| GTV Hacker exploits Chromecast, reveals Google TV roots Jul 29th 2013, 07:10, by Juan Carlos Torres Google TV enthusiasts over at GTV Hacker have revealed how they were able to take advantage of an exploit in the software of the Chromecast that allowed them to hack into and analyze the inner workings of Google’s hottest new toy. This has also led to GTV Hacker’s first public release of a package for hacking the Chromecast. 
Google announced the Chromecast just last week and it has already been the subject of discussion over the Internet and geek circles. The device, which is the size of a USB thumb drive, connects to a TV over HDMI and allows users to stream media to the TV from any device and any operating system. Within just a day of availability over at Google Play, the Chromecast already sold out, probably due in part to a free three-month Netflix offer which was unfortunately cancelled. In a blog post, the folks at GTV Hacker narrated how they read the source code for the Chromecast in order to look for bugs that would allow them to hack into the system, discovering multiple possible options. One such way would allow them to boot an unsigned custom kernel by exploiting a bug in the bootloader. When the button on the Chromecast is pressed while turning it on, the device boots into USB mode and looks for a signed kernel image at a certain location in the USB. While the image itself is passed on to be verified, the result of this process is actually never checked, making it possible to execute any code, like executing a custom kernel. This allowed GTV Hackers to create an image that modifies the system and runs a root shell, giving researchers tools to examine the system. One such examination revealed that the device is basically running a modified Google TV system and not ChromeOS. This puts it closer to Android but without Bionic and Dalvik. It doesn’t mean it can install and run regular APKs nor will it be of any use to regular users. But GTV Hacker hopes that this is just the first step in rallying the Google TV community to further investigate the so far mysterious device. VIA: GTV Hacker |  | MediaTek unveils world's first true 8-core processor Jul 29th 2013, 06:20, by Juan Carlos Torres MediaTek has officially announced over the weekend what it calls the world’s first true octa-core processor, verifying rumors earlier this month about a new eight-core chip in the works. The System-on-Chip (SoC), which MediaTek dubs “True Octa-Core”, is set to rival or even surpass Samsung’s own octa-core offering, the Exynos 5 Octa chip which it announced at the beginning of the year. 
While the Exynos 5 does indeed have eight cores, it utilizes big.LITTLE technology with only four Cortex-A15 cores and four Cortex-A7 cores. As such, the Exynos 5 is limited to activating only half of the eight cores at a given time. In contrast, MediaTek’s implementation will allow all eight cores to be used simultaneously, enhancing performance and power efficiency and improving user experience. 
In its announcement, MediaTek claimed that True Octa-Core chip is able to intelligently allocate processing power on a per-application and even on a per-task basis. The chip is perfect for rigorous multitasking but without the cost of lag or excessive battery usage. Some of the advertised features of the chip include delegating user input to individual cores, advanced multi-threaded programming for delivering enhanced video-frame processing and low-latency gaming, as well as an 18% reduction in battery usage for decoding HEVC (H.265) Full High-Def video. Unfortunately, aside from the announcement and several position papers, details on the True Octa-Core have been sparse. No specifications have been released yet, but earlier rumors have put the clock speeds at around 2GHz. We’ll have to wait to see how well it actually performs in the wild, and how it will handle battery usage, as those are the important bits. VIA: GSMArena | | Google to Glass Developers: start making Android apps Jul 29th 2013, 05:40, by Juan Carlos Torres Google seems to be preparing to put Google Glass app development into high gear, encouraging developers to start making Android apps for it. Glass team member Alain Vongsouvanh made the call, perhaps in anticipation of the imminent release of the Glass Development Kit (GDK). 
Announced at Google I/O earlier this year, the GDK will allow developers to build Google Glass applications or “Glassware” in the form of an APK that can be installed and run directly on the device. At the moment, Glass developers only have access to a web-based service with a limited set of APIs that allows access to the hardware. Google has not made any announcement as to exactly when the GDK will be made available. In the meantime, Vongsouvanh recommends preparing for its arrival by developing Glassware using the regular Android SDK with API level 15 (corresponding to Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich). Since Glass will be running Android 4.0.4, the Android SDK already provides developers with the API to access hardware such as an accelerometer and features like media playback and Android widgets. Using the existing SDK will also allow beginners to get familiar with Android development before jumping into developing Glassware. The Glass team has also provided some APK samples to help developers get started. These include a stopwatch, a compass, and a level, with more examples coming in the weeks ahead. Vongsouvanh also promised to update these examples in order to demonstrate how to smoothly transition from a regular Android app to a Google Glass app once the GDK has been released. VIA: TechCrunch | |
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