Tag Archive for 'apple iphone'

iPhone Unlocking, Post Software Update 1.1.1

Published
by
John T Davis
on September 28, 2007
in iPhone
. 0 Comments

What, you didn’t think I could go a whole two weeks without mentioning the iPhone again, did you?

Apple made clear that the newest update to the iPhone system software would more than likely not only break SIM unlocking, but render the entire phone “bricked.” That is, the phone would no longer work. Quoting directly from the linked article:

“This has nothing to do with proactively disabling a phone that is unlocked or hacked,” Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, told the Associated Press in an interview. “It’s unfortunate that some of these programs have caused damage to the iPhone software, but Apple cannot be responsible for … those consequences.”

At the same time, the iPhone Dev Team, the group largely responsible for SIM-unlocking the iPhone, acknowledged this and warned users not to apply the software update to a SIM unlocked phone until they had a chance to figure out how to work around it, because they had no reason to believe Apple was lying.

Now, iPhone Firmware 1.1.1 hit the web, adding support for the iTunes Music Store as found on the iPod touch and a number of other neat features. But, just as Apple and the Dev Team had warned, attempting to apply the firmware update to a SIM-unlocked iPhone results in catastrophic, in some cases unrecoverable, failure. The author of the linked article notes that in his case not even getting a brand new SIM card from AT&T got things working again. In other words, the hardware is reduced to a very nice looking paperweight.

A few important points rise from this.

  • I think iPhone SIM unlocking is a great thing, for all the reasons I listed in my last post on this matter. Moreover, it is legal in the United States, and even though Apple can and has voided the warranties of modified handsets in accordance with US warranty law, they have a legal obligation not to purposefully prevent the unlocking of the phone. They do not seem to be doing that at this time, and unless evidence can be found to the contrary, threatening to sue Apple over breaking the SIM unlock is misguided at best.
  • Whether or not the iPhone should be unlocked should simply not be part of rational discussion at this point. It can be unlocked, there is demand for unlocked phones, and it is not illegal. From what I’ve seen, arguments to the contrary either demonstrate a lack of understanding of the legal issues, or a conscious desire to troll and stir up trouble.
  • Both Apple and the iPhone Dev Team warned people not to apply this update. Doing so and expecting the phone to still function, as if both parties were lying, was foolish and impatient in the extreme. Anyone who has bricked their phone has no one to blame but themselves. I realize that’s harsh, but even those of us that support third party efforts need to admit that SIM unlocking your phone means you’re on your own. I really hope the iPhone Dev Team or someone out there can figure out how to reverse the damage, but Apple is technically correct that they have no obligation to do so or replace phones for free.
  • As a computer scientist and general techie, I do find dubious the whole idea that software as an entity can somehow be “permanently damaged,” which is what Apple says is happening here. Software is just data on a storage device. Unless it’s on a ROM chip, nothing about it is in any way permanent. It should always be possible to reset everything or reflash the firmware to its factory state, no matter how screwed up the software on board is. Otherwise there would be no way to fix the phone in the event of catastrophic random data corruption (which can theoretically happen on any device, whether it’s been hacked on or not). I can think of a few reasons why the software might actually become unrecoverably corrupted, but none of them really make any sense from a technical or design perspective.
    1. The SIM unlock changes the baseboard (the modem) on the phone substantially, so one could make the argument that the new firmware isn’t overwriting the baseboard file(s), and only overwrites the files it expects to have to change. But given the size of the version 1.1.1 firmware (154 MB) and the fact that a full restore (which should replace everything, every time) doesn’t bring the phone back to a functioning state, this is unlikely.
    2. Then again, some people running firmware 1.0.x have reported being able to run full restores on iPhones that have been SIM unlocked without having to unlock them again, so maybe iTunes doesn’t replace everything. If this is the case, though, calling the reset option in iTunes a restore is disingenuous, as it obviously doesn’t restore everything to factory condition. Likewise, saying the phone is irreparable in this scenario is also a lie, as all that is needed is to release an update to iTunes that actually does a full and complete restore. Apple may be doing a piecemeal restore that doesn’t modify files that are expected not to ever be changed by the user (like the baseboard) because it’s a faster technique in terms of execution time, but the fact remains that catastrophic data corruption could theoretically trash everything, and a full and complete restore option needs to be available.
    3. Having said that, a device’s hardware could become irreversibly misconfigured if a setting is changed that both (a) causes erroneous behavior and (b) locks out future changes. This is the computer equivalent of locking one’s keys in one’s car. In this scenario, Apple is the only locksmith in town, and they’ve already said they’re not going to help you. But the question remains, if the SIM unlock just modifies the software modem, how can that possibly make a full restore impossible? My best guess is that prior to the restore, the firmware installer is looking at the iPhone and trying to verify, somehow, that it is a supported device. The baseboard has been modified, so it fails verification, and iTunes refuses to do a restore because the baseboard modem is “damaged” in comparison to what it is expecting to find. But again, this makes zero sense, because a damaged baseboard (again, via some sort of data corruption) would be the perfect reason to attempt a full restore.

