iPhone unlockers lining up
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(InfoWorld) - Two claims of unlocking Apple's iPhone have surfaced in recent days, and a third is set to be announced Saturday. One blogger, George Hotz, on Friday posted a step-by-step tutorial for unlocking the iPhone that involves both hardware and software modifications. His blog also includes photos of an iPhone he said is unlocked and shows T-Mobile as the service provider. At another site, iPhoneSimFree.com, a company claims it can unlock iPhones through software only. A screen image with an item about the company on Engadget.com also shows an iPhone displaying the T-Mobile name. In addition, John McLaughlin, founder of Uniquephones, said his Belfast, U.K., company will be posting software on Saturday that iPhone users can download to unlock their handsets to work with any SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card on any network they choose. The software should hit the Web at www.iphoneunlocking.com between noon and 2 p.m. Eastern Time, he said. The iPhone is based on GSM, the most widely used cellular technology, but today, the hot phone is sold only in the U.S. and locked into AT&T's network. Unlocking would allow iPhone owners to break the required two-year contract with AT&T and choose their own GSM carriers. More importantly, it would allow people outside the U.S. to own and use the highly prized device. With an unlocked GSM phone, it's possible to change carriers by putting in a different SIM card. Uniquephones' McLaughlin said 450,000 users already had signed up at iphoneunlocking.com, which the company set up soon after the iPhone was released for people interested in having their iPhones unlocked. The Web site was not active at the time this story was written, but it should be reactivated Saturday with options for users to access the unlocking software, he said. McLaughlin plans to charge between $25 and $50 for the software, but users who had already signed up will have access to the code at either a 25 percent or 50 percent discount. Uniquephones will let people anywhere in the world download the software. The company already unlocks phones from many manufacturers, including Nokia and Motorola. There were about eight locks that Uniquephones engineers had to break in the iPhone software to come up with the code that will unlock the phones, and engineers in several countries had been working around the clock since the phone's release to do so. McLaughlin declined to go into great detail but said one of the most difficult locks to break was contained in the handset's electrically erasable programmable read-only memory. There also was a lock in the handset's permanent phone memory as well as other places in the iPhone's software. In the end, it was an engineer in Russia who came up with the software for unlocking the phone, McLaughlin said. McLaughlin claims he is using his iPhone on the Vodafone network in the U.K. He added that both Vodafone's network and the T-Mobile U.K. network allow iPhone users to download data faster on their iPhones than AT&T Wireless's network does. Although almost 100 percent of the iPhone's features work even when the handset is unlocked and using another carrier's SIM card, the Visual Voicemail feature will only work on AT&T's network because of the way the feature is designed, McLaughlin said. Visual Voicemail lets users easily view the messages that have been left for them. The iPhone has been a hot target for unlocking since its June 29 launch, both because of its advanced design and features and because AT&T has an unusual long-term exclusive relationship with Apple. It's common for U.S. mobile operators to lock the phones they sell, but in some cases, they will later unlock the phones free or for a small fee. On its site, iPhoneSimFree.com says it will start selling individual per-unit licenses for its unlocking software starting next week. The company will also accept inquiries for bulk purchases of 500 or more licenses. Hotz, who wrote that he is soon heading off to college, isn't offering to sell his technique but is auctioning on eBay what he claims is the world's second unlocked iPhone.
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Company is readying security software or cell phones and handheld devices.
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A video showing the founder of a Belfast, Northern Ireland company unlocking the iPhone hit the Web early Wednesday U.K. time as proof that software exists that can unlock Apple Inc.'s device for use with carriers other than AT&amp;T Inc.
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InfoWorld - Hackers are&#160;working to unlock Apple&#39;s iPhone, but the job appears to be more difficult than initially expected.
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A group of hackers said they will soon sell software allowing Apple&#39;s iPhone to be used with any cellphone carrier, skirting AT&amp;T&#39;s exclusive deal in the United States.
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They started arriving at 8:15 last night, and by mid-morning today, about 30 iPhone hunters had lined up outside the Apple store in Clarendon.
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While there are several tools already out there that do the same thing, this is the first ones to actually allow iPhone users to perform the same function.
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SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK  - Hundreds of gadget fans, or their paid stand-ins, lined up on Friday to be the first buyers of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, a music and video playing phone expected to reshape the mobile industry.
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InfoWorld - Two claims of unlocking Apple&#39;s iPhone have surfaced in recent days, and a third is set to be announced Saturday.
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Apple Inc. will do what it can to fend off hackers trying to unlock the company's popular iPhone, but he acknowledged that doing so won't be easy.
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A 17-year-old New Jersey resident has published instructions on how to unlock Appleâs iPhone so it will work on some competing cellular networks.
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SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. said that almost one out of every six iPhones sold may have been unlocked to run on unauthorized wireless networks, surprising analysts who had estimated the problem wasn't as widespread.
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Trendy geeks and stylish tech-heads anxiously await the unveiling this week of Apple&#39;s breakthrough iPhone, putting phone, web browser and music player in the palm of the hand.
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Trying to get your iPhone unlocked and working on a non-AT&T network? If you're not a supergeek, you've probably found the unlocking processes are not ready for the average Joe. We've put a stub of a "jailbreak" procedure on the How To Wiki, so help us update it. Luckily, a one-click package installer is on the way.
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Hackers have broken the chains that bind iPhone users to AT&amp;T. Will lawyers be the next ones on the line?
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Two software-based hacks, as well as one that involves hardware modifications, are set to allow iPhone owners to swap in SIM cards from providers other than AT&T.
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SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK  - Hundreds of gadget fans,  or their paid stand-ins, lined up on Friday to be the first  buyers of Apple Inc.'s  iPhone, a music and video  playing phone that seeks to reshape the mobile industry.