Story here. There are apparently at least 2 different methods that will work.
I wonder how this will change the marketplace.
The guy who did this has put his hacked phone on ebay and bids are over $12,000
Excellent. I believe that locking phones to carriers is illegal in some countries. Like DVD region coding and video-game region coding, IMHO it should be considered an illegal restraint of trade.
Of course, Apple is under no obligation to support an unlocked phone…
I just heard on the news that the ebay price is over $16K! Why?
Anyway, I wonder what, if anything, ATT is going to offer to keep those of us who have their service (fine, so far) from switching?
Some services will pay the penalty to get your business.
Peace,
mangeorge
One wonders why Apple even cares which carrier we use. I would have considered the Iphone if it would allow me to use the carrier of my choice.
Because they struck a deal with AT&T. They forked over a lot of money to Apple to get first dibs at a phone they knew a LOT of people would buy, and therefore have to pay them for the service.
Indeed this kid spent his summer vacation well. $16K? That seems like a tidy profit to me. Now, I can’t imagine why any numbnuts would want to spend that much for it, but Kudos to the little tyke for his efforts and I hope he uses the money for college.
Why will someone pay so much?
Surely you’ll soon be able to have it done for a pittance.
Another method – this one software-only – is supposed to emerge today (on this website which is active but apparently not yet opened to the public). They’ll apparently charge for the service, but it’ll be cheaper than the hardware mod. 
Of course, you still need a TurboSIM.
Not necessarily. This is something I could do easily, with almost no cost other than the hardware to be modified. It’s good to be a tech. 
He’s advertising it as something someone might because it’s the famous 2nd unlocked iPhone and not for someone’s personal use. Still stupid.
Good for the kid. I thought that the AT&T only setup was an assholish move by Apple, and though it seems that the only other carrier you can use is T-Mobile, hopefully this will teach Apple a lesson. They’ll probably sell a lot more, and would have, if they didn’t tie it to AT&T (for instance, I would have bought one if it worked on the Sprint network).
Alot of the AT&T only deal was “creative control” over the phone. Whatever apple thought up for the phone that was feasible AT&T said, “We’ll do it”. Most of the other companies wanted control over offered features/some design… Apple didnt want that. . . Thats what I gather from my insane forum reading about the iphone all the time…
Is this the eBay auction?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230164884672
Beause now it’s $51,000. Which is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen, almost.
ETA: Just looked at the kid’s blog - that bid is likely fraudulent. He is now asking people who really want to buy it to call him instead to verify that they actually want the phone.
He pulled the auction for some reason. I’d wager fake bidding.
The main reason I want an iPhone is the features - will they work on the hacked phone? I want all the cool things to perform as they were designed to.
According to the linked story, one function related to voice mail stops functioning. Everything else works.
I wonder how long before he’s hired by Apple or AT&T?
I wonder how long before he’s sued by Apple or AT&T…
The kid’s blog: http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/ says he traded the phone for a car and 3 8b iPhones.
Sued for what?
I wondered too, but couldn’t think od anything. Is illegal to modify a phone, as long as you don’t offend the FCC? To put other than OEM tires on your Ford?
It’s just a mod, and I can even sell it, IMO.