If you're yearning to break free from Apple-sanctioned iPhone carrier AT&T (and you don't mind trading your warranty for the privilege), then reach out and touch George Hotz. The iPhone hacker yesterday posted a video showing an iPhone call on T-Mobile, and Wednesday is expected to post the code that made it possible.
Hotz, who goes by the hacker alias GeoHot, drew attention earlier this year when he posted "purplera1n," a so-called "jailbreak" for iPhone 3GS (OS 3.0) that lets the phone run code other than that expressly authorized by Apple or purchased at the AppStore. The hack was quickly made ineffective by Apple when it released OS 3.0.1.
While undeterred, Hotz skipped OS 3.0.1 when he went to work on blackra1n, which targets iPhones running OS 3.1.2 (including the third-generation iPhone Touch, but that one needs to be tethered). According to an Oct. 11 blog post announcing the release, Hotz claims that blackra1n can jailbreak an iPhone about 30 seconds.
His latest work, blacksn0w, will allow such jailbroken devices (running baseband 05.11.07) to be used on any GSM network. The 17-year-old told CNN in an interview that getting his iPhone to work with T-Mobile was what got him started on this project in the first place.