You have to love these guys. They are modern day heros. Now Apple might think contrary, but you have to admire the Dev-Team’s vibrato. Their stamina. Their commitment. This disparate group of programmers, hackers, telecom industry workers, et al, from all over the world, doing what Apple should have done all along. Make the iPhone open to any and all GSM networks around the world. There might be those who would brand them thieves and hacker-thugs. But I commend them.

Having been an early adopter of hacking my iPhone, I am in awe of these guys. They have taken the task and turned it into an art form. They’ve taken the time to find the vulnerabilities of the iPhone and the OS to deliver their payload through any available vector. And then they wrap what use to be a terminal command line nightmare, into the slickest Mac and Windows applications I have seen so far, to accomplish the task. Thank you all for the hard work you do. And thanks to Apple for not trying to rain on the Dev-Teams achievements.

I spent maybe 30 minutes total this morning using PwnageTool and iTunes to get my custom 3.0 .ipsw file built and onto my iPhone. Once that happened, the Pwnage payload did its “magic” on the iPhone by auto configuring itself. While this was going on I Tweeted about it. (Okay I’ve become a TwitterNerd or perhaps a TwitWit now). Then I did a restore from the backup I did before starting all this, like a good little iPhone citizen should do. While that was happening I made my Peet’s coffee and breakfast. I knew it would take a bit of time to load all my iPhone apps, music, etc back on the phone.

The next step is to get all my Cydia apps and hacks loaded … WinterBoard, Five Icon Dock, Open SSH, BossTools, TMobile Carrier Logos, etc. These things are the icing on the iPhone cake. So now it’s time for me to SSH into my iPhone and load my custom desktop, and dock I’ve created. It’s a job … but someone has to do it.

I know. I know. It’s just a phone. Get a life! But hey at least … I pwn it!

There has been a huge ramp-up for the release, starting long before last weeks “World Wide Developers Conference” (WWDC). The fan-boy blogs and the Twitter-verse has been on fire. But Apple has also been pushing hard too. This is their cash cow, their baby. That and all the iPhone apps that will now have to be updated and OS 3.0 compatible by the OS 3.0 release date tomorrow? We’ll see.

Well actually I have seen. I Tweeted earlier tonight in two separate tweets :

Those #iPhone #apps are just pouring out. I got 4 just today. Seems like everyone is trying to get their apps 3.0 ready. Keep ‘em coming. 10:19:19 PM June 16, 2009 from Tweetie


#app #iphone updates:
iTV http://bit.ly/xiL4J
Amazon http://bit.ly/158j1y
Twitterific P http://bit.ly/VBHkG
Trip Cubby http://bit.ly/o9BS8
10:16:14 PM June 16, 2009 from Tweetie

@MuscleNerd from the iPhone Dev-Team did a live broadcast and demo of “UltraSnow” the new iPhone OS 3.0 jailbreak. You have to love these guys! The software isn’t officially released and already they have a jailbreak written and ready to go for the new OS. You can find out all the particulars on the Dev-Team Blog.

So I’m ready with my 1st-gen iPhone for the Dev-Team to deliver PwnageTool and QuickPwn their two wonderful jailbreak apps … for the rest of us. Oh how I’d love a new shinny iPhone 3G S … but alas … I’m poor. And seeing how I use T-mobile I can’t get a subsidized iPhone from AT&T. I paid full price for my original one. Not again. But then again I’ve heard that before too. I’ll just take a wait and see attitude. I know I’ll get enough of the new OS benefits. But will they be enough? Only time will tell.

So iPhone enthusiasts, fanboys/fangirls & the uninitiated … start your engines! 3.0 is coming! 3.0 is coming!

I’ve been back with T-mobile for almost a month now. I’m a happy camper once again. Who wouldn’t be with an employee plan, compliments of my partner Chris and T-mobile’s Domestic Partner benefits. My iPhone has been lying fallow for that long too. I did bring it back to NJ with me, for my Mom’s surprise 80th birthday party. But it was odd to pack the iPhone, which I loaded with pictures to show all my long lost relatives moments of their lives … and my Motorola Product(Red) SLVR. I knew there would be much “shock and awe” from the iPhone. Most of them never saw the mythical iPhone in person before. But most of them were amazed that I could have these old picture on such a new-fangled device. I got a lot of … “how did you do that?”

