Apple

According to Outdustry, iTunes gift cards have been pirated, and China's biggest C2C online shopping site, Taobao, is the platform used to sell the cards.

(Credit: Taobao)

Chinese hackers have figured out a way to generate iTunes gift card keycode numbers and help themselves to songs from Apple's music store. The hackers have been selling pirated $200 iTunes gift cards on Taobao for as little as 17.9 RMB, or just $2.60--a savings of almost 99 percent!

It hasn't even been released yet, but iPhone hackers claim to have already figured out a way to jailbreak Apple's iPhone 2.0 software.

The iPhone Dev Team said yesterday (thanks, Gizmodo) it has figured out a way to hack into the iPhone's bootloader by taking advantage of the way the iPhone authorizes code that can be written to memory. After some modifications, this apparently allows any code to be written to the iPhone, such as applications that haven't been authorized by Apple, and it should work with any new software version Apple releases, according to the team.

It seems the iPhone hacking community has already found a way to get unofficial applications on the iPhone 2.0 software.

(Credit: iPhone Dev Team)

The team released a screenshot of what is supposedly an iPhone running external applications on the beta 2.0 software, which can be obtained by downloading the iPhone SDK. It's hard to tell exactly which version is shown in the screenshot, although the inclusion of the App Store is a pretty big hint. Still, Adobe sells a lot of copies of Photoshop for a reason.

Unlike previous hacks, this one isn't specific to the latest firmware version, it exploits the way that Apple designed the iPhone's main bootloader. According to the iPhone Dev Team, the iPhone verifies whether or not firmware code has been signed with an RSA certificate before allowing it to be written to memory. The team has apparently figured out a way to disable that check and allow unsigned code to be written to memory. A detailed explanation of the exploit can be found here.

The hacking community believes this jailbreaking method (which will also let you unlock your iPhone) can't be fixed by Apple in a production version of the 2.0 software. Even though Apple has released the SDK, it seems pretty likely that hacking will continue as long as the company maintains its one-carrier, one-country policy and if Apple chooses to exclude lots of third-party applications that conflict with its goals.

Third-party applications for the iPhone won't be released until early next year, but there's an easy-to-install new jailbreaking application out this week if you can't wait.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog, source of much of the details behind The Great iPhone Hack 2007, brings news of the release of the AppSnapp installer, which bypasses Apple's OS X 1.1.1 update in order to let iPhone and iPod Touch users put third-party applications on their devices. This appears to be one of the simplest jailbreak applications yet released for the 1.1.1 update; the others involved lots of complicated steps or additional scripts to open up the iPhone.

A new iPhone jailbreaking application has been released that's relatively simple to install.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The iPhone hacking saga lost a little steam last month when Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company would release a software developer's kit for the iPhone in February of next year. Uncertainty around Apple's plans for third-party applications on the iPhone spurred numerous projects to open up the iPhone, which also allows iPhone users to unlock their phones from AT&T's network.

In fact, the AppSnapp folks claim their software activates iPhones that have another carrier's SIM card installed. Last week, Apple estimated that 250,000 iPhones were purchased with the intention of unlocking them from AT&T's network. The company struck back in early September with the 1.1.1 update, and was able to make unlocking really difficult as well as deter future unlocking attempts by "bricking" unlocked iPhones that installed the software update.

With four months between now and the expected release of the SDK, it's very likely that Apple will have at least one more software update for the iPhone that could very well wipe out these jailbreaking efforts, and perhaps once again brick the phones. If you go ahead and install AppSnapp, understand that you probably won't be able to get service for your iPhone if you walk into the store with AppSnapp installed and a problem for the Geniuses. You might be able to do a factory restore to get AppSnapp off the phone and just install it after you're done with the service, but be forewarned.

Throughout all the hoopla over the hacking of the iPhone, it was never very clear how many people were actually trying to escape from AT&T. Apple ventured a guess on Monday.

During a conference call to discuss the company's blowout fourth quarter, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said that of the 1.4 million iPhones sold since June 29, 250,000 were bought with unlocking in mind.

