Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Releases Glass Factory System Image, Rooted Bootloader

Posted by timothy on from the wait-till-the-glass-morphs-to-your-prescription dept.

Krystalo writes "In a nod towards the modding community and hackers in general, Google has released the first factory system image and rooted bootloader for the latest version, XE5, of Google Glass. Nevertheless, the company is at the same time warning that using these downloads will result in a voided warranty for the experimental device."

50 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Re:But... by Dominare · · Score: 1

    Hipsters were hacking their glasses before it was cool.

  2. That's a really odd position to take. by Molochi · · Score: 1

    With as much hype as Google is trying to create for an existing product by another manufacturer, you'd think they'd give a little more leeway for innovation.

    --
    "The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
    1. Re:That's a really odd position to take. by DragonWriter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      With as much hype as Google is trying to create for an existing product by another manufacturer, you'd think they'd give a little more leeway for innovation.

      More than giving you complete freedom to mess with it, but saying that, if you break it in the process, they aren't going to assume responsibility?

    2. Re:That's a really odd position to take. by Molochi · · Score: 1

      Full Disclosure: I didn't buy one.

      They want few people who paid ~3x as much as an existing competing android product (that is really cool and works) to void their warrantee to make new stuff for them. They want to OWN this segment. It's just stupid.

      --
      "The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
    3. Re:That's a really odd position to take. by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      You've said that twice now and still haven't provided a link...

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    4. Re:That's a really odd position to take. by h2oboi89 · · Score: 1

      It is pretty much the standard "Use as intended or warranty is void" you get with any product. Compare Google Glass to a lawnmower. As long as you use it as intended and don't modify it in any way the manufacturer has to maintain some responsibility for damages caused by it if it malfunctions. If, however, you modify it, say by removing all the safety features, and it goes on to chop your hand off, the fault is on you. While not nearly as dangerous as the lawnmower, Google Glass is still a delicate piece of electronics that you are going to put right next to your eyes. If someone decides they want to completely rewrite the software from scratch and end up blowing a capacitor and get a load full of glass and plastic in their eye they will have no one to blame but themselves.

    5. Re:That's a really odd position to take. by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

      They want few people who paid ~3x as much as an existing competing android product (that is really cool and works) to void their warrantee to make new stuff for them.

      I think they want people to build stuff to the stock Glass APIs. They are willing to allow users who want to do additional experimentation to do so freely (as long as those users, not Google, are responsible if they make the device unusable in the process). There is a crucial distinction there.

  3. Re:But... by easyTree · · Score: 2

    Google glass - crowd-sourcing invasion of privacy. Way to go Google.

    PS. send me one plz

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream
  4. Re:But... by spire3661 · · Score: 2

    Its not private if you are in public.

    --
    Good-bye
  5. Re:But... by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 2

    The only douchie people I have seen in in relation to the Google glasses release are the socially retarded (technical term not insult here) that threaten to kill or main the wearers of said glasses. While it may look funny now these could be useful eventually (these are really a tech in its infancy and the glasses are more a public beta then a finished product).
              Everyone seems to fear that they will become the ultimate spy device used by evil mega corp Google to spy on you and you precious bodily fluids on behalf of big guberment. first of they don't have the battery power or the storage to run all day. Second you tell it when to turn on the video recorder. Thirdly it opensource like android root the damn thing. (To which they reply i cant root everyone else, nor can you their camera phone. or the hundreds of cctv systems around you all of the time which do happen to be active all of the time.) If you are really scared that you will be recorded by them audit the source code and compile the binary using the same compiler and tool chain and compare checksums if they match and the source code you compiled then it is fine then your fine. (Unless you think that Google has perpetrated a Ken Thompson compiler hack of course. in which case you are much more screwed anyway.)

    --
    ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
  6. The killer app: by aoeu · · Score: 1

    nekkid pics previously posted. For extra credit: action pics.

    --
    All your database are belong to U.S.
  7. Open Source, but voids a warranty? by Earl+The+Squirrel · · Score: 1

    It it just me, or does this make no sense. Isn't Open Source suppose to ALLOW you to run the SW in any form, as you like on a piece of HW?
    Ok, so this only runs on Google's HW... and they are within their right to set terms of what they're going to support. But this sure sounds really screwed up...
    and at least doesn't seem to follow the "spirit" of Open Source, though it does follow the "letter-of-the-law"...

