Sometimes the most simple things are those that work the best. That's exactly what Sherif Hashim illustrates with his little workaround to activate an iPhone without the original SIM card.
Simply using a $3 PhoneBook card, a SIM card usually used to transfer your contacts from one phone to another, Sherif was able to activate 2 iPhones.
Check out the video below to see how it works. Warning: sound is terrible!
We know the Dev Team is working hard on the iPhone 4 unlock. They have actually been pretty successful at it, as PlanetBeing was able to demonstrate last week. The problem the Dev Team is now facing is the number of fake iPhone hackers trying to impersonate them on Facebook or Twitter.
Those fakes often give misleading or wrong information. They clearly want to spread bad information, often with download links to malware.
MuscleNerd and the Dev Team made it clear today in a blog post that you should be very careful with what you see or read online. Basically, there are just a few people you can trust: @MuscleNerd, @PlanetBeing, @iPhone_Dev, and @Ultrasn0w.
To make things easier for you, you can simply follow me on Twitter, or just read this blog on a regular basis as I always share the latest news about jailbreaking and unlocking.
I also created a Twitter list of iPhone hackers and developers you can trust. You may follow this list here.
As usual, if you have any question or concern, you can always hit me up on Twitter or simply leave a message in the forums.
I read an interesting story a few days ago on MobileCrunch about how the Motorola Droid X actually self-destructs if you try to mod it.
I admit the title of the article sounds more scary than it is in reality but it still makes me worry Apple might soon do the same thing as My Droid World describes:
The eFuse is coded with information that it either looks for or is passed to it from the bootloader. The bootloader is loaded with information it looks for when it begins the boot-up process. [...]
Once the the eFuse verifies that the information it is looking for or that has been passed through to it by the bootloader is correct then the boot process continues. [...]
If the eFuse failes to verify this information then the eFuse receives a command to "blow the fuse" or "trip the fuse". This results in the booting process becoming corrupted and resulting in a permanent bricking of the Phone.
A hardware fix is needed to get the phone back on once the eFuse has been activated.
I wonder if Apple will implement this at some point in the future. We know Apple is against jailbreaking and unlocking so that might be a way to put an end to it all... at least until some smart hackers figure out a way to bypass this.
What do you think?
In his presentation yesterday, Steve Jobs made it clear that all smartphones drop bars. According to Apple, the iPhone is unlike every other phone on the market - except when there is a problem - and that's what Steve Jobs demonstrated by using a BlackBerry, a Samsung, and an HTC phone as points of comparison.
These claims and comparisons made by Steve were just enough to get RIM (Blackberry) and Nokia on this situation.
Here is RIM's response (my personal favorite):
Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation.
RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage.
One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.
And here is Nokia's response:
Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design.
I understand Steve Jobs used big names because he wanted to get his point across but this kind of responses were bound to happen. Does it really matter in the end? Let's be honest here, who really cares about what Blackberry or Nokia say anymore?
I don't know how valid the tests made on BB, Samsung and HTC were but Jobs did the right thing for the company. He successfully demonstrated that just like every other smartphone on the market, the iPhone 4 has weaknesses.
What's your take on it?
Yesterday Steve Jobs announced that Apple will be giving away free cases to iPhone 4 owners, a move that will certainly appease most of us. I'd like to get your feeling about the whole situation though. Could you please take the poll below and tell us what you think. Make sure to leave a comment if you have more to say.
Are you satisfied with the "free case for all" solution to the iPhone 4 antenna issue?online survey
Apple just posted the full video of the conference they held today at their Cupertino's campus.
You can watch the video here.
So, what did we learn about the iPhone 4 today?
