“A teenager in New Jersey has broken the lock that ties Apple’s iPhone to AT&T’s wireless network, freeing the most hyped cell phone ever for use on the networks of other carriers, including overseas ones,” The Associated Press reports.
“The New Jersey teen collaborated online with four other people to develop the unlocking process,” AP reports.
“George Hotz, 17, confirmed Friday that he had unlocked an iPhone and was using it on T-Mobile’s network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from San Antonio-based AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone’s cellular technology,” AP reports.
“The hack, which Hotz posted Thursday to his blog, is complicated and requires skill with both soldering and software. It takes about two hours to perform,” AP reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ryan” for the heads up.]
re: You can count me out for any thing that involves soldering.
No thanks!
But I’m impressed a 17 y/o was part of this – especially since he’s from NJ.
—-
I’m just impressed that a 17yr old can actually afford $500 for an iPhone!
I expect Apple will hit him with a court order soon.
He’s gonna spend alot of time in prison.
What’s the point?
Maybe because he doesn’t *want* to sign on with AT&T?
Maybe T-mobile is better where he lives?
Maybe he’s a free spirit?
Maybe he did it just to see if it could be done?
Here’s my question: What do all you guys have up your butts today? I agree with Mikal, chill out.
People have been b*tching about the iPhone being locked into the AT&T network. Other service providers are crying ‘foul’ because of the exclusive agreement.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Apple pitch the iPhone to other carriers BEFORE AT&T (Cingular)? And didn’t those carriers turn them down? So shouldn’t AT&T be rewarded for being willing to take the risk of going with Apple? Don’t get me wrong, I have NEVER been a big fan of AT&T and have plenty of bad experiences with them as the provider of my home telephone service but I made a conscious decision to put up with AT&T to use an iPhone and, to AT&T’s credit, the experience hasn’t been bad at all.
If people want to hack their iPhones, let ’em! But they have no right to b*tch when a future software update adding new features and capabilities from Apple only install on phones that haven’t been tampered with.
“It’s not a matter of entitlement, it’s a matter of people having options”
You do have options…use the iPhone with ATT or not. XBox games don’t play on a PSIII etc. etc. People make choices based on what is best with the limitations that exist. If there is a game that is exclusively offered on XBox, I need to buy an XBox or not play the game; a simple choice.
There is nothing in this world that says that every choice must be available for everybody. Nor should it.
end of rant…
The reason that so many posters here are against this hack is that they either cannot afford an iPhone (cannot benefit from the hack), just bought an iPhone and activated with ATT (again cannot benefit due to contract for payment to ATT) or know that they do not have the technical savvy to do the hack.
In other words, “sour grapes”.
Look it up if you don’t know what the phrase means.
“here is nothing in this world that says that every choice must be available for everybody. Nor should it.”
And that is where you and I differ. I believe that every choice should be available for everybody. It is not up to the corporate world to decide what should and should not be available to the consumers who keep said corporations alive.
I don’t believe in screwing over the consumer.
-John
John,
The consumer is not screwed. The consumer speaks with his or her wallet, and simply doesn’t need to buy an iPhone if he or she really doesn’t like AT&T. Your CHOICE is to buy or not to buy.
On the other hand, your position is that corporations should not be able to enter into contracts with each other where they receive some sort of exclusive benefit. So if I open a hamburger joint, I should have a RIGHT to copy and use In N Out’s system for preparing burgers and fries without paying for a franchise? That’s a bunch of garbage.
You don’t have an option to run Mac OS X on generic PC hardware. So if you don’t want or like Apple hardware, you can’t run Mac OS X. That’s YOUR choice. Apple doesn’t have to give you OS X for generic hardware.
I can’t buy a Ferrari because I can’t afford one (yet). Does Ferrari have to lower the cost of their car because I don’t have $300,000+ to buy one? Of course not.
“Your CHOICE is to buy or not to buy.”
At the end of the day, I like consumers to be able to have it all. I don’t feel as though “buy or not buy” is an acceptable answer–rather, that the consumer should be able to choose to do with the phone EXACTLY what he or she wants, regardless of carrier; after all, it seems folly to pay $600 for the privelige to pay a monthly service fee at a place where one would be unhappy.
In that respect, I can see your point–if you don’t like the plan, don’t buy it. But a consumer should not be forced to do without simply because he disagrees with AT&Ts; plans. Being a consumer is about being able to customize what fits your life, workflow, and budget best. If AT&Ts; plans can’t do that for every single person who might want an iPhone, AT&Ts; competitors should be permitted to vie for those consumers’ business.
Besides, without competition, can we really improve situations, prices, and services? Theoretically–but as things are now, AT&T can do whatever it wants without consequence.
Just my opinion.
-John
You sniveling fanboys are blasting this kid as if he raped your sister or something. “He’s going to spend a lot of time in prison.” Are you fu*king kidding me? You should be heralding him for acting in a spirit of true innovation, and at the young age of 17 no less.
He took a PURCHASED item, which he by definition OWNS, and modified it to work with the mobile network that he prefers… tell me what’s wrong with that, please.
If I buy a gas powered automobile from Ford, take it home and modify it to run on hydrogen power, no one is going to sue me over it. And nor should they.
Many people mod their XBoxes to play games and movies from other regions, or backup copies of their games, and the Feds don’t go smashing down their doors. And nor should they.
If somebody took Windows DRM’d media and cracked it so that it played on non-Plays for Sure devices, you fanboys would be positively ecstatic, making oh-so-clever quips here on MDN about blood on iPod click wheels, Ballmer chair-throwings, etc.
The only thing you fanboy sheep know how to do is act like a bunch of consumer slaves when it comes to anything Apple-related, using products EXACTLY the way Apple tells you to. What did any of you ever accomplish at seventeen, other than set records for the number of times you masturbated to pictures of Steve Jobs and Woz? Not a whole lot, I’m guessing.
I think what this kid is doing is a great thing towards offering consumers choice when it comes to the products and services they use. I’ve used this analogy before, but if you buy a Toyota automobile, you should NOT be forced to only fill it up with gas from Shell stations. The same concept should apply with phones and service providers as well.
I’ll end this post by quoting from a TV commercial that aired a while back. You may be familiar with it. I think it’s quite fitting for this discussion:
“Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world,
Are the ones who do.”
You go, girl! But I think you’ve twisted your knickers into a knot over a twelve-year-old’s comments.
I’m just glad my macbook pro isn’t tied to comcast cable internet! I will buy an iphone the instant someone unlocks via a software only.
Its days of try and see , young guns do that well.. !!
http://www.atlanticcity.com