“No one ever doubted that the iPhone would be unlocked. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out how to crack the armor that heretofore has kept iPhone users from popping in a SIM card other than the iPhone-specific one that AT&T Wireless supplies with every new iPhone,” Melissa Perenson reports for PC World.
“It seems that the team of someones at iPhoneSimFree.com are the first to successfully pull off this feat. The group says it has unlocked the phone, and will be releasing its software for sale starting next week,” Perenson reports.
“Unlocking the iPhone dramatically widens the phone’s appeal. For one, it means that you won’t be tied to AT&T Wireless’ services and network; you can use whatever local GSM network operates best for your needs–and potentially save money while doing so. Once it’s been unlocked, you can take the phone with you anywhere, and pop in the SIM card of choice,” Perenson reports.
“Engadget says that at the moment, the hack appears ‘restore-resistant’–meaning you won’t have to re-hack your phone after you apply an iPhone update,” Perenson reports. “I’ll be interested to see what the response will be from Apple and AT&T Wireless.”
Full article here.
Engadget’s article here.
A software update.
And they are getting ready to sell mass licenses of —– something.
I guess the procedure of how to unlock the phone. I don’t know where they get the idea that they will make money off of this. 🙁
I guess time will tell.
GOOD!!
MDN Word: “freedom”
How appropriate.
I suspect Apple legal, or ATT legal, will have something to say about this. Sure, the flexibility would be nice, but this will never fly.
How about synching with iTunes ?I’m sure Apple must be validating iphone during synch process.
If you can’t synch your iphone with itunes, then unlocking iphone is not worth it.
Restore resistant? How about Apple not providing any more updates for these “resistant” iPhones?
Yeah, that’s great… iPhone with no visual voicemail and other special services customized by AT&T, no prospects for future enhancements except more hacks, and no accommodating unlimited data plans. And they want to make money off of it?
I see Apple’s legal department in someone’s future…
<sigh>
Okay, I’m only going to say this once. I have not posted anything today except for the joke link to the ZunePhone on the Korea thread. That’s it. Nothing on the “Report: Major Apple event on September 5th”, nor the message above.
I’m not going to post for the rest of the day. When you see my name again, it won’t be me.
-c
MW: ‘enough’
Will you just listen to all these monopolistic posts!
Switching carriers IS A GOOD THING!!
For instance I took a trip and wasn’t able to use my iPhone because there was no AT&T service in the area.
Imagine all those people who need a iPhone yet can’t use it because of limited carrier availability?
Think of the prices if there was a monopoly by AT&T?
Think what Microsoft has done to the quality of the PC experience and you’ll have a idea.
So WAKE UP!! CHOICE IS GOOD!!
Yes, Butters. Choice is good. Just as you have the choice to buy another phone if you need to use a different service. Whatever. I have Verizon. I have no plan to switch anytime soon. I’d like an iPhone, but I’m not throwing a tantrum because it doesn’t work with Verizon. But then, I don’t have this ridiculous sense of entitlement some people seem to have these days…
No visual voicemail, no hack for me. And $20 unlimited data is not bad either.
Yeah, go ahead and “unlock” your iPhone. I guarantee you, this isn’t anything that Apple didn’t anticipate. And I guarantee you that Apple will be able to detect this and at the very least prevent you from updating the software on your iPhone, syncing with iTunes, and they may even give you a well-deserved brick in the process.
And yes, it would be well deserved, because you knew before buying the iPhone what the deal was. It’s a take it or leave it proposition. You don’t want AT&T? Fine. Then it’s your option to not buy an iPhone. But don’t buy it and then start complaining about limitations you already knew it had. It is what it is. And you either buy it or you don’t.
So when you brick your iPhone, don’t start complaining about Apple and AT&T “monopolistic……blah blah blah”.
This company is not going to outsmart Apple, and neither are you. Rob Glaser tried, and golly didn’t that work out so very well.
think we will ever get user reg for names so the stupidity will end?
nah, me either.
“you can use whatever local GSM network operates best for your needs”
cool! so that means i can use…. let me hit google a sec, hang on…. ummm…..
AT&T is an option it looks like.
…and errr.
At&T as well….
hmm.
I’m having a tough time imagining anyone who ‘needs’ an iPhone.
I suppose to have the choice of which crappy machines you run your crappy windows OS is on is good too eh?
Damn Apple and their monopolies!
And in the US, your only other choice for a GSM carrier is T-Mobile.
Coverage wise, talk about going from bad to worse.
And it was Apple’s choice to give at&t an exclusive for now. If you don’t like it, don’t buy an iPhone. Not rocket science.
This is great news for people who want an iPhone now but don’t live in the US. I’ll wait a couple of weeks to see what the testimonials say, but if Apple and Rogers Communications in Canada don’t announce something soon about the iPhone coming to Canada, I suspect a lot of Canadians will be planning day trips across the border thanks to this (and other) unlocking solutions.
isn’t it a DMCA violation to sell software that’s essentially a hack? I’m mean if they can use the DMCA to pull down items that are clearly Fair Use, I would assume that attempting to legal sell and illegal endeavor should be declared illegal.
I’m for the iPhone being opened, I just don’t feel that it needs to start that way, or that 2 years is too long to wait for the possibility of additional carriers. Besides, a number of the features available for the phone are based on AT&T’s willingness to modify their network. I want a fully functional iPhone, not one with missing features.
ChrissyOne:
I think it’s funny how the imposters can’t even spell your name right… lol
I totally agree with “Oops” above. We all know what we got into when we purchased our iPhone, and there is a reason why Apple needs a partner with this. AT&T has a personal stake in the success of the iPhone, because they’re responsible for applying the services. The iPhone not only integrates hardware and software seemlessly, it also had to integrate the network seemlessly as well. Perhaps in a couple of years a completely open system will work, but for know I understand why it’s all tied together.
Of course, if AT&T (and future partners) were smart, they would have contractual language offering Apple those user fees and kickbacks only for as long as the phone was unhacked. And it could easily sue to have those fees negated, now that Apple can’t provide or guarantee an exclusive deal anymore.
I would.
This could conceivably hurt Apple’s bottom line more than it helps it. Without the fees and kickbacks, Apple may have to increase the phone prices significantly to maintain profitable margins.
to Chrissy – This is not Freedom, you already have freedom of choice not to by an iPhone if you don’t like the terms of the licensing agreement, this is a violation of one of the basics that FREE enterprise is built on and people who buy any product intending to violate an agreement they freely make when buying the product should expect to be prosecuted and accept the consequences of their action of intentionally violating a contract that they FREELY entered into..
No kidding. I’m trying to figure out some way of validating my identity in every post. Maybe I could put a link in it to my site or something. That would be kind of a pain… but it’s funny that for whatever reason I am so important that people have to spoof me.
Oh, and if you’re wondering if THIS post is really me, your name means “one ring”, as any scholar of middle-earth should know but might be quite beyond the modest mental capacity of anonymous internet cowards.
-c, signing off.
Okay. I’ll write one more post. I’m changing my nickname as of tomorrow… so from tomorrow, you won’t see any more of the REAL ChrissyOne
to Chrissyone – my previous post was meant for the fake Chrissyone who posted the 3rd post