A well-known hacker claims to have overcome restrictions on Apple’s iPhone, allowing highly technical users to bypass AT&T’s network to use the phone’s Internet and music features.
In a post dated on his blog, Jon Johansen, 23, a prolific hacker of consumer electronics gadgets since he was a teenager in Norway, said “I’ve found a way to activate a brand new unactivated iPhone” without signing up for AT&T service.
“The iPhone does not have phone capability, but the iPod and Wi-Fi work. Stay tuned!” he wrote on his long-running blog, which is combatively named “So Sue Me.” The post was entitled “iPhone Independence Day,” a play on the July 4 U.S. holiday.
The site contained technical details for other hackers, as well as links to software necessary to complete the process.
One potential use would be for an iPhone user living or travelling outside the United States to access the iPhone’s music player and Internet service over Wi-Fi connections without using the phone.
AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said it was necessary to activate the iPhone on AT&T’s network to ensure optimum performance. Using the phone without AT&T’s two-year service contract was unauthorized under the phone carrier’s exclusive network service contract with Apple, Siegel added.
“Any other use of the device is not authorised and we can’t guarantee the device will perform as intended to. We’ll monitor situations like this and if necessary we will take appropriate action,” he said. “Our terms and conditions are very clear.”
He did not elaborate on potential action AT&T might take.
Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris declined to comment on Johansen’s claims.
Apple has yet to reveal network operator deals in markets outside the United States. But the iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone and will work in many parts of Europe and Asia with international roaming deals arranged by AT&T, Kerris said.
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Neither Apple nor AT&T have disclosed sales figures since the iPhone went on sale in the United States on June 29, but some analysts have estimated sales of up to 700,000 units for the costly coveted phone’s first weekend on the market.
Johansen became known as “DVD Jon” earlier this decade for helping to reverse engineer the code used to protect DVD movies against piracy, saying he did so in order to play them on his Linux computer.
The computer activist has engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Apple to bypass copyright controls on various Apple products, including QuickTime, iTunes and Apple TV.
ROK TV is offering live and on-demand mobile TV streamed over existing 2.5G and 3G networks as a subscription service on Nokia Eseries phones. Mobile technology and applications development company ROK Entertainment Group has been appointed by Nokia to provide the service. ROK TV is available via the Downloads! service on the Nokia E61i and Nokia E65, initially, which the owner needs to activate to begin watching the services. Two channel packages will be offered, a five-channel Strictly Business package, to be charged in the UK at GBP 5 a month, with a heavy emphasis on business news and information channels, and a ten-channel ROK All TV package, to be charged at GBP 10 a month containing live business news channels as well as additional sports news, music videos and comedy channels. As a trial, both TV packages will be free to view for the first two weeks. ROK TV is available in the UK now and will subsequently deploy into mainland Europe from August onwards.
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Japan is one of the leader producing mobile phones. But also, the citizens of the Japan are going crazy about the gadgets. This is confirmed by the number of 40 million 3G phones bought by the Japanese.
We all know, the telecommunication market in Japan is one of the most important, as its profits and technology are among the most advanced at a world scale. The future also has high chances of bringing even more performances.
“The market is full of excitement as phones with brilliant displays, rich multimedia capabilities and various novel functions were introduced last year to gain customer acceptance and market share”, said Allyn Hall, a Director with In-Stat. Moreover, “In the advanced Japanese mobile phone market, the shipment of 3G phones exceeded 92% of 47.8 million phones sold in 2006″, as Allyn Hall mentioned.
These huge sales are telling that people are needed in such kind of technology. GPS phones and related services have managed to develop at a large scale and are now used by a large number of people. Moreover, camera, music player function and at least 2.4 inch screens with 240 x 320 resolutions have become a common performance for most mobile phones in Japan.
Sometimes after meeting these reports about millions of gadgets sold, I may think that the human being is already depending on it. Do you still remember what was 20 years ago? No phones, no gadgets, and we all were happy.
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Verizon Wireless announced today that it has expanded the national rollout of its high-speed wireless network in the Grand Traverse Bay area in time for the National Cherry Festival (July 7-14) and the 99th Annual National Governors Association (NGA) Meeting (July 20-23).
The launch of the wireless broadband network (Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision A (Rev. A)) means Verizon Wireless customers in the area can access the company’s high-speed wireless network and enjoy two prime services: BroadbandAccess, the company’s enhanced high-speed wireless service, with average user speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits, geared toward mobile professionals, business customers and vacationers; and V CAST, a consumer-oriented multimedia service that offers music and short content on demand, including cutting-edge 3D games, music videos, news, weather and sports.
The network expansion equips Verizon Wireless’ business customers, including attendees of the upcoming NGA Meeting at the Grand Traverse Resort, to experience a truly untethered mobile office experience, enabling them to wirelessly access their calendars, the Internet, email and critical business information residing behind their companies’ firewalls. Vacationers can surf the Internet and email friends and family members from the beach along the southern portion of Grand Traverse Bay or while tooling around the Cherry Festival.
With the added benefit of V CAST, consumers also now have access to the most comprehensive selection of downloadable music, high-quality videos and the coolest 3D games found anywhere.
BroadbandAccess
BroadbandAccess provides mobile workers the ability to get their corporate information as if they were attached to the information via a high-speed wired connection but with the freedom of true mobility. Developed with a range of users in mind, the service enables large enterprises, small to medium-sized businesses and mobile professionals to conduct business anytime, anywhere in the BroadbandAccess coverage area via a secure, true high-speed data connection.
