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Googlers say Glass wasn't rooted because it was "intentionally left" open

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By Michael Heller

Published: Apr 29, 2013, 5:44 PM

Android

Googlers say Glass wasn't rooted because it was "intentionally left" open

We were pretty suspect of the claims that Saurik had "rooted" Google Glass, when he first announced it. It seemed like a silly claim, because the Glass Explorer Edition is a developer device, and "rooting" means that you got access to the device in a way that the manufacturer didn't intend. Well, Googlers are coming out to say exactly that, but Saurik has countered with more information as well.'

The first out of the gate was Google engineer Dan Morrill, who was quite vehement in his argument saying, "This is not rooting. Nothing is rooted. There is no root here! This is 'fastboot oem unlock'. It's not rooting if they let you do it on purpose!" And, Stephen Lau, a member of the Google Glass team, added to that saying:

Not to bring anybody down... but seriously... we intentionally left the device unlocked so you guys could hack it and do crazy fun shit with it. I mean, FFS, you paid $1500 for it... go to town on it. Show me something cool.

That all makes perfect sense, but Saurik still stands by his claim. He has come out to say that he didn't use fastboot oem unlock, because he cracked Glass before Google had released the source code. He says that what he did is "rooting" because he used a known exploit in Android 4.0, which took him just 2 hours to learn and fix.

So, it sounds like Saurik did legitimately hack Glass, but it also sounds like there was absolutely no reason for him to do so, because he could have simply used fastboot oem unlock after Google released the source code. Saurik didn't go into what - if anything - he was able to do after cracking Glass, or if he is now working with the official kernel code.

source: +Stephen Lau & +Dan Morrill via 9to5Mac

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Michael Heller is known for his clear and informative articles on mobile technology. He explores important topics such as the rollouts of 5G networks and the advancements in mobile payments, offering readers insights into the evolving tech landscape.