Zune HD hacked, as well as previous Zune models
April 16, 2010 by itsnotabigtruck
That’s about to change. Through the work of myself as well as Netrix, Nurta, and the rest of the ZuneBoards Development Front, all Zune models, including the Zune HD, have been hacked. The first true hack available for the Zune, this makes it possible to, for the first time, run applications directly on top of the Zune firmware, with full access to everything XNA withheld before. The limitations of XNA are now no limitations at all.
As OpenZDK has just been released, few apps have yet been built on it. While only time will tell what developers actually create, the door to emulators, homebrew 3D games, ports of classic games, app stores, and much more has now been opened. Developers are encouraged to post their OpenZDK applications at the new dedicated forum on ZuneBoards - conventional XNA applications will continue to inhabit their own forum.
This initial release of OpenZDK is primarily intended to give developers a starting point for building next-generation applications. However, we have published an OpenZDK Quick Start Kit that includes example programs that you can try right now, including a 3D demo that offers a small taste of what hardware-accelerated 3D graphics have to offer.
Getting started guides are available for end users and interested developers. You can download the Quick Start Kit right now from the list of mirrors. If you have a BitTorrent client installed, the torrent-based download is strongly recommended - the more people that download, the higher the speed. However, numerous mirrors are available to download through more conventional methods.
The Zune Dev Wiki is at the center of the storm, so make sure to check it frequently as the launch progresses today.
Comments
Also this sounds very exciting and almost makes me want to buy a new Zune. My only worry is that things will not be developed for it however I really hope they are.
Good work to all of you, congratulations, and I hope we don't get involved in a lawsuit.
Tweeted: Twitter / Zuneboards: Zune HD hacked, as well as ...
and I'll do more later.
Got a question though... Will this enable, lets say, a twitter app for the classic devices? or something similar that requires an internet connection?
I've never expected a hack for the Zune!!! Specially the ZHD!!!
This is AWESOME NEWS!!!
Thank you all for your hard work!!!
Last edited by Netrix; 04-16-2010 at 07:40 AM..
Big thanks to all who worked on the project!
its awesome to be able to LIVE thru this...this...epic event.
now time will tell what dev's will brew up.
I hate to say it, but after 2 1/2 years of frustration and disappointment with the Zune software/firmware development, I'm about to eBay my Zune 80 for an iPod Touch.
I'm reluctant to do so, because I really like the device, and I think if it could ever get untethered from the POS Zune application, I would regret no longer having it. Unfortunately, I've been waiting for that to happen for the last two years. If this doesn't open that door somehow, I'm done with Zune.