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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.

20 of 357 comments (clear)

  1. More Like.... by phobos13013 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Expect to see endless lawsuits spring up about this. But really, is there ground to stand on against this?

    --
    ...and it should be known by now
    1. Re:More Like.... by monktus · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There's nothing to stop you unlocking any other phone (in Europe anyway), so I doubt the iPhone will be any different. If anything, if Apple tries to prevent it, I could see the European Commission stepping in.

      --
      Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel."
    2. Re:More Like.... by GuldKalle · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Except (AFAIK) you need to have certified you equipment for radio transmission. And since you've physically hacked your phone, my guess is the Apple certification doesn't count anymore.

      --
      What?
    3. Re:More Like.... by jbarr · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Doesn't Apple get a share of revenue from each AT&T contract? I would expect them to respond to this asap.

      Sure, they'll probably respond (and I'd wager that they'll wait until AFTER the phone sells on eBay--you know, to ensure some legal technicality ensues due to the sale) but really, if their business model relies (at least partially) on the revenue of another company, then shame on them.
      --
      My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
    4. Re:More Like.... by Shenkerian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Why do you say that? It's a perfectly legitimate business model to develop a platform that draws revenue from third-party licenses. The video game industry is an obvious example.

      --
      You tell me how "whilst" differs from "while," and I'll stop calling you a pretentious jackass.
    5. Re:More Like.... by norminator · · Score: 3, Interesting

      But do they have more to gain from selling the hardware, or from their cut of the revenue? Estimates of profits on the hardware are anywhere from 23% ($138) to 55% ($329) of the cost of the phones (for the $599 iPhone, not sure about the $499 one). According to your links, Apple gets either $3 per contract ($72 over 2 years) or $11 ($264 over 2 years), depending on whether the AT&T customer is new to AT&T or not.

      Depending on the balance of new customers to old (and 4GB iPhones to 8GB iPhones), Apple may just make more money by letting people buy the phone and use it with any provider, especially considering that the legal fees to try to enforce the locked phone policy would probably wipe out any difference in revenue from lost AT&T customers. That's provided that AT&T doesn't make too much of a stink with Apple about it. In any case, I'm sure the number of people who actually will end up unlocking their phones will be relatively small, so even AT&T doesn't have much to worry about, and Apple can enjoy those few extra sales that they'll get from it.

    6. Re:More Like.... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think there's another way that Apple loses in this.

      Despite the exuberance of the dedicated fans, Apple needs to sell to average consumers if they're going to really succeed. It wasn't all the Mac fans buying iPods that made it so successful, it was the millions of regular, normal people who were drawn to a well-designed, innovative product and paying full price for it.

      Retail is tricky though, because you have to keep giving customers what they want if you're going to stay on top. One reason Apple is still a small fraction of the personal computer market is not just the price, and now that you can run windows on them, it's not the compatibility with software. It's because a huge number of potential customers who would jump to run OSX want to be able to do it on their own sweet hardware. Most of us who deal with digital products as objects instead of a defining "way of life" expect to be able to buy a product "our way" and not be limited by the will of the vendor. There was a time when if you wanted to buy a Jaguar, you would go to some "car boutique" and have some snotty salesman tell you that you could either take the colors they offered or stuff it. There were no such thing as "options". If you squawked about the fact that you needed a complete tuneup every 1000 miles, you were told that "maybe a Jag isn't for you". Eventually, the Jaguar brand went in the tank because they just weren't giving customers what they want and their attitude led to horrible quality control. Now, you go to a Jag dealership and they'll give you choices. They started making the cars better, more reliable, because that's what people want.

      Now Apple's got a lot of company when it comes to not giving consumers what they really want. In fact, it's all the rage now in certain industries, like telecom. "Screw the consumer," they say. "Where are they gonna go"?

      But the consumer is more powerful than we've been led to believe. Eventually, we'll get what we want from Apple or their stock won't continue to stay so overvalued. Or, virtualization will get so flexible that there will be usable hacks for running OSX on our own hardware. Then, you'll see Apple offering "OSX Your Way" like it was some brilliant brainstorm.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    7. Re:More Like.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I am a parent (and sometimes instructor) at the school in question, and know *both* posters.

      George did graduate, but did not attend graduation ceremony. Or was asked not to.....

      Watson *is* a student at BA, and is also a sharp cat, and they *do* know each other.

      And BA has more collective brains than a very large (though not complete) subset of
      the Slashdot crowd put together. Top minds. We have freshmen that can compete against
      our PhD teachers (yes, our school has about 70% faculty with PhD).

      So unlike many of the total losers that post here on Slashdot, that talk and talk
      and complain, and dream narrowly of some level of excellence but accomplish
      NIL, our kids are very top flight performers that will go on to real technical
      and other world-class work.

      But of course, this is probably a Foreign Notion to most whining, complaining,
      wannabe tech types here on Slashdot.

      Go, George, Go!

      And Watson, get your act together and put those brains to real work!

  2. Why do all this... by downix · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When there are good projects like the Neo that are on their way?

    --
    Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
    1. Re:Why do all this... by legirons · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Because there are good projects like the iPhone already here."

      STFU - iPhone represents the most proprietary item you can obtain, with a hardware supplier who's not letting anyone but them write software, a software supplier who's famous for not running on any hardware other than that which they created (software supplier and hardware supplier being the same company, for anyone interested in vendor lock-in), and doing an exclusive deal with a monopoly telephone provider, just to put the monopilistic cherry on the proprietary icing.

