Hacker 'jailbreaks' the Motorola Droid

Motorola's Android-powered 'iPhone killer', the Droid, has followed the iPhone's example and been hacked so that it can effectively become jailbroken.

Motorola has spent a lot advertising dollars in promoting its so-called 'robot phone' as a pumped-up, testosterone-fuelled, alternative to Apple's more 'girly' iPhone. But the self-styled 'bare-knuckled bucket of does' has proven just as vulnerable to being hacked as the iPhone.

A hacker created an exploit that enables a Droid user to take administrative root control of the Android OS running on their phone. This means that a user can run whatever applications or themes they want to on their phone.

Specifically, Droid owners could take advantage of features not currently permitted by the platform such as free tethering, overclocking, and iPhone-style multitouch.

On the other hand jailbreaking a Motorola Droid poses dangers such as voiding the warranty, making it unusable, and leaving it open to malware writers.

Step-by-step instructions on how to jailbreak your Droid have been posted on the Android Forums site. The Droid is marketed as the Motorola Milestone in the UK.