Given all that, assuming again that apple is making no deliberate attempt to sabotage unlocked phones (because this would be illegal), I can only conclude that Apple’s iPhone team was incredibly overconfident about the degree to which an iPhone’s software cannot be corrupted, and instead of choosing to implement a full and complete restore , implemented a restore procedure that replaced only those files the engineers thought users might somehow damage, and left alone core components (like the baseboard software modem) under the assumption they were somehow untouchable. A very bad design decision in general, if true. This is totally a guess, but it’s where my logic takes me given the evidence I’ve been presented. To my knowledge, the 1.1.1 firmware has not yet been decrypted by the iPhone Dev Team so that its individual files can be examined (by default firmware is encrypted so that its innards are hidden away; a magical black box that makes the handset work somehow). Once it has been decrypted, I would be very interested to see if the baseboard has been modified from version 1.0.2 of the firmware. If it has not, that would actually be a bit of evidence for my hypothesis, as the 1.1.1 firmware installer would have no reason to replace a file it believes not to have been changed. SIM unlock software must be modified for each version of the firmware that changes the software modem, so it makes since that 1.1.1 firmware attempting to operate with a modified version of the 1.0.2 firmware would choke and die. And if the restore fails to replace the baseboard, there’s no fixing it, at least until the iPhone Dev Team figures out how to get back into the iPhone file system (something the current firmware locks them out of doing, but that they could do before) and replace the damaged files.

Again, the above paragraph is completely hypothetical, but I feel pretty confident about it given the information available. If I’m completely wrong, though, I won’t be surprised. The iPhone is a complex system, and I’m operating off limited information, logic, and instinct.

I had planned to talk about the state of 3rd party applications on the iPhone, but this post is long enough. Until next time.

[tags]apple, iphone, apple iphone, unlocking, cell phone unlocking, unlock, cell phone unlock, sim, sim unlock, sim unlocking, warranties, warranty, iphone dev team, iphone dev[/tags]

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More iPhone News

Published
by
John T Davis
on September 17, 2007
in computers, electronics and iPhone
. 0 Comments

Unlocking, Part Deux

I suppose I must admit that I’m rambling about the iPhone more and more lately because since the price dropped, it’s become a device I could see myself owning one day, as opposed to an “oh, wow, that’s really nifty but I can’t even come close to justifying the cost” gadget. (And by the time I’m actually ready to buy a new cell phone in 2009, it’ll no doubt be even cheaper.)

In my previous post on the subject, I noted that the method covered by Macworld, involving lots of command line manipulations, was by no means an easy process. That’s changed now, as the iPhone Dev Team has announced a version of their software with a graphical user interface. Just put the application on your iPhone, press the unlock button, and in 3-5 minutes you should have a working, totally unlocked device. Nifty. The Geek Factor for doing the unlock is probably, in my estimation, now a 2/10. Before I would’ve said it was an 8/10, for sure. Too much command line kung fu that could easily go wrong.

