Hackers Set Their Sights on iPhone
As you probably heard, Apple released a little gadget last week called the iPhone. Apparently, a lot of people bought them and most seem to like them. Some people are never satisfied, though, wanting more, more, more. Specifically, some want to use their phone with providers other than AT&T, which has a five year exclusivity deal in the U.S. Enter the underground hacker community.
DVD Jon, the infamous hacker who cracked the DVD encryption code at age 15, is the first to deliver something useful. He's released a program that lets owners activate their iPhones without going through the typical AT&T activation process. This means you could potentially use the gadget to play tunes, videos, and surf the web without signing up for a two year contract with Ma' Bell. However, since you still can't connect it up to another mobile provider to make calls, the hack kind of limits the point of the gadget. The ability to connect the iPhone to anything other than AT&T is currently the holy grail of iPhone hacks -- the tweak that will allow Apple fanatics in Europe and other iPhone-less countries to finally use one.
Another wanted hack is the ability to actually install software and applications directly onto the iPhone to expand its functionality. Currently, Apple only lets coders develop applications that run through Safari, the phone's built-in Web browser, meaning the functionality of third-party applications is very limited. How long will it take before those hacks appear? Not long, if information from researchers at Errata Security is any indication. They claim to have already found a security flaw in the phone's browser.
So, be expecting an update from Apple real soon.
From BBC News
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Paul Levinson @ Jul 5th 2007 1:03PM
Inevitable, given that the iPhone is such a high-profile new species of media - an irresistible challenge to hackers ... http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2007/07/iphone-not-better-ipod-but-new-species.html
Big Brother @ Jul 9th 2007 4:33PM
Check out some of these "interesting" iPhone hacks. Looking forward to seeing some iPhone mods as well. You can also download the iPhones
ring tones here:
http://iphone.corank.com
Jon @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:35PM
1. I think the Iphone is over-rated and there are plenty of other phones out and coming out that are much better and potentially going to cost a lot less because Mac has set up such a high market for it with its excessive advertising of this product.
2. Any technology can be modded (altered) just depends on how bad a person wants it. Soon enough it will be hacked and mods will be out if they aren't already out.