iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Thursday, October 11, 2007
News Category: iPhone

A new “jailbreak” process, allowing for installation of third-party software on both iPhone and iPod touch units running software v1.1.1 and first discovered by members of the iPhone Dev Team, has been confirmed by Engadget and has been posted online. While the process is still very technical, and not ready for widespread use, it does represent a large technical hurdle overcome, particularly in the case of the iPod touch, which up until now has been unable to run any third-party native software. It has been confirmed that the iPhone’s Mail and Maps applications, along with other third-party applications, are now running on the iPod touch.

Alongside these developments, iPhoneSimFree, makers of a commercial iPhone unlocking solution, have announced an unlock solution for phones running software v1.1.1, as well as an “unbricking” process for iPhone owners who saw their previously unlocked devices rendered inoperable by the 1.1.1 software update. It is worth noting that the solutions being offered by iPhoneSimFree rely on the same TIFF exploit used in the new “jailbreak” process; this exploit, found in MobileSafari, also poses a security risk, and as such is likely to be “fixed” by Apple in a future software update.