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IPhone 3G Jailbreak Released, Paves Way For Open Source Apps
PainMeds writes "iPhone Atlas is reporting that the first jailbreak for the iPhone 3G has been released, and includes the popular Cydia community installer for distributing free games and applications. Since Apple's SDK was released, web sites have criticized Apple for the restrictions placed on both what developers could write and what APIs they were allowed to use. Others have noted the SDK's incompatibility with the GPL. The Cydia installer has provided a distribution channel for both open source software and software that would otherwise be impossible to build using the restricted SDK. A few applications are already out, including MobileTerminal and NES.app, a Nintendo game console emulator. In just over a week, open development is finally here for the iPhone 3G!"
just get openmoko. why make it difficult by starting with a closed platform?
I wonder how many application that potentially could be on Apple Store but didn't make to it because of Apple disorganization and overall fascistic attitude regarding iPhone development would end up on community application portal. Just an example ... there are a lot of iPhone developers who applied to program, got approved but (get this) were not able to pay $99 for certificate because Apple Store is not available in their country. How moronic is that, Apple?
Even without it being, it jailbroken, it is an enjoyable phone to use. Much more so than any Nokia / Samsung / Sony-Ericsson I've had over the years. And compared to WinCE it's a godsend, a Start menu on a phone? Seriously? Maybe the Blackberry is more functional... However I think that UI and aesthetics are a large part of functionality. The touch keyboard interface is good enough to write emails and I find it just as easy to use as a tinny qwerty keyboard.
At the end of the day I would have an iPhone regardless of whether I could jailbreak it or not. I've had some expensive phones in my time and this is the only one I've actually ever played with.
It's a well designed piece of hardware and I hope it spurs other companies and perhaps the next rethink of the OpenMoko into developing something better.
1) Most people don't do anything that's restricted anyway. This is less true of being restricted to a single carrier, but people generally have very little loyalty toward an individual carrier.
People don't have loyalty except in the many places that AT&T just doesn't work. While many smaller phone companies have built towers there and you get full bars with them. And the fact that I believe the contract is *$100* per month!?!? And that doesn't include texting which is nearly essential to have today.
2) People really do not feel that it's a big deal to connect their phone to their computer one time in the 2+ years that they will own it.
Except if the people have a computer that iTunes won't run on, either an older Mac or an older Windows computer (and we know, Linux or BSD but that isn't most people yet).
3) People don't have "many different types of media", they have MP3s. The iPhone plays MP3s.
Except if they rip CDs using Windows Media Player and then they have WMAs. Myself I have music in MP3/OGG/WMA/WAV/FLAC/MIDI formats. Yes, most people will have MP3s, but if they are using Windows Media Player they will have mostly WMAs which I don't blame Apple to not support, but they have them nonetheless.
4) $200 US does not seem overpriced to me. As for overhyped, most people don't have this weird reaction where they feel that they are obligated to dislike anything that's popular.
Except when I can get a Palm for $50 at AT&T and for $100 I can buy just about any other phone they have there, and not get the insanely expensive contract (though being AT&T it still is pricey anyways).
5) Most people simply don't care about replacing their battery.
If I spent $200 for a phone, I am keeping the thing for as long as I can. And if 3 years down the line the battery wears out, I'm not going to be happy if it isn't user-replaceable. Put it this way, On a RAZR I had for about 3 years I replaced the battery a total of 3 times. Did it help that I could just walk into a phone store and buy one for ~$60? Yes. And I didn't have to wait forever for it to come out of repair.
6) Most people simply don't care about storage expansion.
Ummm... Lets see would I rather A) Plug in a MicroSD adapter to my computer and copy and paste my songs with whatever file manager I choose and then copy and paste them from that to my phone or B) Plug in a cable, and deal with the headaches... I mean "excellent user interface" of iTunes to recognize my songs confining me to new Macs and Windows machines only. If the iPhone would be just a USB storage device it wouldn't matter, but just using iTunes is almost enough to stop me from getting one.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
If it were anybody but Nintendo I'd agree with you, but Nintendo tends to re-release stuff over and over.
