Comments on: Group to liberate iPhone from AT&T

Group claims it can unbind the iPhone from a specific carrier to "expand the functionality" of the device.

[chronoex]

Yay...Sort of...

Yay. Now we can take the iPhone over to providers that likely suck just as much as AT&T (if that's possible)...

Because no matter what, they're cell phone service providers. They suck by defininition.

[badmojo42]

Thought Apple was Safe???

what happened? how is this possible? I thought Apple was the safest OS out there, at least that is what all the fan-boys say. this thing runs OSX right? kind of makes you wonder how safe your other Apple products are...

[System Tyrant]

Hack it.

Well, go hack it and let us know.

[jelloburn]

this is different...

hacking your own operating system while you are the authorized
user (and have access to root in the first place) does not mean an
operating system is insecure. You can screw up Mac OS X pretty
quickly if you start deleting files in your system folder (and put in
the password to do so) just as you can with Windows by deleting
important system files.

Nice job troll.

[ruoppster]

This is more like Cracking then Hacking

What they have done so far is open the iPhone and make it more
of a generic product without any of the restrictions that have
been set-forth for the device. When you start to see the
headlines where Hacking Group XYZ has successfully created
and released a virus/trojan allowing them to gain access to
secure information and destroy data on the iPhone...then you
can tell me that the security of the iPhone has been damaged.
Also being the safest OS out there does not mean that it is 100%
secure...there is no such thing as 100%...its just that OS X is one
of the best out there right now.

[frankwick]

the tune has changed this year

I'm no fan boy for any company, but I have noticed that Apple fan boys have stopped much of their traditional bragging about no hacks, no patches, etc.... In fact, I've noticed many MS fan boys throwing it back into their faces with the MOAD, the seemingly endless patches, the OS delays, etc... This is all stuff Apple fans have complained about MS, now the shoe is on the other foot and it is a VERY LARGE shoe.

[System Tyrant]

DVD Jon

Personally, I wish he would release some software that would remove the drm from itunes music again.

[supercoolpcguy]

AT&T / iPhone Features

Even provided that the iPhone is, in fact, unlocked and usable on alternate networks besides AT&T I think you'll find that part of the features ("Visual Voicemail" for one) won't function because as far as I'm aware that's taken care of at the network level... I know there are other features that were specifically developed by AT&T for use with the iPhone and I just wonder if the other cell networks will follow with equivalent services that work with the iPhone.

[Vegaman_Dan]

More likely you won't be able to use it on another network.

I doubt seriously other providers would even allow the phone on their network. If they did, it would likely require their SIM card and it wouldn't be compatible with the iPhone as that is hardlocked to the AT&T system.

Could be an interesting toy project though.

[Stating]

Meant To Be Hackable?

Maybe the iPhone was meant to be hackable by design. This would be a clever move by Apple to "help" owners circumvent AT&T. Jobs isn't the kind of guy that leaves things to chance.

[David M. Gonzalez]

HACKING SUCKS

Although I have nothing to do with these companies, APPLE is a good company. The do alot for the community in charity and make good products, so why screw them.

[qwerty75]

How is this screwing Apple?

It was Apples decision not to offer an unlocked phone, a very shortsighted one, IMO.

They still get the sale, so who cares?

There are plenty of uses for it, without phone service, so is that screwing Apple to?

[Professor Cornbread]

Screwing AT&T

Read the story next time. Apple is still profiting from the sale of the phyiscal device whether or not it is hacked to use a different network. It is AT&T who provides the service who are losing, and they are a lousy company anyway, good riddance.

[GraysonBuzz]

How is it screwing Apple?

Apple is selling the iPhone so they get their cut there. Unless they are getting a piece of iPhone user's monthly revenue (something I seriously doubt) then there would be no impact on Apple if someone figured out how to use the phone with a T-Mobile SIM for instance.

[danconley]

What?

Let me get this straight ... you spend $600 on an Apple product
and then play around with it a bit so that you can use it the way
you want to use it ... and that's screwing Apple? Some of you fan
boys are insane, you need help.

[frankwick]

Puh-leze!!

Meant to be hackable? Is that an excuse or sarcasm? Apple has traditionally been the most closed company with their designs. I don't think that's going to change with the iphone.

[techbrute]

Super... Uh... No...

Wow, now that someone has figured out how to hack and void the phone's warranty all at the same time, it has nearly the functionality of a Windows Mobile device! Sweet!

On a side note, Apple is not getting screwed, as they have already gotten the profit off the device. If anything, they are giggling with glee as they will not have to honor any future warranty claims on the device.

As for AT&T, for the phones that they sold through the store, they've already gotten the $35 activation fee and they'll get $175 when the user cancels the account to move to another provider. As for the phones sold directly through Apple, AT&T has not incurred any cost in handling the device, so a device sold and not activated through AT&T is the same as a device never sold.

[GraysonBuzz]

Why would other carriers not allow it on the network?

Besides, iPhones will roam onto other carriers' networks almost certainly. If someone can get around and locked SIM issues, then I see no reason why a T-Mobile user, for instance, could not put their SIM in the phone and use the iPhone with their T-Mobile account. Granted, any network-based features that AT&T is offering would not work, but the basic phone and EDGE data should work fine.