    Google continues to slide on my score sheet. Use to seem to be taking a new exciting path, now just turning into yet another huge corp, with a similar mental model as any other. (Granted they all have their own tweaks, but they're not anything special any more). Nothing to see here, move along there...

  8. Would you hit a man with glasses? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It won't be long before the Google Glass tech will be put into glasses that don't look obvious and a little ridiculous. For those of you who think you're always going to be able to tell who's recording video of you with wearable Google Glass tech: think again.

    Right now they look like "nerds" and "geeks" according to the people who are angry about losing their privacy (or who can't afford them). Pretty soon, they'll look like anyone with eyeglasses. I've seen people here talk about punching anyone they see wearing Google Glass looking at them. What are you going to do when this technology is so ubiquitous that anyone with glasses might be recording you?

    Maybe the best we can hope for is that the tech is so widely-available, and moddable, that it's a level playing field (a very exposed playing field). But like it or not, it's coming.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Would you hit a man with glasses? by AchilleTalon · · Score: 1

      And even recording with any smartphone today is possible without anyone noticing it. So, what's the big deal with Google glasses? What new threat are they representing any ubiquitious technology available today doesn't already represent?

      --
      Achille Talon
      Hop!
    2. Re:Would you hit a man with glasses? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      And even recording with any smartphone today is possible without anyone noticing it. So, what's the big deal with Google glasses?

      Exactly. The time to get upset about privacy loss passed about a decade ago.

      If anything, Google Glass democratizes intrusion. It levels the playing field a little bit with Big Brother. I think a lot of very interesting footage from "closed door" meetings and smokey back rooms will become available.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:Would you hit a man with glasses? by tlhIngan · · Score: 2

      Exactly. The time to get upset about privacy loss passed about a decade ago.

      If anything, Google Glass democratizes intrusion. It levels the playing field a little bit with Big Brother. I think a lot of very interesting footage from "closed door" meetings and smokey back rooms will become available.

      Well, first of all, Google Glass incorporates facial and clothing recognition, so everyone captured can be tagged by Google and their movements tracked. Right now, the cameras don't have this, so people still are in relative anonymity.

      But once everyone is identifiable, society will become extremely... shy.

      Think about what you do during the day and think of what you might not do if your actions were tracked constantly. Imagine it as a super-facebook. Perhaps your visit to the grocery store gets you tagged buying chips and pop and other unhealthful foods. Or your visit to the doctor gets noted. I'm sure insurance companies would love to buy that information on you (especially with photographic evidence). Or perhaps you had a good time at a bar and get taped heading off in your car.

      And I'm sure your boss would love to know what you did on the "sick day" that you took. Remember, all this information is potentially public, or easily purchasable from Google.

      Nevermind someone accidentally seeing you surfing your porn collection, or anti-gun lobby recording and identifying people who visit gun stores (and cross-referencing those people with other activities).

      Yes, it democratizes society. I'm just not sure I like the end result. It's sort of like MAD - where politeness happens because there are no secrets so everyone knows everyone else's deepest and darkest secrets. I'm sure I prefer a polite society, but one that's polite because it's good, not because everyone is afraid of offending someone.

    4. Re:Would you hit a man with glasses? by DKlineburg · · Score: 1

      I am not arguing with your thoughts on it being bad. I do want to point out there all ready is people recognizing software running of cameras. Maybe not as intrusive, but there.

      I do want to ask though, is there a difference from a polite society and a polite one?

      --
      Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events. - Albert Einstein
    5. Re:Would you hit a man with glasses? by hobarrera · · Score: 1

      Have a look at a british series called "Black Mirror", season 1, episode 3.

    6. Re:Would you hit a man with glasses? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I am not arguing with your thoughts on it being bad. I do want to point out there all ready is people recognizing software running of cameras. Maybe not as intrusive, but there.

      I do want to ask though, is there a difference from a polite society and a polite one?

      You could frame it another way - a polite society can also be formed if everyone was armed to the teeth, but I'm sure there are people who'd rather live in a polite society where a misstep wouldn't result in you being pumped full of lead.

      Likewise, a polite society through Google Glass means everyone is polite because everyone is afraid of making a false move that'll be broadcasted around the world and shaming them forever (the internet does NOT forget).

