iPhone dev team to unlock iPhone 3G for New Years

[AppleInsider]

Though its been a long time coming, a group of hackers known as the iPhone Dev Team have successfully created a software unlock for the iPhone 3G that should free owners to use the handset on carriers other than those sanctioned by Apple.

The hack, code-named "yellowsn0w," is currently being packaged into a user-friendly application with the simplicity provided by similar tools such as the PwnageTool jailbreaking assistant and BootNeuter baseband unlocker.

An public release is slated for December 31st, New Year's Eve.

The unlock will require a jailbroken iPhone 3G that's running baseband version 2.11.07 or earlier. To ensure that an iPhone preserves an unlockable version of the baseband, the Dev Team recommends that users refrain from using the QuickPwn tool or applying any of Apple's iPhone software updates that aren't already supported by the PwnageTool jailbreaking app.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Ireland]

So I can't post stories about my baseband, but IA then writes articles dedicated to the same thing!? Give me a break.

Thanks guys

[success]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The hack, code-named "yellowsn0w," is currently being packaged into a user-friendly application...

hahaha looks like there's piss on the leopard's snow. lovely name.

[Kasper]

Originally Posted by Ireland

So I can't post stories about my baseband, but IA then writes articles dedicated to the same thing!? Give me a break.

Thanks guys

Who says you can't post about your baseband?

Best,

K

[Mazda 3s]

For those of us in the U.S., isn't T-Mobile the only other alternative with an unlocked 3G? Are they really any better than AT&T?

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by Mazda 3s

For those of us in the U.S., isn't T-Mobile the only other alternative with an unlocked 3G? Are they really any better than AT&T?

It is only useful for those who travel overseas and those who want to sell their iPhones on ebay

Don't tell me you still didn't buy an iPhone yet

[noirdesir]

Can this be coupled with the 'Enable Data Roaming' option? I might want to use a local SIM when travelling but I don't want to use this SIM for data charges (I'd rely on Wifi only, exactly what is achieved by disabling data roaming).

[noirdesir]

Originally Posted by NasserAE

It is only useful for those who travel overseas and those who want to sell their iPhones on ebay

From an American point of view, yes (if you call Canada overseas). In most other countries, multiple GSM-based providers are available, so you don't even have to leave your country to make use of the opportunity to use a different provider (and except for island nations, no 'overseas' trip is necessary to go abroad).

[bladerunner]

Originally Posted by Mazda 3s

For those of us in the U.S., isn't T-Mobile the only other alternative with an unlocked 3G? Are they really any better than AT&T?

Yes, Am on T Mobile with a 1st Gen all is good everything works except Visual Voicemail.
Did not want to sign with ATT and already had Tmo.

[NeilM]

Originally Posted by Mazda 3s

For those of us in the U.S., isn't T-Mobile the only other alternative with an unlocked 3G?

Yes but isn't T-M's 3G data service in the USA incompatible with AT&T's for some reason I don't presently recall?

Are they really any better than AT&T?

No, since T-M has very little 3G coverage at this point in any case.

I agree that the utility of an unlocked iPhone is mainly for international travelers, who could benefit from using a local SIM.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Who says you can't post about your baseband?

Best,

K

I locked his thread about iphone unlocking and links to a site offering a method for doing so as I figured it wasn't something the forum should promote.

I've read articles about Apple limiting iphone numbers to countries with high unlocking rates and no doubt the more people taking business away from legitimate carriers, I can see a point where some of them could make things more difficult for legitimate users.

They already started enforcing in-store activations because of it.

I think discussing the issue is ok but perhaps it's better to avoid promoting it because it voids people's warranties among other things.

We do talk about Mac clones and post links to those sites too though so I guess this isn't much different but I don't want AI to become one of those sites where people post unlocking guides and things and have people who don't know what they're doing breaking their phones.

It's a fine line but this article is only mentioning what the dev team will be doing, Ireland's thread was a review of him using an unlocking sim and where to get it. I thought that was just on the wrong side of this type of discussion.

