Microsoft encourages Geohot's work

By Robert Purchese Published 20 January, 2011

Wants to send free Windows Phone 7.

George "Geohot" Hotz broke open iPhone and broke open PlayStation 3. Apple wasn't happy and Sony has taken Hotz to court.

What would Microsoft do if Hotz broke open Windows Phone 7?

Nothing.

In fact, Microsoft wants to send Hotz a Windows Phone 7 handset so he can get cracking.

"Geohot, if you want to build cool stuff on WP7, send me email and the team will give you a phone - let dev creativity flourish," tweeted Brandon Watson, Windows Phone 7 team lead.

Hotz's jailbreak for PS3 allows homebrew applications and pirated games to run on the console. Sony's trying to stop him distributing it, but Hotz is fighting The Man every step of the way.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (59) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • byron_hinson #1 1 year ago

    They can only give them away it seems

  • MavSkipper #2 1 year ago

    what's the point of hacking WP7?

  • Syrette #3 1 year ago

    So he can work on security measures to help combat hacking?
    Edited by Syrette at 20/01/11 @ 15:03

  • Emmit_Assassin #4 1 year ago

    Wait, is now cool to have Geohot crack something?

    'You're products not cool until Geohot has fucked it in the ass!'

  • grayn #5 1 year ago

    I'm sure the guy meant well, but this makes it look like MS is supporting what Geohot did to Sony. Clearly not what was intended, but still.

  • dingo75 #6 1 year ago

    Nice cheap PR and a "Fuck you" to Sony!
    Good job Microsoft (and I'm serious).

  • SeesThroughAll #7 1 year ago

    Somehow I suspect they would not be saying this if he had enabled homebrew on the 360...

  • Lunastra78 #8 1 year ago

    That will make a nice paperweight.

  • neilka #9 1 year ago

    Windows Phlolne 7

  • tomdominer #10 1 year ago

    Isn't this entrapment?

  • tomdominer #11 1 year ago

    Isn't this entrapment?

  • dwalker109 #12 1 year ago

    Yeah, this guy isn't really speaking for Microsoft is he. He's speaking as a nerd, in the wild west that is the ideological battleground of hackers/crackers.
    Edited by dwalker109 at 20/01/11 @ 14:46

  • Scopeh #13 1 year ago

    I bet they wouldnt be so happy if he cracks open Xbox 720 or whatever its gonna be called. There just snuggling up to a guy thats pissing off there main Competition.

    It even looks like hes encouraging hacking! "Go ahead guys, hack that Nintendo 3DS, you have the blessing of M$"
    Edited by Scopeh at 20/01/11 @ 14:47

  • tachometer #14 1 year ago

    If he wants them to hack it why bother putting protection there in the first place?

  • RexRunti #15 1 year ago

    @SeesThroughAll Somehow I suspect they would not be saying this if he had enabled homebrew on the 360...

    Er... http://www.xna.com

  • Whitster #16 1 year ago

    Give me a heads up when someone puts out a WP7 version of installous then, might be worth getting one when you aren't paying £7 a game.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #17 1 year ago

    This sounds like a huge "f- you Sony". However, Microsoft have been relatively cooperative when it comes to hacking the Windows Phone 7, just last week (or was it this week) they met with the authors of the original Chevron hack or whatever it was called to discuss bringing features features of their hack into official upcoming releases.

    Of course, part of this will be damage control but you really cannot fault Microsoft on how they handle the situation.

  • Bigmac1910 #18 1 year ago

    I hate people who condone hacking (which almost always leads to piracy), why not just give him a job so he can do it in a legit way? Really weird attitude coming from M$.

  • jarek98 #19 1 year ago

    As far as I know every WP7 developer can install any custom software on owned phone (for development and testing purposes, but still) - so what is the point in "hacking" WP7?

  • Skurmedel #20 1 year ago

    I'm sure there are a number of things shielded by security measures, not to mention the Windows Phone 7's own app store. You can install your own stuff on an iPhone as well provided you are a registered developer. An entirely different matter really.

