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UniquePhones releases iPhone unlock video in attempt to prove hack
There's never any substitute for independent verification, but we can understand why the UniquePhones crew wanted to whip up a video depicting the SIM unlock of an iPhone using their still-unreleased solution. With almost a half million signed up to be notified of the hack's release, to say they're getting harshed on by the tech community for the MIA unlock software is kind of an understatement. Despite the five points we're giving their crew for the effort, this is the part where the conspiracy theorists in the house are sure to chime in about the impossibility of an honest to goodness iPhone SIM unlock video produced by a company that specializes in unlocking phones. Well, fret not, we're still waiting eagerly to put the spurs to the hack ourselves, and we'll let you know in short order as soon as (or if ever) we snag it. Oh, video after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
$100,000 offered to freely release iPhone unlocking software
Hey, that's what they claim: $100,000 in cold hard cash for the right to freely distribute the iPhone unlocking software onto the Nets. Full credit given to the creator(s) of course with a proposed release date of Wed night at 12:00am (in some unspecified time zone). No details as to who is financially backing the offer or how payments will be made, only a single email address posted for discussing the details. Hear that UniquePhones and IPhoneSIMfree, here's your chance to make a buck and avoid a legal tussle with AT&T / Apple. Of course, anyone can launch a Blogspot site announcing pretty much anything they'd like. If nothing else, the move illustrates perfectly the demand for the software unlock to be released for general consumption. Let's hope it means more.[Thanks, Gussy]
UniquePhones still delayed, promises "you'll get what you're looking for"
The latest post over at the UniquePhones blog says it pretty succinctly, but the group (which is apparently still in a legal quagmire with regard to the sale of its software) is claiming they've been presented with "incredible changes" today, which will result in a "clear response" and everyone "[getting] what [they] are looking for" in the next few days. What that specifically means we don't really know, but the question on everyone's lips remains: is UniquePhones's claim to have SIM unlock software a hoax or stunt? We still don't have any idea about that, either -- no one's seen or verified the technique. Still, we've already seen that a software SIM unlock is possible, so it's not like this is really hard to believe, nor is it something a company whose entire business is cellphone unlocking would want to risk its cred over. Either way, somebody had better get cracking releasing this stuff (pun so intended), else we'll be seeing an explosion of newbs attempting The Hotz Method and wreckifying their devices.[Thanks, PainCorp]
UniquePhones indefinitely delays release of iPhone SIM unlock software
So, as you may have seen, earlier this morning at 3AM local time UniquePhones (the team behind iPhoneUnlocking.com, who've claimed to have the second proper iPhone SIM unlock software hack) got a threatening call from AT&T's legal team urging them to not release their software -- or else. Now, we can understand why any smallish business wouldn't exactly want lawyers repping AT&T (and Apple) breathing down their necks for a potentially market-shifting discovery -- which is why the company is now officially holding the release of their SIM unlock solution indefinitely while they assess their legal position. Fair enough, but we still haven't even had a chance to verify their solution does unlock iPhones.However, the interesting (and possibly telling) bit comes up at the end of their release, where apparently UniquePhones is "evaluating what to eventually do with the software should they be legally denied the right to sell it." Here's to hoping that, should UniquePhones not find themselves able to actually sell their software, at very least the unlock method they've discovered gets opened up to the public. After all, there's no reason why everyone shouldn't be able benefit from this knowledge just because one company isn't able to sell it, right?
UniquePhones's iPhone unlock release 'slowed' by AT&T lawyers
Hope you weren't waiting in tense anticipation to get your hands on UniquePhones's iPhone unlock software, because things certainly aren't going as planned. Reportedly, the gurus behind the software unlock were contacted by "a Silicon Valley law firm" who is "slowing down the release of the software." Of course, they still claim to have the app "ready to go," but until this legal hubbub gets cleared up, it seems like their method of freeing your iPhone will remain a well kept secret. We'll keep you posted.
Second iPhone software unlock promised tomorrow
The iPhone is getting used and abused today with a second software-only unlocking solution making itself known. Uniquephones has now surprised with word that it will be offering a downloadable software unlock service between 12 and 2 PM EST tomorrow at iphoneunlocking.com. Pricing will be somewhere between $25 and $50 with a 25 to 50 percent discount for people who have already signed up for the service -- apparently as many as 450,000 already have.Read - iPhone Unlockers Lining UpRead - iPhoneunlocking.com (not active until tomorrow)
Is an iPhone unlocking app on the way?
According to Computerworld in Singapore, a UK-based company claims to be closing in on an unlocking application for the iPhone, allowing the device to be used on other GSM mobile phone networks such as T-Mobile in the US and many others around the world (alternatively, you can go the contract-free, Wi-Fi iPod route that Erica found). The UK company is Uniquephones and their founder, John McLaughlin, says they have "engineers working around the clock in several countries" to break the system Apple has in place for locking down the iPhone to AT&T. As far as McLaughlin's team knows, there is at least a two step process to activating an iPhone. Engineers have already been able to circumvent the SIM activation process so another carrier's card can be used, but their attempts to meddle with the iPhone's firmware so it can work on another carrier have failed so far. Surprisingly, DVD John, the Norweigan hacker responsible for cracking the CSS encryption scheme on DVDs, claims to have ventured beyond this barrier, only to return with the bad news that the device can't be used as a phone when activating with anything but an AT&T account.The Computerworld article cites another side of this coin, however: even if McLaughlin's team is successful, their site and anyone else's could easily be susceptible to legal action from Apple, forcing a take-down of the code and forever binding the iPhone to the carriers Apple choses to partner with. Only time will tell, but I honestly wouldn't blame Apple or AT&T for stopping iPhone unlocking apps in their tracks. While I'm just as unhappy about carrier lock-in as the next guy who would prefer to roam the wireless seas in any direction he choses, Apple and AT&T have still put a tremendous amount of collaborative effort into developing the iPhone (let's not forget the alterations AT&T had to make to their network and software for features like Visual Voicemail), and outside of all the new contract signups, we really aren't sure how else AT&T is getting compensated from this deal. The iPhone is still Apple's product, and they chose to bind it to AT&T's network (for now), and as much as I hate to say it, these companies get to decide how their products are used.Nevertheless, the race to unlock the iPhone should be an interesting one. Should McLaughlin's team succeed and are able to package an unlocking app for sale, he plans to charge $50 for each slice of the iPhone unlocking pie.[via MacDailyNews]
UniquePhones closing in on successfully unlocking iPhone
Alright, so it's not entirely impossible to unlock the iPhone, but we'd wager that the majority of folks looking to do so would enjoy keeping the whole "phone" functionality in tact. Enter UniquePhones, a Belfast-based firm that is reportedly on the verge of developing an application that will "allow customers to unlock their Apple iPhones so they can use SIM cards from carriers other than AT&T to activate the mobiles." The firm's founder has stated that a team of engineers are frantically working to "break the encryption process that protects the token sent through the iTunes activation process to an iPhone's firmware." Users can expect to pay around $49.99 for the software necessary to unlock the handset (if it indeed surfaces), but a number of analysts have unsurprisingly suggested that the loop would again be closed by Apple the very next time dubious users synced with iTunes.
