iPhone hackers say 'relock' on the way
If you hacked your iPhone to run other applications or use it on other networks, the iPhone Dev Team wants you to wait before installing Apple's forthcoming software update.
The group credited with opening up the iPhone to both application development and networks other than AT&T's says it will have a fix out next week that will allow you to restore that iPhone to its factory settings, according to a statement attributed to the group that was posted on The Unofficial Apple Weblog. On Monday Apple warned iPhone users who had installed software for unlocking their phones that an iPhone update expected later this week could potentially break their phones, and that just downloading the unlocking software voids the iPhone warranty.
However, the iPhone Dev Team took issue with Apple's statement. "The removal of the lock, a bug, was a major step forward in the iPhone development. ...The removal of those firmware problems, which were built in in (sic) favor for AT&T, does not cause "damage" as they want to make us believe." The group promised to have a fix out next week that would relock the phones, which would ostensibly cover your tracks and let you bring your iPhone in for warranty service. But the statement also seemed to indicate that the hackers would immediately set upon Apple's iPhone update and find a way to make the unlocking software work with the update.
Apple doesn't really want you using the iPhone on networks other than AT&T's, or the European carriers announced last week. Part of it is to maintain the stability of its latest baby, but a good deal of it is probably related to the revenue-sharing deals Apple has struck with its carriers. If you don't use AT&T's network to download data, Apple doesn't see as much revenue.
The individuals behind the iPhone Dev Team, who prefer to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, feel that they should be allowed to do whatever they want with the iPhone, since they bought it. "Apple now announces that the next firmware update, expected later this week, will possibly break the handset of all of us free users in the World. It speaks of 'damage' done to the firmware and 'unauthorized access' to our own property," the group said in the statement.
It's not clear how many people have hacked their iPhones. Apple said earlier this month that it had sold 1 million since it was introduced June 29. The iPhone Dev Team said "several hundred thousand" iPhone users had hacked their phones, based on downloading statistics. But that seems awfully high, according to Shaw Wu of American Technology Research.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
reads perfectly ok. It was built in - in ATT's favor. The double in is
not accidental.
should be
"The removal of those firmware problems, which were built in as a favor for AT&T, ..."
or
"The removal of those firmware problems, which were built in in favor of AT&T, ..."
Hack away.
Read the iPhone warranty terms and conditions. The fact is, you
have no warranty on your iPhone UNTIL you have activated it
with AT&T. No active AT&T iPhone = no active warranty from
Apple (which is 100 % legal.)
In addition, the warranty terms, which you also automatically
accept by activating your iPhone (read the warranty) that if you
violate the terms and conditions of the warranty (ie: if you
unlock it either using software or hardware hacks,) you void the
warranty.
It's all legal as long as they tell you about it up front, people,
and it's YOUR responsibility as a consumer to read these things,
NOT Apple's, nor any other company.
So hack away. But when it dies... it's your fault, and your bill.
-Posted by a HAPPY iPhone user
It's hard to say how many people have Installer.app running, but
an article by a programmer who has been experimenting with
the rapidly evolving 3rd party iPhone app development
suggested the numbers were actually very large.
http://iphone.tuaw.com/2007/09/18/iphone-how-many-
hackers/
(And memebers of this community are the ones that would know
this, as they can measure downloads.)
If the update breaks Installer.app and other jailbreaking reliant
apps, then a lot of people will be inclined to stay on the earlier
firmware 1.0.2, *and* become extremely angry at Apple for
being denied Safari bug fixes, interface tweaks, etc.
(I agree Apple certainly shouldn't devote resources to supporting
3rd party apps, but taking hostile action is another matter:
that's actually devoting resources to counter the hacks, not just
ignoring them.)
As for the SIM unlock specifically, those numbers are harder to
know. But consider this:
In the official figures released for the days of the last quarter
when the iPhone went on sale, Apple reported many more sales
than AT&T did activations.
270,000 vs 146,000.
Now, some of these could be explained by people waiting until
the following week to use their iPhone (though seriously, if you'd
just queued to buy it, would you have the patience to wait?)
Others, by glitches in the AT&T activation system forcing a wait
(though I don't think the majority of these lasted longer than 12
hours).
But many were probably also bought up by Ebay sellers. A large
number of Ebay sales are to international buyers. Just do an
Ebay search and check the feedback of big sellers to see this.
And I know that some overseas residents were at an Apple Store
on June 29. How do I know? I was one of them!
(If you go to the techy parts of cities in Europe and Asia, you'll
actually see quite a few iPhones...)
More recently, when Apple officially announced they'd reached
the 1 million mark, the whisper was that AT&T had achieved
600,000 activations.
1,000,000 vs 600,000.
Do the math.
To fellow iPhone users: If you hack the phone that is your responsibility. If you are not willing to accept the consequences, including loss of warranty and possibly bricking the device, then don't do it. The sim unlock is particularly iffy, so unless you want to live on the bleeding edge forget about it.
you own it...you must work for apple or at&t
Microsoft is well known for their DRM issues with the release of their latest Vista version of windows. DRM is the validation process that Vista uses to talk to the mothership at Microsoft in order to verify it is a real product and not a pirated copy.
Microsost can "reduce functionality" on any Vista system that calls home and is alleged to be invalid, rendering the allegedly pirated version inoperable.
Imagine how Microsoft is anticipating the things they can do if Apple is unchallenged over its patch to break hacked iPhones.
Now the so called 'hacked' iPhone is accomplished with a piece of software, much like adding a program to your windows computer.
The big heads at Microsoft are now dreaming of walking throught the door that Apple is going to open for them.
Microsoft can't wait to be able to reduce your functionality because you installed an offending program, let's say Open Office.
As Apple tries to one up Microsoft in the area of controlling what and how owners of their products are able to use their products, an attorney somewhere can't wait till this patch is released so they can file a lawsuit to protect the rights of Iphone buyers.
Once again, Apple takes the lead, and Microsoft will soon follow.
Apple appear to be at least a year away from an agreement,
because Rogers say they may charge more than Apples retail
price, and because Rogers data plan is 100% certified pure BS.
Since the touch doesn't have bluetooth it can't be used with an
existing Rogers phone for auto-dial or anything.
So if someone lives in Canada and wants the best integrated
device which holds a calendar, address book, other apps, and is
also a phone a Canuck can either buy HTC (IMO crap) or a
Blackberry (more crap IMO) or chance it with an unlocked iPhone
which actually looks fairly attractive (feature and price) if it
works.
As it stands neither Apple nor AT&T lose any revenue if a
Canuck (or any other person in a country without a supported
carrier) buys an unlocked iPhone.
If the phone is a loss leader and the profits come from the actual
carrier revenues, sorry Apple, can't help you.
- Downloads vs. installs
- by Peter N. Glaskowsky September 26, 2007 9:56 AM PDT
- Remember, Tom:
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(26 Comments)Every copy of Linux or Firefox ever downloaded is in use right
this minute.
How could iPod hacks be any different?
You watch. At some point the number of downloads of iPod
hacks will exceed the number of iPods that Apple admits to
having made.
The hackers will then announce that Apple is lying about that
number, and you'll get a bunch of idiots here agreeing with
them.
Still, it's fun to watch.
. png