[TETENAL]

Some guy found a way to activate the non-phone parts of the iPhone without AT&T.

http://nanocr.eu/2007/07/03/iphone-without-att/

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Neat. Hopefully a full unlock will come this week.

[sideus]

Not just some guy, but DVD Jon! But great, now you have a really expensive 8GB iPod.

[mduell]

What do you call an iPhone without a phone? i?

[turtle777]

Yeah, this is NOT the crack we waited for.

Hope fully not YET.

-t

[Eug]

Originally Posted by mduell 

What do you call an iPhone without a phone? i?

No, it's an "iPod" of course... Only $600 for 8 GB!

So no, the iPhone is not cracked.

EDIT: sideus beat me to it.

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Neat. Hopefully a full unlock will come this week.

I doubt it. Or at least I'm not optimistic for this week, considering that DVD Jon can't even do it after several days.

[g.c.]

Ok... that activation crack is only for PC's. The mac tool is on the iPhone Dev Wiki, but how do you do the "token thing"? Anyone manage to figure it out?

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Eug 

So no, the iPhone is not cracked.

Considering they have the OS ROM image, the root passwords and 90% of it can be used without a contract sounds pretty "cracked" to me.

What it isn't yet is unlocked.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Considering they have the OS ROM image, the root passwords and 90% of it can be used without a contract sounds pretty "cracked" to me.

What it isn't yet is unlocked.

A "cracked" phone that can't make or receive phone calls is rather pointless.

Like I said before, I think it will be fully cracked sooner rather than later. Just don't expect it this week.

[The Godfather]

It will take the efforts of a few non-US citizens with smuggled iPhones in their respective hometowns. What countries have GSM/EDGE?

[zro]

Tada! The 6th Gen contract-free WiFi-enabled iPod - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

[Q27]

Originally Posted by mduell 

What do you call an iPhone without a phone? i?

iNewton?

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Eug 

A "cracked" phone that can't make or receive phone calls is rather pointless.

Well like steve said it is 3 devices in one.

1) iPod (cracked)
2) Internet device (cracked)
3) Phone (not YET).

So 2 out of 3 makes it pretty darn useful already no?

[Peter]

no.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Peter 

no.

The Phone part is the best feature to you? Yikes

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Peter 

no.

What he said.

Originally Posted by The Godfather 

It will take the efforts of a few non-US citizens with smuggled iPhones in their respective hometowns. What countries have GSM/EDGE?

Err... Like all of them? (Save a few, like Japan and Korea.)

I'd guess it'd be cracked in the US first though, given that's where 99.99% of all the iPhones are.

[amazing]

A rose by any other name still attracts aphids. But an iPhone that can't phone? What will it attract?

Can't call it even 2/3 hacked if it can't phone, no?

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by amazing 

A rose by any other name still attracts aphids. But an iPhone that can't phone? What will it attract?

Can't call it even 2/3 hacked if it can't phone, no?

Hey I am not saying I would want it with 2/3 but I sure as hell would use it for those things while I wait for the big unlock.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Hey I am not saying I would want it with 2/3 but I sure as hell would use it for those things while I wait for the big unlock.

That makes no sense. You'd be better off just buying an iPod for less than half the price, than risking a perfectly good $600 iPhone and having to manually hack iTunes every single time you update it.

The unlocked European iPhones may prove to be more interesting. The main problem there is the lack of 850 support.

[jokell82]

I wonder if an iPhone that has been activated in this way could use an activated AT&T sim card. If so, this may be a good way to get an iPhone with service without a contract, so long as you have another AT&T phone...

[KisforKennedy]

So now that it's out... when's the next one coming out? You know, the one with the camera that's actually worth having....

[icruise]

Originally Posted by KisforKennedy 

So now that it's out... when's the next one coming out? You know, the one with the camera that's actually worth having....

Come on. The iPhone camera is quite decent. I'd rather have it than a 5MP camera that makes the phone a brick.

Originally Posted by jokell82 

I wonder if an iPhone that has been activated in this way could use an activated AT&T sim card. If so, this may be a good way to get an iPhone with service without a contract, so long as you have another AT&T phone...

