Sony Reader PRS-T1 hacked – Still Won’t Run Angry Birds (video)
We've known ever since the T1 launched that it ran Android, and for the longest time everyone has been saying that it couldn't be hacked becuase it wasn't running a full Android install.
Clearly that's not the case. Do you see that menu at right which shows a bunch of different reading apps? Yeah, the T1 isn't supposed to be able to do that.
Update: And now you can hack the T1.
My newest best friend sent me a link to this video this evening. As you can see, the Sony Reader has been hacked and it's now running AWLauncher and a bunch of different reading apps. (I kinda wish that they had included the Kindle app; that would have been funny.) The video isn't all that great, but it does show that the T1 is well on its way to joining the Nook Touch as a 6" Android tablet.
screenshot via The eBook Reader blog
But the hacking is still a work in progress; not all Android apps can run on the T1. Angry Birds, for example, will crash. Still, this is excellent progress.
Update: I've heard back from the hacker:
The hack is in pretty early stages. Not ready for release yet. I've run CoolReader, FBReader, ReLaunch, AWD.Launcher, Android Terminal, that's pretty much it. For some apps the latest and greatest version wouldn't work (CoolReader, Terminal), but for FBReader the latest "stable" version crashes while the "experimental" 2.0 alpha works quite well.
So now that we have 2 hacked 6" Android tablets (Nook Touch and Sony T1), which do you think is better? I'm leaning towards the Sony becuase of the extra buttons, included stylus, and becuase I think it's a prettier design.
Thanks, kuzelnik!
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So someone in Russia is the first? This is like with Sputnik! We shouldn’t have been beaten here!
I have just watched the video. You will hear from my attorney about the whiplash later.
In the meantime …
Ha, the Sony stuff shows up as *apps* with a Launcher!
And he’s obviously replaced the keyboard, which means that Graffiti for Android just might work too — or at least be selectable as an alternate keyboard.
More! Get Kindle on there.
I think he lives in south Philly, actually.
Good then. American tech rooting supremacy is preserved. We don’t have a Rooting Gap with the Russians. Stand down from Red Alert. Disarm the missiles.
No need to station american rooters in turkey.
The Sony has a better form factor than the Nook, especially for landscape use.
If it runs Kindle and Coolreader it gets a lot more interesting.
This video showed up on mobileread.com yesterday morning
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1786361&postcount=2800
And the developers stats on Mobileread.com say he is currently living in the Northeastern USA.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/member.php?u=6292
Impressive. Also a bit of a curiosity why some apps behave yet others crash.
Can you hack it so that you can use a bluetooth keyboard to right into it or some other way to make it into a easy way to keep lots of notes.
I don’t think it has bluetooth.
the atheros ar6003 chip seems to support bluetooth
Update:
The hack installation package is out for public.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1797367#post1797367
Guys, why so much hussle over him being Russian? Yes, he is. The only thing I dont understand why he is typing so slowly…like he is seeing the keyboard for the 2nd time in his life lol
PS Im Russian too but I type a bit faster even on my small android phone.