Tuesday, August 28, 2007 Limpag: OMG, the iPhone has been unlocked By Max Limpag Celltalk
GEEK WORLD ABUZZ. Pardon the teen-like enthusiasm but something geek-world shattering just happened last week: the iPhone had been unlocked.
Why the hullabaloo over this piece of news? The iPhone is probably the most hyped and most anticipated mobile phone in history. From the way people line up just to buy the unit, you’d think it can bring on world peace aside from just making calls. But the iPhone isn’t sold like any other phone.
Apple, the manufacturer, works with telcos in marketing the device. To buy the iPhone, you have sign an agreement that locks you into the service of the telephone company that distributes it. The problem is Apple deals with only some carriers. In the US, you have to be with AT&T.
In the Philippines, Apple will likely work only with either Globe or Smart, not both. This gives Apple leverage in marketing agreements, carriers will be at each other’s throat to get the iPhone deal.
GOD BLESS HACKERS. Since the launch of the product, hackers had been working to unlock the device. Apart from the marketing buzz that accompanied it, the iPhone is also the most studied device upon launch. Less than a day after the product-release, a website posted an article of how they broke open the phone to check its components.
Last week, a group announced that they had successfully hacked the iPhone to work with non-AT&T SIM cards. Tech blog Engadget confirmed the hack. The unlocking, according to the site, took only a couple of minutes and “from our end it was totally painless.”
After putting in the SIM, you still have to activate the device but there are tools to do this. Engadget said that “everything is otherwise the same, except the menu system now has a couple more options. The root menu has Carrier settings where you can select your preferred network if you don’t want to roam.” Engadget also said that the hackers “claim this method is restore and upgrade resistant.” Engadget said they “can confirm that it is restore-resistant” because they tried restoring it “successfully activated it using an inactive AT&T SIM.”
IMPLICATIONS. With the hack, users may be able to finally use the iPhone with their preferred network. This also means, technically, that anyone in the Philippines can use it right now, and not wait for its launch next year. It also means that when the devices is launched in the country next year, users of the network that will be locked out will still be able to get it.