But I’m not here to talk of shocking things. Maybe a little awe … but no shock therapy. So it felt strange that I had in my pocket, this lobotomized iPhone and my trusty Motorola Product(Red) SLVR. Almost ironic. Yet iconic. Hmmm I’m getting moronic. But I digress

So I’m traveling with two devices. Why? Because I’ve been (patiently?) wating for the iPhone unlocking hack(s) to materialize. And wouldn’t you know, on Tuessay, they did! And for free! Wow! But wouldn’t you know on Monday I did a ‘buy now’ for a Bladox TurboSIM on eBay. I believe these are even more mythological than the iPhone was.

One method uses just a software hack to unlock the iPhone to be used on other GSM cellphone networks … like … wait for it … T-mobile. Woo hoo! The other method uses a small SIM device that is programmed to fool the iPhone into thinking it is using an unlocked & activated AT&T SIM, when in fact you can use any other GSM carrier you have an account with and a SIM card for. Even carriers in Europe.

The TurboSIM is manufactured by Bladox in Checkoslovacia and sold through thier website. When people found out you could hack the SIM to work on an iPhone, their website was flooded with orders. So many, they had to shut the web store down until they could fulfill the orders they had already taken. Some of those orders finally filtered through to the US. And of course ended up on eBay. Ah … the laws of supply and demand. Some people were paying several hundred dollars for just one TurboSIM. The same SIM that costs $84.00 US.

For those of you who have been following my angst-ridden iPhone saga … I’ve been waiting for this day! And I’m sure you know the answer to … “to hack or not to hack.” Yeah baby I hacked alright! Joe has unlocked his phone and is currently using his T-mobile employee account on his new iPhone!

Everything is right with the world … well at least my iPhone world. I’m sorry Apple but this is the way it should have been all along. Bring your own carrier. But then again … I’m not really sorry.

If a picture is worth a thousand words. Then I’ll say no more.

But we both know that’s not going to happen.

I thought long and hard. Hard and long. And it’s time to say … so long iPhone & AT&T. In past posts you saw how I agonized. Rationalized. Quantified & qualified my decision to procure this object of electronic lust. But lust is not enough. Nor is the iPhone.

In my previous post I was talking about the ‘unholy union’ of the ‘A-twins’ …. Apple & AT&T. This is also a MAJOR deciding factor to lighten my load. I’m sorry but no object is worth over $100.00 per month to have. I don’t mind putting cash into the pockets of Apple & it’s stockholders. But AT&T? A man just has to draw a line in the sand … at some point. Even if that line is after the fact. I just can not stomach the idea of shelling that kind of money out to a corporate behemoth like the Death Star … AT&T. Sometimes you DO have to go ‘through’ something to get to the other side. And now that I’m there …. I really don’t think there’s any turning back.

On Thursday I will have my partner Chris make me a member of the T-mobile family once again. Nope. I will not have all the bells & whistles of the iPhone. But i will have back my beloved Product (RED) SLVR. I won’t have to hack it to get my ringers back on. I won’t have to pay in excess of $1200.00 for JUST A PHONE! God! What the hell was I thinking? I truly was sucked into the Steve Jobs reality distortion field! Sucked in real good!

But now that my mind & my wallet are free … free of AT&T …. I can go back to life not worrying about a measly 900 minutes & 200 text messages. I can go back to having 2000 minutes & unlimited text messages & T-zones. Yippy! I can also spend that extra money paying off my credit cards and such. Sadly though I will sell my iPhone and use a large chunk of that money to buy out my AT&T contact. If I read the fine print correctly … I believe the buy out is $175.00. Though it could be more.

But that’s it. Say good-bye iPhone. You are … Going. Going …. GONE!