Free the iPhone from AT&T 314
Acererak was one of several readers who noted that DVD Jon has released information on unbricking an iPhone. You sacrifice all cel phone functionality of course, but you have an iPDA that will work on your WiFi. Currently the hack is windows only but it doesn't look very complicated.
Re:Right (Score:5, Informative)
The latter is only a matter of time, after all you do not expect a device with a general purpose OS where everything runs as root to last long, do you?
Re:Why "Of course"? (Score:5, Informative)
It doesnt? http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30
Unlocking a Cell Phone is LEGAL (Score:5, Informative)
Exemptions are allowed for 1) the educational library of a university's media studies department, in order to watch film clips in class; 2) using computer software that requires the original disks or hardware in order to run; 3) dongle-protected computer programs, if the the dongle no longer functions and a replacement cannot be found; 4) protected e-books, in order to use screen-reader software; 5) cell phone firmware that ties a phone to a specific wireless network; and 6) DRM software included on audio CDs, but only when such software creates security vulnerabilities on personal computers.
Whole article is at: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061124-828
Re:HEY (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Yeah make it worthless, then I can afford one!! (Score:5, Informative)
Cool factor > Still looks cool to this day!
User interface > Yup its pretty nice touch screen interface
Wifi > With an SDIO card yeah
Almost full featured browser > yup got that too
Full screen > tis a pretty big screen
Video player > hardware mpeg4 decoder built in
plus it plays emulators and has tonnes of over features
f*ck the iphone get a Zodiac off ebay now!
Re:Why "Of course"? (Score:3, Informative)
It has a sim card, but it's a weird one.
Or... (Score:5, Informative)
Apple cares because they get a slice of the... (Score:1, Informative)
That's one of the many reasons Verizon told Apple to go pound sand.
Re:A better idea (Score:3, Informative)
Re:DVD Jon is really asking to be sued again (Score:3, Informative)
Windows Only? (Score:3, Informative)
I'd be happy to verify this theory if someone wants to send me an iPhone
Re:Yeah make it worthless, then I can afford one!! (Score:3, Informative)
No it does not play DRM locked iTunes music but it does everything else including play doom.
Oh and it's been out for far longer than the iPhone.
does it have the yuppie metrosexual iconic look? No but in a way kinda, every time I use mine with my phone (BT data) or for other reasons (far bigger screen than the iphone so movies rock and makes websurfing very tolerable) I get tons of questions about it.
Re:Why "Of course"? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Unlocking a Cell Phone is LEGAL (Score:4, Informative)
It's not a legal thing, it's a commercial thing. SIM locking makes a lot of sense and is one of the features that allowed for such a massive and fast rollout of ubiquitous GSM communications. Essentially it means the providers can heavily subsidise the price of the phone, making an advanced piece of electronics extremely cheap (and therefore affordable to lots of people), while still turning a profit. Everybody wins. But without locking, subsidising such a phone is equivalent to simply giving away money - so robust locking (a form of DRM in a way) is pretty important if you value everybody having a mobile phone. As phones usefulness is very much related to how many people have them, I'd say that's pretty important, especially as many countries now have laws around how long a phone can remain locked for and on some contracts (like mine) after you've had it for a year you own the phone and can get it unlocked.
Now, in this case, there are some things that aren't really clear. The first is how much AT&T are subsidising the cost of the phone. My Sony Ericsson W800i, which is now about 2 years old and has most of the features (if not the nice ui) of the iPhone cost me 30 UK pounds when I bought it on contract (locked for a year), which is about $60. But the high end iPhone costs 10 times that. I can well believe it's more expensive to make, as it's newer, has a nicer screen etc, but is AT&T subsidising the cost at all? If they are then I guess Apple have serious problems with the manufacturing price. If they aren't doing so then the original rationale for allowing locking (which is otherwise an unwarranted distortion of the free market) disappears, and it should be looked at closely.
