QuickPwn
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iPhone OS 3.0 beta 2 gets the jailbreak treatment
The jailbreakers have managed to keep their speed record intact. Just one day after Apple releases an update to the iPhone OS 3.0 beta, QuickPwn updates its wares to support the new firmware. According to the related writeup, it should work with all iPhone / iPod touch models. After going through the jailbreaking process, you'll need to open icy and follow a few more steps to finish the job. As usual, download at your own risk, and for now, crack is for Windows users only.Update: The Dev Team has chimed in with the usual list of caveats and warnings. If nothing else, you've now got tacit verification that this release of QuickPwn isn't some malicious hack.
Dev Team releases free iPod touch 2G jailbreak
Well, that didn't take long -- hot on the heels of the $15 NitroKey Slipstream iPod touch 2G jailbreak, the Dev Team's released their free version. Apparently they'd been hoping to keep the jailbreak-enabling security hole a secret until the next version of the iPhone came out so Apple wouldn't be able to fix the flaw, but NitroKey is apparently based on their code and they didn't want people paying to use it. It's not all packaged up into PwnageTool or QuickPwn just yet, but it should be soon, and there are options for the impatient -- hit the read link for more.
An iPhone on Verizon in 2010? With LTE, it could happen
Now, I understand this may be a very niche subject for our dear readership, but as many of you may remember, I'm a Verizon customer. That's why this morning's news about Verizon testing its Long-Term Evolution 3GPP (LTE) service in various parts of the U.S. has me excited. Yes, while it's amazing that Verizon is getting 60Mbps downloads using LTE in Columbus, Minneapolis, and northern New Jersey, what's exciting to me is the fact that LTE plays nicely with GSM. If you could use a GSM phone on the Verizon network -- I think you can see where I'm going with this -- you might be able to use an iPhone with Verizon service. While it's true that Apple and AT&T have an exclusivity agreement with each other, Verizon and Apple have previously used two completely separate kinds of technology (CDMA versus GSM, respectively) -- preventing any kind of interoperability. With Verizon at least speaking the same language as iPhone handsets, the possibility of keeping my carrier and having my dream handset comes closer. In theory, at least; it isn't as easy as flipping as switch. If it works anything like, say, the procedure for using your iPhone with T-Mobile here in the U.S., it requires unlocking the phone with QuickPwn or yellowsn0w. Apple has recently suggested that it considers jailbreaking iPhones to be a violation of DMCA. Interpreted broadly, that may include unlocking software, too. Add to that some SIM cards that don't work with unlocking software, like some from T-Mobile. There's nothing suggesting that Verizon's new LTE SIM cards will work right out of the box. Even if they are, advanced features like Visual Voicemail won't be available, but that's something I can live without. For me personally, I wouldn't mind either an iPhone or a Palm Pre. Maybe it's just a waiting game to see whose exclusivity agreement expires first, rather than trying to hack something together. Then again, maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up. We've still got another year to wait before Verizon rolls out LTE service to most of the country. [Via Electronista.] Update: Commenters Andrew and Shane made a good point that I failed to grasp when I wrote this: Verizon's LTE implementation will not necessarily mean that GSM phones will work on Verizon's LTE network. LTE works like this: If you have an LTE chipset in your phone, awesome. If you don't, your phone will fall back to the network's prior 3G technology. In Verizon's case, that's still CDMA, which the iPhone doesn't support. Now, if Apple were to build in LTE support into their next round of iPhones (in anticipation of AT&T's adoption of the standard in 2011) there might be a chance this will still work, but that's a lot of ifs. Thanks, guys!
PwnageTool and QuickPwn updated, compatible with 2.2.1
Early this morning the iPhone Dev-Team announced the impending availability of the latest release of PwnageTool and QuickPwn. The feature most touted was compatibility with the recent update of the iPhone's OS to 2.2.1. The announcement over at the Dev-Team's blog also provides some very useful information regarding unlocking and jailbreaking iPhones and iPod touches. It gives heads-up warnings for users in different situations, such as factory-unlocked iPhone owners, YellowSn0w users, and iPod touch owners. It covers what they should or should not do regarding upgrading to 2.2.1 and using PwnageTool or QuickPwn; the Dev-Team also details a fix for entering DFU mode when using OS X 10.5.6. Currently the release is Mac-only, but a Windows-friendly version of QuickPwn is said to be "coming soon." You can grab the release from the official BitTorrent download. Alternatively, there are several unofficial HTTP mirrors available. The team recommends comparing the SHA1 checksums when downloading from an unofficial mirror. Given the recent string of security-related downloading incidents, TUAW cannot recommend highly enough that users download from an official source or follow the Dev-Team's security advice. I tip my hat to the many fine folks that sent this in!
