Filed under: Cellphones

The kind folks at Conceited Software / TouchFree have just dropped their 1.1.2 jailbreak GUI on the freedom-lovin’ iPhone world. According to Erica at TUAW, the OS X software siphons data from your downgraded (or pre-existing) 1.1.1 iPod touch or iPhone, upgrades it with the Jailbreak, installs Installer.app and SSH.app, and then ups the whole shebang to your device. As mentioned, you’ll need to have 1.1.1 on your system (if you’ve upgraded or purchased a device with 1.1.2 installed), and this won’t fly on units that have been “hactivated” (i.e., it only works with iTunes-activated devices). Hit the read link and learn all about sticking it to Apple… proper-like.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

We could hardly believe it ourselves, but the open source community has parlayed that game-changing v1.1.1 TIFF exploit / file system hack into a full-on ready to rumble instant installer for AppTapp on the iPhone and iPod touch. Check out TUAW for the steps and further details, but we tried it on our v1.1.1 touch and it worked like a damn charm. In fact, we think this is finally what’s going to get us to upgrade that virgin 1.0.2 iPhone we’ve been using. Fingers crossed.

Update: We upgraded that iPhone and it worked well, just like the touch (albeit a bit slower, since it’s pretty clear all the upgraders are slamming the AppTapp download servers). Our hats go off to the dozens of hackers that developed this one, this is impressive stuff.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

For those following this stuff religiously: the iPhone “Elite” Team has released a method to downgrade the baseband on v1.1.1 iPhones. Ok, that basically means if you accidentally disabled the phone end of your iPhone with anySIM or iUnlock during the upgrade (or just decided v1.0.2 is where it’s at), now you can revert to the last working version and restore order to your iPhone’s wayward cell radio. Right, for free without paying iPhoneSimFree a cent for their unbricking solution. Alright, maybe you don’t care about any of this stuff — honestly, we don’t blame you. Anyway, it’s out there, so for those in the crowd who’ve been waiting for this — and judging by our tips, that’s a lot of you — enjoy.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We’re not looking at general availability yet, but those happy hacking cats unravelling the iPod touch have decrypted the ramdisk and are now busy installing applications. Already, Mail, Maps, and other 3rd party apps are up and running on their jailbreaked touches. The race is on between the cat and the mouse to see who will release their wares first. Maps screenshot after the break.

Continue reading iPod touch now running Mail, Google Maps, and more

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Hacked your iPhone did ya? Now, after the 1.1.1 update, you’re looking at a non-functioning paper weight? Well, we’ve got good news for you just as long as you’re willing to pay. Not only does the 1.1.1 iPhoneSimFree unlock released earlier unlock 1.1.1 iPhones, it will also unbricks any iPhone including those unlocked by the Dev Team’s anySim or iUnlock software. However, that requires registering your IMEI with IPSF resellers which requires cash in hand. About $100 beans but a lot cheaper than a new handset, eh?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Hot on the heels of the TIFF exploit released by a splitter group of iPhone/touch hackers, comes the announcement of a 1.1.1 jailbreak from the original front dubbed the iPhone Dev Team. The hack provides jailbreak, activation, and third party apps but only applies to the iPhone and is not meant for iPhones with modified basebands. Just remember, the risk is all yours if decide to rework the holy wares of the Cupertino Messiah. Thing is, if future Apple firmware updates don’t stop you, then the increasingly complex and confusing hacking scene most certainly will.

[Via iPhone Atlas]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Here it is folks, the TIFF image we tested that exploits firmware v1.1.1, giving you full root level file access to your iPhone (without upgrading from v1.0.2) and iPod touch. Before you click the link, note the caveats:

• This may open up file system access, but it’s not a primetime hack, meaning it’s not so graceful as to simplify the installation of AppTapp or anything. Once you get file system access you’re kind of on your own to get apps working.
• Don’t hold us responsible if it damages or bricks your device.
• You might be able use this on an unactivated v1.1.1 iPhone from Safari, but it’s a hella tricky technique. Good luck with this one! [Via TUAW, thanks Camron!]
• Please don’t hold us responsible if it damages or bricks your device.
• Apple will more than likely fix this vulnerability with v1.1.2, or whatever its next firmware version will be. When that happens we’ll all be back to the same spot we were the day v1.1.1 was released. So know this is a temporary technique, unless you’re committed to using v1.1.1 from here on out.
• We are so not responsible if it damages or bricks your device.
• None of this will help the sad reality that iUnlock and anySIM still disable the cell radio in v1.1.1, so use those apps at your own risk once you break on through to the other side.

Good luck!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

Well lookey see here, sounds like v1.1.1 isn’t all doom and gloom after all. The iPhone dev community’s apparently not only moved past accessing the nigh-unbreakable file system protections Apple implemented in the latest iPhone and iPod touch firmwares, they’ve also managed to hack the SpringBoard app into shape enough to properly launch 3rd party apps (which were, as expected, recompiled to function with the new iPhone frameworks). The iPod touch has apparently also been hacked for root access, and apparently those freshly recompiled apps are functioning there as well. But it’s still not without some bad news: unfortunately, it sounds like most (if not all) of these new hacks rely solely on that single TIFF exploit in Mobile Safari, meaning that everyone’s back to square one the moment Apple beams v1.1.2 to the public at large.

