Kindle Touch jailbreak involves playing MP3 song
updated 10:45 am EST, Mon December 12, 2011
Kindle Touch gets dev-level hack through MP3 song
A hacker named Yifan Lu has just revealed a very simple way to jailbreak the new Kindle Touch. It onl involves downloading a ZIP file that contains an MP3 file, copying it onto the device and playing it from the official experimental menu. The file contains a developer key and lets users install other modifications that aren't officially sanctioned by Amazon.
The simple hack is possible because the latest Kindle Touch mostly uses HTML5 and JavaScript for its code rather than the Java of most other Kindles. Yifan's hack is contained in the ID3 tags of the MP3, which is executable and exploits a security flaw in the device's software. The hack is meant mostly for developers, however, as Yifan warns inexperienced users can make their Kindle Touch useless by installing poorly written or malicious code.
The code does open the door for further modifications and added functionality, such as potential ePub readers or other HTML5 apps. [via TheDigitalReader]
