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Aug. 27, 2007

It is reported that Wireless hackers have successfully unlocked Apple's iPhone.

George Hotz, a seventeen-year-old teenager from Glen Rock, New Jersey has posted on his blog the rather complex procedure for unlocking the Apple's iPhone.

Hotz actually brought an unlocked iPhone to the Associated Press' headquarters, placed a reporter's T-Mobile SIM card in the iPhone and the reporter was able to make calls over T-Mobile's network using the iPhone, according to reports by the Associated Press.

Ironically, AT&T has an exclusive deal with Apple to carry the iPhone and though hackers initially boasted they would have the handset unlocked by the end of the release weekend, it has taken them nearly two months.

Aside AT&T, T-Mobile is the only other major U.S. carrier to use GSM technology.

GSM is the standard mobile phone technology used in Europe and Asia. However, the U.S. market is divided between GSM and CDMA.

Hotz's complicated instructions for unlocking the iPhone involve both soldering some hardware together, along with some software re-engineering.

Hotz has said he made the instructions as simple as possible, but many analysts suspect unlocking the iPhone will remain an operation best performed by knowledgeable people with a good backgound in GSM technology.

Engadget reported that an anonymous group of hackers also successsfully unlocked the iPhone late last week, using a different method that didn't require soldering any parts in the phone's hardware.

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Source: Wireless Week