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Cellphones Iphone Apple

Hackers Finally Unlock iPhone 3G 186

nandemoari quotes a story at Infopackets: "2009 has gotten off to a great start for a team of iPhone enthusiasts with little regard for Apple's licensing requirements. They've finally figured out a way to get the phone to work with any cell phone carrier (and not just AT&T). The iPhone Dev Team is best known for their work on 'jailbreaking;' the technique of altering an iPhone so that you can run any applications on it, not just those approved by Apple. Given the company's questionable vetting policy for entry to the official App store, it's not surprising many users approve of jailbreaking."
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Hackers Finally Unlock iPhone 3G

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  • Finally (Score:4, Interesting)

    by slugtastic ( 1437569 ) on Saturday January 03, 2009 @09:19AM (#26311073)
    I can use Opera Mini on my iPhone.
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by zobier ( 585066 )

      I'm hoping we can get Android fully running (including supporting all hardware devices) on it.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by sunnytzu ( 629976 )

        Well, Android has been made able to support all the features of the iPhone (or so it seems), just need some crafty driver developers now.

        • Re:Finally (Score:5, Informative)

          by DECS ( 891519 ) on Saturday January 03, 2009 @02:09PM (#26312679) Homepage Journal

          Except for a multitouch screen. And Android doesn't support Bluetooth any better than Apple's nearly worthless level of support.

          What exactly do you even have in mind when you say "all the features"? Because the features of the iPhone that are novel are not supported in Android, and those that are nothing special. What sets the iPhone apart is mainly its user interface, its software store, its smart integration into iTunes/iPod stuff. Android offers none of those things. It give users a DIY-UI, a software "store" without security, merchandising, or sales, and no PC connectivity.

          Google's Android Platform Faces Five Tough Obstacles [roughlydrafted.com]

          • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

            by sunnytzu ( 629976 )

            Apologies, I had misread regarding Android's capabilities for multitouch. And when I said features, I was of course talking about the hardware.

          • by aliquis ( 678370 )

            Actually I like all the "lacks" of Android except the user interface part, but I'm sure it will improve, it's the first version damnit ..

      • by aliquis ( 678370 )

        Why on earth would you buy an iPhone to run Android on it?

        (I'm not saying "use OS X it's much better", I wonder why one would consider Apple hardware if Android is the choice. It's like buying a Macbook for Windows or a Mac Pro for Linux (Yeah I know plenty of reta... err.. casual users do that.))

    • I can use Opera Mini on my iPhone.

      Unlocking an iPhone has nothing to do with that. To quote the introduction to the article:

      They've finally figured out a way to get the phone to work with any cell phone carrier (and not just AT&T). The iPhone Dev Team is best known for their work on 'jailbreaking;' the technique of altering an iPhone so that you can run any applications on it, not just those approved by Apple.

      "Finally, I can use Opera Mini on my iPhone" would be a response to jailbreaking an iPhone, not to unlocking one.

    • by xjerky ( 128399 )

      Um, huh? Since when is there a version of Opera Mini for the iPhone?

    • by gustar ( 125316 )

      i can ride my bike with no handle bars...

    • by aliquis ( 678370 )

      ... I can keep on ignoring the iPhone and wait until I can get an Android phone internationally such as the Kogan one.

      Sure Android don't look nearly as polished but atleast if offers potential, can be hacked and tweaked with less issues and will likely offer me a better phone than the one I bought two years from now..

      Apple seem to do decent user interface guidelines but that's kind of it. I could have said applications but most of them is so very limited I won't.

  • Yes! (Score:5, Funny)

    by XPeter ( 1429763 ) on Saturday January 03, 2009 @09:35AM (#26311147) Homepage

    I can't wait to put Windows Mobile on my 3G!

  • Is it worth it? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rolfwind ( 528248 ) on Saturday January 03, 2009 @09:39AM (#26311159)

    I've been thinking about one, but:

    a)How do you get around activation at purchase time?
    b)Does Apple break this later on, especially when I need it?

    I could buy a legally unlocked iPhone from Hong Kong, but it costs $700+. In the unlocked countries, Apple prices it through the roof, I suppose. Although there has been talk about a prepaid version here for some time...

    • How do you get around activation at purchase time?

      That's an easy one...you buy it used on eBay, Craigslist, etc.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by v1 ( 525388 )

        I can't imagine the odds of someone selling their new iphone 3g while still under contract. Wouldn't the odds of such a thing for sale being hot be incredibly high? Those things have serial numbers (SSIDs) that they will need to activate the phone wherever so if you do get a hot iphone you probably won't have it for long.

        • So they cancel their account, pay the termination fee, and keep the phone. At this point they can sell the phone for a profit if they want.

          • by v1 ( 525388 )

            But the "early termination fee" is going to be ugly. Add that to the cost of the phone to begin with, and either it won't sell cheap, or if it does, it's hot.

            • It generally will not sell cheap, as the auctions on eBay show. Buyers will pay a premium to get an iPhone sans contract to unlock and use on the carrier of choice. Also, the early termination fee only applies if you cancel service entirely. I just canceled my data plan and went back to my RAZR, no termination fee required since I kept the voice service. Now I also had my service for four months so that may have been a factor.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      The UK has prepaid versions on sale currently - 8GB for ~ £350GBP/$510USD, and 16GB for ~ £390GBP/$570USD. Free 3G internet access on O2 for the first year with the purchase of the handset, and you buy voice minutes and sms credit.
      • Sounds like a very good deal. One question: is the prepaid locked to O2 somehow? The only prepaids I'm used to are the cheap ones like tracfone, which are locked to the carrier for life (but they're $10 phones to begin with).

