I was a bit jealous of not having an iPhone for myself in Canada — since there is still not deal with Rogers and Apple — so I decided to buy one directly from the US ($400) and try to hack it.
A Mad World
The world of iPhone hacking is quite mad. Since every firmware release is harder than the previous one, you really have to learn how the iPhone internals works in order to understand something with the procedures.
There are tons of stuff to learn actually, from the strange acronyms (e.g.: BL, FM, BB, DFU, OTB), the various hacking software (e.g.: Jailbreak, iBrickr, iNdependence, ZiPhone), to the hackers name (e.g.: GeoHot, Zibris, iPhone Dev Team).
The 1.1.3 Challenge
The latest software revision of the iPhone is the 1.1.3 and it has proven to be quite difficult to break a brand new phone (i.e.: out of the box).
The phone I bought has the latest 1.1.3 built-in. I couldn’t break it even with all obscure manipulation out there. I had the chance to exchange it for a 1.0.2 (one of the first firmware) and break it, but the phone part was still not working.
Here Comes ZiPhone
Over the last couple of weeks, Zibris (one of the famous hackers) has worked days and nights to release ZiPhone — a software that combines various hacking methods and can fully break any version of the iPhone (up to 1.1.3) using a simple turnkey procedure.
Using ZiPhone, I was able to upgrade my iPhone to firmware 1.1.2 and unlock it quite easily — I’m still waiting before going to 1.1.3.
I can now use the iPhone without any limitations. I currently use a prepaid Rogers SIM card, so I don’t have access to the EDGE network and data services (only in Wi-Fi).
What About the Future?
Apple is about to release the SDK for the iPhone with a new software upgrade (i.e.: 1.1.4 or 2.0) that will certainly break all hacking methods known so far. Hackers will have to do the work all over again.
The cat and mouse game is about to continue.
UPDATE (26-02-08): The firmware update 1.1.4 has been released today. It seems to be an obscure bug fix release and nobody really knows what’s inside. However, early tests reveals that ZiPhone still work but it’s recommended to not upgrade.
CTO at 
Comments
You can safely update to 1.1.3 from iTunes and then use ZiPhone to hack it. I did it, you can too, there’s no reason to wait, no reason at all, not when ZiPhone does the job so nicely. Don’t just wait so you can write a new article, update now and get the cool features like LocateMe and wiggly icons and etc etc.
Johnny Appleseed23 February 08 at 11:53 pm
You can safely update to 1.1.3 from iTunes and then use ZiPhone to hack it. I did it, you can too, there’s no reason to wait, no reason at all, not when ZiPhone does the job so nicely. Don’t just wait so you can write a new article, update now and get the cool features like LocateMe and wiggly icons and etc etc.
Johnny Appleseed23 February 08 at 10:53 pm
Just upgraded and ZiPhoned my iPhone to 1.1.3. Everything works without problems. ZiPhone is pretty good.
Frederic Brunel25 February 08 at 12:45 am
Just upgraded and ZiPhoned my iPhone to 1.1.3. Everything works without problems. ZiPhone is pretty good.
Fred Brunel24 February 08 at 11:45 pm
Thank you for another great article. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such a perfect way of presentation.
Club Penguin Cheats25 August 09 at 8:11 pm
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