previously to install third-party code on the e-reader. ®
COMMENTS
Lockout
"Amazon has upped its security, with firmware updates now requiring official sign-off before they will unpack"
I can understand that corporates tie profit to the gizmo plus content sales and they don't want to sell a gizmo without getting those content sales but I wonder just how much manufacturers gain (or prevent loss of) through all the effort to lock users out of this hackery?
I suspect they would lose very little, a few will indulge in hacking, but probably far more will buy one because they could, even if they never do, and will promote and recommend it over competition because they could if they wanted to.
Of course, any corporate who thinks copying my purchased CD or DVD collection to personal electronic media is equal to the theft of tens of thousand dollars from them is hardly likely to be capable of indulging in any constructive discussion on the matter.
It's even better than that
There's a Kindle store and reader for Android. When rooted, this device will be able to read *and* purchase any e-book format you care to name.
Ermm...
You seem to have stumbled upon this website by accident. This site is visited mostly by technology enthusiasts more interested in the potential of said technology, rather than the artificial/short-sighted shackles applied by the device manufacturers.
Might I suggest you retire somewhere safer? Possibly ZDNet or the BBC?
I would really like to see Amazon start selling Epub books, this may be the answer.
Depends on what they're trying to protect
Amazon would be more fearful of you ripping the content you own (more accurately licenced), or are streaming / renting than they are of you obtaining a cheap tablet. Chances are they're even contractually obliged to protect the content by the content providers. So signing the firmware would be just one step to stop piracy but I imagine there are others too ranging from watermarking, encryption & decryption (done in hardware), protected flash and so on.
The answer as always is don't buy a proprietary device locked to a proprietary service. Amazon are under no obligation to make it easy to crack and in fact its in their interests that you can't crack it, at least into a form that compromises their service or content.
