iPhone 3G OS Already Unlocked / 'Jailbroken'
Well that was fast. The iPhone 3G has only been available for a matter of hours - not days - but Gizmodo's iPhone Dev Team is already claiming the new software upgrade is unlocked and working just fine. An unlocked or "jailbroken" iPhone has meant you don't need to be an AT&T Wireless customer to get wireless service with an iPhone. The iPhone hack also has allows jailbroken iPhones to run a host of third-party iPhone applications that have not been approved by Apple.
According to reports, the iPhone Dev team's Pwnage Project has been working on unlocking iPhone 2.0 for several months by examining the firmware that came with the iPhone 2.0 SDK released earlier this year. By mid-March they were already claiming victory, and Gizmodo's tests yesterday seem to prove that it works.
Before You Get Too Excited
The downside, however, is that you can't trick iTunes. If you buy an iPhone in the U.S., and take it to a non-iPhone country, you will not be able to use the App Store. You need a local iTunes account for whatever country you're in to download applications from iTunes. This is significant, since, as Steve Jobs pointed out at WWDC a few weeks ago, many iPhones were bought in the U.S. and then taken to many different countries around the world during the early days of iPhone 1.0.
Unlike the previous unlocks that took several months and were thwarted for a short time by Apple's "bricking" procedures; the new 2.0 hack is embedded right in the platform's software. What does this mean? Basically, the folks at the iPhone Dev have customized the operating system so that, for the moment anyway, Apple can't tell the difference between modified and unmodified units.
Of course, since AT&T is locking you into a 2-year contract before you leave the store choosing to unlock your iPhone and risk bricking it becomes a harder decision. Of course you can choose to buy the iPhone without a contract, but that will cost you $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB.
Perhaps the iTunes App Store will discourage most from the need of unlocking the iPhone 2.0 OS given the new wealth of software applications available. Still for other non-AT&T Wireless customers this will likely be the only way to use the iPhone 3G on their network. Questions remain however, will a hacked iPhone 3G running on a competitor's network be able to take advantage of 3G data rates and GPS functionality?
Better get busy iPhone 3G hackers.
PC World's Marketplace
PC World's Free Whitepapers
tech news tech blogs community & forums laptop prices software reviews downloads
even if you buy an Ipone right out you will still have to sign a 2 year contract in order to activate it I know because I argued with att claming that i didnt get my iphone from them but if I wont service well your beat!!!!!!
The 399 and 499 price points still require a two year agreement. The higher prices are if you have not completed the required portion of your current agreement to qualify for a discount. There is currently no "no contract" availability, however, AT&T did announce there will be one in the future at an even higher premium.
Existing AT&T cust has to be eligible to upgrade to a new phone to get it at $199 or $299 price. The exceptional/early upgrade price is $399 or $499. To my knowledge, so far, the retail price (with no contract) will be somewhere like $500.00 to $600.00. The date of the availability for the iPhone with no contract is no given yet!
Kathmandu
Existing AT&T cust has to be eligible to upgrade to a new phone to get it at $199 or $299 price. The exceptional/early upgrade price is $399 or $499. To my knowledge, so far, the retail price (with no contract) will be somewhere like $500.00 to $600.00. The date of the availability for the iPhone with no contract is no given yet!
Katmandu