[oneof52]

Originally Posted by Marvin

I locked his thread about iphone unlocking and links to a site offering a method for doing so as I figured it wasn't something the forum should promote.

I've read articles about Apple limiting iphone numbers to countries with high unlocking rates and no doubt the more people taking business away from legitimate carriers, I can see a point where some of them could make things more difficult for legitimate users.

They already started enforcing in-store activations because of it.

I think discussing the issue is ok but perhaps it's better to avoid promoting it because it voids people's warranties among other things.

We do talk about Mac clones and post links to those sites too though so I guess this isn't much different but I don't want AI to become one of those sites where people post unlocking guides and things and have people who don't know what they're doing breaking their phones.

It's a fine line but this article is only mentioning what the dev team will be doing, Ireland's thread was a review of him using an unlocking sim and where to get it. I thought that was just on the wrong side of this type of discussion.

This is excellent!!!!

Right below the original post there is a Google ad for unlocking the iPhone.

HAHAHAHA

[Kasper]

Originally Posted by Marvin

I locked his thread about iphone unlocking and links to a site offering a method for doing so as I figured it wasn't something the forum should promote.

I've read articles about Apple limiting iphone numbers to countries with high unlocking rates and no doubt the more people taking business away from legitimate carriers, I can see a point where some of them could make things more difficult for legitimate users.

They already started enforcing in-store activations because of it.

I think discussing the issue is ok but perhaps it's better to avoid promoting it because it voids people's warranties among other things.

We do talk about Mac clones and post links to those sites too though so I guess this isn't much different but I don't want AI to become one of those sites where people post unlocking guides and things and have people who don't know what they're doing breaking their phones.

It's a fine line but this article is only mentioning what the dev team will be doing, Ireland's thread was a review of him using an unlocking sim and where to get it. I thought that was just on the wrong side of this type of discussion.

Yeah, I understand. Going forward, lets not prevent members for discussing topics unless they are illegal or offensive to other members. I think it may be good service to occasionally post a disclaimer about the risks of such methods within the threads.

Best,

K

[NasserAE]

Hopefully, AT&T will treat the iPhone as any other phone and offer unlocking soon.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Who says you can't post about your baseband?

Best,

K

You locked my thread about what this thread is about, unlocking the iPhone.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Yeah, I understand. Going forward, lets not prevent members for discussing topics unless they are illegal or offensive to other members. I think it may be good service to occasionally post a disclaimer about the risks of such methods within the threads.

Best,

K

Thank you! Finally some logic to all this. For now, my signature says it all

[Lance G.]

Originally Posted by Mazda 3s

For those of us in the U.S., isn't T-Mobile the only other alternative with an unlocked 3G? Are they really any better than AT&T?

Good point.

There really aren't any GREAT cell companies. And in this country, it's AT&T or T-Mobile. So the only real benefit I see (unless you are locked in with T-Mobile) is using the phone overseas.

I mean, is this whole unlocking business really anything to get excited about? What's the benefit?

[OriginalMacRat]

Originally Posted by Mazda 3s

For those of us in the U.S., isn't T-Mobile the only other alternative with an unlocked 3G? Are they really any better than AT&T?

The plans are cheaper and there is no extra fee to tether your phone to your laptop.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by OriginalMacRat

The plans are cheaper and there is no extra fee to tether your phone to your laptop.

Tethering is limited by the lack of such official software on the iPhone not because you need to pay extra on AT&T to get it. The only way to tether your iPhone to your laptop is to jailbreak and use unofficial third party software.

[OriginalMacRat]

Originally Posted by NasserAE

Tethering is limited by the lack of such official software on the iPhone not because you need to pay extra on AT&T to get it. The only way to tether your iPhone to your laptop is to jailbreak and use unofficial third party software.

Not correct. I've had several friends with Blackberries switch from ATT for this very reason.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by OriginalMacRat

Not correct. I've had several friends with Blackberries switch from ATT for this very reason.

