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iPhone Freed From AT&T, Twice

Posted by kdawson on from the everything-but-the-visual-voicemail dept.

A very large number of readers sent in stories about one or the other of the two new claims to have unlocked the iPhone for use on other GSM carriers. A New Jersey teenager, George Hotz, posted instructions for unlocking the iPhone using a soldering gun and a lot of patience. This is from coverage in a local NJ paper: "If someone handed him an iPhone new out of the box, he could modify it in 'about an hour,' he said. A person following his directions might take 'a good 12 hours,' the teen estimated." Hotz has put up a YouTube video substantiating his claim, and is conducting an eBay auction for one of his two hacked phones. The other hack is by a commercial outfit called iPhoneSIMfree.com, whose claim Engadget has verified. The company will be selling licenses to the hack, minimum quantity 500, at a price not yet announced. These hacks are much bigger news for those outside America. Expect to see an industry spring up to meet European (and Asian?) demand for freed iPhones.

17 of 357 comments (clear)

  1. Not just in lots of 500. by pjcreath · · Score: 2, Informative
    From the summary:

    The company will be selling licenses to the hack, minimum quantity 500, at a price not yet announced.
    iPhoneSimFree will be selling to end-users as well. From their front page:

    Individual per unit licenses will be available starting next week
  2. Limited in its usefulness.... by tgatliff · · Score: 3, Informative

    Its great to know that they have figured out the JTag interface, but I question how useful any of this is. Meaning, even if you can make/take calls on all the networks, the visual voicemail and SMS would still be non functioning due to software needed on the AT&T network. The SMS probably can be easily fixed by using a different application, but the visual voicemail would definitely be more difficult to get around.

    1. Re:Limited in its usefulness.... by dlim · · Score: 2, Informative

      If you don't mind getting a new phone number, you could use a free service like GrandCentral. It gives you a single phone number that routes calls to your phones based on the caller and your rules, and lets you access all of your voicemail visually from the web. The website uses a flash plugin, but there's a mobile version. I don't have an iPhone, so I can't confirm if it works on mobile Safari.

      I'm sure it requires more effort than the built in solution, but it doesn't care who your phone company is.

  3. Current cell phone DMCA exemption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The DMCA currently has an explicit exemption surrounding cellular phones locked to a specific provider (at least until November 2009). For more, see Ars Technica or Freedom To Tinker.

    There may be other legal avenues they can pursue, but DMCA appears to be out of the running.

  4. Re:Implications by adam613 · · Score: 4, Informative

    AT&T most likely has a basis for a lawsuit, but that basis has nothing to do with the Apple-exclusivity contract, since people who hack the phone aren't parties to that contract. The lawsuit would more likely be based on violation of license terms prohibiting the defeat of whatever protection mechanisms are keeping the iPhone locked. And I have no idea whether this would hold up in Europe, where this hack is actually useful.

  5. Re:Yeah, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Actually, yes, you are. The iPhone is not subsidized in any way. You buy the phone and then activate it later, including setting up a plan, at your own home using iTunes. In fact, if you fail the credit check on the iTunes music store, you can use iPhone on a pay as you go plan.

  6. Not Illegal by Dusty00 · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is actually explicitly legal. In an attempt to defend their lock-in business model the phone company previously tried to prohibit flashing their firmware under the DMCA. They later decided the only purpose to of this was to support a business model and hence they added it to the DMCA exception list.

    DMCA on cell phones

  7. Re:More Like.... by OmegaBlac · · Score: 4, Informative

    Apple doesn't lose out of this, so I can't see them rushing to redesign the hardware or software.
    Doesn't Apple get a share of revenue from each AT&T contract? I would expect them to respond to this asap.
    http://www.mobile-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story _title=Analyst__Apple_Gets_Healthy_Share_of_AT_T_C ontracts&story_id=102008J3T13I
    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/07/19/anal yst_weighs_in_on_apples_rev_share_arrangement_with _att.html
  8. CNBC Coverage by DaveAtFraud · · Score: 3, Informative

    The kid got an interview on CNBC. Not quite fifteen minutes of fame but at least a couple. He also managed to get in a plug for "information wants to be free" and to note that what he did is explicitly legal.

    Cheers,
    Dave

    --
    They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
    Ben
  9. Re:Do you smell that? by DrinkDr.Pepper · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't know about Epson, but Lexmark didn't get away with it.

    --
    0xfeedface
  10. Wrong by ssstraub · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's many minor problems with their implementation, but the major problem is that it ignores key presses while listening to messages.
    I am a longtime T-Mobile customer, and I ALWAYS press 7 to delete my voicemail messages before waiting for them to end. Usually I listen to them long enough to know who it is then delete. I assume their voicemail system is the same nationwide.
  11. Re:Apple and AT&T won't care by infestedsenses · · Score: 2, Informative

    From the engadget article mentioned in the summary:

    The unlock process took only a couple of minutes. From our end it was totally painless.

    Remember it's a simple software patch. That doesn't sound like much inconvenience. Put a nice, simple UI on it and there's nothing left preventing the "simple folk" from "hacking" their iPhones.

    Actually, from what I understand, AT&T themselves did a terrible job at activating iPhones during the launch. Still no problems selling, apparently.

    --
    parasight.de
  12. Re:More Like.... by Yaztromo · · Score: 2, Informative

    Since I'm in Canada I'm SOL without either Apple offering the iPhone here, or using a cracked version.

    Except that you're still pretty much SOL, as you're stuck with having to sign up with Rogers and pay them an arm and a leg to use the iPhone data services (outside of a suitable WiFi area, at least).

    Or you could choose to sign up with Fido (which is owned by Rogers) but instead charges you a leg and an arm for the same services. And a few other appendages if you want to access Roger's "expanded network".

    iPhone or not, you're still stuck with our crappy, over-expensive Canadian cell service.

    Yaz.

  13. Re:More Like.... by jcgf · · Score: 2, Informative

    The truth ain't flamebait assholes.

  14. Just wait for them to be sold in Belgium by houghi · · Score: 2, Informative

    In Belgium sim-locking is illegal. It is expected for the end of 2007, so probably X-mas.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  15. Re:Calling all Lawyers by fangorious · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Library of Congress ruled that handsets are not covered by the DMCA.

  16. Re:More Like.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    That must be why his blog says he is off to college two days, because he failed to graduate yes? You must not know him quite as well as you think good sir. You sound more like someone trying to cling to his coattails rather than an individual who actually knows him at any level beyond visual recognition. Regardless, your opinion of him is worthless without proof, back up your claims or it is simply gossip.