As many as 250,000 iPhones might have been bought last quarter and unlocked, Apple said Monday.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

"Where we don't know precisely how many people are doing that, our current guess is there were probably 250,000 of the 1.4 million that we sold where people had bought them with the intention of doing that," Cook said, or actually volunteered: no one asked him that specific question.

There are now several reports out that suggest the 250,000 is a firm number of unlocked iPhones in the wild, but that's not exactly what Cook said. An Apple representative said Tuesday that Cook's comments were just an estimate of unlocked iPhones, although it does appear to be a pretty damn good estimate.

AT&T had its own earnings conference call earlier Tuesday, and Bloomberg reported that the carrier said it has activated 1.1 million iPhones to date, which could suggest that as many as 300,000 iPhones might be destined for other cellular networks. Some of that difference can be chalked up to units in transit as the quarter ended on September 29, or iPhones that were bought at the very end of the quarter and activated at the very beginning of the next. Of course, it's also very possible to unlock an iPhone without going through the registration and activation process with both Apple and AT&T, disappearing off the radar screen.

As discussed at length, Apple is unlikely to stand idly by and let users unlock their iPhones. Peter Oppenheimer, the company's CFO, confirmed the obvious on Monday, that Apple doesn't receive any payments from AT&T under their revenue-sharing agreement for iPhones that aren't running on the AT&T network.

Many of the iPhones counted in Cook's estimate were sold after Apple cut the price of the device by $200, he said. So not only did Apple miss out on the higher profit on those iPhones, it's also losing the ongoing revenue from AT&T's data services. Now that several of the iPhone hacking groups have figured out a way around the 1.1.1 software update, which bricked many of the early unlocked phones, Apple likely has another software update waiting in the wings.

Starting February, you'll finally be able to call the iPhone a mobile computer.

Ever since Apple let the iPhone loose in late June, most of the criticism around the device (forget about AT&T and the price cut for now) has centered on the company's decision to shut developers out of the iPhone's early life on this planet. CEO Steve Jobs tried to assuage developers by reminding them that they could create Web applications for the iPhone, which is sort of like telling a teenager that no, you can't have a car, but isn't this the nicest bike you've ever seen?

But Jobs didn't just roll into the Valley last year with $10 million in Series A funding. The PC and the Mac would have never changed our lives to the extent they have unless Microsoft and Apple allowed third-party application developers to create the myriad programs that simply couldn't be envisioned or tackled by those two companies. It's just not possible for one organization to envision everything that you or I might like to do with our computers.

Apple is almost ready to let iPhone users add applications to that blank space beneath the clock and calendar buttons.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

In an inevitable move, Jobs revealed the plan for third-party iPhone applications on Wednesday. Come February, budding iPhone developers will be able to obtain a software development kit that will give them the tools and the know-how to create safe and reliable applications for the iPhone without having to depend on "jailbreak" programs. That means iPhone users will be able to add applications they can trust without voiding their warranties.

The only thing unexpected about this development is the timing. Some thought an SDK would arrive as early as this month, while others (including yours truly) didn't expect Apple to provide an opening into the iPhone until next year's Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

The reason it's taking so long, according to Apple, was that the company wanted to find a way to be as "open" as possible to third-party development while still keeping a lid on viruses and malware that could kill the iPhone before it gets off the ground. The iPhone runs OS X, which is essentially a derivative of Mac OS X with all the parts you don't need on a phone stripped out to make the software smaller and easier on your battery. There are tested and proven Unix fundamentals at the core of OS X, but Apple apparently felt it couldn't guarantee a reliable experience on the iPhone until it made sure that no security holes had been created in the development of the mobile operating system.