Did you read my post? Please go back and read my post again. Even if you are welling to pay the $60/month tethering you cannot tether your iPhone to your laptop because the iPhone officially cannot support tethering.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Yeah, I understand. Going forward, lets not prevent members for discussing topics unless they are illegal or offensive to other members. I think it may be good service to occasionally post a disclaimer about the risks of such methods within the threads.

Best,

K

Ok that's cool, I'll try to be more lenient.

Originally Posted by oneof52

This is excellent!!!!

Right below the original post there is a Google ad for unlocking the iPhone.

Yeah, those ads always seem to add something ironic into the mix.

Originally Posted by Ireland

Thank you! Finally some logic to all this. For now, my signature says it all

It's ok, your thread is open again:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=93473

I didn't open it btw but I don't object to it. It's not an illegal practice and I only locked it figuring it was more responsible that way but warning people about what can happen using these techniques should be good enough.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Though its been a long time coming, a group of hackers known as the iPhone Dev Team have successfully created a software unlock for the iPhone 3G ...

Am I the only one getting bored with all this waste-of-time unlocking crapola? Aren't we past this yet? How many people unlock their iPhones nowadays given the recent stellar sales and the fact that an unlock isn't even available for the 3G? Why do we even have a story which essentially says that they haven't unlocked it yet anyway?

Personally, I think the average Apple tech website is completely unaware of how *not* popular and mostly uninteresting "unlocking your iPhone" is to the average reader of their sites. Because you are so hand-in-hand with the hackers and the unlockers, perhaps you failed to notice that most people couldn't care less about this stuff anymore.

I have never understood even from the beginning why anyone would want to even do this. Sure you can use the iPhone with a different carrier, but you are going to get a *worse* deal on the data. All that trouble just to pay more money when one cell company is as good as any other? The only reason that makes any sense is for oversea travellers, but roaming charges are not that much for any of the iPhone providers that I have heard of. In fact it's only when you are using a provider that doesn't normally carry the iPhone (i.e. - your iPhone is unlocked), that you generally get stuck with a huge bill.

Boring, stupid, waste of time IMO.

Let's have more stories about, you know .... "inside" Apple stuff and rumours about what's going to happen next. Not endless reprises of the (heroic?) unlockers spending their nights slaving away for almost no purpose other then the "cred" of saying that they were able to do something.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Yeah, I understand. Going forward, lets not prevent members for discussing topics unless they are illegal or offensive to other members. I think it may be good service to occasionally post a disclaimer about the risks of such methods within the threads.

Best,

K

Unlocking your iPhone is illegal though.

You might call it minor league, but it's still wrong, it's still a violation of valid legal agreements, etc.

This site promotes illegal activity when it publishes glowing reports about unlocking the iPhone and so on and personally I wish it would stop.

All it does is prompt a few newbies to totally screw up their iphones though being ignorant enough to believe some of the things said in the comments and attempting the unlock. Anyone who is serious about unlocking can find oodles of information out there on it if they actively look for it, there is no (moral) reason I can think of for this site and others to promote the practice by publishing stories about it. Let's face it, you are doing it because you think it's a popular topic that will get you hits on your site.

I'm opposed to censorship, but picking and choosing what to run as a story and what not to is the normal practice of editing. I'd like to see AI choose not to run these stories unless there is actually some news on offer. A story about how maybe in the future there is going to be an unlock, is not really a story IMO, and not worth publishing (unless of course it's really more about publicising the "holy cause" of unlocking.)

[wally007]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Unlocking your iPhone is illegal though.

You might call it minor league, but it's still wrong, it's still a violation of valid legal agreements, etc.

This site promotes illegal activity when it publishes glowing reports about unlocking the iPhone and so on and personally I wish it would stop.

All it does is prompt a few newbies to totally screw up their iphones though being ignorant enough to believe some of the things said in the comments and attempting the unlock. Anyone who is serious about unlocking can find oodles of information out there on it if they actively look for it, there is no (moral) reason I can think of for this site and others to promote the practice by publishing stories about it. Let's face it, you are doing it because you think it's a popular topic that will get you hits on your site.