Someone made a cool song out of it Steve Jobs admits Apple is not perfect Apple sold 3 million iPhone 4 in 3 weeks The iPhone 4 has the highest customer satisfaction rating of any smartphone Other smartphones also drop bars The return rate on the iPhone 3GS at AT&T stores was 6%, it is 1.7% on the iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 drops one more call per hundred than the iPhone 3GS Only 0.55% of all iPhone 4 owners called Apple to complain about the antenna Apple invested $100 M in antenna test facilities Apple will give cases away to iPhone 4 owners If you're still not happy, bring back your iPhone 4 for a full refund Next iOS update will fix the proximity sensor issue The White iPhone 4 will start shipping at the end of the month Apple loves their users Steve Jobs was on vacation in Hawaii and came back for the conference Steve Jobs doesn't use a Bumper on his iPhone Antenna issue? There's a site for that Watch the conference videoNot sure you understand why your iPhone 4 drops signal bars? There's a web page for that, and it's on Apple's website. The photos and videos posted on this page will demonstrate how different grips cause attenuation on many popular smartphones, including iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS.
At the conference about the iPhone 4 antenna issue today, Apple announced that it will be giving away free cases to iPhone 4 owners. Even though they don't admit that the iPhone 4 has a problem with the antenna, Apple said they do all this because they love their users.
If you look at the transcript of the conference, it's actually clear that "we love our users" was the message Apple wanted to get across.
When asked if Apple had learned anything from this debacle, Steve Jobs replied:
There are some things we know that we did learn here. One thing is how much we love our customers and how we are going to take care of them. We were stunned and upset and embarrassed by the Consumer Reports stuff, and the reason we didn’t say more is because we didn’t know enough. If we’d have done this event a week and a half ago, we wouldn’t have had half the data we have today.
Hmm. I have a hard time believing Apple would have done anything if Consumer Reports hadn't brought the antenna issue to the mainstream. After all, Steve was pretty quick at telling people the iPhone had no problem at all and that we were holding it wrong. He didn't seem to need any "data" at the time.
Besides, what kind of data does Apple have right now? The fact the iPhone 4 drops only one call per 100 more than the iPhone 3GS? Did it take Apple 3 weeks to figure this out? If anything, this data should prove that the iPhone 4 antenna is worse than the 3GS'.
When Ryan Block from GDGT asked how does touching the corner with a single finger seem to cause this issue? It’s not just a grip, it can just happen by touching a single finger. Bob Mansfield replied, completely avoiding the answer:
Your body is a pretty effective signal absorber. When you make contact with that phone, its performance in contact with you is less than its freespace performance. It’s a way to attenuate the signal by some amount.
This doesn't answer the question. Apple can demonstrate how other smartphones drop signal by gripping them but you don't need to grip your iPhone 4 to make it drop signal. You just need to put one finger on it.
To me Apple didn't address the issue at all today. They didn't admit their product was flawed. All they are doing is calming people down with free cases.
Today, I don't believe Apple when they say they care about their users. Ultimately, the only thing they care about is putting an end to this publicity massacre.
What do you think?
Asked if Apple will change the future design of the iPhone antenna, Steve replied:
We’re still working on this, we’re happy with the design. We’re getting a lot of reports from customers that it’s way better than the 3GS. I don’t know what our next antenna design will be — maybe our wizards in the antenna lab will come up with something better. But looking at the data, we don’t think we have a problem.
Does it answer the question? Not really. Only time will tell.
At an emergency conference about the iPhone 4 antenna issue, Steve Jobs announced today that the White iPhone 4 will start shipping at the end of July in limited quantities.
Apple previously said the White iPhone would be available mid July. Even though the sales numbers are impressive, I think the iPhone 4 launch has been disastrous and very sloppy.
I guess I was right... once again. In a move aimed at pleasing every iPhone 4 customer, Apple just announced they are giving away cases to every iPhone 4 owner.
Apple doesn't make enough Bumpers to satisfy the demand so instead of giving us Bumpers, they will give us the option to choose from several cases (including the Bumper). If you bought a Bumper before, guess what, you will get a refund!
You'll be able to apply on Apple's website to order your free case starting at the end of next week.
[Image Engadget]