Apparently, that fear will be settled by February, when Apple will either ship OS X 2.0, borrow technology from Leopard to make the iPhone more stable, or both. Jobs hinted that developers will probably have to adhere to some sort of digital-signature architecture, similar to one Nokia has in place, to create working applications for the iPhone. We'll have to see if that passes muster with the development community, although some developers seemed happy with the compromise between developer-signed applications and a locked iPhone. However, as we've followed, some people simply couldn't wait to get started.

iPhone jailbreaks
Almost immediately after iPhone Day, hackers got to work "jailbreaking" the iPhone, or opening it up so third-party applications could be developed and installed on the device. Dozens of small, useful applications sprung up overnight as enterprising developers came up with new ways to use the iPhone.

The problem was Apple never authorized this, and actually said quite specifically in the iPhone's user agreement that loading third-party applications onto the iPhone was a violation of that agreement and would void the warranty. It reinforced that notion with the now-infamous 1.1.1 software update, which wiped the iPhone clean of any third-party applications.

Outrage spewed forth onto the Internet, labeling Jobs and Apple as control freaks bent on infiltrating every portion of your computing life and stamping it with a once-bitten apple. As the always-entertaining Macalope put it today, "Well, NOW what is everybody going to complain about?"

This SDK will change the way people think about the iPhone. Research In Motion and Motorola will be able to port the BlackBerry and Good Mobile Messaging software to the iPhone, allowing secure access to corporate e-mail. Browser developers will be able to release products with Flash or Java support and really bring the full Internet to your pocket. And some independent developer toiling away in his or her basement on weekends will come up with a totally new application that takes advantage of the touch-screen interface to do something really cool, and start a business around that software.

One thing the SDK probably won't support is unlocking, at least just yet. I e-mailed an Apple representative to ask that question, and haven't heard back yet. But I can't imagine that AT&T is ready to allow unlocking (not that they'd ever be if they really had a choice). Reports have put the exclusive contract between Apple and AT&T at anywhere from two years to five years, so it's unlikely, but not impossible, that Apple will authorize iPhone unlocking with the SDK.

A classic dilemma
In many ways, that's a shame. Someday we'll look back on this era of carrier control as ridiculous: can you imagine if your cable or DSL provider currently dictated which PC you could buy, and if you then moved your PC to a part of the country or world where that service was unavailable, you couldn't hook it up to the Internet? But it's a classic dilemma between working for change within the system and revolution, and controlling entities with the power of wireless carriers tend to frown on revolutions.

Expect the underground hacking efforts to continue up to and past the point when Apple formally releases the SDK, as there will probably be demand for unlocked iPhones until the day Apple releases a version for other networks. Just as the company knew that one day it'd have to open up the iPhone to other applications, at some point it's going to have to target the segment of the population that wants nothing to do with AT&T, O2, Orange and the other exclusive iPhone partners.

We're not there yet. I've kept coming back to one thing as this whole outcry over the iPhone and third-party applications has unfolded: We, as a society, have the attention span of gnats. Not only do people want an iPhone, they want it to do everything they want it to do when they want it to do those things, and anything less than instant gratification is a slap in their faces by an evil overlord insisting there be no fun of any kind.

I know, I know; I'm only the 38 millionth curmudgeon to complain about that. But look, people: new eras of computing take time to evolve. It's the 1980s all over again, only this time we can carry these things in our pockets. Real people, not just gadget freaks and productivity-obsessed managers, are starting to realize what they can do with the Internet and computing power anywhere at any time.

The iPhone may not be the device that gets us there, but it's doing more to spark conversation and development toward that goal than anything else out there right now. Starting next year, it will get a whole lot more interesting, especially if Apple finally decides to install a nice, fat 3G pipe to the outside world.

Two weeks to the day after Apple's iPhone software update wiped third-party applications from the device and disabled unlocked phones, the hackers have struck back.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog posted details of the iPhone Dev Team's latest effort, which once again opens the iPhone up to third-party applications and the ability to use it on any other GSM network than AT&T's. This appears to be a more substantial effort than the one posted earlier in the evening that exploits a vulnerability in a TIFF image file; you can bet that one will be patched fairly quickly.

