Hacking of consumer electronics
The hacking of consumer electronics is an increasingly common practice which users perform in order to customize and modify their devices beyond what is typically possible. This activity has a long history, dating from the days of early computer, programming, and electronics hobbyists. The most notable case of the hacking of consumer electronics is jailbreaking of Apple iOS devices or the rooting of Android phones, although many other electronics such as video game consoles are regularly hacked.

Devices

Smartphones

Hardware device removal
Whistleblower Edward Snowden showed Wired correspondent Shane Smith how to remove the cameras and microphones from a smartphone.

Smartphone operating systems 
 Firefox OS
 Windows Phone
Samsung 

Tekno
 Apple iOS (jailbreaking)
 Google Android (root)
 Palm webOS (dev mode)
 Symbian OS (executing unsigned code) first
Jio phone whatsapp

Multimedia devices and video game systems 
 Microsoft
 Xbox
 Xbox 360
 Xbox One
 Xbox Series X/S
 Nintendo
 GameCube
 Game Boy Advance
 Nintendo DS
 Nintendo 3DS (Homebrew)
 Wii
 Wii homebrew
 Wii U
 Nintendo Switch
 Sony
 PlayStation Portable
 PlayStation 2
 PlayStation 3
 PlayStation Vita
 Others
 TiVo
 DVD player - to remove regional restrictions, user operation prohibition flag (fast forward disabled in advertising clip etc.) and Macrovision (video copy is flashing after copying to protect analog hole)
 Blu-ray players - to remove regional restrictions
 Any non-smart mobile phone.  To remove operator lock or SIM lock restriction.

Other devices 
 Graphing calculators
 Texas Instruments signing key controversy
 Video cards
 Routers
 DD-WRT
 Oscilloscopes
 Thermographic cameras
 GPS devices
 Canon Digital cameras
 Nikon Digital cameras.
Vivo v7+ v1716

Devices allowing for hacking 

Some devices—most commonly open source—are built for homebrew purposes, and encourage hacking as an integral part of their existence.

 Pandora (console)
Samsung 
Tekno 

 Chumby
 Ouya
 Nokia N900
 Android Dev Phone
 Nexus One
 Nexus S
 Galaxy Nexus, currently one of the phones recommended by the Android Open Source Project for software development
 ZTE Open
 Many wireless routers' firmware upgrade functions are not limited to accepting updates that have been signed by the device's manufacturer. As a result, open-source firmware replacements have been created for many devices, such as OpenWrt and DD-WRT.

Legality 
iOS jailbreaking was often considered illegal in the United States until a recent ruling by the U.S. Copyright Office declaring that jailbreaking an iPhone or other mobile device would no longer violate copyright law.  However, simultaneously, there is ongoing prosecution against hackers of videogame consoles under anti-circumvention violations of the DMCA. A main complication, in many cases, is the profiting from selling jailbroken or rooted equipment as a value-added service. At least some accused deny these charges and claim only to be making back-ups of legally purchased games.

In around 2010, the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection encryption system, which encrypts data running between cable boxes, Blu-ray players, and other similar devices and displays was cracked, and a copy of the master key needed to decrypt HDCP protected streams was posted on the internet.  Intel, which created and now licenses HDCP technology, has stated that HDCP is sufficient to keep most users from circumventing it, but indicated that it may threaten legal action against more determined users under the DMCA.

Also in around 2010, on the issue of the hacking of its then new interactive game controller the Kinect, Microsoft initially condemned and threatened legal action against those who hacked it, but soon after, it reversed this position and instead stated that it had intentionally left the device open, and would in fact not prosecute those who modified it.

See also 
 Electronics right to repair
 iOS jailbreaking
 Rooting (Android OS)
 Symbian OS Security 
bypass
 List of open source hardware projects
 Privilege escalation
 Unsigned code

References

Hacker culture
Hardware restrictions
Proprietary hardware