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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."

13 of 74 comments (clear)

  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: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
  3. Re:But... by spire3661 · · Score: 2

    Its not private if you are in public.

    --
    Good-bye
  4. 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.)

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    ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
  5. 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.

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    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. 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.

  6. <sigh> by thestudio_bob · · Score: 2, Informative

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

    * Please make our stuff seem cool.

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    The real Sig captains the Northwestern. This one captains /.
  7. Re:But... by Cryacin · · Score: 2

    As opposed to being snapped feeding a troll.

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    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
  8. 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.

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    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  9. 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.

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    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.