Dev-Team teases v2.2-compatible iPhone 3G unlock for the New Year
Ever since the Dev-Team kinda sorta promised that they would have a neatly packaged iPhone 3G unlock ready for release by the year's end, we've all been waiting on pins and needles, counting down the moments until freedom was in hand yet again. Now, a cryptic message on the crew's blog has been followed up with a not-at-all secretive image (shown above), which shows that whatever magic they've got going on will work with the latest (v2.2) iPhone 3G firmware. According to a related writeup at yellowsn0w, we're clearly told that the unlock tool will be made available by midnight PST at the latest, though we're hoping those guys have their AM / PM mixed up -- otherwise, you might be waiting until noontime tomorrow. At any rate, now you've more than a day off and black eyed peas to look forward to tomorrow, right?Via yellowsn0w and MobileCrunch]
iPhone firmware 2.2 gets QuickPwn and PwnageTool, of course
In case you haven't noticed the trend, when Apple releases a new iPhone / iPod touch firmware, it has a tendency to fall to the jailbreakers at mind-boggling breakneck speed. QuickPwn and PwnageTool have now both been updated to support 2.2, though there's a critical note in here from the iphone-dev team: if you have any interest in unlocking your iPhone 3G in the near future, only use PwnageTool, not the more painless QuickPwn. You've been warned![Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
PwnageTool and QuickPwn for 2.2 released
The dev team has released PwnageTool and QuickPwn for iPhones and first generation iPod touch devices, for those who want to upgrade to firmware 2.2. Important: If you have a 3G iPhone and you want to unlock it in the near future, you cannot use QuickPwn and must use PwnageTool (currently available for Mac users only). As the dev team explained yesterday, the 2.2 update for the 3G iPhone also upgraded the baseband. In order to achieve a jailbreak and keep future soft-unlock options available, you must use PwnageTool to create a custom .ipsw file that preserves the 2.1 baseband but provides the software functionality of a 2.2 update. Read the entire dev team posting for complete instructions. Users with first generation iPod touches, 2G (first gen) iPhones, factory unlocked iPhone 3Gs or users who have no desire to soft-unlock their iPhone 3G can use the QuickPwn tool. Neither PwnageTool nor QuickPwn work with the second generation iPod touch. The dev team has already said that its current focus is the 3G unlock and then they will look into working on the new iPod touch. If you just want to use Installer.app on your 2G or 3G iPhone and don't want to go through the jailbreak process, check out Pusher from RiP Dev. It works with 2.2 and doesn't open the system partition when writing information, making it a potentially safer jailbreak alternative. Thanks to everyone who sent this in! And thanks Josh for the RiP Dev tip!
DevTeam releases PwnageTool and QuickPwn 2.1, wants to rumble
With firmware 2.1 now out for the iPhone and iPod touch we bring you the inevitable PwnageTool and QuickPwn response. Apparently, the DevTeam took offense to a previous posting where we questioned the relevancy of continued jailbreaks in the age of the AppStore and official, worldwide iPhone distribution. So, we'll put it to you dear reader: as much as we respect these guys for their gen-1 iPhone unlocking and pre-AppStore era work, is PwnageTool and the ability to jailbreak your phone still as important as it was?Update: By a three-to-one margin it's clear that you still love your Pwnage! As such, we'll continue to cover the DevTeam's exploits just as obsessively as before.%Poll-19697%
iPod 2.1: Spankin' fresh and Jailbroken, plus countermeasures news
We have pwnage. Before you get too excited, we're talking just iPod touch -- the update that's been around since Tuesday afternoon -- not for iPhone 2.1, released this morning. That having been said, point your browser over to quickpwn.com to grab the latest version of the iPod QuickPwn. Now there is good news, and there is bad news, about jailbreak and iTunes 8. The bad news is that Apple has taken countermeasures against custom ipsw firmware bundles. The good news is that the iPhone devteam folks are working on patches for each of the device types in addition to the touch. Hop over to the devteam blog to keep abreast of the latest news.
QuickPwn jailbreaks iPhone without restore, pain
Billed as a "compliment" to the existing PwnageTool, iphone-dev has released a working beta of what it calls QuickPwn, a utility that uses a crafty new jailbreaking method to forgo the installation of a fresh IPSW. In layman's terms, that means you can have a fully jailbroken phone running 2.0.1 (and soon 2.0.2, we'd imagine) without the mild discomfort of having to restore your precious sidearm from scratch. The tool's still being developed and is currently only available on Windows, though the team is quick to point out that because QuickPwn operates only on the iPhone's app processor, any screw-ups should be totally undoable. Be that as it may, you know the drill: keep your gloves up, protect yourselves at all times, and let's have a clean fight.[Via Boy Genius Report]
