New Jersey teen cracks iPhone network lock

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

NEW YORK - 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 phone, which combines an innovative touch-screen interface with the media-playing abilities of the iPod, is sold only in the U.S.

Calls to AT&T and Apple for comment were not immediately returned.

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.”

He said he wished he could make the instructions simpler, so users could modify the phones themselves.

“But that’s the simplest I could make them,” Hotz said.

The modification leaves the iPhone’s many functions, including a built-in camera and the ability to access Wi-Fi networks, intact.

The only thing that won’t work is the “visual voicemail” feature, which shows voice messages as if they were incoming e-mail.

Hotz collaborated online with four other people, two of them in Russia, to develop the unlocking process.

“Then there are two guys who I think are somewhere U.S.-side,” Hotz said. He knows them only by their online handles.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20424880/wid/11915829?GT1=10252

His blog with instructions.

[Sand 5]

yeah i saw this on the newspaper.

[MissStacey 1]

Cool. I need that kid.

I have an awesome cell phone I got in Canada that apparently cannot be programmed to work on a US Network.

[~Nini~ 2]

Cool. I need that kid.

I have an awesome cell phone I got in Canada that apparently cannot be programmed to work on a US Network.

Which phone, Stacey?

[MissStacey 1]

Cool. I need that kid.

I have an awesome cell phone I got in Canada that apparently cannot be programmed to work on a US Network.

Which phone, Stacey?

It is a Telus LG phone. Telus supposedly makes the phones so they can't be programmed in another Country.

I love it because it has all the alphabet buttons on it too.

[Fandango 1,439]

“That’s exactly, like, what I don’t want,” Hotz said. “I don’t want people making money off this.”

Taken from his blog:

I PLAN ON SELLING THE PHONE TO THE HIGHEST LEGIT BIDDER AT 9:00 PM EST TOMORROW

Attaboy, kid!

[~Nini~ 2]

It is a Telus LG phone. Telus supposedly makes the phones so they can't be programmed in another Country.

I love it because it has all the alphabet buttons on it too.

I have a friend at Telus that programs new phones to get locked into the network... let me tell you, what can lock can also be unlocked.

Edited August 25, 2007 by Nini & Bee

[MissStacey 1]

It is a Telus LG phone. Telus supposedly makes the phones so they can't be programmed in another Country.

I love it because it has all the alphabet buttons on it too.

I have a friend at Telus that programs new phones to get locked into the network... let me tell you, what can lock can also be unlocked.

I knew it!!!

That made no sense to me when I was told that it couldn't be unlocked.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

What model Stacey?

[MissStacey 1]

What model Stacey?

This one:

http://www.telusmobility.com/ab/pcs/acc_lg_6190.shtml

[GaryC 7]

What model Stacey?

This one:

http://www.telusmobility.com/ab/pcs/acc_lg_6190.shtml

You might try these guys.

http://www.unlockcellphone.com/

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

What model Stacey?

This one:

http://www.telusmobility.com/ab/pcs/acc_lg_6190.shtml

You might try these guys.

http://www.unlockcellphone.com/

Yeah, shoot those guys an e-mail

[MissStacey 1]

What model Stacey?

This one:

http://www.telusmobility.com/ab/pcs/acc_lg_6190.shtml

You might try these guys.

http://www.unlockcellphone.com/

Yeah, shoot those guys an e-mail

Awesome!! Thanks Gary and Lucky.