Well, you can apparently already get the iPhone without contract by going for the prepaid option, although it definitely seems like a loophole rather than something AT&T really wants people to do.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Come on. The iPhone camera is quite decent. I'd rather have it than a 5MP camera that makes the phone a brick.



Well, you can apparently already get the iPhone without contract by going for the prepaid option, although it definitely seems like a loophole rather than something AT&T really wants people to do.

Yeah, but those prepaid plans suck. I've got an old Sony phone from when I was with Cingular. I think I'm going to try and activate that on a month to month plan, add the media max bundle (which is essentially the same as the iPhone data plan), and try to use that SIM card in the iPhone. Theoretically it should give me all the iPhone features but without a contract.

Wont be able to try it until next month, though. Maybe someone else will try before then.

[Eug]

AFAIK, the higher megapixel cameras don't actually up significantly more room. The main problem is sensor noise. Some of the 5 MP phones take absolutely horrible pix apparently.

The 2 MP camera on the iPhone is supposed to be not bad for a phone, but I can't say for sure because (to my surprise) there aren't that many iPhone camera quality threads out there.

[icruise]

My flickr set has some sample pictures taken with the iPhone camera.

[amazing]

Imagine for a moment that Apple had come out with a wifi iPod tablet: just the music, calendar, email, and wifi access (no skype, just like now, and no Edge.) Let's call it the "noPhone."

The noPhone would be very nice--but in a niche market. Limited number of people would want one, mainly because you'd still have to carry your phone, and you'd mostly still carry your laptop. All those devices still banging around. And you couldn't look up google maps on the fly, or other stuff--you'd have to find a wifi hotspot, requiring stopping off somewhere, parking, laying out your devices.

Definitely not seamless. You might even still be carrying a Blackberry or similar ilk for a more instantaneous connection.

What would be the point of such a niche device? Same stuff and more is available on your laptop (which you might still have to carry with you!) If this is what cracking the iPhone amounts to, unbundling it from Edge, paying extra at alternative carriers where some functions (visual voice mail) won't be supported, then you gotta be kidding.

There are already cost comparisons of the iPhone with 2-year ATT contract with a cheaper, subsidized Blackberry with similar data contract, and the iPhone comes out very well (do your own research...) The $20 extra unlimited Edge data is NOT gouging you as much as data plans at other carriers.

The noPhone would definitely not conjure the adulation the iPhone is deservedly getting. Yeah, you like your own carrier better than ATT, but get real: mediocre to poor service are the norm at all carriers, and all carriers have always lured you with phones that work only on their network. Or they'll have a similar phone, but they'll disable bluetooth so that you have to buy their data cable, etc. That's life. The stork doesn't deliver babies with a guarantee of lifetime entitlement to all the best tech Toys...

Meanwhile, count me out on the noPhone.

[dunga29]

you have wifi: So sue me � Blog Archive � iPhone Independence Day
Now you need VoIP. Can't install Skype (yet) but if someone develop a similar service based on Safari that could work...
Can't see great potential in the US, but for countries like Brazil, China, Korea, that could be very appealing

Anyone willing to start a .com business?

[lkrupp]

Imagine for a moment that you, average Joe, buy an iPhone because your cousin (one of the posters in this thread who lives in his parent's basement) told you he could unlock your iPhone and you could use it however you like without needing the evil Apple, Inc. or even more vile at&t. So you plop down your $600, your dweeb/weenie cousin unlocks the phone and, lo-and-behold, you have problems. What to do? Who to ask for help? Not your cousin, that's for sure. Maybe DVD Jon?

[CIA]

According to the iPhone Dev Wiki:

July 9, 2007 2:50AM Eastern Update
The bootloader is basically a dead end. Everything that goes into it must be signed, and without apples 1024-bit RSA private key, this isn't going to happen. Fortunately we have another in. We have basically full command over the file system and can upload, copy, and run files. I'll say this, ringtones would be a *trivial* thing to do now. We know the radio is accessible though software from from thisbbupdate dump. Once the toolchain is working, we can write a program to write to /dev/tty.baseband, and finally unlock this thing.
-dev team

The key phrase for me, is "Ringtones would be a trivial thing to do now". I applaud the efforts to unlock the phone, it's an amazing collaboration. I am content with my AT&T service (I switched from Verizon, whom I hated, but that's another thread.) I want free ringtones that I create and put on my phone. (this is part of the reason I hate Verizon). If it's so trivial, put out an app to simply add ringtones to the phone and not change anything else! I know there is a lot more to it then just "putting out an app." but that is the biggest feature I was looking forward to. Then get iChat support up, lol, but one step at a time.
Anyway, this whole unlocking effort, again, is amazing. Hats off to the "haxOrz".

