Month: October 2009

New Tool by GeoHot to Jailbreak All iDevices

You remember GeoHot? He was the 18 y/o kid who was the first to unlock the first gen iPhone back in 2007. More recently, GeoHot released PurpleRa1n, which was the first jailbreak method for the iPhone 3GS running OS 3.0. In other words, the kid is a little genius...

Lucky for us, GeoHot is back at it and this time, he decided that just jailbreaking the iPhone 3GS was not challenging enough so he took on the task to release a tool that will jailbreak all iDevices: iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS, iPod Touch 1G, 2G, and 3G.

In a blog post called "Meet the Family"  (see picture above), GeoHot says it all in just a few words: "And prepare to meet the program that will jailbreak them all."

This great new comes just a few days after the Dev Team released its own jailbreak for the iPhone 3GS 3.1 and iPod Touch 2G 3.1.1; a jailbreak which still prevents iPhone 3GS users to jailbreak if they updated their iPhones to 3.1 without pwning it first. This is obviously a big problem for many users who had updated to 3.1 and are now stuck there without being able to jailbreak (even though there are some tricky workarounds).

GeoHot doesn't have a name for the tool yet. We actually don't know much about what it will do besides that we know it will "jailbreak them all". Will it work on both Mac and PC? We don't know but I do think it will.

The big question is "when". When will this tool be released? GeoHot said on Twitter he's got an ETA of 2 days. I really can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeves and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

As usual, I will keep you updated as the news come. You can always refer to our jailbreak section for the most up-to-date info on jailbreaking.

Isn't that some good news?

How to Jailbreak iPod Touch 2G 3.1.1

A few days ago was the release of the iPod Touch 2G jailbreak for 3.1.1 (as well as other devices). There is a bit of confusion because the Dev Team's blog post says you must be pwned before jailbreaking. I'm sure a lot of people (like me) demonstrated the sad smiley to perfection when they read this. Luckily, there is a way to jailbreak it.

You'll need the 3.0 firmware, RedSn0w, 3.1.1 firmware, and the latest PwnageTool. All these are available from the download page.

Here is a step-by-step guide/tutorial on how to jailbreak your iPod Touch 2G 3.1.1:

How to Unlock iPhone 3GS 3.1

This step-by-step guide and tutorial will show you how to unlock your iPhone 3GS running OS 3.1 using UltraSn0w. This is a very simple method that requires only a few steps.

Step 1: You have to jailbreak your iPhone 3GS by following one of these tutorials.

Step 2: Once jailbroken, follow these steps:

Launch Cydia. Add the following source to Cydia repo666.ultrasn0w.com (note there is a “0″ in sn0w, not an “o”). After installing this source in Cydia, search for “ultraSn0w”. Install UltraSn0w and reboot your iPhone.

Tha'ts as simple as that!

How to Jailbreak iPhone 3GS 3.1 on Windows Tutorial

This step-by-step guide and tutorial will show you how to jailbreak firmware 3.1 for iPhone 3GS using a Windows PC. If you have a Mac, you might as well follow this tutorial.

This guide is just a workaround as there is no official iPhone 3GS 3.1 jailbreak tool for Windows yet. We are going to get a custom firmware cooked on a Mac machine and install it on your iPhone 3GS on a PC. This is a safe and simple way to update your iPhone 3GS to a custom jailbroken 3.1 firmware.

Jailbreak iPhone 3GS 3.1 PwnageTool Tutorial

This tutorial is a step-by-step guide that will show you how to jailbreak OS 3.1 for your iPhone 3GS using PwnageTool for Mac OS X.

PwnageTool will be used to create a custom firmware (also called custom IPSW). After creating the custom firmware, we will restore your iPhone 3GS in iTunes using this firmware. A custom IPSW is needed in order to avoid updating the baseband, which would render any software unlock impossible, at least for the time being.

Please read the next 2 notes over and over and over again... Seriously, please make sure you read and understand the following:

Note 1: PwnageTool does not support the 3GS out of the box. If your iPhone 3GS has 3.1 preinstalled and is not Pwned then there is no tested jailbreak solution at the moment. In other words, if you are on a pwned version of 3.0 or 3.0.1 (either using PwnageTool, RedSn0w, or PurpleRa1n), then you are fine; just follow this tutorial. If you updated to 3.1, you will have to wait for another method. We don't know when this other method will be available.

Note 2: there is no Windows version at the moment. We have no indication about when a Windows jailbreak will be available.

This post was written on 10/02/09. For the latest information about jailbreaking, visit our jailbreak section.

As usual, proceed with caution. You are doing this at your own risk...

iPhone 3GS 3.1 Jailbreak is Out

It is official! The iPhone 3GS jailbreak for OS 3.1 announced yesterday and confirmed earlier today is out, compliments of the Dev Team.