I'm opposed to censorship, but picking and choosing what to run as a story and what not to is the normal practice of editing. I'd like to see AI choose not to run these stories unless there is actually some news on offer. A story about how maybe in the future there is going to be an unlock, is not really a story IMO, and not worth publishing (unless of course it's really more about publicising the "holy cause" of unlocking.)

How is unlocking phone one bought illegal to unlock ??? You do realize there're other countries other than US , right ?

I'd like to see apple , nokia whoever try that BS at court.

[hill60]

In Italy iPhones are sold unlocked.

In Australia one of the three companies (four if you count a rebiller) that sell them will unlock them for a fee.

That means there is an official way to do it.

If you have already updated to 2.02 this won't work.

For the supposed "land of the free", the USA seems to impose a lot of restrictions on it's citizens.

[mrochester]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Am I the only one getting bored with all this waste-of-time unlocking crapola? Aren't we past this yet? How many people unlock their iPhones nowadays given the recent stellar sales and the fact that an unlock isn't even available for the 3G? Why do we even have a story which essentially says that they haven't unlocked it yet anyway?

Personally, I think the average Apple tech website is completely unaware of how *not* popular and mostly uninteresting "unlocking your iPhone" is to the average reader of their sites. Because you are so hand-in-hand with the hackers and the unlockers, perhaps you failed to notice that most people couldn't care less about this stuff anymore.

I have never understood even from the beginning why anyone would want to even do this. Sure you can use the iPhone with a different carrier, but you are going to get a *worse* deal on the data. All that trouble just to pay more money when one cell company is as good as any other? The only reason that makes any sense is for oversea travellers, but roaming charges are not that much for any of the iPhone providers that I have heard of. In fact it's only when you are using a provider that doesn't normally carry the iPhone (i.e. - your iPhone is unlocked), that you generally get stuck with a huge bill.

Boring, stupid, waste of time IMO.

Let's have more stories about, you know .... "inside" Apple stuff and rumours about what's going to happen next. Not endless reprises of the (heroic?) unlockers spending their nights slaving away for almost no purpose other then the "cred" of saying that they were able to do something.

How about people in the middle of an 18 month contract who fancy a new phone? It's far cheaper in this instance to buy a PAYG iPhone 3G and unlock it than it would be to take out a second contract, which also has the inconvenience of having a different phone number. I say hooray to unlocking as it benefits the consumer. And then there's people who have come to the end of their iPhone contract and want out to a different provider. AFAIK, O2 won't even unlock an iPhone 3G out of contract, so you're either stuck with a very expensive paperweight, or you're forced to stay with O2. That's soooo not cool, and no one company should have that sort of power to exert over customers. Customers must fight back for a fairer and better deal!

[winterspan]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Unlocking your iPhone is illegal though.

You might call it minor league, but it's still wrong, it's still a violation of valid legal agreements, etc.

This site promotes illegal activity when it publishes glowing reports about unlocking the iPhone and so on and personally I wish it would stop.

All it does is prompt a few newbies to totally screw up their iphones though being ignorant enough to believe some of the things said in the comments and attempting the unlock. Anyone who is serious about unlocking can find oodles of information out there on it if they actively look for it, there is no (moral) reason I can think of for this site and others to promote the practice by publishing stories about it. Let's face it, you are doing it because you think it's a popular topic that will get you hits on your site.

I'm opposed to censorship, but picking and choosing what to run as a story and what not to is the normal practice of editing. I'd like to see AI choose not to run these stories unless there is actually some news on offer. A story about how maybe in the future there is going to be an unlock, is not really a story IMO, and not worth publishing (unless of course it's really more about publicising the "holy cause" of unlocking.)

Sorry, but that is wholly incorrect. It is NOT "ILLEGAL" at all. There is no statute in criminal law against this. If you want to call it "breach of a user agreement", go for it, but it is certainly not against the law. In fact, IIRC, the DMCA even has an explicit exemption for circumventing encryption for the purposes of cellphone network unlocking.

