“A Brazilian company is claiming to be the first to have found a way to unlock Apple’s new iPhone 3G, getting around restrictions that require users to sign up for calling plans with exclusive carriers, reports said Tuesday,” AFP reports.
“The firm, DesbloqueioBr, hacked the phone by altering its firmware and by adding a special card add-on to the SIM chip,” AFP reports. “The results allow iPhone users to connect to any carrier.”
“DesbloqueioBr plans to charge between 250 and 375 dollars to unlock an iPhone, which itself costs around 200 dollars in its basic eight-gigabyte version — but only with the subsidy offered by signing on to the exclusive carrier,” AFP reports.
“There are some [more] problems with the Brazilian fix,” AFP reports. “One of the company’s partners, Breno MacMasi, admitted that the quality of the connection for the phone can vary, Folha Online reported. Apple can also wipe out the hack with a software update.
“But MacMasi predicted that there would always be ways to circumvent the locks,” AFP reports. “‘Apple has made some big mistakes, so it’s certain that we will be able to come up with another hack. It’s going to be a game of cat-and-mouse,’ he said.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Willie F.” for the heads up.]
deposits your $$$ in a secret bank
any takers????
“Release the hounds.”
How about avoiding getting a iPhone in the first place?
For instance, my ‘pay as I use minutes’ flip phone uses AT&T;networks, only cost $30 and less than $15 a month in minutes.
My MacBook Pro is paid for and WiFi internet is free nearly everywhere I go.
So…? isn’t the iPhone just a expensive toy with little practical functionality?
I certainly don’t need it and if you think of all the money saved not paying $65 or more a month to the NSA/AT&T;…
Just a thought…think, save your money. Depression is coming to America. Bread and soup lines….Obama Taxes…
Re: Raving MacHead
Don’t you mean McCain Taxes? Doesn’t matter who, taxes will go up.
@Raving MacHead
That’s the spirit that made America great!
Who cares. Where iPhones are sold through legitimate vendors few people are going to go through this hassle and expense. It’s half the cost of the iPhone for Christ’s sake. And an “add-on card to the SIMM”???
@Mike T.
At least Republicans will vote their own out when they overspend. Dems don’t seem to care. I say at least half of all of them ought to go for their free-spending ways! I’m sick of the lot right now.
Uh, what is wrong with this picture?
“”DesbloqueioBr plans to charge between 250 and 375 dollars to unlock an iPhone…:
Let’s see: you’ve just doubled the cost of owning an iPhone. You have to bust open the iPhone and make hardware modifications. In other countries, you may have a choice of carriers. Oh, and the modifications trash the sound quality of the phone. And it’s possible that one iPhone update could brick their modifications. So, why go to all this trouble?
Amazing. And to think that frigdards like this are making babies…
Is this PoliticsDailyNews??? We are all going to get enough of this banter in the next 5 months, do we really need it here? Take your crap to a political site where you will have to say more than “candidate so and so is totally gonna screw up the country, because… he sucks.”
Oh, and this Brazilian thing is stupid unless you live in one of the countries where the plans are completely ridiculous.
Wouldn’t it be easier to go to one of the European countries that legally sell unlocked and buy it there so as not risking it be rendered a brick with the next update?
@Spark:
Wow, your intellect and well-reasoned arguments really shine through in that post. Well done.
come on ppl.
iphone = $700 to leave the store with no contract,
+ $300 to unlock = disaster!
MacMasi in Brazil = spoof!!
M-A-C-masi?!?
you’ve been rickrolled!!!
I’m siding with WTF’s story!
This is not a good way to send money to a third world country.
All cell phones SUCK!!! Go back to line lines and stop causing car accidents, pissing people off in church while they are praying to Gees-Us, eating out with their kids, watching porn, and etc. etc.
I don’t like hacks. I am going to get an official Swiss-iPhone without simlock! no problems, ich can update it everytime i Wang just with iTunes !
Cell phones DO suck!
The new cool way to communicate is high-frequency whistling.
Wheet! Wheet!
just stop communicating, people.
then we can all die and there will be no problem left to whine about..
My god, there must be some pretty shitty carriers out there if people want to use other ones then the carriers Apple do deals with.
Over here O2 are excellent and have great talk plans with unlimited data for the iPhone.
Sounds like the US are still in the dark ages of cellular contracts.
Might be because we are a small country with five nation-wide carriers. Lots of competition so pretty good deals all round.