[Eug]

July 9, 2007 2:50AM Eastern Update
The bootloader is basically a dead end. Everything that goes into it must be signed, and without apples 1024-bit RSA private key, this isn't going to happen. Fortunately we have another in. We have basically full command over the file system and can upload, copy, and run files. I'll say this, ringtones would be a *trivial* thing to do now. We know the radio is accessible though software from from thisbbupdate dump. Once the toolchain is working, we can write a program to write to /dev/tty.baseband, and finally unlock this thing.
-dev team

So... summary: Not really that close yet. Maybe in a few weeks if we're lucky.

No comments about iTunes?

[icruise]

Interesting developments, but as for ringtones, I'm just going to wait for what Apple provides. I hope no one seriously thinks that the company with the largest stake in the downloadable music business isn't going to provide downloadable ringtones of some sort (although you will probably have to pay for them, even if you've already bought the song). More than music, I'd like to see the ability to use custom sound effects, though.

[azman_821009]

Any body knows how & where can i make unlocking the iPhone? It's work outside from U.S?

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by azman_821009 

Any body knows how & where can i make unlocking the iPhone? It's work outside from U.S?

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by azman_821009 

Any body knows how & where can i make unlocking the iPhone? It's work outside from U.S?

That is funny.

[amazing]

Here's an attempt to get back on topic: iTWire notes that the hackers promising quick success are having their bragging questioned--

"At the time of the iPhone launch there were confident claims that would-be unlockers would succeed within a few days, but almost two weeks have passed without reports of general success. UK-based unlocking company Uniquephones claimed to have achieved 75 percent success rate during testing, but has yet to put its method into production and the veracity of its claim has been challenged."

iTWire - Why Apple will resist attempts to unlock the iPhone

They go on to question why you'd want to risk turning you $600 investment into an iBrick or a noPhone--but that answer is pretty simple: TechnoLust doth corrupt us all!

[icruise]

This has been said before, but I really think that the need to use iTunes will make long-term unlocking difficult. It's a bit similar to the PSP, because when new games come out they require the latest firmware to run (even though there's nothing about the games themselves that actually require the firmware -- it's just a way to get people to upgrade). The PSP hackers have been fairly successful at getting around this, but there's usually some time when the new games can't be played on the old firmware. Recently this has been relatively short, but there was a stretch of many months when you couldn't play any games released after a certain date if you wanted to keep your hacked firmware. That's livable with a game machine, but you certainly wouldn't want to have to go without syncing to iTunes for long stretches of time, or worse, have your phone disabled until the next hack is found.

[g.c.]

Originally Posted by icruise 

This has been said before, but I really think that the need to use iTunes will make long-term unlocking difficult. It's a bit similar to the PSP, because when new games come out they require the latest firmware to run (even though there's nothing about the games themselves that actually require the firmware -- it's just a way to get people to upgrade). The PSP hackers have been fairly successful at getting around this, but there's usually some time when the new games can't be played on the old firmware. Recently this has been relatively short, but there was a stretch of many months when you couldn't play any games released after a certain date if you wanted to keep your hacked firmware. That's livable with a game machine, but you certainly wouldn't want to have to go without syncing to iTunes for long stretches of time, or worse, have your phone disabled until the next hack is found.

So you can just not update your iTunes and everything will be fine until the next hack. It's all done through iTunes, so it doesn't matter. You update when you want!

[Eug]

Originally Posted by g.c. 

So you can just not update your iTunes and everything will be fine until the next hack. It's all done through iTunes, so it doesn't matter. You update when you want!

Unfortunately, sometimes Apple makes new songs sold on iTunes require the latest version, IIRC.

Anyways, we're now at 2 weeks, and no crack in sight.