Windows 7 Activation Technologies Update coming down the pike, will tell you things you (should) already know

Wondering why your PC has been infested with malware, random popups, intermittent shut downs and all sorts of other atypical garbage since the day you installed that downloaded copy of Windows 7? In case you aren’t capable of determining that your copy of Windows isn’t genuine (as in, you didn’t buy it from a legitimate source), Microsoft is about to lend you a serious hand. In the “coming days,” the software behemoth will be pushing out a new update for Windows Activation Technologies, which will look for over “70 known and potentially dangerous activation exploits.” It sounds as if the update is intended to alert folks who purchased complete PCs from the back of their local White Van that they may have gotten ripped off, but either way, we’re not particularly stoked about having yet another item running in the background, consuming system resources and telling us that we’ve been naughty. Thankfully it’s a voluntary update, but keep your eyes peeled if you don’t want to okay the installation accidentally.

[Thanks, Troy]

Windows 7 Activation Technologies Update coming down the pike, will tell you things you (should) already know originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Moto CLIQ hacked to enable FM radio, easy listenin’ coming soon

Moto CLIQ hacked to enable FM radio, easy listenin' coming soonWe wouldn’t rate the ability to tune FM radio highly on our wishlist of missing features on Motorola’s CLIQ, but nonetheless an Android tweaker by the name of Eugene has figured out how to deliver it. The necessary receiving hardware for pulling down the Weekly Top 40 was actually there all the time, Eugene just needed some binary files — and to believe. Once he believed hard enough, clapped his hands, and copied over those files, presto he was groovin’. He hasn’t released a working version of his tweak to the world just yet, but we presume that will be coming soon enough.

Moto CLIQ hacked to enable FM radio, easy listenin’ coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PS3 finally properly hacked?

PS3 finally properly hacked? In a post titled “Hello hypervisor, I’m geohot,” hacker George Hotz (already known in the iPhone community) has made a strong claim: that he has cracked the PS3. The system has remained (mostly) uncompromised for over three years now, with a few exceptions here and there. But, this one pledges full read/write access to the entire system memory and complete control over the processor — all without a mod chip. Has he really done it, if so how, and what comes next? That all remains to be seen. This exploit supposedly “isn’t really patchable, but [Sony] can make implementations much harder,” meaning he isn’t tipping his hat until he’s ready, because once he does the never-ending firmware update war begins, and as we’ve seen on the PSP, Sony can really knock out those updates.

[Thanks, Deepak]

PS3 finally properly hacked? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 06:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft patches IE security hole, human rights activities fully resume

Ready for an update? Good. If you’re still using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (versions 5.01 to 8) for some inexplicable reason, there’s a patch that you should probably install on the double — that is, if you’re a hardcore human rights activist that just might end up on a Chinese hit list. All kidding aside, the devs in Redmond have broken free from their usual monthly update cycle in order to push out a patch to fix the hole that was exploited by a group of sophisticated hackers last week. Refresh that Windows Update if you’re scared, or — you know — just download one of the many other free web browsers that are far, far superior to IE.

Microsoft patches IE security hole, human rights activities fully resume originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Droid gets overclocking, Nexus One gets tethering, Android hackers get mad props

Droid gets overclocking, Nexus One gets tethering, Android hackers get mad props
If there’s one problem with Motorola’s Droid it’s that the battery life is just too long. We can almost make it through an entire day without a recharge and really, who wants that? Thank goodness there’s a hack to enable an extra 50MHz boost, bumping the Droid up to a full 600 and, according to at least one user, significantly decreasing stability in the process. We’ll go ahead and skip that one, but on the more alluring side there’s a new add-on to the (already rooted) Nexus One that enables wired or wireless tethering. It’s not a full ROM but does entail a kernel update, and as always these things can go horribly wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing. Not sure if you know what you’re doing? Chances are you have your answer.

Droid gets overclocking, Nexus One gets tethering, Android hackers get mad props originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nexus One gets a custom ROM

It’s been but a week since the gang at Modaco rooted the Nexus One — and what do we have here? A quick visit to the self-same forums today has revealed that the handset has a new custom ROM. Based on the 22607 release (in case you’re curious), this bad boy sports many new and exciting features, including the Nano 2.09 text editor, wireless tether, Titanium Backup, Busybox 1.15.3, and more. Feelin’ adventurous? Hit the source link to give it a go. And make sure you drop us a line and let us know how it goes. (You don’t think we’re going to be the first to try it, do you?)

[Thanks, Jules]

Nexus One gets a custom ROM originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nexus One rooted already?

No, you still can’t have one (not yet, at least), but we’ve received a number of tips directing us Modaco forums, where admin Paul claims to have rooted Google’s not-so-mysterious Nexus One. We can’t validate the “superboot” file works, but the adjacent picture has popped up from another forum member as apparent anecdotal confirmation. Instructions for Windows, Linux, and OS X users can be found along with the necessary materials. What do you say, hacker community, any chance we can get multitouch loaded into the device before it ever becomes official to the world at large?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nexus One rooted already? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Cliq gets rooted by the Dude

Motorola Cliq gets rooted by the Dude

Sick of Motorola meting out Android firmware updates when it chooses? Trust in The Dude — TheDudesAndroid, to be specific, a user over at ModMyMoto who has posted The Dudes Root for Cliq (following up an earlier and similarly unkempt version for the G1). The install process looks about as complicated as you might expect, so make sure you keep Walter away while you’re re-flashing lest your handset go all nihilistic on ya. At this point it’s just another 1.5 ROM being installed, but the hope is for a 2.1 port coming in the not too distant future. Unless you’re really pining to get full control over your handset we’d go ahead and wait for that version of the Dude to abide.

Update: The Dude mentioned in comments that credit is also due to fellow Android magicians danation, Skilrax_CZ, and others. We can’t think of any funny movie references for those names so we’ll just leave it at that.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola Cliq gets rooted by the Dude originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid now just a (hacked) firmware update away from WiFi tethering

Motorola Droid now just a (hacked) firmware update away from WiFi tethering

Add one more item to the “Droid does” column — unofficially, at least. WiFi tethering from Motorola’s hottest is now possible straight from the phone itself, over WiFi even. PDANet already enabled the thing to share its connection, but relies on an external driver installed on a Windows or Mac device. This latest fix does away with that, but does require the installation of a hacked version of the 2.0.1 firmware. The process, laid out at the read link by DroidForums.net user webacoustics, doesn’t sound that bad, but warnings like “if your phone stays at the white Motorola logo for longer than a minute or two, you probably bricked [it]” will leave many users sticking with PDANet or waiting for the official Verizon solution — and paying out the nose for it.

Motorola Droid now just a (hacked) firmware update away from WiFi tethering originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Maps Navigation hacked for extra-American use

Guess what, prospective Milestone owners, the Droid’s one major advantage over its Euro cousin has just been coded out of existence by those proactive, un-American XDA Developers. The free Google Maps Navigation service, whose US announcement was so shocking as to decimate the stock prices of satnav purveyors Garmin and TomTom, has now been ported to work outside the land of the free as well. Not only that, but you can use the app on other Android devices, meaning your old G1 can get a breath of fresh air for absolutely free. That is if you don’t count the time it takes you to learn how to insert all the code properly and the risk of bricking your device in the process. But we know our readers eat iron nails for breakfast and fashion elegantly optimized code before lunch, so we expect all of you to be using this by day’s end, you hear?

Google Maps Navigation hacked for extra-American use originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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