iPad 3 hacked: Jailbreak achieved in a few hours

Barely had Apple’s iPad 3 seen the light of the day when hardware hackers announced that they have already managed to jailbreak the device.

And it wasn’t just one method that the successful hackers used. Hardware enthusiasts managed to find multiple different ways to jailbreak the new iPad, hours after the release of Apple’s latest tab.

Hacker MuscleNerd of iPhone Dev-Team posted pictures on Twitter (you too can follow us on Twitter) showing the new iPad running the Cydia Store for jailbroken devices and a terminal application as proof of his hack.

MuscleNerd added that it was “Just a first step, still lots of work to do!”

According to Apple, demand for its new tablet was the strongest the company has ever seen, and that it sold 3 million iPad 3 tablets within the first weekend of its launch.

In total, about 55 million iPads have been sold by the Cupertino-based tech giant since it first launched the tablet in 2010.

Click here to find out what is jailbreaking

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, jailbreaking devices is legal in the US, although Apple has announced that the practice "can violate the warranty". Installing software published outside the App Store has the potential to affect battery life and system stability if the software is poorly optimized or frequently uses resource-draining services (such as 3G or WiFi).

A number of Apple fans relish the jailbroken version if Apple’s devices as that allows them the best of both worlds – the design superiority of Apple combined with unrestricted access to apps developed by other providers.

According to Wikipedia, one of the main reasons for jailbreaking is to expand the feature set limited by Apple and its App Store. Most jailbreaking tools automatically install Cydia, a native iOS APT client used for finding and installing software for jailbroken iOS devices.

Since software programs available through Cydia are not required to adhere to App Store guidelines, many of them are not typical self-contained apps but instead are extensions and customizations for iOS and other apps.

Users install these programs for purposes including personalization and customization of the interface, adding desired features and fixing annoyances, and making development work on the device easier by providing access to the filesystem and command-line tools.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.