A Touch of Music

The recently announced (but not yet shipping) iPod touch (no, that’s not a capitalization error) is being marketted as an iPhone without the phone. It’s still got Wifi, so you can use it to surf the web wherever wireless internet is available. Starbucks, for example. Apple and Starbucks would both really like it if you took your iPod touch there. Frequently.

That being said, there are some important differences between the iPhone and the iPod touch that prospective buyers of either device should be aware of. They are summed up quite nicely at iProng. As a sidenote–and this is purely my own speculation, backed up by nothing more than my own musings as I stared entranced into the swirling spices of my Thai Red Curry with Beef on Friday–note that the iPod touch comes in two capacities, 8 and 16 GB, whereas the iPhone only comes in 8 GB. I strongly suspect the iPhone price drop was in preparation for the launch of a 16 GB model for perhaps $100-$150 dollars more. I’m guessing the only reason we haven’t yet seen such a device is because of a shortage of available 16 GB NAND flash, the storage medium inside these devices. Apple wouldn’t roll out a product just to have to deal with constant supply problems.

The Rebate

Much has been made of the entire price-drop-rebate fiasco regarding the iPhone. Too much, in all likelihood. Most sane people wouldn’t get terribly upset that technology gets faster and cheaper. Rather than griping about it en masse, those who purchased it and felt they had been wronged should have persued their options. It’s standard Apple policy to refund the difference of a price drop within fourteen days of purchase, and most major credit cards offer some form of price protection. If neither price protection nor the Apple 14 day guarantee were available, well, that is certainly unfortunate, but it’s the nature of technology. When I bought my current laptop, a model with the same form factor, a faster processor, more memory, and faster USB connectors was announced within a month–for the same amount of money. That kinda thing–more features for the same amount of money–is arguably more galling than a price drop on existing tech. I was bummed, sure, but these things happen in the technology industry. It’s inevitable.

My bottom line, I guess: be comfortable with your tech purchases. A newer, faster, better, cheaper product will come out, whether it’s computers or MP3 players or toaster ovens. But when you go to buy something, you should be pleased with what you’re getting, happy enough with what you’re getting, that you won’t care. The device you’ve just bought will be enough for your needs (or possibly more than enough), so it’s okay that something new arrived. If you think something costs too much money, or you’re afraid something brand new is about to come out immediately, hold off. My strategy for this, as an Apple user, is simple. If something new is supposedly coming in a set amount of time that will replace the thing you want to buy, wait and see if it actually materializes. Never buy right before Apple special events, be they scheduled annually or announced specifically. If a new piece of software from Apple is coming in a short amount of time (like Leapord, due the end of October) hold off on your hardware purchase until after it’s out, so the software will be bundled with your new hardware. These principles apply equally well to other tech areas, though I’ll admit I only actively use a calendar to plan purchases when it comes to Apple products.

Having said all that, two caveats. First, if you really need something now, get it now. Your new laptop that does everything you need and more will not stop being awesome because something new came out. Sure, the new thing may be more awesome, but odds are you’ve already got more awesome than you will really need for a long time to come. Second, you’ll be a happier consumer if you put a little planning into your purchases and less likely to get sideswiped with new products a month or two after you buy something, but occasionally, despite your best efforts, you will get bitten by something like this iPhone price drop. When it happens, pursue whatever fiscal compensation you can through price matching, but remember that companies that sell things do so to make money. They are, in general, not out to screw you, but they certainly won’t hesitate to charge the highest price they can for as long as they can. As a consumer, you implicitly agree to the supply/demand arrangement through your purchase, and early adopters always pay more for less.

Apple’s in store rebate was less a concession they had done anything wrong and more a way to get an overly loud minority of fanboys with entitlement complexes and a lack of understanding of basic economics to shut up. In reality, Apple only spends about fifty dollars on an in store rebate for 100 dollars because of wholesale prices, etc., and likely ends up making even more money because having that rebate in your hands makes you a lot more likely to want to buy something that costs over 100 dollars, like a new iPod touch. To reiterate, Apple loses nothing, comes away with good PR for responding so swiftly and decisively to perceived customer outrage, and sucks even more of your money into its coffers.