        • When it comes to the iPhone, I have no idea - every previous phone I used on O2 was unlocked, even when it was purchased as part of a contract, but the iPhone is locked to O2 even on contract. Your guess is as good as mine, and my guess is that its locked :)
        • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

          Sounds like a very good deal. One question: is the prepaid locked to O2 somehow?

          :facepalm:
          Maybe you need to go back and read the article summary again.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      Alternatively, one could just buy another phone. As continuously mentioned, the iPhone is just a phone that can run some apps. Not the best phone, not the best interface. If one want to play music, the iTouch is smaller with more memory.

      If one wants to be an app junkie, by something that runs the Android. That way one cdan not only run any app available, but can write personal custom apps. This has never been the case with Apple, so is a non issue. When the iPhone came out is had no apps. When apps

    • Is it worth it? No, not in my opinion. The iPhone lacks the single most useful feature of any mobile phone, a built in LED flashlight. I still use seven year old phone because it has this. I use it way more than anything else.

      What to do when it finally breaks... ...hack a luxeon LED into my skype phone maybe...
    • by cheros ( 223479 )

      Unless you want to combine an iPod with a not terribly useful phone you're wasting your time (and money). The iPhone is not multitasking so app switching (which always needs to go via the "home" screen) means unloading one app and loading another making it dog slow. I use a Sony Ericsson P1i and after 3 weeks of iPhone I use the Sony again as it's much faster for what I need it for - the iPhone is now only a form of non-RIM crackberry (mine's from work). The whole UI is far overrated, it doesn't even hav

  • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 03, 2009 @09:44AM (#26311177)

    I'll summarize every comment on this story, which will be of two types:

    1) OMG APPLE IS TEH EVILZ, SUPAR CLOSED. Information wants to be free!!1 All things apple fail, apple will close all business and lose EVARATHING coz I think they suxxor even though I would never try it!

    2) Apple is heaven and they're just doing this for your own protection, it saves you and gives a you a better phone experience! Now suck on Stevies cock like a good little bitch.

  • by oPless ( 63249 ) on Saturday January 03, 2009 @10:06AM (#26311285) Journal

    Why not link to http://blog.iphone-dev.org/ [iphone-dev.org] themselves ?

    Oh wait ... this is /.

    My Bad.

  • Trusted Computing (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Britz ( 170620 ) on Saturday January 03, 2009 @10:24AM (#26311389)

    Trusted Computing used to be treated as one of the most evil things here on Slashdot:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgFbqSYdNK4 [youtube.com]

    The appstore (where Steve decides what is trustworthy and what is not, to quote the video) sold the "I am rich"-app for cryin' out loud. Among a bunch of other crap. Other apps that are very useful are not given a chance and won't run.

    • The number one seller is iFart, which was raking in over $10,000 per day for a while. It's still #1, so it's obviously continuing to pull in massive amounts of money.

    • by Corbets ( 169101 )

      It also PULLED the I am rich app, sticking to their policy of deciding what's appropriate and what's not. Don't forget to leave out that little detail; you might not like them taking that responsibility/power upon themselves, but they DO do it rather consistently. They're not perfect, clearly, which is why the app made it to the store at all.

  • by Tjp($)pjT ( 266360 ) on Saturday January 03, 2009 @02:43PM (#26312983)
    Jailbreak has been around for a while to run non-App Store apps. But a lot of the reasons to run non-App store apps is gone as a lot of originally free pre-Apple iPhone SDK apps are now on the App store as "legitimate" apps. And those that were not were often available anyway. Jailbreak to run non-Apple apps was pretty quick. What "unlock" is all about is to use an alternative carrier. The prior 3G choice was buy an overseas (if you're in the US) unlocked iPhone, a hack SIM overlay card which messes with the registration numbers the network sees for your phone and the ones the phone sees, and which is illegal in most places, or wait for the iPhone Dev Team as most other hackers have fled the scene. Geohot seems to have once more been a quiet hero and provided a key exploit to allow the Dev Team the insertion vector.

    So just running unapproved apps is not the reason for the unlock. The reason is so one can take their locked phone and use a different carrier. A great example is so I can use Kyivstar in Ukraine while traveling (or any other GSM/GPRS provider) and not pay thousands of dollars to roam from ATT while in Europe. Instead pay 50-60 USD and buy a local prepaid SIM. BTW. They sell at most airports. So if traveling, research first before you pay 75 dollars to have a 10-15 dollar SIM card kit mailed to you in the US.

    And as this is BETA software, be patient while the bugs are worked out. Me especially as a Ukraine user reported Kyivstar was not playing nice yet.
  • So where's that "defective by design" [defectivebydesign.org] tag - isn't this a story about DRM and its negative effects?

    Oh, but this is Apple. Nevermind...

  • I love to watch the hackers go as much as anyone. But the main thing about jailbreaking was that it was important in the early days, before the App Store. I would be nice if I didn't have to sign a deal with AT&T, but it would be nicest if all the cell networks were looped together in one big Internet thingie, too. AT&T is a crummy company, but so what? They're all just conspiring to take my money and screw me over.
    99% of people will buy an iPhone, take out the deal with AT&T, and load it up on

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