When I was 17 and it was summer, that generally meant lazy days out by the pool with friends. For George Holz, it was 500 hours to unlock an iPhone so it can run on any carrier, not just AT&T. The times they are a changin!
Along with a secretive group of online collaborators, the 17-year-old broke the restrictions that make Apple Inc.'s iPhone, arguably the hottest gadget of the year, work only on AT&T Inc.'s cellular network.
The feat took him 500 hours, or about 8 hours a day since the iPhone's June 29 launch. The equipment used included a soldering iron and a large supply of Red Bull energy drinks.
Full Story: http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/08/24/IPhoneUn...
According to the article, George took an AP reporter's T-Mobile SIM card, placed it into the iPhone and was able to place calls on the T-Mobile network. I think this kid is going to have a great career in the technology sector!
You can buy the phone or get more info on his blog: http://www.iphonejtag.blogspot.com/
Digg it
Here's another iPhone unlock strategy
This is done by software and is Apple update/authorization, etc. proof.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/24/iphone-unlocked-atandt-loses-iphone-exclusivity-august-24-2007/
Engadget even has video of it working.
on the same day?
Interesting that both items are released on the same day. Methinks the folks helping the kid were also working with this other team.
This will be interesting. Buy the iPhone, then use these hacks to use it with whatever network you want. I always thought the exclusive deal with AT&T was kind of shortsighted on Apple's part. Imagine how many phones they would have sold already if they had just opened it up to everybody.
I have AT&T service, but if I didn't, I wouldn't change my service just to get this phone.
Fake Steve weighs in
Did I mention that I love Fake Steve Jobs?
Here's his blog entry on the iPhone hack. Hilarious as usual.
He's obviously brilliant. So who knows? I might even hire him. Or maybe I'll sue him. Or maybe he's a front for Apple and we actually told him how to hack the phone, so we can create a way out of our locked-in relationship with AT&T.
Read the rest of the story here
Apple's co-founders enjoy a longtime relationship with AT&T
Reading over at the FSJ site (Tim I fixed your link), I found in one of the comments, a link to a very interesting story of Apple's founders hacking AT&T.
It's a great story, read it here.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
It's a Brand New Car Bob!
The kid is getting a new car in exchange for the iPhone he hacked.
SAN FRANCISCO — The teenage hacker who managed to unlock the iPhone so that it can be used with cellular networks other than AT&T will be trading his reworked gadget for a new car.
The company buying the phone "has no plans to commercialize" the kid's discovery at this time. So there you go kids. Break apart the newest gadgets and you too might get something really cool in return! I love this country!
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/ODD_IPhone_Unlocked.html