The paranoid part of me wonders if they planned this the whole time.

[tags]iphone, apple, apple iphone, unlock, iphone unlock, ipod touch, starbucks, rebate, iphone rebate[/tags]

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On iPhone Unlocking…

Published
by
John T Davis
on September 14, 2007
in iPhone
. 2 Comments

The Skeleton Key

With the recent 200 dollar iPhone price drop, the device is now costs $399 (before tax/shipping fees). This is a much sweeter price point, in the sense that the phone is now much, much more appealing to the general public. The early adopters and Apple fanatics that would have bought it at $499/$599 pretty much all have–to the tune of 1 million units. (At the current price I’d actually consider buying one, but I’m still holding off because I’m in a Sprint contract till 2009 and I always prefer to hold off until the second generation of any Apple product. It’s nice to have a couple solid concerns reinforcing my willpower.)

But the really interesting thing to me is, in a happy coincidence, the iPhone hacking community has come up with an absolutely free software-based SIM card unlock method less than 90 days after the the product’s release. Unlocking a phone allows it to run on any compatible network in the world, as opposed to the US AT&T network. This is great for a few reasons. People with AT&T who are going overseas can buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card to avoid exorbitant roaming fees. Domestically, it is now possible to use an iPhone in all the places where AT&T does not offer any service at all. Like the entire state of Vermont. T-Mobile users can now purchase an iPhone and use their T-Mobile SIM card if they so desire.

Where things get really interesting is outside the United States. GSM cell phone networks like the iPhone uses are very common in the rest of the world, so it is now possible for those living in other countries to get an iPhone ahead of the Europe/Asia/Canada/South America launch dates (which are, as of this writing, still unannounced). So the bleeding edge early adopters in those countries will now be able to get working iPhones, if they so desire. Everything else aside, a lot of the barriers on iPhone adoption worldwide just fell away.

Note that iPhone’s Visual Voicemail, the random access, email-like voicemail system, will not function on networks not set up for it. That is, any network that does not have a contractural agreement with Apple to be an offical iPhone reseller and service provider. Right now, AT&T is the only such network, but that could change as early as next week, when Apple is expected to announce the iPhone partner in the United Kingdom, if not all of Europe. Regular voice mail will work on any network, though, just like it does on every other cell phone.

If you’re interested in learning how to unlock your iPhone (it is by no means a trivial process), check out this guide from Macworld.

A Note on Cell Phone Networks

The iPhone, as stated, supports the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard. Quoting from the article (which is a very interesting read if you’re so inclined):

[GSM is] the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. Its promoter, the GSM Association, estimates that the GSM service is used by over 2 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories. Its ubiquity makes international roaming very common between mobile phone operators, enabling subscribers to use their phones in many parts of the world.

The iPhone, it should be noted, is a quad-band GSM device, meaning it supports the following bands/regions.

  • 850 MHz (U.S.)
  • 900 MHz (Europe/Asia (excluding Japan and South Korea)
  • 1800 MHz (Europe)
  • 1900 MHz (U.S.)

Keywords from the above definition: “in the world.” Within the US, which is somewhat insular when it comes to cellular technology. Sprint relies on PCS, whereas Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is used by a variety of carriers within the US. GSM just isn’t that common. That doesn’t mean T-Mobile and AT&T are the only options. They’re just the biggest companies, with the largest coverage areas. GSM World provides a list of GSM-compatable carriers in the US. It’s a surprisingly long list, isn’t it? Lots more than the two providers the mass media would have you believe are the only options. Can’t say how many of those offer EDGE data plans with reasonable prices.

[tags]iphone, apple, apple iphone, hardware, hack, hacking, gsm, global system for mobile telecommunications, personal communications service, pcs, code division multiple access, cdma[/tags]

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