Re:voip (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Why "Of course"? (Score:5, Informative)
This hack doesn't do anything about the phone part of the iPhone. All he did was patch around the activation step and fool the rest of the iPhone into thinking it has already been activated. But I'm pretty sure that someone will take the software apart and figure out how to use it as a standard quad-band GSM phone via the SIM card. The question is if it will have web access via the carrier's data network...and if it would be any faster than AT&Ts EDGE system. The real tragedy would be losing the very cool "Visual Voice-mail". I wonder if Asterisk could be made to serve a Web 2.0 emulation of it?
Re:Yeah make it worthless, then I can afford one!! (Score:4, Informative)
I haven't taken the plunge and enslaved myself to AT&T for an iPhone, but I know that my desire for it is a tradeoff of several things. Windows Mobile just plain feels like I'm fighting with my PDA most of the times (I will spare you my rant on the astonishingly poor UI design of the Connection management screen in WM5), and most of the more-usable PDA-type devices are, like the N700, just too darn BIG to carry around conveniently for me, especially if I also have to carry a phone with me.
So all flashy 'woo' factor aside, the iPhone seems to have a very usable interface, do most of what I actually want from my PDA-phone (with, alas, the exception of IM... what were you THINKING, Apple?) and would fit in my jacket pocket much more conveniently. It's just that (ugh) AT&T requirement that's kept me from taking the plunge; T-Mobile's been fairly good to me.
Re:Windows Only? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Yeah make it worthless, then I can afford one!! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Unlocking a Cell Phone is LEGAL (Score:3, Informative)
Here is information on AT&T's failure to subsidize the iPhone and the progress being made to break the Sim lock on iPhone.
The locked iPhone only works with AT&T's EDGE network, and cannot be used with mobile services from other providers. Locked phones are generally used to help operators recoup the cost of subsidising handsets for their customers, but AT&T is not subsidising the iPhone, which is priced at either $499 or $599 (£250 or £300), depending on the model. Instead, the phone is locked because AT&T has a five-year agreement with Apple to be the sole iPhone provider in the US.
Unlocking the iPhone would be a boon for users locked into a contract with another US carrier, or for users outside the US who want an iPhone. While initial signs indicate an unlocked iPhone is possible, hackers must first overcome several challenges. One of those involves circumventing the authentication process in iTunes that both lets users register for an AT&T service plan and turn on the phone's features, including its camera and music player.
By Monday evening, US time, hackers had made headway towards circumventing the activation process. But the phone remained locked at the time of writing.
"We have been fairly successful in spoofing iTunes activation processes. This should allow us to activate the phone," poster gj wrote on the iPhone Dev Wiki, one of several websites tracking efforts to unlock the phone. "It may in fact also prevent the SIM locking from occurring in the first place
These advances allowed hackers to set and read data on the iPhone, including the ability to query whether a phone has been activated. "The rest of our work is legwork really, in understanding how certain functions operate with the rest of the phone," the site said, adding hackers are close to the ability to browse system files on the iPhone, a key step towards unlocking the handset.
Once the activation problem has been overcome, hackers will be faced with other questions. For instance, does iTunes have the ability to recognise a phone that was not activated for use with the AT&T network? If so, how will iTunes react?
After these questions are resolved, hackers can focus on unlocking the handset itself. That task is made easier by the iPhone's use of a removable SIM (Subscriber Identity Module), a smart card that contains a user's phone number as well as storage space for contacts and messages, instead of one that was hardwired into the phone. The use of a removable SIM card means the iPhone is locked using its firmware, which can likely be cracked.
It's also been reported in many places that AT&T is giving Apple a portion of it's revenue from monthly iPhone service plans. I don't think either company has confirmed that, but it would explain why Apple was willing to give AT&T a five year exclusive on the iPhone even though AT&T does not pay any part of the cost of the device for consumers.
Re:Why "Of course"? (Score:3, Informative)
People who do this for a living [computerworlduk.com] came to a different conclusion [businessweek.com]
FTA's:
Why risk it? (Score:5, Informative)