Bolton firm IphoneUnlocking.org.uk (you can guess what they do) have launched their latest software for unlocking the iPhone (see!). It promises one-click unlocking that takes less than five minutes, which works with all models of the iPhone, from the 4GB original through to the latest 16GB model.
The software works on a PC or Mac, lets you put any SIM card inside, and also allows you to install unauthorised applications on the device. There’s also a feature called iPhone Stumbler, which lets you see any wireless network in your area, and connect to it (presumably that’s unsecured networks).
They’re charging £14.99 for the software, which you can pay for by PayPal and then download.
iPhone Unlocking website
Ever since Apple announced earlier this month that it has sold four million iPhones, people have been trying to work out why there’s such a big gap between that and the sales figures announced by its operator partners. US operator AT&T says it’s activated two million iPhones, while it’s thought that O2, T-Mobile and Orange between them (in respectively the UK, Germany and France) haven’t shifted more than 340,000.
Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi has been doing some digging, and reckons that a million iPhones have been unlocked to work on other operators - representing 27% of total sales. Meanwhile, he reckons that Apple stands to lose over £250 million in revenues if the trend continues - this is based on the revenue operators pay Apple, and its target of 10 million US iPhone sales by the end of 2008.
This is all based on guesswork, of course, but it shows that in the US at least, iPhone-unlocking has gone beyond the province of a few geeks. It’s not great for Apple, but is far worse news for its operator partners. I wonder how many of us Europeans have unlocked iPhones…
(via BBC News)
In a surprisingly brutal move, Apple has issued a frank warning to owners of unlocked iPhone, telling them that their handset is unlikely to survive the imminent firmware update (to version 1.1.1).
Mac site TUAW has already posted a re-lock procedure (still to be verified) for those seeking to reverse the unlocking process before Apple’s mighty boot descends upon their iPhone. Of course, you could always leave the handset unlocked, but that would, in another way, leave it ‘locked’ in time, stuck at firmware 1.0.2.
It’s actually quite prescient of Apple to make this announcement; whether true or not that the unlocking and new firmware will clash, the company has probably saved everyone a lot of upset when the update is released in the near-future.
(Via MacRumors)
Absolutely classic bit of consumerist opportunism here, with a Newport Beach, California, T-Mobile reseller kiosk shouting that, ‘We unlock iPhones!’ Best of all is that the kiosk is apparently located across from the Fashion Island official Apple Store.
iPhone Matters spotted the poster while out shopping, but sadly didn’t venture inside to inquire what method the T-Mobile guy was using to unlock Apple’s handset. Whatever he’s doing, we salute such outrageous behaviour in the face of corporate attempts to control!
(Via iPhone Matters)
We’re guessing Apple’s gurus are working overtime to undo the good work of the iPhone Dev Team. The former seemingly has iPhone firmware update 1.1.1 on the way (above right; not much detail to talk about, other than a new ‘Home Button’ option), while the latter has just released the user-friendly version of its iUnlock network unlocking software, anySIM. We can see this battle running for quite some time…
(Via Engadget and MacRumors)
Recent Comments