iPhone hacked for Australia

Asher Moses (SMH)
July 30, 2007 - 2:58PM

A screen shot from the YouTube video showing how the iPhone was hacked to be able to make calls on the Telstra network.

The Apple iPhone has been hacked to enable users in Australia to make calls on the Telstra mobile network.

But the hack, which was demonstrated in a video clip posted to YouTube over the weekend, does not allow the user to receive calls or send and receive SMS.

It is the furthest anyone has come to unlocking the iPhone for use outside the AT&T mobile network in the US. The device isn't scheduled for release in Australia until next year.

Earlier this month, another hacker, Jon Johansen, the same man who broke the encryption code for DVDs, hacked the device to allow users to bypass the AT&T network to use the phone's wireless internet and music features, but the phone function remained disabled until now.

The YouTube user who hacked the iPhone to work on the Telstra network, "ozbimmer", declined to be interviewed for this story and soon after that deleted the clip from the video sharing site.

The user did not respond to messages asking if the clip was removed following threats from Apple or AT&T.

The clip showed a man performing the hack and making a call over the Telstra network to his voicemail account.

But steps on how to unlock the phone can still be found in a message ozbimmer posted to the hackint0sh online message board.

It involves creating a custom SIM card using information taken from both the AT&T SIM card that comes with the iPhone and a Telstra SIM card.

The hack is not a simple process and requires a SIM card reader and writer and various software applications.

Ozbimmer acknowledged the hack was not a complete unlock, but it is a significant milestone for the iPhone hacking community, which has collaborated on unlocking the device since its release in the United States on June 29.

The collaboration has been facilitated by forums such as hackint0sh.org and the iPhone dev wiki, where hackers pool the results of their attempts.

Unlocking the iPhone is proving more difficult than many hackers had expected; many said they would have unlocked the device within weeks but it could now take months.

Last week, Apple announced it had sold 270,000 iPhones in the two days following its launch, and reiterated its goal of selling 10 million by the end of next year. It took nearly two years for Apple to sell one million iPods.

Speculation is rife over which mobile carrier, if any, will win exclusive rights to distribute the iPhone in Australia when it launches here next year.

Telstra is considered to be a frontrunner because the iPhone lacks 3G support but is compatible with EDGE networks (also known as 2.5G), and Telstra is presently the only operator in Australia to use EDGE technology.

However, Telstra may lose its advantage after analysts predicted Apple would launch a 3G version of the iPhone early next year.

Furthermore, it is understood that negotiations between local carriers and Apple are still in their very early stages, as Apple is concentrating first on launching the iPhone in Europe by the end of the year.

Authored by: Huss This question has been viewed 4316 times so far.

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