This update includes the iTunes Wireless Store, but if you have an unlocked iPhone, this may really affect your phone. According to Gizmodo, the software update will work fine on simlocked iPhones, however, if your iPhone is unlocked this software brings your phone back to activation screen which eventually fails to be activated! So unlocked iPhones don’t go for this update (this is currently the safest recommendation)! Gizmodo has confirmed this fact with iPhones which have been unlocked using hacks provided by anySIM and iPhone Sim Free, whilst at the same time, third party applications also won’t work after this update is installed.
Well there’s already been alot of speculation around this issue recently, like we said in our post on some potential ways Steve Jobs might tackle the iPhone hacking problem. It seems Apple will decide to prevent further iPhone hacks simply by disabling those hacked iPhones from being able to be updated in the future. This is actually quite similar to what we thought would happen… indeed we felt acting through future service packs and firmware updates would be the most efficient way to handle it, however it didn’t come to our minds that Apple would attempt to ‘abandon’ those unlocked iPhones by forcing them to opt out of future updates. Certainly this sounds quite harsh, but again this has been the exact same way that Microsoft has handled it against users with unvalid Windows keys…
Steve Jobs has commented that he will not tolerate emerging sites like iphoneSimFree and HamGo.com …etc… from continuing to breach the Apple iPhone’s sim lock. With increasing number of service providers, companies and carriers in different countries now offering the iPhone for sale, Apple obviously has the duty to protect the right of those companies involved while at the same time not let Apple’s fame drift further away and become overwhelmed by more emerging iPhone hackers across the globe…
With the UK and countries from the EU like France and Germany beginning to prepare for iPhone launch, is unlocking your iPhone really a smart choice? While this may be for those who have no intention of using iPhone’s bundled services and strictly just want the phone. For future users like those in the UK may not want to choose to unlock their iPhones because these hacks may possibly disable specific functions that only serve to work on that specific carrier. In other words, unlocked iPhones may loose access to many of the pre-existing services that have been built into existing tariffs in the first place.
Some have also commented that wasting money on unlocking your iPhone may not be very clever, as Steve Jobs has already realised his plans to crack unlocking hacks, Apple could easily package clever ‘cracks’ which would ‘reverse’ sim unlocking hacks and incorporate them into future iPhone updates and service packs. After all, purchasing a crack to unlock the sim lock on your iPhone is in a way like using an illegal version Microsoft Windows. Without a valid Windows CD-key, you won’t be able to run Windows Update successfully, so do you then not run it and just leave it? Or do you find further hacks for your system to hide the fact that your Windows is illegal?
At the end of the day, its just like the situation of unlocking your iPhone, everything just keeps on repeating itself, I don’t see anyone winning this battle. But maybe not getting your iPhone unlocked will save you all the hassle that was entirely unnecessary in the first place!
Ok, I’d hate to blog any bad news about the iPhone, especially just after having written a post celebrating the iPhone’s unlock. But this is actually quite serious, as you may already know, the iPhone is not like any other cell phone / mobile phone… the batteries do not pop out when it falls on the floor, the casing does not fall apart everywhere like you would expect with a normal cell phone (like the picture to the left), at least not usually.
This is what makes it so unique, however, in return there is a price to pay. Because the iPhone’s battery cannot be taken out and replaced by a new one, its quite obvious that your iPhone’s unique power source will die someday and along with it goes your iPhone…
To ‘help’ you prepare for this holy day, PCMAG has created an iPhone Death Watch. Given that your iPhone’s every functionality depends heavily on its battery, it was actually quite simple to setup a formula to calculate when exactly in terms of ‘after how many charges’ your iPhone will hit the bin.
Read on after the jump…
Have a look at the pic below, T-Mobile??? Yes, that’s right, Apple’s iPhone has been unlocked! No more AT&T exclusivity!
[image via Engadget]
iPhoneSimFree.com claims that they have made a tiny piece of software which fits into the iPhone, when installed it will allow your phone to become “sim free”. Here are some of the main benefits as mentioned on their web:
- Chose the provider you want, use any SIM card from any network provider in any country
- No more outrageous roaming charges. When traveling simply pick the local provider of your choice and change your sim card
- Poor network coverage no longer an issue, use the network provider best suited to your region
Until two days ago, the above information has just been what iPhoneSimFree.com‘s claims… However, from Engadget’s latest featured post, they can now prove that the team at iPhoneSimFree.com are the first to crack open Apple iPhone’s sim lock system, since its launch date. According to the post from Engadget, “Again: we can confirm with 100% certainty that iPhoneSIMfree.com’s software solution completely SIM unlocks the iPhone, is restore-resistant, and should make the iPhone fully functional for users outside of the US.”
Also, here’s some main features on the software installation:
- Only requires a short period of time, a matter of only minutes
- Once you put your new, non AT&T SIM in the device, you have to go through the usual activation process
- The menu system now has a couple more options, the root menu has carrier settings where you can select your preferred network if you don’t want to roam
- General -> Network menu now has an EDGE network settings area where you can input your carrier’s APN and username / password
- For usual features like visual voicemail that you would expect to see when using an AT&T sim card, you will of course not have them when a sim card from another carrier is now inserted
This really isn’t a hoax! To prove this, Engadget has also tested it to be restore / upgrade resistant! A test was performed by doing a full restore (v1.0.2) on their iPhone and successfully activating it using an inactive AT&T sim card.
Have a look at Engadget’s “iPhone Unlocked” gallery, there’s also a video to show that all this is a hoax!
[via Engadget]
