PS Vita Jailbreak Finally Lets One Run Emulators and Homebrew Software (geek.com)

Finally, someone has managed to hack PS Vita, allowing people to install emulators and homebrew software on the handheld gaming console. The jailbreak dubbed HENkaku works on the latest 3.60 Vita firmware. From an article on Geek.com: The exploit allowing full access to the Vita hardware has been created by Team Molecule and named HENkaku. The code injected into the handheld when visiting the website unlocks the hardware and removes the file system from its protective sandbox. It's then possible to access it and the Vita memory card using FTP. The super simple unlock opens up the Vita to homebrew developers who want to create their own games for the system without going through official channels. But it also allows full access to the hardware meaning the ability to overclock the processor, and for PlayStation TV owners it also means all games are whitelisted. That's great news as there are many blocked games known to work perfectly fine on the PSTV.

Comments

Re:under the CFAA any one useing this can prison t

[Anonymous Coward]

under the CFAA any one using this can be facing prison time. Any if they put down jailbreak due to a dumb cop you can get harder time.

I'm sure that both of the Vita owners are aware of the risks.

Hmm.

[TechyImmigrant]

I have a PSVita. If I turn it on (after an extended period of charging the entirely dead battery) I will then have to set the time again and wait while it downloads the fifteen updates that occurred between now and the last time I turned it on a couple of years ago.

The screen is excellent though. I think the most likely outcome is I will pull it apart and use the screen in some geeky project.

Re:Hmm.

[dontbemad]

Fellow Vita owner here, and I actually love mine. Up until now, the main use that I've had for it has been playing psOne games that I've downloaded off the store (mostly for nostalgia's sake). I've always been a big fan of playing console games on consoles (not huge into emulation on a PC or phone), and the form factor allows me to take it on the train with me in the morning.

I'd definitely recommend giving it another shot, especially now that this jailbreak is out. One of my favorite things about my PSP was the ability to play most/all old psOne games (through jailbroken means), as well as the host of old console emulators that existed.

Re:Hmm.

[sims 2]

The thing I hated most about the PSVita is the same thing I hated about the PSP If the battery was dead (it was dead 9/10ths of the time) It had to charge for an obnoxiously long period of time. And they made it even worse in the PSVita with the PSP you could swap in a charged battery and go on but they took that option out in the PSVita I looked but I was never even able to find a faster charger for it.

Dear Sony,

[0100010001010011]

I might consider buying one now. I'd never even taken the time to look at it because it had your name on it. Apparently it isn't a half bad device.

Re:under the CFAA any one useing this can prison t

[uCallHimDrJ0NES]

under the CFAA any one using this can be facing prison time. Any if they put down jailbreak due to a dumb cop you can get harder time.

Joe: Discussing the CFAA online is a communication that could lead to distress for other Slashdot members. That's a violation of the CFAA. If one of these Vita owners stresses out and commits suicide, you could be hit with a misdemeanor, just like Lori Drew. Let's be nice to the Vita owners. Yes, both of them.

Re:Vulnerabilty

[rsmith-mac]

Why is this considered a jailbreak (a good thing) and not lauded as a remote code execution vulnerability that it actually is. If one web page can execute code, that means another web page can execute different code, installing a backdoor to your network, etc.

Because no one uses the Vita browser. It's terrible, especially by modern smartphone standards. It's hard to seriously classify this as a threat when the odds of a Vita browser coming across a malicious site sits at just a hair above 0.0%