      How the fuck can you compare *that* with OpenMoko, a completely Free phone with a Free firmware, Free Operating System, Free applications, and community of Free Software guys prepared to spend $450 each just to debug the hardware for the benefit of humanity, so that for the first time ever, you can buy a phone that does whatever you want

  3. You would think...... by budword · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You would think any company with a goal of making money by out competing it's competitors in the market would take this moment to jump in the air and yell, "Holy bat shit Bat Man, we have a hell of hit on our hands. We've hit a home run ! People are willing to spend 12 hours moding our gear to get it the way they want it. I bet they'll be willing to spend a ton of money on our stuff. This is fantastic. Lets give them what they want ! We are going to be rich !" I don't think that's what they are going to do though, I think they are going to sue some people. Sorta lets you know where they are coming from doesn't it ? They want to compete by locking you in. Sorta like some other large company I can't remember the name of just now.

  4. Licensing a hack? by djcatnip · · Score: 4, Interesting

    how the hell do you license a hack? That's like selling someone the way to snap their fingers.

    --
    I make these: http://beatseqr.com
  5. don't care by Lord+Ender · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Personally, I don't even care about the iPhone until it has GPS. As much as I hate the unresponsive and convoluted interface interface, the clumsy buttons, and the general ugliness of my iPaq, having GPS-enabled google maps in my pocket is now an absolutely mandatory requirement for me to even consider another mobile device.

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  6. Hack licenses? by CheeseTroll · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They're selling *licenses* to the hack? And will they send the BSA after someone if they suspect they're under-licensed?

    --
    A post a day keeps productivity at bay.
  7. Re:OpenMoko by norminator · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It`s cheaper by about 100$, with probarly the same features(ofc in the iPhone the cost of AT&T monopoly is not included) I'm pretty interested in the OpenMoko project myself, but let's be realistic here.

    1) Noone's going to know about it but Slashdot nerds. It may sell alright and be moderately succesful, but nothing like the iPhone.
    2) The Phase 2 version of the phone (the one intended for mass market) will cost $450 for the base model, or $600 for the Advanced (developer's) version. That makes the base model $50 cheaper than the 4GB iPhone, and $150 cheaper than the 8GB iPhone, but there's also much less storage space (256MB + 512MB micro SD card... any other larger mSD cards you have to buy separately), no camera, and at this point, there's no way for the general public to really know how good the software interface is. It also has a smaller screen (but with higher resolution, so that's a plus), with no multi-touch functionality (yet). More pros and cons for the OpenMoko phone vs. the iPhone can be found here.

    I hope the OpenMoko project is a success, and I want one two, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's an iPhone killer. Come to think of it, good things haven't ever happened for any company that's made a so-called iPod killer, so I wouldn't think OpenMoko should even aspire to be an iPhone killer. Just a good phone/personal portable computer.
  8. Why is GPS primary? by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Interesting

    GPS is only good for one thing - telling you where you are.

    Yet almost all the time, I know exactly where I am. What I want to know is where something else is, and how to get there. Thus for me of primary importance is the map browsing, and at that the iPhone excels since it's so easy to do local searches on an area you are viewing, have it generate directions you can follow a turn at a time, and browse nearby streets to be sure exactly how to get there once you are close. Panning and zooming in and out are far easier even than on a browser on my desktop!

    Then there's the issue of how reliable your GPS even is - even with standalone units I have the signals go in and out, basically I don't trust them much. The thing I do like about standalone units, locally stored maps for when you have no network at all, does not apply to any other phone anyway (that I know of).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  9. Re:Except for one small problem by cayenne8 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    "buy them in the US, unlock them and export them? I presume the iphone supports the european bands as well as the american ones."

    Heck, what about the US? I'm wondering if the phone is unlocked....there is nothing preventing you from theoretically using it with a T-Mobile account in the US is there?

    Bringing up another question....what if T-Mobile put in infrastructure to support iPhone visual voicemail...and other goodies that AT&T does...if they reversed engineered it in a 'clean' room, could they not get away with it and allow people in the US to switch to T-Mobile if they so wished?

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  10. Re:Calling all Lawyers by InvalidError · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I went to check about 30 minutes after your post and it is now up to a rather stupidly high $50k... but there are about a dozen other supposedly unlocked phones on eBay for ~$1k now.

  11. Nonsense by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This appears to be yet another comment from someone scared of corporate lawyers.

    Fact: The idea that "Shrink-Wrap licensing" is a viable legal concept in this country, even these days, is a myth. It has never been tried in higher courts for software, and they have been thrown out in every case of which I am aware, when it comes to hardware.

    When you walk into a store, and buy something off the shelf, it is YOURS, and you can do with it what you damned well please as long as you are not harming others (like hitting them with it). The only legal exception is if you have agreed otherwise, in advance of the purchase!

    Even if such "shring-wrap" licensing, for such things as DRM, were otherwise legal, they would constitute "contracts of adhesion" which, in brief, are contracts that are not negotiable by the customer before purchase. ("Take it or leave it.") Courts are automatically biased against Contracts of Adhesion and routinely throw them out of court. The general idea is: if you can't negotiate it, it isn't a real contract.

    So... yes, the corporate lawyers might try to step in and stop this, but if anybody has lawyers of their own that are worth the title, they will squash the oppressors without much trouble.

  12. Re:Calling all Lawyers by vertinox · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Lawyers my eye, this is probably covered by the DMCA reverse engineering, same as for unlocking XBoxes and so forth.

    I had to look this up but Cell Phones have been ruled to be one of the exceptions to the the DMCA:

    http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061124-8280 .html
    http://www.darknet.org.uk/2007/04/legal-to-unlock- cell-phones-since-november-2006/

    Cell Phone providers do not have to provide you with the ability to unlock your phones nor provide you with the information, but they cannot legally sue their customers for unlocking them according to Federal rules.

    --
    "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
    -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)