tequila bomb

Just a quick post before I gotto bed, the iPod Nano hasn’t been “jailbroken” as some sites claim, I do not have root access over the device. I did not “install” an app. I figured out how to remove them and insert a blank space into the springboard.

What I have also done is figured out a way for the iPod to boot with modified files (eg the SpingBoard Plist), bypassing the procedure it takes to stop this, I hope this will allow us to figure out a way to jailbreak it. I am primarily focusing on exposing some of the (for now) hidden features of the device.

The hack is simple. It may lead to greater things. I just don’t want people getting their hopes up that’s it’s jailbroken just yet or what I have done to be blown out of proportion.

I’ll write up more tomorrow. Any questions, contact me on twitter: @jwhelton

I’ve emailed Steve three times asking for an iPod Nano SDK! He’s got the emails. I know he’s got the emails. But he must have been too busy to get back to me!

Consequently I am very much looking forward to more revelations from Mr. Whelton. In the meantime here’s a video…

Microsoft’s Brandon Watson reached out to the ChevronWP7 team, which recently released a Windows Phone 7 unlocking tool, and opened a line of discussion about homebrew app development. As a sign of good faith during the conversations, which could ultimately lead to some kind of homebrew support from Microsoft, ChevronWP7 has agreed to pull its unlocker tool.

Rest assured that the gloves will come off if the talks don’t pan out.

It seems odd that Microsoft would consider helping developers build apps with capabilities not allowed under Microsoft’s developer terms.

Not really odd. I touched on this some time ago.

Microsoft is a software company. They need their App Store to succeed. And they are well aware that right now they don’t have any where near the consumer numbers or the lock in juju that Apple has with the App Store.

Nor do they have the raw handset profits that Apple does; which in many ways mean that Apple could forgo having an App Store and still make money.

If Microsoft are smart they will try to embrace the Windows Phone 7 homebrew community on any terms. Unfortunately “Smart” and “Microsoft” are not often words that occupy the same sentence.

Let’s not forget that in other news Microsoft is apparently quite happy to put a 360 hacker in jail for a few years if necessary, over similar hacking activities. If the ruling on iPhone jailbreaking (and it’s legality in the US) had gone another way ChevronWP7 might have found themselves in court, rather than sitting across a table from Microsoft – albeit probably very briefly.

[H]ackers have already gained root access Windows Phone 7′s registry and file system — their methods simply aren’t yet bundled up in a nice little user-friendly package.

This is hardly news. It was inevitable.

What interests me though, is the effect this will have on Microsoft’s online store. Locking people into a curated store experience, like Apple’s App Store in iTunes, is something that I believe your Microsoft traditionalists (who are going to be the core people buying and evangelising these devices – at least initially) are not going to be so easy to convince to agree to.

Plus, with Windows Phone 7 being wide open so early into the market, it seems to me that Windows Phone 7 Cydia clones may well gain traction more quickly than Microsoft’s App Store is able to.

I think we may see Microsoft have to become a lot more draconian than Apple has ever been about App Store lock-ins. Perhaps they plan to leverage a similar system to their XBox Live subscription gaming network for their mobile phone eco-system? And perhaps they hope that will lock people in. But we already know that the gamers tastes on mobile devices are very very different to those on console networks. So I am not sure how much leverage a tie in to XBox Live is really going to gain Microsoft.

Will Microsoft dare drop the “ban-hammer” on jail-broken Windows Phones? I doubt it. But it’s fun to think about!

Recently, T-Mobile released the HTC G2, their latest Android handset, and it’s got a trick up its sleeves Apple’s iOS engineers must be dying for: a little wafer of silicon that makes the handset effectively jailbreak proof.

…

It’s too early to say if Android’s jailbreakers will find a way around this limitation, but the Dev Team would do well to pay attention anyway: this might be the next hurdle they have to deal with.

Firstly, it will be exploited.

Secondly, Apple like to sell hardware. They will always do all they can in software to maintain control. But I think it is very unlikely, in the current world we live in, that they would want to jeopardise the massive hardware sales they see in unofficial markets with a truly air-tight device.

Almost in unison with Apple releasing iOS 4.1, iOS tinkerer pod2g announced a bootrom exploit that will allow the jailbreaking community access to the innards of the California company’s mobile operating system. The exploit will eventually facilitate the next wave of iDevice jailbreaking, and isn’t something that can be plugged with a simple software update; Apple would have to flash a new bootrom to iPhones, etc. before they leave the factory.

In an update to that piece BGR are quoting a source who is “familiar” with the exploit as saying that Apple would need “a whole new processor rev.” to patch this.

I am sceptical of that second bit. But it’s not my field. So I will keep my comments to myself.

If the various analyses detect someone who is not authorized to use the device, it could set off a number of automated features designed to protect the device’s data, suss out the offending party, and alert the device owner. Sensitive data could be backed up to a remote server and the device could be wiped. The device could automatically snap pictures of the unauthorized user and record the GPS coordinates of the device, as well as log keystrokes, phone calls, or other activity. That information could be sent along with an alert to any useful service, such as e-mail, voicemail, Twitter, Facebook, or a “cloud service” like MobileMe.

Some cool stuff there. Should certainly impress the enterprise boys.

Some bloggers (not Ars) are theorizing that Apple may be planning to lock users with Jailbroken devices out of their iPhones. This is a pretty stupid assertion, as not only is jailbreaking now “officially” deemed legal in the US, it was never illegal anywhere else anyway. So persecuting those users would be hard to get away with, not to mention counterproductive for Apple who really simply want to sell hardware.

But what it may mean is that Apple could follow Microsoft’s lead with its XBox Live service and ban jail-broken devices from services for which it provides bandwidth. Like Game Center for example. If it ever takes off.

We’re happy to tell you that our ultrasn0w carrier unlock now supports the iPhone4!

This jailbreak will work on all iOS devices including the iPad and iPhone 4 with iOS 4.0 and 4.01. It will not work on iOS devices running the iOS 4.1 beta. Even Facetime and MMS appear to stay intact – except in a few rare cases.

Owners of the iPhone will be able to legally break electronic locks on their devices in order to download software applications that haven’t been approved by Apple Inc., according to new government rules announced Monday.

It’s one of those things that will be trumpeted as a triumph of freedom over DRM. After that the impact it has on our daily lives will be absolutely zero. Those that are willing to jailbreak, already have done. Those that weren’t going to, still won’t.

In addition to jailbreaking, other exemptions announced Monday would:

- allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their phones in order to switch wireless carriers.

- allow people to break technical protections on video games to investigate or correct security flaws.

- allow college professors, film students and documentary filmmakers to break copy-protection measures on DVDs so they can embed clips for educational purposes, criticism, commentary and noncommercial videos.

- allow computer owners to bypass the need for external security devices called dongles if the dongle no longer works and cannot be replaced.

I can see the logic behind a lot of these though. Particularly the dongle “clause”.