So, ...
... people who root with Glass factories might throw bricks?
Google releases Glass' roots, warns it may turn specs to bricks
Google has posted what it's describing as “factory system images and the kernel source code for Glass”. First spotted by Android Police, the downloads “allow you to root your Glass and flash it back to factory specifications.” Which sounds just the thing for developers who've messed something up. Except for the fact that …
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Tuesday 28th May 2013 05:22 GMT Tim Bates
Re: So, a factory reset isn't.
You've not done a lot of hacking with modern electronics, I see... What they are describing is no different to the risks of rooting any mobile phone or tablet, or flashing firmware updates to any embedded device.
In this case, they're not just allowing you to update the firmware, they've released the source. One misplaced character could well brick the device, and they're warning the developers not to expect Google to fix it.
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Tuesday 28th May 2013 15:24 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: So, a factory reset isn't.
You've not done a lot of hacking with modern electronics, I see...
You're absolutely right, I've only been messing with electronics since I was 10, which means I've been doing this for a (wide) shade over 30 years by now (sigh) - thanks for the misplaced ad hominem. Given that there is only one version of GG, there should be one firmware release that was the one with which the devices were sent out, and using that firmware according to their flash process should restore factory condition.
Otherwise there is no reason to call this FACTORY condition firmware - logically, the clue is in the word.
Of course, if someone's a noob and makes a mess of the electronics or the firmware binary all bets are off, but if a firmware upload does not restore services ex factory, then it's either incomplete as a restore (which again belies the term "factory") or not the code it left the factory with.
Basically, this is 100% Google - claiming something is "Open" but making sure that anyone who has the nerve to treat it as such end up unsupported. *NOT* impressed.
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Tuesday 28th May 2013 10:24 GMT MrXavia
Re: I'm still baffled ...
While I am a bit baffled as to what glass brings to the table except a large company behind the tech, I love the idea of a HMD, add some kind of single hand interface and I can do loads while walking down the street, I can ssh into servers and run commands while exercising... to me this would be about freeing up my time, BUT if it is as locked down and low res as I expect it to be, there will be many years until I bother upgrading... I am more interested in a high res oculus rift.
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Tuesday 28th May 2013 21:22 GMT Joe_Blow
Re: I'm still baffled ...
This is just the thing for the person with too much money and too little in the way of brains. For the mere sum of $1,500, you get to be first in line to not only fork over said amount of cash, but also fork over your location 24/7, and photos/video of everything and everyone around you (subject to getting your Glass kicked by people who may not share Google's zeal for them to know everything about everyone, everywhere, all the time). Of course, Google swears that they won't be able to remotely control Glasses to collect anything other than GPS location (and not even that if you submerge yourself deep enough within a building horizontally or go underground). It's supposed to be obvious when you may be recorded because the display's illumination is visible through the prismatic reflector, but you can't tell whether you're being recorded/photographed or the user is just viewing info on the display.
However, this is the same company that "accidentally" collected private info from WiFi hotspots everywhere and didn't "realize" it until someone happened to catch them. It's also the company that has no qualms about photographing you on your property as well as in public, as one of their StreetView vehicles wanders by unannounced with its phalanx of imaging and wireless data collection equipment. It's the company that wants to sell your personal data to not just the highest bidder, but anyone willing to pay just about anything for it, with the highest bidder getting it first, and lower bidders getting it later for a completely-profit-enhancing payment.
Their corporate motto is supposed to be "Do no evil", but it seems that it should be, "We choose to see no evil in what we do." If there were a way to contact them (or even confirm their continued status as living), just ask the thousands of Chinese dissidents now imprisoned how trustworthy Google is after the company willfully turned over private information to the Communist Party and Peoples Liberation Army, because "they're required to obey all local laws". However, you can't ask those that have been tortured and already executed, unfortunately. Then, there's the inconvenience that Google discovered when Google's GMail servers in the U.S. were hacked by the same faceless bureaucracy.
We all thought Big Brother was going to be the government, but it turns out the government is just another subscriber to a corporation hell-bent on doing far more to invade individuals' privacy than any totalitarian regime ever imagined. What happens when, not if, it becomes profitable for corporations to turn over whatever the government wants? Given what Google is ultimately trying to do, Orwell seems like a rose-colored-glasses-wearing, optimistic, naive ingenue.
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