10 posts and columns on jailbreak

RIM Investigating Release of Tool That Could Make PlayBook Actually Interesting

in Mobile on December 6, 2011 at 10:59 am PT

The Canadian mobile device maker said it may issue a software update to address the jailbreak software.
blackberry-playbook-amateur-hour-is-over

Apple on Jailbreak Ruling: Go Ahead and Brick Your iPhone. See If We Care.

in Mobile on July 27, 2010 at 8:45 am PT

Sure, jailbreaking your iPhone no longer violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but that doesn’t mean Apple supports it. So if you want to modify your iPhone to run unauthorized software, you’re welcome to do so, but not without risk or consequence. As Apple reminds us today, jailbreaking voids the iPhone’s warranty, which could prove problematic if your tinkering bricks it.

News Byte

An Emancipation Proclamation for the iPhone

in News on July 26, 2010 at 9:44 am PT

With a single pen stroke, it looks like the federal government may have blown the closed Apple iPhone ecosystem wide open (at least for the tinkering crowd). In their periodic updating of exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s prohibitions again circumventing copyright protections, the Librarian of Congress and the Copyright Office today ruled that it is lawful for mobile phone users to “jailbreak” their devices in order to use apps not approved by the manufacturer and to unlock their phones in order to change carriers (though there are barriers other than the DMCA to both practices). More on this to come as we await comment from Apple, which had maintained that jailbreaking was illegal, although it has never pressed the issue in court.

Using An iPhone 4 Overseas and Domestically

in Mossberg’s Mailbox on July 7, 2010 at 4:31 pm PT

Walter answers readers’ questions on using the new iPhone 4 overseas and domestically on different carriers.

Voices

App Watch: Exploiting the iPhone Lock Screen

in News on December 14, 2009 at 8:26 am PT

Most iPhone app developers work with Apple to get their products in the iPhone App Store, submitting software for the company’s approval. But a community of maverick developers sidesteps that process to target iPhones that have been modified–or “jailbroken”–so they can download any program even if it is unauthorized.

iPhone Jailbreaking is Illegal. No It's Not. Who Cares?

in News on February 13, 2009 at 2:42 pm PT

We hold these truths to be self evident: That as long as Apple’s iPhone is locked, there will be those who wish it open. And that as long as this is the case, iPhones will be jailbroken and outfitted with third-party applications not vetted by Apple. And this will remain so regardless of whether or not Apple manages to convince the U.S. Copyright Office that jailbreaking an iPhone is copyright infringement.

iPhone Jailbreaking is Illegal. No It’s Not. Who Cares?

in News on February 13, 2009 at 2:42 pm PT

We hold these truths to be self evident: That as long as Apple’s iPhone is locked, there will be those who wish it open. And that as long as this is the case, iPhones will be jailbroken and outfitted with third-party applications not vetted by Apple. And this will remain so regardless of whether or not Apple manages to convince the U.S. Copyright Office that jailbreaking an iPhone is copyright infringement.

Apple HQ on Defcon 1 Tantrum Alert After iPhone 2.0 Crack

in News on March 12, 2008 at 9:47 am PT

Well, this certainly throws a bit of a wet blanket on Apple’s (AAPL) aspirations for the iPhone in enterprise. The iPhone Dev Team, the folks responsible for the notorious iPhone jailbreaks, have cracked iPhone 2.0–before the software has even shipped. After decrypting the version of 2.0 included in the recently released iPhone SDK, the Dev [...]

iBricked

in News on September 28, 2007 at 11:00 am PT

iBrokeIt (Updated)

in News on September 28, 2007 at 5:01 am PT

Turns out “irreparable damage” was a fairly apt description for what Apple’s latest iPhone firmware update does to modified or unlocked iPhones. Issued yesterday afternoon, iPhone 1.1.1 update does indeed play havoc with modified iPhones, particularly those that have been hacked to work on non-AT&T networks. It wipes out all unsupported third-party applications and disables [...]