The latest hack allows iPhone users who have already installed the OS X 1.1.1 update to revert their iPhones to the previous 1.0.2 update, "jailbreak" it for third-party applications, and then somehow update back to the 1.1.1 version without the cell door slamming shut. TUAW and iPhone Atlas have tested the latest hack and have declared that it works, assuming you have a certain amount of knowledge of the iPhone's command line interface.

We're not posting links to the actual files you'll need to make this happen, but if you're an enterprising fellow with access to the Internet, I doubt you'll have too much trouble. I downloaded the files, and in a readme file accompanying the patches and guide you'd need to jailbreak your iPhone, the iPhone Dev Team (or NerveGas, Pumpkin, Edgan, drudge, dinopio and asap18) actually posted a disclaimer: "The iPhone Dev Team disclaims any liability of damage to your iPhone as a result of following these instructions. While the instructions listed here are believed to be safe and accurate, there is always a possibility that your iPhone could be permanently damaged." Can you really sue somebody for providing you with a hack that damages your iPhone, even though you're violating your service agreement to install that hack?

Anyway, if you unlocked your iPhone and then installed the 1.1.1 update only to be left with a pretty paperweight, the iPhone Dev Team says their update won't fix your problem. However, the iPhoneSIMFree folks announced Thursday morning that as a result of the iPhone Dev Team's work, they're now able to not only unlock 1.1.1 iPhones but they are also able to unbrick those unlocked iPhones that fell silent after installing the update.

Where's Harold Lederman when you need him? Now that the iPhone hackers have figured out how to get past the latest update, which many thought was much more difficult to crack than the original software, the third round goes to them. I'll score it 10-9, but Apple's still in the lead going into the fourth round, by virtue of the 10-8 second round in which they knocked iPhone hackers to the canvas by disabling the unlocked iPhones. The first round, of course, went to the hackers.

So what has Apple got up its sleeve? With Leopard's release around the corner, many are starting to wonder if Apple might start to tire of this fight and figure out a way to let third-party application development onto the iPhone. It's pretty clear that Apple will be unable to completely fend off an army of determined hackers forever, but I think it is trying to find a way to allow third-party application development without letting people unlock their iPhones just yet.

In the meantime, if you really, really want third-party applications on your iPhone, understand that you might be forfeiting your right to future technical support. Those who previously hacked the iPhone were able to restore the factory settings before bringing it in for service, but it's not clear whether that's still an option with this latest update.

I think it's officially safe to say that the honeymoon is over for the iPhone.

Just like the day you discover that your gorgeous new wife leaves used tea bags in the sink and that she never really liked baseball in the first place, iPhone owners are waking up to reality. Sometimes, there's a price to be paid for jumping into a love affair without taking a minute to think about it.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

September was the tipping point for many. It's been just over three months since Apple started selling iPhones, and although the company has sold over a million units, it also angered many owners with the steep iPhone price cut early in the month, and closed the quarter by turning iPhones with unauthorized software into either pretty paperweights or clean-swept devices.

We've spent plenty of time talking about the price cut, which very few people outside Apple could have foreseen coming so quickly. But no iPhone owner should have gone into a relationship with their precious device without the knowledge that unapproved applications and cellular networks were sore points.

Apple made it very clear from the start that AT&T was going to be the exclusive carrier for the iPhone, and two weeks before the iPhone went on sale, CEO Steve Jobs let everyone know that because of security and reliability concerns, native third-party applications weren't in the cards for iPhone 1.0.

"We have been trying to come up with a solution to expand the capabilities of the iPhone by letting developers write great apps for it, yet keep the iPhone reliable and secure," Jobs told developers at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. That solution was Web-based applications, which is sort of like being told that you can't buy a DVD because HBO shows that movie every month or so, and it was met with tepid applause by Apple's developers.

So, the warning signs were there. Yet some people always think they can get the other person to change, or that they can get away with something verboten on the sly as long as nobody's getting hurt. Several efforts immediately sprang up to "jailbreak" the iPhone, opening it up to application developers and unlocking it from AT&T's network to run around the world.

