Blackra1n
(Credit: GeoHot)iPhone OS hacker, GeoHot, released an updated version of Blackra1n earlier this week, a jailbreak utility for iPhone OS 3.1.2 and iPhone baseband 05.11.07 that now includes a carrier unlock that lets you use the iPhone on any GSM carrier.
We covered the initial release of Blackra1n that was Windows only, but now a Mac version of Blackra1n is available. Mac users can use Blackra1n to jailbreak or unlock all iPhone and iPod Touch models regardless of its hardware generation.
Using the application is simple. You just connect the iPhone or iPod Touch using the standard USB sync cable to a computer and follow iClarified's tutorials on how to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 3G, 3GS using BlackSn0w for Windows or Mac.
Blackra1n new recovery mode image is a cropped version of this picture.
(Credit: GeoHot)Note: By jailbreaking or unlocking an iPhone or iPod Touch, you may be violating your terms of service agreement and voiding your warranty. CNET does not recommend jailbreaking or unlocking; proceed at your own risk.
Blacksn0w
(Credit: GeoHot)iPhone OS hacker GeoHot released Blackra1n RC3 Tuesday, an updated jailbreak and unlock utility for the Apple iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch.
This version provides true carrier unlocking for iPhone OS 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11.07 by taking advantage of at+xemm crash exploit discovered by ih8sn0w.
The Blackra1n jailbreak process installs a new app--called Sn0w--onto an iPhone. It unlocks your iPhone, making it usable on any GSM carrier network. More information about the jailbreak can be found on GeoHot's blog.
Please note that by jailbreaking an iPhone, you may be violating your terms of service and voiding your warranty. CNET does not recommend jailbreaking; proceed at your own risk.
iPhone OS hacker GeoHot has announced the successful creation of an iPhone unlock for the iPhone OS 3.1.2 baseband. The new app called, Blacksn0w, will allow iPhone users to use their phone on non-Apple sanctioned carriers.
You'll have to wait a bit though, since the application will not be released by GeoHot until November 4th, 2009.
GeoHot, "To clarify, I have arbitrary code running on the baseband. "
(Credit: GeoHot)GeoHot also posted this YouTube video demonstrating the exploit:
The iPhone Dev-Team has released PwnageTool 3.1.4, an update to its Mac hacking utility for iPhones and iPods. The group also confirms rumors that Apple may be finding ways to block future jailbreaks.
This version of the PwnageTool was created to specifically unlock iPhone OS 3.1.2, but all generations of the iPhone are supported by this release as well as the first and second generations of the iPod Touch. (Second-generation devices must have already been jailbroken for this application to work.) Unfortunately, third-generation iPod Touch users are completely left out--no jailbreak for you with this utility.
According to the Dev-Team, iPhone 3GS users can jailbreak and unlock iPhone OS 3.1.2 using PwanageTool, but there is a catch: it will only keep the unlock for the cellular baseband intact if you have been jailbreaking and unlocking your iPhone 3GS using custom IPSW files beginning with iPhone OS 3.0 or earlier. (If that describes your situation, all you have to do is install ultrasn0w via Cydia after you perform a restore using one of the no-baseband-alterations custom IPSW's you created previously.)
In closely related news, iClarified also reports that Apple began shipping last week a new Bootrom, iBoot-359.3.2, which is not vulnerable to the 24kpwn exploit. In other words, newly purchased iPhone 3GS units may be protected against jailbreaks.
iBoot-359.3.2
(Credit: Mathieulh via iClarified)Finally, the Dev-Team recommends that 3GS users get and save their ECID hashes for iPhone OS 3.1.2 now, since this could be an important component of future jailbreaking efforts. If you've installed Blackra1n using our tutorial and are encountering problems with mobilesubstrate, winterboard, diskaid, or ifunbox, the Dev-Team has some custom IPSWs that can help. They also warn Blackra1n iPhone 3G and 3GS users that if the stock 3.1.2 firmware is used, there is no short-term unlocking solution. The Dev-Team is still working on hacks for the latest iPhone basebands.
Apple is set to release their newest iPhone firmware (version 3.0) at any moment and the geniuses at the Dev-Team have an iPhone 3G unlock ready to go.
The iPhone Dev Team blog has a video of the ultrasn0w demo running on the iPhone 3.0 software. The yellowsn0w carrier unlock will be demoed as well when Apple officially releases the 3.0 OS. The PwnageTool and QuickPwn tools continue to jailbreak all of the Dev Team's tested devices running the 3.0 OS on iTunes 8.2.
The Dev-Team does not know if the new iPhone 3G S hardware will be able to be broken, but hopes are high. For more on the iPhone Dev Team, check out their blog.
A few days ago, the unofficial iPhone Dev Team released an unlock for the iPhone 3G dubbed "yellowsn0w." The team subsequently released a 0.9.5 beta of the unlock app, which fixes several bugs in the initial iteration. However, many users are still experiencing issues, as noted in this initial report.
