Pirate apple phones 'wortheless' Vista News Discuss Pirate apple phones 'wortheless' in the Windows Vista forums; Blackmarket versions of the new Apple iPhone could become worthless after the company revealed updated software to bar them from unauthorised networks. Many of the phones have been bought in ...

[Wiggles]

Blackmarket versions of the new Apple iPhone could become worthless after the company revealed updated software to bar them from unauthorised networks.

Many of the phones have been bought in Britain and other European countries in advance of their official launch here.

And in America websites offer computer code "cracks" to allow the phones to work with any service provider.

Apple has signed an exclusive deal with AT&T in America and with O2 in Britain to operate the phones.

Apple warned earlier this week an optional iPhone software update for users could permanently disable phones running programs that unlock them.

Several gadget enthusiast websites, including Gizmodo and Engadget, as well as online postings from hacker communities now say that, depending on which unlocking programme was used, certain modified phones no longer worked after they installed the software update.

In some cases, the phones worked, but only with the original AT&T sim card.

Some sites also reported that iPhones equipped with unofficial, third-party applications were disabled after the update. Other hackers said Apple's warning was "a scare tactic."

But despite their history of playing cat-and-mouse games with hackers in the past, company officials insisted they were "not proactively" trying to make hacked iPhones useless.

It was unclear how many iPhone owners had unlocked their phones, but the programmes - including several that can be downloaded for free - appeared to be particularly popular with European consumers. The iPhone officially goes on sale in Europe in November.

From Channel 4 News

Serves them right, when I first heard about you could unlock the iPhone I just knew Apple would release an update such as this to block all pirate iPhones.

Well Done Apple!

P.S - I will be getting a iPhone in early December, I will either post a review of it on the forums or on the podcast (if it is still going by then).

[felix8406]

We'll be waiting for your report. My daughters bought the iPhone, 8GB and 4GB respectively. I got to use it for about three minutes to access the internet and my hotmail email account. It quickly recognized my wireless network and I was on the internet in no time. But I didn't get a chance to play with the other features. I think it's too pricey though.

[Snuffy]

Hackers Get their iPhones (Back)
Posted by Arneh on Monday, Oct 1, 2007, 1:53 am -

Last Thursday Apple released an upgrade to the iPhone firmware (the code that controls the phone operations). Users that had installed unauthorized software, found their new programs unusable. Those who had unlocked their phones to use networks other than AT&T—in violation of their agreement with apple-could not use their phones at all. In other words, their iPhones had been bricked.

Then, a user of the Hackintosh Forum who goes by the screen name KMAC1985 discovered a rather peculiar maneuver: If you hold down the power button and the home button on the phone for 10 seconds, then release the power button, the phone will enter a state that will allow it to restore the 1.0.2 software from a connected computer. (The details are here. For the visual, here is a music video tutorial.)

Users are reporting in forum comments that this can take several hours, and that it works for some phones but not others. (See coverage from The Unofficial Apple Weblog and Gizmodo.)

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-iphones-back/