Hackers have cracked controls in the Google Android operating system, used on T-Mobile's GI phone, according to IDG news service. The G1 is the first Android-based phone available through T-Mobile . It went on sale in late October.
This gives users a way to read data on parts of the phone that are normally out of bounds and could be used to install new programs, or even a new operating system. Currently, programs for the open-source Android operating system must be written in Java, rather than other popular programming languages such as C or C++, the report says.
Apparently details of how to gain so-called superuser 'root' access to the phone have been posted to an Android development forum. Step-by-step instructions have also been published online.
Developers were able to hack the phone thanks to a bug in the Android operating system, Google acknowledged. It said it's working on a fix.
The iPhone was also unlocked after its launch in June 2007, through a process known as 'jailbreaking,' IDG points out.