      I'm sure you can have a polite society even if there are a few assholes out there (it exists in the real world), or that it might be nice to actually go out and have a drink now and again. Or if you have kids, to actually let them... be kids and not put them in straitjackets where they have to conform because their future depends on it.

      I suppose with Glass it's everyone's polite because they're afraid, while modern day societal politeness comes about because it's good - you can be an asshole if you want. I suppose it's freedom to be polite rather than forced to be polite.

  9. Re:Will you stop all that whining? by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

    Well, thus far, I can only see one person whining... and it's the person I'm responding to.

    Maybe, I dunno, try being less butthurt about perceived ills? Perhaps redirect that energy into something useful, like finding a girlfriend to fuck?

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  10. <sigh> by thestudio_bob · · Score: 2, Informative

    You better not hack* out stuff!! <wink> <wink> <nudge> <nudge>

    * Please make our stuff seem cool.

    --
    The real Sig captains the Northwestern. This one captains /.
  11. Re:Will you stop all that whining? by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

    THANK you.

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  12. Re:But... by __aasqbs9791 · · Score: 1

    So people will take it off when they enter restrooms?

  13. Re:But... by Cryacin · · Score: 2

    As opposed to being snapped feeding a troll.

    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
  14. Re:Will you stop all that whining? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2

    Please stop perpetrating the false "nerds/jocks" dichotomy. It's bullshit. Just because people like me don't want to be videoed all through my day by some gadget-obsessed moron who desperately, desperately wants to call himself a "cyborg" doesn't mean we were athletes in high school. Fuck off and stop saying this.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  15. Re:Open Source, but voids a warranty? by AuMatar · · Score: 2

    You're going to be installing software that they don't know that has low level access to the hardware and could potentially harm it. Voiding the warranty makes sense to me- they can't be responsible for harm done by software they can't control. It doesn't apply to apps, because the apps don't allow direct hardware access except through the APIs Google has written and tested.

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  16. How About this Hack? by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

    Before any content is transmitted from the gGlasses, it is first copywriten? Ownership is cleary definied, and licensing fees would apply, to Google.

    1. Re:How About this Hack? by chromaexcursion · · Score: 1

      copyright law applies to the creator.
      nominally that means the owner of the device. software bullshit aside, the person taking the pictures is the owner.
      now that gets us into another interesting legal mess.
      let the fun begin

    2. Re:How About this Hack? by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      Then the issue to resolve is the ownership of the object creating the copywritable content? And another issue is emerging, that of "ownership of gGlasses when gGlasses is sold to another party?"

      Another emerging issue is that others are currently selling their personal recording devices, and are not having any of the problems that Google is having. One has to wonder if Google is, "protesting a little to much?"

    3. Re:How About this Hack? by EmperorArthur · · Score: 1

      Nope.
      Copyright belongs to whoever recorded it, unless it's a work for hire with a contract and everything.
      Every time you hand your camera to someone for them to take a picture of you, they own the copyright NOT you. I will agree that copyright is screwed up because of this, but nothing needs to be resolved as far as glass is concerned.

      --
      So lets pretend that we've just completed writing this code, as opposed to having just completed sabotaging it -Altera
  17. Re:Rooted? by Nerdfest · · Score: 2

    I'm guessing that living in those countries does not render you unable to determine the meaning of a technical term when used in context. I could be wrong, as there are rumours of unusual activities with sheep.

  18. Re:Open Source, but voids a warranty? by Nerdfest · · Score: 1

    They also have a reputation for being pretty forgiving if it's obviously not a firmware problem, although I haven't had the need to try it myself.

  19. Re: by chromaexcursion · · Score: 1

    akin to "puleease don't trow me in da brai patch"
    You're just not allowed to make it a device quality issue.
    Hack on.

    no word on if they're waterproof ...

  20. Recovery mode? by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    Is there any kind of recovery mode if you install a kernel or bootloader that crashes? As I understand there is nothing like a serial port or an alternative storage, which means that a bad update and the device is bricked.

  21. Re:Rooted? by jelizondo · · Score: 1

    Unusual?

    You mean usual activities with sheep and the wayward kangaroo...

    Ah! Yes, I see you're American, mate!

    --
    Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out. - Cardinal Wolsey
  22. Re:But... by jampola · · Score: 1

    Enough of it already! People have been selling "lapel" type spy cams for years! Less discreet than Google glass and smart phones (the latter that have been around for many years already)

    Talk about crowd sourced fear mongering.