  • Dizzy #21 1 year ago

    "As far as I know every WP7 developer can install any custom software on owned phone (for development and testing purposes, but still) - so what is the point in "hacking" WP7? "

    If you pay 99 euro per year for your XNA membership.

  • geeza2020 #22 1 year ago

    Whats a windows phone 7?

    lolz etc etc

  • GamerG #23 1 year ago

    Seeings as he's probably made MS $ millions in gamers switching to 360 for playable servers and saved them further millions in royalty payments (that MS would have had to pay Devs if they had to compete for content with Sony which they'll now be lining up to offer for cheap), personally I think sending him a free phone is the least they could do!!
    Edited by GamerG at 20/01/11 @ 15:11

  • Noble6 #24 1 year ago

    Somehow MS come away looking pretty cool from this.....

  • Noble6 #25 1 year ago

    @RexRunti
    lol
    Nice one.
    They actually encourage it. Respect.

  • lennon #26 1 year ago

    Fof gods sake dont screw over WP7 now I am right in the middle of a monstor game of zombies!

  • jarek98 #27 1 year ago

    Ok, ok. But wasn't WP7 "hacked" at least once already, back in November 2010?
    Details: http://www.chevronwp7.com

  • barkertron #28 1 year ago

    It has to be said, Microsoft's history in promoting "openness" is absolutely laughable - they've spent billions in legal fees to squash open standards (look at their behaviour in the OOXML debacle for one example), so consumers would have no choice but to use their OS and Office applications. For them to suddenly turn around and say "Hey! We're all for openness and creativity" just smacks of opportunism of the worst kind - they're desperate to catch up in the smartphone market and will say or do anything to make them stand out. I doubt their position would be similar if they were in Android/Apple's position as the market leader.

  • FogHeart #29 1 year ago

    GeoHotz: "There. I've made it so anyone can download paid apps on WP7 for free."

    M$: "FUUUUUUUUUUUU........"

  • Markusdragon #30 1 year ago

    Sly git. Not a bad PR line though, makes the competition seem backward and petty and gives technophiles a little more reason to like Microsoft.

    Although it may just bring forward the inevitable 'fuck you' to MS; Linux running on a Windows Phone 7.

  • MrFlump #31 1 year ago

    I've used the WP7 handsets and they're not anywhere near as bad as people seem to think. I love the opinions many have without (i'm speculating) even using the units.

    Anyone can actually develop software for free using Visual Studio 2010 (express works just as well as the professional/team system versions) and getting the Mobile Development Kit. XNA is free to develop on so homebrew is already open on WP7 and the 360. You also get the Windows Phone Emulator so you can run the stuff without actually needing a physical handset. You only need to really subscribe for distribution really.

    If anything, Microsoft should be applauded for giving easy access to develop for their systems compared to the likes of Sony who pissed off a lot of people with the locked down nature of the PS3 and PSP who like to tinker and write their own apps. You just need to look at the Apple app store and the Indie Channel on the 360 to see what people are wanting to do and the sooner console and handheld manufacturers realise that there is a lot of untapped talent out in the wild that can drive people to their platforms by making it easy to do what they want (within reason regards to piracy etc) with the hardware they own the sooner they'll find increased sales.

    This is a clever way for some free publicity towards Windows Phone 7 and gets them some geek kudos. And hell, microsoft spent most of their advertising budget for the year on Kinect, they gotta use some cheaper methods now ;)

  • Murton #32 1 year ago

    Hmmm, MS condoning "hacking" on the same week that their latest "modified hardware" countermeasure goes live ready for another wave of console bans.

    Double standards much?

  • Dunk_13 #33 1 year ago

    they need some way to make the phones seem apealing

  • jjolley #34 1 year ago

    Typical of ms really, they reward him fore being a smug twat and ruining game devs. You can't beat it.

  • miiiguel #35 1 year ago

    Although it may just bring forward the inevitable 'fuck you' to MS; Linux running on a Windows Phone 7

    It would stop being a Windows Phone 7, because... Windows Phone 7 is just the software which runs in several hardware models.