[Delfoniq]

Originally Posted by hill60

For the supposed "land of the free", the USA seems to impose a lot of restrictions on it's citizens.

Oh man you really made me crack up! You really have no idea how true that is

[samab]

Originally Posted by winterspan

Sorry, but that is wholly incorrect. It is NOT "ILLEGAL" at all. There is no statute in criminal law against this. If you want to call it "breach of a user agreement", go for it, but it is certainly not against the law. In fact, IIRC, the DMCA even has an explicit exemption for circumventing encryption for the purposes of cellphone network unlocking.

The DMCA exemption is basically for you to unlock your own phone only --- which means you have to write your own unlocking software. According to Jennifer Granick (the Stanford law professor who won the DMCA ruling), it is still illegal to actually distribute unlocking software or provide unlocking service under the DMCA.

http://www.wired.com/politics/online...cuitcourt_0829

The only legal way for the iPhone Dev Team to distribute it is source code only, as an open source project (basically the LAME mp3 encoder situation where they don't distribute binaries).

[samab]

Originally Posted by hill60

In Italy iPhones are sold unlocked.

In Australia one of the three companies (four if you count a rebiller) that sell them will unlock them for a fee.

That means there is an official way to do it.

If you have already updated to 2.02 this won't work.

For the supposed "land of the free", the USA seems to impose a lot of restrictions on it's citizens.

Those supposed freedoms are garbage anyway --- illusory at best.

I can buy a unlocked iphone in Italy --- so what? All their plans are ultra-expensive and some have a 250 MB download allowance.

These countries don't have ETF's so you have to pay $700-800 to get out of the contract.

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilep...2043647,00.htm

[uluvbs]

Your advice, please:

My friend just bought me an iPhone 3G for Christmas, and I have to go to the Apple store to redeem the gift card.

#1 Would I still be able to unlock my iPhone for use on T-Mobile?
#2 Would this be a better route than just signing up with AT&T? Personally, I've heard AT&T's phone service is not that great with dropped calls, etc., and that their "3G" is not exactly fast.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

[winterspan]

Originally Posted by samab

The DMCA exemption is basically for you to unlock your own phone only --- which means you have to write your own unlocking software. According to Jennifer Granick (the Stanford law professor who won the DMCA ruling), it is still illegal to actually distribute unlocking software or provide unlocking service under the DMCA.

http://www.wired.com/politics/online...cuitcourt_0829

The only legal way for the iPhone Dev Team to distribute it is source code only, as an open source project (basically the LAME mp3 encoder situation where they don't distribute binaries).

Thanks for the information, but as you can see we were solely talking about individuals unlocking their own iPhone, to which "Virgil" was attempting to characterize it as "illegal activity" and it is not.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Unlocking your iPhone is illegal though.

Shut up Virgil.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by uluvbs

Your advice, please:

My friend just bought me an iPhone 3G for Christmas, and I have to go to the Apple store to redeem the gift card.

You 'may' be in a tricky situation. The only way I got away with using iPhones is by buying them on eBay, I have three.

[hill60]

Originally Posted by samab

Those supposed freedoms are garbage anyway --- illusory at best.

I can buy a unlocked iphone in Italy --- so what? All their plans are ultra-expensive and some have a 250 MB download allowance.

These countries don't have ETF's so you have to pay $700-800 to get out of the contract.

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilep...2043647,00.htm

You can pay cash up front for an unsubsidised, unlocked iPhone and put whatever SIM you want to in it, Italian call rates, plans etc are irrelevant, you don't have to use them.

I've heard of a few people in the UK who do this as they don't want to be restricted to O2.

[uluvbs]

Thank you.

Any other recommendations?

I guess I need to find out if I'll be able to get the phone at the Apple Store and not activate it with AT&T right there?

[hill60]

Originally Posted by uluvbs

Thank you.

Any other recommendations?

