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Fuzzy Logic The day the iPhone turned into a web surfin’ iPod
Fuzzy Logic The day the iPhone turned into a web surfin’ iPod | The day the iPhone turned into a web surfin’ iPod |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Saturday, 07 July 2007 | |
  
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Thanks to new software from Jon Lech Johansen, famous as ‘DVD Jon’, the man that cracked the DVD’s copy protection, you can ‘crack’ the iPhone and 'activate it' – but you won’t get phone service from it when you activate it using DVD Jon's method. The software and brief instructions are available at Johansen’s blog called ‘So Sue Me’ , in the June 3rd post entitled ‘iPhone Independence Day’ and let you use the iPhone’s web surfing and email features using your Wi-Fi connection, listen to music, watch photos and videos and do everything but make phone calls and surf using an EDGE connection to the Internet. Naturally, users trying to make phone calls find that it simply doesn’t work, as there is no connection to any cell phone networks without a proper SIM card, activation through AT&T and a valid contract. Yet predictions that the iPhone would be ‘unlocked’ within one to two weeks are raging online, with the expectation that iPhone users will in theory be able to insert any SIM card from any GSM provider worldwide. If hackers are successful, it could easily unleash a worldwide frenzy of grey importing as iPod and Apple fans around the world try to get their hands on a iPhone long before their official release in other countries. But Apple is known to not look upon such activity favorably at all, with the likely outcome being that Apple attempts to block any hacks or cracks through an iTunes and iPhone software update. This could cause updated iPhones to stop working in other countries, causing grief for overseas iPhone owners and more work for hackers who will need to find new ways to play the cat and mouse game of hack and repair with Apple. As rumors swirl that an updated 3G iPhone will appear in Europe rather than the existing EDGE model, and with the reviews all generally quite positive, the issue of being able to only buy the iPhone in the US will soon be eliminated as the iPhone starts going on sale worldwide. But even when that happens, the issue of being able to use an iPhone without needing to have a phone contract will still be officially impossible, even though DVD Jon proves it’s easy. With the iPhone barely more than a week old, the story and saga of the iPhone’s future is still being written, and what the iPhone’s conditions of use will look like with future versions is unknown. For now, what we do know is that the hackers are no doubt causing Apple to iMoan internally about their vaunted iPhone, as hackers react to consumer demand to make the iPhone operate the way they want it to – not entirely the way that Apple wants. What happens next is up to Apple – and then DVD Jon and other hackers – but a case of cat and mouse tit-for-tat battles will likely ensue, ensuring plenty of fireworks for all no matter where you’re sitting. Enjoy the show! |
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