Tag archive: mod

While manufacturers begin to announce their own official Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedules, hackers are hard at work modifying the source code to function on other devices. In this case it's Android developer JackpotClavin who has squeezed Ice Cream Sandwich on to the Amazon Fire tablet, and although it's not quite ready for everyday use, it's not far off. Based on CyanogenMod 9, the developer hopes the build and… Read More

From time to time, employees lose company laptops, accidentally leaving them in a bar or on a train. USB sticks go missing too, slipping out of pockets or sliding down the back of sofas, never to be seen again. And of course, some equipment gets stolen. Workers at the UK’s Ministry of Defence, however, appear to be a particularly lax bunch, having lost possession of 287 computers, 72 hard disks, 73 USB sticks, 28 mobile phones and 194 CDs and… Read More

It's great to hear about the newest phones and devices, but we've found a man who is on the front lines of innovation. Got one of them old Nintendo Entertainment Systems still lying around after 25 years? Well, you could play it, but if you're not going to do that, why not turn it into one of the slowest flash drives available today? Well, Ed Lewis at Instructables can help you with that. He turned a game cartridge into an 8GB… Read More

A previous peek at Apple’s iOS 4.2 beta hinted at a mysterious iProd2,1 product, which now appears to be the newest Apple TV according to The Unofficial Apple Weblog. For diligent hackers, jailbreaking the Apple TV just got a little easier, since iOS 4.2 was hacked only a few days ago. When the references to iProd2 were found earlier this year, many assumed it referred to a new iPad, since the iPad had been listed as iProd1,0 and iProd1,1 in… Read More

Although it's certainly not a mainstream activity, the market for modifying Xbox 360 consoles is healthy and growing. Some players modify their consoles to essentially cheat at games and unlock features and capabilities without having to arduously play their way through dozens (or hundreds) of lead-up scenarios. And, of course, other people modify their Xbox consoles to pirate games or play pirated games—actions that are patently… Read More

U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) agents stormed 32 separate locations in 16 states on Wednesday, but they weren’t searching for guns, drugs or even illegal immigrants. The officers were on a hunt for mod chips, the hardware that makes it possible to bypass copyright protection on consoles such as the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Wii. All modern consoles have built-in hardware schemes to prevent users from playing games from outside… Read More

From the article at Gameindustry.biz: A court in Italy has dealt a major blow to the efforts of the platform holders to crack down on mod chips, ruling that PS2 mod chip devices are designed to “avoid monopolistic positions.” The case was brought over a seizure of modded PlayStation 2s by the Italian authorities some days previously, with the court deciding that this seizure was illegal and that modding consoles is a… Read More

Mod chips enable console owners to overcome region protection built into their machines to run imported games bought legitimately and to back up games legitimately. But they also facilitate the playing of pirated games as a result. For a short time, selling mod chips in Australia was legal – officially, following a court ruling last July. Sony had filed a suit against a Sydney mod-chip trader, Eddy Stevens. Stevens is no hero: he… Read More

Following on from the news that it's possible to run unsigned applications on the Xbox by using a loophole in EA's Agent Under Fire, crackers have discovered how to mod the system without a physical modchip. The new system breaks open the Xbox for running third-party applications (including the Linux operating system) or pirated games just as effectively as standard mod chips, but the only physical alteration needed to the box is a… Read More