Hackers break into iPhone 2.0
14 March 2008
Hackers break into iPhone 2.0
One of the more prominent Apple iPhone hacker groups is believed to have got its hands on a copy of the beta version of the iPhone 2.0 firmware, and cracked it wide open.
The final version of the iPhone 2.0 software will not be released until June, but Apple has allowed a limited number of US developers to get their hands on a beta version.
The freely available SDK, announced earlier this month, only features an emulator for developers to test iPhone apps on their Mac computer.
Nevertheless, the iPhone Dev Team has showed off a cracked version of the beta 2.0 firmware. This not only allows users to run any application on the device, even those banned by Apple's App Store, but it apparently means Apple has lost the ability to kill hacked iPhones remotely.
The latest crack bypasses the device's bootloader, which tells the iPhone which operating system to use when it is switched on, and looks like it means iPhones cracked to work on any carrier's network will be future proofed against Apple's attempts to disable them.
For legitimate developers however, the SDK appears to be pushing all the right buttons. A straw poll of telecoms.com readers over the last week revealed that 77 per cent of respondents think the iPhone 2.0 software will give them everything they wish for in the device, with only 6 per cent who think it falls short of expectations.
A further 11 per cent absolutely love the App Store idea, which gets third party apps out to the entire iPhone user audience, with only 5 per cent who think the control Apple will retain over the content is too much.
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