  23. Would you hit a man with a shirt button? by Spykk · · Score: 1

    Anyone who is panicking about a theoretical future where someone might be recording them with a pair of eyeglasses is out of touch. Cameras that are the size of shirt buttons have been readily available for years. Every person you walk past on the street might be recording you right now and you would never know. What makes Google Glass so special?

    1. Re:Would you hit a man with a shirt button? by checkitout · · Score: 2

      Ah, but those folks are already on the fringes of society. The "punching" reaction is a form of intimidation in the hopes that this will not become a mainstream activity.

    2. Re:Would you hit a man with a shirt button? by DKlineburg · · Score: 1

      But how many dash mounted cameras are there? Helmet cams for bikers. Someone pointed to snowboarding goggles with them. I can see there frustration with privacy, but I don't think it is all that fringe anymore.

      --
      Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events. - Albert Einstein
    3. Re:Would you hit a man with a shirt button? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Ah, but those folks are already on the fringes of society. The "punching" reaction is a form of intimidation in the hopes that this will not become a mainstream activity.

      It's already a "mainstream activity" but one that's only now becoming available to all of us.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  24. Re:But... by ireallyhateslashdot · · Score: 1

    So when the pizza guy comes into your apartment complex and snaps a shot of you trying to seduce him into a gay sex orgy for free food and posts it on his google+ equivalent of a facebook wall you'll be alright with that?

    I'm not sure a pizza delivery guy would be able to afford Google Glass.

  25. Re:But... by DKlineburg · · Score: 1

    Lets hope the guy with Google glass "keeps his eyes on the road" as it were.

    --
    Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events. - Albert Einstein
  26. Re:Open Source, but voids a warranty? by gl4ss · · Score: 1

    It it just me, or does this make no sense. Isn't Open Source suppose to ALLOW you to run the SW in any form, as you like on a piece of HW?
    Ok, so this only runs on Google's HW... and they are within their right to set terms of what they're going to support. But this sure sounds really screwed up...
    and at least doesn't seem to follow the "spirit" of Open Source, though it does follow the "letter-of-the-law"...

    Google continues to slide on my score sheet. Use to seem to be taking a new exciting path, now just turning into yet another huge corp, with a similar mental model as any other. (Granted they all have their own tweaks, but they're not anything special any more). Nothing to see here, move along there...

    it has no practical software warranty to begin with.

    and in most areas it wouldn't change the mandatory guarantee towards the hardware...

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  27. Re:Open Source, but voids a warranty? by gl4ss · · Score: 1

    yeah that's why if you buy a cpu it has no warranty?

    this doesn't affect mandatory hw responsibilities they have by the way.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  28. Google Discontines Glass Factory System Image, by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

    Google Discontinues Glass Factory System Image in 5 ...4...3...2..

  29. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    No, they don't care if you do hack them, its just that if you break your toy don't come crying.

    A perfectly acceptable way to do business.

  30. Re:But... by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

    opensource like android

    This should be modded funny.
    vc:idiocy

    really? you mean the apache license BSD license and the GPL aren't open source?

    --
    ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
  31. Re:FU by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

    Your source is a single eye version of the as-seen-on-tv home theater glasses with some basic modern sensors and X-TREME rebranding? And you want to compare this to an actual look-through heads up display? Seriously? The obligatory car analogy is comparing an actual HUD on the windshield (glass) with classic instrumentation that you can look down at.

    You're trying to play up a screen on a hands free mount like it's an Eyetap.

    --
    A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
  32. Re:FU by Molochi · · Score: 1

    GG is an actual look-through heads up display? I thought it was classic instrumentation that you can look up at and powered by an ARM computer. Is looking up better?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8lScHO2mM0

    There is a hardware difference of course, the Recon doesn't have a $1000 webcam. Some people might consider that a plus.

    My main reason for mentioning the Recon unit was to point out the extreme price of GG and their attitude of "you broke it so fuck off" compared to another android powered HUD that could be coded for and broken for one third the price.

    --
    "The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
  33. Re:FU by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

    Here's what the view THROUGH google glass looks like as opposed to the Recon which is nothing more than one of these cut in half with a modern set of sensors bolted onto it.

    --
    A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."