I guess I need to find out if I'll be able to get the phone at the Apple Store and not activate it with AT&T right there?

I think you'll find there is a commercial agreement between Apple and AT&T which prevents them from doing this.

Apple has different arrangements with different companies in other countries.

As far as subsidized handsets go why should AT&T customers pay for users on other networks to have cheaper phones?

[cnocbui]

Originally Posted by samab

The DMCA exemption is basically for you to unlock your own phone only --- which means you have to write your own unlocking software. According to Jennifer Granick (the Stanford law professor who won the DMCA ruling), it is still illegal to actually distribute unlocking software or provide unlocking service under the DMCA.

http://www.wired.com/politics/online...cuitcourt_0829

The only legal way for the iPhone Dev Team to distribute it is source code only, as an open source project (basically the LAME mp3 encoder situation where they don't distribute binaries).

Yes, but not all iPhone users live in the US.

[cnocbui]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Am I the only one getting bored with all this waste-of-time unlocking crapola?

It would appear so.

Aren't we past this yet? How many people unlock their iPhones nowadays given the recent stellar sales and the fact that an unlock isn't even available for the 3G? Why do we even have a story which essentially says that they haven't unlocked it yet anyway?

The story appears to be about an unlock having been successfully developed. You appear to have a problem with simple comprehension.

Personally, I think the average Apple tech website is completely unaware of how *not* popular and mostly uninteresting "unlocking your iPhone" is to the average reader of their sites. Because you are so hand-in-hand with the hackers and the unlockers, perhaps you failed to notice that most people couldn't care less about this stuff anymore.

Apart from comprehension, you appear to have a problem with history as well:

Apple claimed it had sold 3.7 million by the end of 2007, while AT&T said it had signed up nearly 2 million iPhone subscribers by year-end.
Those numbers leave approximately 1.7 million devices missing in action. Some of these were sold in Europe, though analysts believe that number falls somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000. And some of the devices may have been sold but not yet activated for telecommunications.
But analysts believe more than 1 million devices may have been sold and unlocked, accounting for as much as one-quarter of the company's total iPhone sales to date -- a number one analyst called "astounding."

http://tinyurl.com/6zl3a5

I have never understood even from the beginning why anyone would want to even do this.

Your ignorance of history makes your lack of 'understanding' unsurprising.

Sure you can use the iPhone with a different carrier, but you are going to get a *worse* deal on the data. All that trouble just to pay more money when one cell company is as good as any other?

If you had actually said 'as bad as' I might have found one tiny little thing you said that I could agree with - but you didn't, so I don't.

The only reason that makes any sense is for oversea travellers,

Really? (shall I give him some some hints people?...nah!)

but roaming charges are not that much for any of the iPhone providers that I have heard of. In fact it's only when you are using a provider that doesn't normally carry the iPhone (i.e. - your iPhone is unlocked), that you generally get stuck with a huge bill.

Are you quite sure of that?

You know, you really should get out more, or at the very least, read more. Actually, none of those would be sufficient in your case, I think the only cure for what ails you would be for you to do some traveling outside the US, preferably actually living in a foreign country for a while.

iPhone/AT&T $3,000 International Roaming Bill Serves As Cruel Warning
By Meg Marco, 5:34 PM on Tue Jul 31 2007, 10,366 views

International data roaming charges are out-of-control expensive and can be difficult to dispute, should you accidentally rack them up. It's not uncommon to be slammed with a $3,000 bill from just looking up a few websites on the go in Europe. We've written about it before, actually.

That's what happened to David. Thankfully for him, his story got picked up by BoingBoing and AT&T has already waved his charges. But this isn't unusual. This happens all the time to people who are unaware of just how insanely expensive international data roaming is... and AT&T doesn't always waive the fees so easily.

Boring, stupid, waste of time IMO.

Was that some Freudian slip of a warning in reference to your own post? Just a friendly tip - such warnings would be far more effective and useful if you were to put them at the beginning of your posts, that would save us all a lot of bother.