Tips for a Fun Life…we know all =)

Shortly after Apple iPhone was on sale in the U.S. last Friday, people (like myself) have been scouting the internet to try to find an unlock iPhone. Well, I used to think that I could just cross the border to buy one then bring it back to Toronto to use as an entertaining device without caring of using it as a cell phone. But soon enough I realized that this is not a feasible option at all. Mind you that Apple iPhone is merely a beautiful sleek high-tech expensive paperweight until it is activated via iTune with one of AT&T’s price plan. “No contract, no iPhone”. Yes, without being activated, you will only see one line on the iPhone “Activate iPhone”, you can NOT access to any features of the iPhone at all. If you think that you can activate the iPhone with AT&T, then cancel the contract, well, smart move? Nah not really, at the moment you cancel the AT&T contract, your iPhone will go back to a paperweight again.

So it only left all the Apple iPhone nerds one hope - unlock iPhone!!! There are several webistes claimed that they have hackers working non-stop in shifts to crack the iPhone since it went on sale. They also regularly report online the status and progress of the hacking. There are even some guy listing 5 unlock iPhone (so he said) in eBay US site claiming that he has unlock iPhone which guarantees to work on other GSM network, that he’s so certain that if it doesn’t work, 7-day money back policy is in place. He asks for US$1000 per iPhone on eBay via BuyItNow option but I noticed that this seller has “0″ feedback record, so really, it might most likely a trap. Well, I believe sooner or later, someone will find out a way to unlock iPhone by cracking/hacking the iTune activation of iPhone process but it won’t be within these few days right after it’s in market. Apple iPhone is unlike other PDA/Cell phones, it uses a different OS and it is not a “compulsive” decision for Apple and AT&T to come up with iTune activation process for the registeration of iPhone. The design of iPhone perhaps will assure much more efforts for even highly experienced hacker out there. I don’t believe, either, that some rumors said unlock iPhones are availabel in India at the moment after the 3rd day it’s on sale in the U.S.. Even though it’s possible that some iPhones leak to India and there are very smart/experenced programmers/hackers over there working on hacking it, a fully functional unlock iPhone? I seriously doubt.

A guy from Toronto claimed that their team is approaching to have the unlocked for iPhone within a day or two, and he provides a website where people can send an email to subscribe to its mailing list for the latest update of the unlock process of the iPhone, and once it’s successful, they will contact individual to provide unlock iPhone service e.g. unlock code, with certain $$ charge. They are currently hacking the firmware. It also noted that there was a early iPhone model leaked from Apple, back in late 2006 and have been working on hacking it for the past 8 months. Also according to Hackintosh, the firmware has been leaked. http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1316

Let’s say they manage to bypass the activation process and sort of “cheat” iTune that an AT&T plan was activated, so you have access to the iPhone features like music player, video, phone book etc., then the hack has to ensure that other SIM card would work with iPhone so that you can use it as a phone, making calls, text messaging etc., note that iPhone requires syncing iTune’s music and video content to the iPhone itself, unlike other smart phones, where you can simply drag-and-drop media files from local drives directly into phone memory card or something, what if Apple release an update for iTune and you sync the hacked iPhone with the newly updated iTune which likely plug some security holes that hackers managed to break through earlier for the activation, you will have to install an updated hacking file in order to keep functioning. The question then becomes “how often you have to update your hack of iPhone”…?? and more…

Thinking of all these gives me headache, and I quickly cool down from the fever of having to have an iPhone now. I might wait and see if any of my friends get a working hacked/unlock iPhone, then I will buy one, or, I will just wait until…hmmm…not sure…maybe I’ll just don’t want to own an iPhone any more! I am intrigued by Apple iPhone’s beauty and design and all that, had it been possible to buy one without a contract with AT&T, with strong Canadian Dollars, I would really love to buy it…but…oh well, it’s too much hassel to own one, especially when I am in Canada!

The “locked” iPhone will always have a message displaying “Activate iPhone”. There’s no way to access to any features unless it’s activated, or, unlocked (click in the image to enlarge):

iPhone package:

Apple iPhone Spec.:
Manufacturer: Apple Computer Inc.
Music Playback Formats: AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, Audible, MP3, WAV
Megapixels: 2
Storage Capacity: 4/8 GB
Video Formats: MPEG4
Video Recording: No
Audio Battery Life: 24 Hr
Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches
Player Type: Flash MP3 Player
Radio: No
Recording, Line In: No
Bluetooth: Yes
Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
Camera: Yes
High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
Operating System: Mac OS X
Network: GSM
Service Provider: AT&T Wireless
Web Browser: Yes
Screen Details: 160 dpi LCD display
Screen Resolution: 480 x 320 pixels
Screen Size: 3.5 inches
Special Features: Music
Video Battery Life: 2.8 Hr
Weight: 4.8 oz
Notes: Price: 4GB (US$499); 8GB (US$599)

Some interesting reading/reviews of iPhone I recommend:

* Reveiw from PCMag (in great details reviewing every feature of what iPhone offers (and not)
* Radio Show from PCMag

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Cell Phone vs Smart Phone, Hi-Tech Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.