Apple moved fairly quickly to scuttle those efforts. I don't have much sympathy for unlockers; the two companies probably have a signed agreement that nobody gets to use the iPhone anywhere else but on AT&T's network. Apple is under no obligation to sell you an unlocked iPhone simply because you don't like AT&T. That was part of the deal, and happens often, although momentum is building to make locked phones a relic of the past.

Third-party applications, however, are very different. This is the sort of behavior that doesn't really hurt anybody, right? It's just taking a good thing and making it way better, don't you think?

That's where the control issues surface. Apple thinks that the iPhone is a sacred device, and that attempts to mess with its carefully designed software will only lead to problems. I think the company could have a point here. The iPhone's OS X is essentially a new operating system; sure, it has a lot of Mac OS X at its core, but it's a very different implementation. Apple could be very rightly concerned about widespread application development that's not up to certain standards leading to stability or security problems.

But this is the problem with the iPhone (and now the iPod Touch): is it a computer or not? Those who want the freedom to put outside applications on their iPhones think it's a little computer that should be able to run the same kinds of applications that they can on their Macs, or at the very least applications created for other smart phones.

Apple isn't ready for that yet. It's not even willing to take an "out of sight, out of mind" approach, like TiVo did with those who added unauthorized software to their TiVos. Instead, it's taking a cue from Sony, which moved quickly to scuttle PSP hacks only to watch the behavior continue unabated.

I have to side with the developers on this one: a closed device is not going to revolutionize the smart phone market. There are too many open devices out there already and Apple simply doesn't have the manpower to create all the potentially useful applications that could drive iPhone sales. Also, these development efforts are going to happen anyway; if Apple decides it's going to remove third-party applications with each software update, people will quickly learn to simply stop applying the updates and deprive themselves of new features for the iPhone as well as the extremely important bug fixes and security updates that Apple needs to keep the iPhone stable.

Come on, folks, don't you remember why you got together in the first place? Apple, you need to keep a happy core of early adopters who will spread the Gospel According To Steve far and wide. And iPhone owners, surely you recall how you felt when you first held your iPhone in your hand. I still have yet to hear any iPhone-related complaints about the look-and-feel of the software and the hardware.

Healthy partnerships need to involve compromise. The iPhone early adopters have to let Apple keep their iPhones locked to AT&T. (For now, at least, there's no way that marriage is going the distance.). And Apple needs to give a little and let iPhone owners make mature decisions about what software they can run by taking a lighter hand to application development.

I know you two kids can work this out. Sure, Apple's known for having a bit of a control thing, and iPhone owners are perhaps a bit more needy than the average cell phone owner. But there's lots of good here.

And if not, I know a good divorce lawyer in Redwood City, Calif.

Well, you can't say they didn't warn you.

Apple released an update for the iPhone on Thursday that brings the Wi-Fi Music Store to the device, as well as several security fixes and enhanced features. But, as expected, it also turns iPhones that were unlocked to run on cellular networks other than AT&T's into little more than emergency call boxes.

Macworld reported two iPhones in its office with SIM (subscriber identity module) hacks did not work after the update was installed. A message prompted the phone's owner to install "an unlocked and valid SIM card" before the phone could be completely activated. It's almost like the phone was in the same pre-activation limbo stage that frustrated many iPhone users waiting for activation the first weekend the device went on sale.

Gizmodo is reporting that both the original SIM cards as well as new SIM cards from AT&T won't work in iPhones that had been activated with the original SIM card, then unlocked from the network. That could present a huge problem for iPhone owners who thought they could get around the reactivation process by getting a new AT&T SIM card.

Other reports are trickling in of similar experiences. It appears that those who downloaded the "jailbreaking" software application that lets you install third-party software aren't running into the same problems if they are still using AT&T's network. However, they are reporting that their third-party applications have vanished upon reactivation.

Did you hack your iPhone, and have you had similar problems after installing the latest update? Let us know.

Apple gave hacked iPhone owners another warning that they might have trouble with the latest software update, and many did.

(Credit: Apple)

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.