Read - Hacker toc2rta confirms the exploit and functionality
Read - iPhone jailbroken, apps installed
Read - iPod touch jailbroken

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Apple has obviously made some enemies over this whole bricked iPhone situation, and clearly not everyone wants to follow the straight-and-narrow when it comes to the company’s factory-limited and locked device. Now, at least one California resident named Timothy Smith has decided to bring the fight to the Cupertino monolith’s doorstep — and he showed up with lawyers. According to papers filed last week, the angry iPhone owner is suing Apple in hopes of barring the company from selling locked phones, and forcing the Mac-maker to provide warranty service for customers even if they’ve bricked their phones via third-party software. The suit claims that, “Apple forced plaintiff and the class members to pay substantially more for the iPhone and cell phone service than they would have paid in a competitive marketplace either for the iPhone or for AT&T’s cell phone service,” and that the company, “Acted in defiance and without sufficient consideration of consumers’ rights to unlock their iPhones because it knew that the probable result of its update would be to render unlocked iPhones inoperable.” The lawyers in the case have set up a website where owners can join in on the suit — so if you’re feeling slighted, maybe they can help.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

As if anyone expected it to stay locked down forever, the layers of security surrounding v1.1.1 of the iPhone firmware are being peeled away. TUAW’s Erica Sadun managed to get read / write access to the phone’s directories during her liveblogging session, and the hackint0sh forums are abuzz about a new hacking method that uses buffer overflow via “carefully crafted” TIFFs that crash Mobile Safari. Neither of the new hacks approach the relative ease of use that we’d seen pre-v1.1.1, but it’s still early days yet. Apple, throw us a bone here, will ya?

[Thanks, Julian]

Read - Liveblogging the big iPhone 1.1.1 hack (TUAW)
Read - A new exploit discovered (hackint0sh)

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Features

We’re in a unique position here at Engadget, serving the technology community, while simultaneously interacting with and trying to make sense of the moves of the companies our readership patronizes. Apple’s latest iPhone firmware, as you’ve probably heard, locks out third party applications, consequently preventing owners from using their device on networks other than AT&T — so it’s easy to see why this is being viewed as a hostile act, with thousands ready to storm the Cupertino castle in order to get their hacked iPhones back the pre-v1.1.1 status quo. Make no mistake about it, whether you care about the iPhone or not, this 150MB software update is uniquely controversial and causing a rift — if not an outright adversarial relationship — between Apple and untold thousands of its core customers, who’ve used Engadget comments, blogs, and any other sounding board at their disposal. So, may we have a word with both parties?

Continue reading A note to both Apple and iPhone customers on the v1.1.1 update

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

Ok, time for another unscientific reader poll. Did you upgrade your iPhone to v1.1.1? If so, what happened? Tell us all about it (why you did or didn’t upgrade, what happened if you did, etc.) in comments. Let it all out, we’re here for you.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

A lot of people out there aren’t too happy with Apple right now. Some of them express their displeasure with expletive-filled tirades in the comments section of any pertinent blog post they can find. Other, arguably more creative folks use the popular medium of the day to make the object of their frustration appear foolish and hypocritical in an entertaining manner. To witness just such a protest, head over to the video after the break…

[Thanks, Scott]

Continue reading iPhone protest vid uses Apple’s own words to support the “crazy ones”

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

Well would you look at that, instructions are now available for downgrading your iPhone from 1.1.1 to 1.0.2. It won’t downgrade your baseband, meaning so far you can’t re-unlock an iPhone that’s been 1.1.1-ified, but it’s still 1.0.2 in all its third-party application glory. The iPhone Dev Team folks are working on a way to downgrade the new firmware to let people unlock their phones again, but for now AT&T users sitting pretty, and non-AT&T folks can at least do the WiFi thing. There’s a video tutorial after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - iPhone Dev Wiki instructions
Read - Hackint0sh thread where the magic happened

Continue reading iPhone 1.1.1 to 1.0.2 downgrade instructions released!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Wireless

The iPhone 1.1.1 update has a hidden little surprise for y’all: Bluetooth audio streaming is now available off of your iPhone for whatever you darn please, meaning you can finally listen to music from the phone wirelessly. Oddly enough, this “function” has been unleashed by a Visual Voicemail bug that leaves Bluetooth audio on even after you’ve left the Voicemail interface. Of course, it’s only mono audio, and the audio keeps playing out of your built-in speaker — if you plug in headphones to cut off the speaker you’ll lose Bluetooth streaming as well — but it’s nice to see Apple forking over some “should have been there in the first place” functionality accidentally to go along with all that stuff of the same ilk 1.1.1 took away from us.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Features

If you haven’t already bitten the bullet and taken your unlocked iPhone down that scariest of paths, the 1.1.1 update, we’re here to sort out a bit of the hearsay from the actual and fairly inconvenient truth. Even if you have already updated, or never even unlocked or jailbroke your iPhone to begin with, there’s still a lot to learn, so let’s dive in, shall we?

Most people with a jailbroken iPhone will end up with a “factory-fresh” iPhone after the 1.1.1 firmware update. Your mileage may vary, and isolated incidents of bricking have occurred, but most people are just going to have a 3rd party-free, AT&T-only iPhone in their pocket when the day is through, and bricking seems to be just as common for a virgin iPhones as for jailbroken ones. As for when we’ll have full use of the iPhone again is unclear, but TUAW’s Erica Sadun says “don’t expect a jailbreak anytime soon,” which doesn’t seem promising. Apparently the security is going to be a whole lot harder to crack this time around.

Continue reading iPhone update: facts and fiction

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_update_re_locking_handsets_disabling_3rd_party_apps’; So as the first iPhone owners update their phones to firmware 1.1.1, we’re getting reports in that not only do third-party applications no longer work, but a post-update reactivation requires a genuine AT&T SIM. In other words, it looks like Apple may have just disabled thousands of unlocked phones around the world. Stay tuned for more as we test this ourselves…

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!