  • Mkwone #36 1 year ago

    Be careful what you wish for ms

  • mss99 #37 1 year ago

    Perhaps he could hack a version of iPlayer into 360 silver memberships whilst he is there now MS back his activities ;)

  • Whitster #38 1 year ago

    How did Fogheart get a +7 for making the same joke I got a -1 for?

    The users of this site boggle the mind sometimes :S

  • SeesThroughAll #39 1 year ago

    @RexRunti: I am aware of XNA. But I was referring to a situation similar to what happened to the PS3... Complete system access. And homebrew does not require a subscription AFAIK.
    Edited by SeesThroughAll at 20/01/11 @ 16:01

  • Dizzy #40 1 year ago

    "You only need to really subscribe for distribution really. "

    No you need to sub to deploy on a real device.

  • FogHeart #41 1 year ago

    Whitsy, I'll be honest, I read your post, had no idea what it meant, moved on. I wrote mine without knowing it was repeating what you said. I think maybe it's true, comedy is all about ti

  • 00.00.01 #42 1 year ago

    The classic lines 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' and 'If you can't beat them, join them' spring to mind.

  • FogHeart #43 1 year ago

    ming.

  • MerricK #44 1 year ago

    Eg is behind the times. This happened at the start of the week!

  • Toothball #45 1 year ago

    @Whitster

    He used two memes in his comment. They resonate far and wide on the intersnets.

  • sneetch #46 1 year ago

    Dunno if I'd say Microsoft had anything to do with this. The guy works for Microsoft sure, but looking at his twitter feed I see his bio is "Entrepreneur on loan to Microsoft focused on getting our developer mojo back." which (apart from making him sound like a bit of a bell-end in my opinion) leads me to believe he doesn't even see himself as representing Microsoft. But hey, much more controversial if you make out it's some kind of official company line.

    As the disclaimer goes: "Any opinions expressed in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of [Company Name]." a person saying or doing something doesn't automatically mean that the company they work for would approve of it.

    Edit: formatting ate my post!
    Edited by sneetch at 20/01/11 @ 16:34

  • oreillymj #47 1 year ago

    I presume they'll be sending him a 360 also to full jailbreak it. No, thought not.

    Amazing how MS are big on creativity when they have something to sell. If Winphone 7 ever takes off, I'm sure normal "cease and desist" service will resume.

  • FuzzyDuck #48 1 year ago

    Shall they chip in for his legal fees too?

  • coolbritannia #49 1 year ago

    Waht are the odds the Windows Phone 7 lead is also the xbox 360 team lead? Oh, they're not? But that ruins so many jokes....

  • Collymilad #50 1 year ago

    God all the MS haters you are getting fucking OLD.

    Seriously. Are you really that delusional that you think any other business cares about you or wouldn't do exactly what MS does/has done given the chance? Yet you don't see any of you in other comments threads putting the boot in.

  • ZeroAX #51 1 year ago

    What if he does what he did to the PS3, for the 360? Make piracy very easy and impossible to track down/do something about. Would MS still encourage his work?

  • drumbaby #52 1 year ago

    I doubt they'll fund his court case against Sony, should the need arise.

    Nah, that would be crazy, right?

  • J0hn6mith #53 1 year ago

    Funny thing : in the Romanian language Hotz means "thief". :D

  • Nozzinja #54 1 year ago

    This seems like form of reverse psychology if you ask me. And a cheap shot at a competing business..

  • des #55 1 year ago

    Somebody should send him 3DS,PSP2 too

  • DirectAim #56 1 year ago

    Legends!! And I doubt the 730 will get hacked bcuz MS don't use kids security for their systems lmao!!!

    Also all u muppets asking why hack the windows phone? That's just a stupid question!!

  • ubergine #57 1 year ago

    (byron_hinson wrote) "They can only give them away it seems "

    Had a genuine laugh out loud at this, not just the inward smirk and slight interruption of breath many people will write "lol" after.

    Does Eurogamer have an end-of-year awards ceremony for best posts?

  • Lee_Morris #58 1 year ago

    The whole industry should be standing together for this. Knobs

  • Chufty #59 1 year ago

    The pointlessness of the whole thing is that anyone can develop for WP7 anyway.