NJ Teen Unlocks iPhone From AT&T

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[Get-Rich-Quick]
A 17-year-old from New Jersey has managed to unlock the iPhone and allow it to be used on different cellular providers. Remember that whole spiel about the Telco Act in the 1990s offering more competition and cheaper prices for consumers? No, it never happened, but the closest we come is when enterprising young kids thwart corporate mafia who lock down the latest technology.

Unlike other sites, we have all the details, including a DIY on unlocking the phone and a link to the eBay auction where the unlocked phone is up for sale... check it out before "the man" starts making this stuff go poof.

A teenager in New Jersey has broken the lock that ties Apple's iPhone to AT&T's wireless network, freeing the most hyped cell phone ever for use on the networks of other carriers, including overseas ones.

George Hotz, 17, confirmed Friday that he had unlocked an iPhone and was using it on T-Mobile's network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone's cellular technology.

While the possibility of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile may not be a major development for U.S. consumers, it opens up the iPhone for use on the networks of overseas carriers.

"That's the big thing," said Hotz, in a phone interview from his home in Glen Rock.





The hack, which Hotz posted Thursday to his blog, is complicated and requires skill with both soldering and software. It takes about two hours to perform. Since the details are public, it seems likely that a small industry may spring up to buy U.S. iPhones, unlock them and send them overseas.

"That's exactly, like, what I don't want," Hotz said. "I don't want people making money off this."

Apparently, Mr. Hotz had second thoughts about the whole making money thing...

Complete instructions on unlocking an iPhone

eBay auction of phone

 

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