Playing emulated abandonware obtained through less-than-official channels is fine IMHO, but the ethics of playing games that are still available commercially are less clear-cut.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I had my first experience being denied the privilege to purchase a product yesterday. I called the Apple store at the nearest mall to verify they had units in stock, which they did. I then drove the two hours to said mall, in all eagerness to buy the product. After 30 minutes in line, and 20 minutes in angry negotiation with the Apple employee, I walked out of the store without an iPhone. They were in stock; I am an AT&T customer with an existing iPhone and eligible for an upgrade; and my account is in good standing. Unfortunately for me, there is a mysterious IFU tag on my account, which AT&T later explained means one of lines has a discount or special promotion on it, rendering me ineligible to purchase in an Apple store. As Apple refused to sell me the phone, I asked if I could bring an AT&T employee from their kiosk (literally a few dozen meters from the Apple store) to assist with the purchase. Impossible, said Apple. I asked if they could sell the unit to the AT&T kiosk to let AT&T then sell it to me or arrange some such similar inventory transfer. Impossible, Apple said. I asked if there were any way to broker a deal in the Apple store by including an AT&T employee. No, they said, and they asked me to leave. I was, admittedly, very angry. It's the prerogative of the company to choose how and to whom they sell their products, but it seems in infinitely bad taste to do either in so far as you are able. In fact, it seems like unmitigated arrogance to deny such a sale based on some vainglorious corporate policy to lock your device to a vendor and a service provider. I've never been disappointed by Apple before now in my last 2 years of Apple fanboydom. But.. hot apple sauce. I still can't believe I don't currently own an iPhone 3G.
If it looks like a duck, let's call it a moose.
There's nothing irrational about hating Apple. They are the kings of the proprietary and I like being in control of my own hardware.
And yes, buying an Xbox so you can hack it is also retarded.
Support the suppliers who are not trying to lock down the hardware.
How we know is more important than what we know.
I love the idea of OpenMoko, but the thing is unusable, which is a shame, because people won't take it seriously once they get a load of the laughably bad interface. Qtopia looks a bit better, but it's not much of an improvement. The project needs some real interface expertise if it has any hope of success; all Android has to do to trump it is to be marginally less unusable. And does anyone know the purpose of that hole in the FreeRunner?
Great idea! I'll also have Steve Job personally approve everything that goes on other devices I use too.
Seriously, climb down off the high horse already. Jailbreaks will come out for no other reason than to prove they can be done. Getting malware isn't "just punishment" for anything. Anyone who writes malware is a criminal or little punk at best. Ignorant and stupid people are more easily victimized but this stupidity in no way justifies the existence of the malware. Methinks your value system needs some rethinking.
There's risk in jailbreaking one of these things sure and most with the savvy to find the tool and run will be aware of the downsides. But you seem awfully eager for it to end in tears. You have a dog in this race you aren't telling us about?
I doubt there is a single person out there making a bona fide attempt at a full NES homebrew game right now.
I developed Tetramino, a falling block game for people who care about falling block games. And I'm single.
Telling people something you don't like personally is retarded, is retarded. Assuming everyone has the same tastes and values as you is just plain arrogant.
Stasis is death. Embrace change.
The one thing I will miss about my Treo was 3rd party apps to tether my phone to the laptop (to be used as a modem.) People can criticize these efforts, but efforts such as this may enable customers to tether their iPhone to a computer/laptop as a modem as well.
Otherwise you're stuck getting a separate plan and adaptor from ATT to do so when you already have a device that's perfectly capable.
Architectural Renderings
They also offer many examples in opposition to Freedom: DRM on iTunes music and video purchases
But Apple is trying to change that with itunes+, a non-DRM'ed format they sell.
vendor lock-in with their OS
An open sourcing Darwin....
tight control over iPhone development (e.g. no emulators, no virtual machines, and no distribution except through Apple)...
That's not a problem of Freedom though. You are still free to develop all those things, you just can't distribute some of them. You can always distribute via the Jailbreak mechanism.
If you overlook the many examples of Frredom that Apple supports and has supported just to point out a few areas where they are more locked down, you'll never even find a company "pure" enough for you. Why not encourage the companies that more heavily support open source, rather than less?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
As for why people buy iPhones and then crack them, the answer is that first, iPhones are cool, not just as in trendy, but they are very nice to use. Second, the software available for them increases dramatically when cracked. Why is that so hard to understand?
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