The iPhone 3GS is now supported in PwnageTool 3.1.3, assuming the phone was pwned at 3.0 or 3.0.1 - PwnageTool does not support the 3GS out of the box. If your iPhone 3GS has 3.1 preinstalled and is not Pwned then there is no tested jailbreak solution at the moment.

This means that if you updated to 3.1 or if you bought your iPhone 3GS with OS 3.1 already installed, you will not be able to jailbreak. However, if you are on a pwned version of 3.0 or 3.0.1 (either using PwnageTool, RedSn0w, or PurpleRa1n), then you are fine.

Good news for iPod Touch 2G users! PwnageTool will also support this device.

The iPod 2G is now supported in PwnageTool 3.1.3, assuming the iPod 2G was pwned at 3.0 or 3.0.1 - PwnageTool does not support the iPod 2G with 3.1 software out of the box.

PwnageTool is for Mac OS X only. There is no Windows version yet but let's hope the Dev Team works on this in the near future.

I will be working on a tutorial and post it on the blog asap. Visit the Dev Team blog for full information on the release.

iPhone 3GS 3.1 Jailbreak & Unlock Confirmed. PwnageTool On Its Way

Dev Team member MuscleNerd confirmed earlier today what we reported yesterday: a jailbreak for iPhone 3GS 3.1 coming soon.

It seems that there is a bit of confusion around this and people aren't sure whether they will be able to jailbreak or unlock their iPhone 3GS.

From what I understand, here is the situation (note that I might be wrong, in which case, please correct me by adding a comment):

if you are still on 3.0 or 3.0.1 and your baseband is still 04.26.08, then there is no problem at all for you. You will be able to jailbreak and unlock by using PwnageTool and creating a custom firmware that will not update your baseband. if your iPhone 3GS is already on 3.1, you won't be able to jailbreak or unlock yet but the Dev Team is working on your case.

As usual in this case, we will be spreading the news as it becomes available.

For the latest information about the iPhone 3GS jailbreak and unlock, please refer to the following articles:

jailbreak iPhone 3.1 unlock iPhone 3.1

Please leave a comment should you have any question or concern.

UPDATE: I wrote a tutorial on how to jailbreak the iPhone 3GS 3.1 with PwnageTool.

AT&T Loophole + Google Voice = Free Calls On Your iPhone

You may have heard of the new AT&T add-on called A-List that gives you unlimited calls to and from 5 numbers of your choice. Thanks to a little bit of thinking outside the box, and mostly thanks to Google Voice, you can actually get unlimited calling to any numbers in the US.

For those of you who don't know how Google Voice works, let me explain briefly. Google Voice gives you a free phone number that entitles you to free calls in the US (and very cheap calls overseas). If you try to make a call from the Google Voice app on your iPhone (or the web-based version), Google Voice will call you at your number and connect you to the number you dialed. I'm not sure if that makes sense but basically, when you use Google Voice for calls, you don't get free calls, minutes are taken off your plan, which kinda defeats the whole purpose.

Here is how the loophole works. Simply add your Google Voice number to your A-List. Now every time Google Voice calls you to connect the call with the dialed number, it will be free of charge and you'll be able to call anyone in the US for free (really free).

I'm not sure this is very clear but Google Voice users will surely understand and see the benefits of this little trick. Let's just hope AT&T doesn't figure this one out and puts an end to it.

Do you use Google Voice? If so, you should definitely look into it...

Thanks kper for sending us this tip.

iPhone 3GS 3.1 Jailbreak Coming Soon

It seems that the Dev Team finally managed to jailbreak OS 3.1 for the iPhone 3GS! Dev Team member cpich3g tweeted the following info earlier today:

3gs 3.0 pwned->3.1 pwned. Props to Musclenerd, Wizdaz and thanks Bumble-Bee & ToddJG for testing. tinyurl.com/y8sr4p3 tinyurl.com/y8z277l

The 2 links take you to screenshots (see image above) showing firmware 3.1 running along with baseband 04.26.08. In other words, it means that they managed to jailbreak 3.1 without updating the baseband, which means that the iPhone 3GS can also be unlocked using UltraSn0w.

So what's next? I guess the Dev Team will write an official post on their blog soon to announce the iPhone 3GS jailbreak for OS 3.1. Then they will most likely release an update of PwnageTool and UltraSn0w.

Of course, I will post more info as it becomes available.

FlightTrack: a $5 App Can Save You a $200 Flight

Last weekend, my fiancé and I went to San Francisco for our friends' wedding. We had a flight out of San Diego at 9.40am, which is awfully early for me as it doesn't give me enough time to do my daily online routine. Anyways.

So we get at the airport about an hour before departure and I see a huge security line and while Tina is taking her time to look at the monitors to find out what gate we have to go to, I just take a quick glance at it and see "Gate 7". I grab Tina and tell her to hurry.