Solutions for problems related to or caused by the update are beginning to materialize. A poster named "IphoneEntusiast" has published a step-by-step process for using yellowsn0w, from jailbreak through unlock. His process involves verifying that the Carrier field displays (null)(null) after QuickPwn is used, resetting network settings after installation of yellowsn0w and more. See the thread here.
Meanwhile, the Dev Team notes "there is a known issue with SIM cards that have STK (SIM Toolkit) application menus. These menus are usually items such as 'top up' 'get credit' 'lotto numbers' etc. These menu items confuse the application sometimes."
Feedback? http://www.iphoneatlas.com/contact.
Is it really necessary to unlock me?
(Credit: James Martin/CNET Networks)Gadget blogs were going crazy Thursday over a new application called Yellowsn0w that helps iPhone 3G owners unlock their device. The app is still in beta and, according to both Crunchgear and Gizmodo, neither one was able to get it to work properly.
I'm not quite sure why anyone cares. Sure, it's nice to say you unlocked a device that's not meant to be unlocked, but it just made so much more sense to me last year when the iPhone didn't have native apps. Today, browsing is faster thanks to 3G, more capable thanks to additional business features, and more useful thanks to the App Store. What possible reason would people have to unlock it now?
AT&T, right? I don't buy the logic. I'm not going to say AT&T is a great carrier--it isn't--but given the option of switching to T-Mobile, a carrier that offers even less service across the country or staying put, I don't see the logic in unlocking the iPhone and changing carriers. After all, if you were really unhappy with AT&T in the first place, why buy the iPhone?
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
The iPhone dev team has released a video demonstration of the iPhone 3G unlock, which is due to be released on December 31, 2008.
The video is embedded below, but can also be seen on the iPhone dev team blog. It shows an AT&T SIM-locked iPhone 3G being unlocked, then successfully accepting a T-Mobile SIM card and receiving a call.
The unlock process looks pretty simple, requiring only a script to be run from a connected computer (a system running Mac OS X in the video). "MuscleNerd," who posted the video, claims that a daemon will obviate the need to enter any terminal commands in the final release of the unlock tool.
This unlock method will be available only to iPhone 3Gs that have 2.11.07 baseband or earlier--this is the baseband version that shipped with iPhone OS 2.1. You can tell what version baseband you have by going to Settings->General->About->Modem Firmware.
Feedback? iphoneatlas@cnet.com.
The iPhone has enjoyed a strong run, leapfrogging RIM to claim second place in the smartphone market with 17.3 market share, as reported in Ars Technica. But will Apple be able to hold or grow its iPhone market position in 2009?
I polled a group of 17-year old neighbors yesterday, asking them what gadgets they crave. Most would love an iPhone but, barring that (due to cost or carrier reasons), one phone that got a lot of praise is the Samsung Glyde. While CNET didn't give it much love, these teens loved the slide-out keyboard. (Giving how often some of them bathe, it's probably ideal to keep touchscreens away from them.)
Samsung and others will likely give the iPhone a run for its money, but I would guess that the primary competition to Apple in 2009 will actually be spending inertia. I've wanted the 3G iPhone for months, but I simply can't justify the purchase: my old iPhone works just fine, and this economy isn't the time to be spending on nice-to-haves.
While the iPhone is better positioned than RIM to win over both businesses and consumers, in a recession the best option may be to buy nothing at all. Even Apple can't compete with that.
The iPhone unlockers appear to have won another round, promising a simple iPhone 3G unlock in weeks.
(Credit: CNET)The iPhone Dev Team is promising a software unlock for the iPhone 3G by the end of 2008.
Back in October the iPhone Dev Team signaled they were getting close to their goal, and Tuesday they announced that a software download would be available on New Year's Eve. The iPhone 3G has presented problems for those looking for a simple way to use their phone on the mobile network of their choice after Apple fixed a loophole that left the original iPhone wide open to unlockers.
There are ways to manipulate the SIM card that comes with the iPhone 3G to use it on the network of your choice, but that's not something the average person should try at home. If you want to unlock your iPhone, you'll need to have jailbroken it first, and you'll have to have heeded the iPhone Dev Team's advice to avoid the iPhone 2.2 software update without applying a special patch first.
That's because Apple might be fighting back against the unlockers using the other platform it controls: the Mac. Several reports indicate that Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.6 update prevents popular jailbreaking tools like PwnageTool and QuickPwn from recognizing iPhones connected to Macs running the latest software.
The iPhone Dev Team thinks it's just a bug, but Ars Technica seems to think Apple knew exactly what it was doing. Unlocking and jailbreaking have lost a bit of their luster with the release of the iPhone around the world and the huge response to the App Store, but there will always be some group of users who doesn't want Apple or their local carrier to dictate how they use their phones.