Business customers, residents and vacationers can access information when they are on the road with BroadbandAccess. Customers in enhanced broadband wireless coverage areas can expect average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits and average upload speeds of 500-800 kbps, which means customers can download a 1 Megabyte email attachment-the equivalent of a small PowerPoint(R) presentation or a large PDF file-in less than 15 seconds and upload the same-sized file in less than 25 seconds. The enhanced coverage areas enable Verizon Wireless customers to download files approximately six times faster than customers of wireless service providers who use non-EV-DO technology. Also, customers who travel outside the enhanced BroadbandAccess coverage area with an EV-DO device will switch seamlessly to the company’s NationalAccess service.
“Our enhanced BroadbandAccess service gives our customers three key advantages in wireless communication-speed, mobility and security,” said Greg Haller, president-Michigan/Indiana/Kentucky Region, Verizon Wireless. “With these advantages comes an increase in productivity and bottom-line business benefits.”
V CAST
The company’s high-speed network also enables its V CAST multimedia services, offering customers the ability to download full song tracks, play cutting-edge 3D games and stream video clips straight to the handset with top transmission speeds. With content updated daily, customers can watch dozens of on-demand videos, including breaking news, weather, sports highlights and the hottest entertainment clips.
V CAST Music, available to customers with V CAST Music-enabled handsets, is the world’s most comprehensive, over-the-air mobile music service. Customers with V CAST Music can download song tracks directly to their Verizon Wireless handsets or to PCs equipped with Windows(R) XP operating software. The V CAST Music on demand service includes access to a catalog of more than 2 million songs.
Coverage
Verizon Wireless’ expansion of BroadbandAccess and V CAST coverage includes much of the Grand Traverse Bay area, including downtown, the Grand Traverse Resort, Cherry Capital Airport, Traverse City State Park, Acme, Bates, Grawn and Grelickville. It also includes the following major roads:
– US Route 31 between Grawn and Yuba
– Michigan Highway 72 between Williamsburg and County Road 616
– Michigan Highway 37 between Michigan Road 113 North to the south end of
Old Mission Peninsula
“Traverse City is a vital market with dynamic, tech-savvy businesses and vacationers who want to stay connected,” Haller said. “The launch of our broadband network here provides our customers with access to the very latest wireless technology.”
The multi-million dollar expansion entailed installing high-tech wireless hardware and software in wireless transmission sites throughout the region. It is part of an ongoing network investment by Verizon Wireless that has totaled $39 billion nationally in the last seven years-$5 billion on average every year since the company was formed-to increase the coverage and capacity of its national network and to add new services. More than $915 million of this investment was spent in Michigan.
Verizon Wireless was the first national wireless provider to commercially launch a high-speed wireless broadband network in the United States. Traverse City is the latest markets to be added to Verizon Wireless’ EV-DO network coverage area, now available to more than 210 million people. In Michigan, Verizon Wireless’ broadband network is also available in southeastern Michigan; the greater Flint area; the greater Lansing area; and West Michigan, including Grand Rapids, Holland and many surrounding communities.
BroadbandAccess is available for $79.99 monthly access with a new one- or two-year customer agreement. For a limited time, Verizon Wireless customers with an existing voice plan can receive unlimited BroadbandAccess service for $59.99 monthly access. A new two-year customer agreement is required. BroadbandAccess service also is available as an integrated option on select notebook and laptop computers.
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A Kiwi company making big inroads in the mobile games content industry has been given a boost by a top European developer.
Games company Tracebit will make its impressive Java games portfolio available through open market website voeveo.com.
With titles like Scott Dixon Racing, Williams F1, The Village and Aquastrike distributed to over 50 countries, the Kiwi company will surely reap the benefits.
Consumer access to mobile games content has been boosted by European games specialist Tracebit making its products available on the New Zealand-based open market website, voeveo.com.
Simon Adahl, voeveo’s marketing officer says selling GSM-supported handset games on the no-barriers site, along with direct downloading for mobile phone users will lead to significant sales opportunities.
“The voeveo community-driven trading model has exciting potential, given its buyers have unrestricted access to all types of content, plus they actively control their own transactions,” he says.
“We want to reach global wireless consumers more efficiently and at the same time receive useful feedback on our game products.”
Customers can download music, video and gaming content regardless of location, phone type or service contract.
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Research in Motion has received clearance to sell its popular BlackBerry device in China after eight years of trying.
The Canadian-based company says it is finalizing the delivery of its products there.
RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie, speaking on a conference call with analysts last week, said the company was planning to serve corporate customers in key Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
RIM’s move into China comes as it competes in the US with Apple’s heavily hyped iPhone, which began selling in the US last week. The iPhone can handle phone calls, email, Web browsing, music and videos.
A manager in RIM’s Beijing office was quoted on Wednesday as saying RIM expects to start selling its 8700g handset in Chinese shops at the end of next month and has already received 5,000 advance orders.
Balsillie says they will continue to strengthen their relationship with China Mobile and they plan to increase BlackBerry awareness in China. The BlackBerry already sells in India and Japan.
The company said BlackBerry subscriber accounts grew by about 1.2 million during the first quarter for a total of 9.2 million.
RIM stock has surged 26% since the company announced first-quarter earnings grew 73% thanks to increased sales and subscriber additions, many of them international subscribers.
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Hacker finds way to activate iPhone without phone network
