Few consumers are happy with the partnership between AT&T (NYSE: T) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) wherein AT&T is the sole provider of cellular service for the iPhone. So much so that it took just 2 months for a 17-year old, George Hotz, to hack the iPhone so it can be used with carriers other than AT&T.
Hotz traded his hacked iPhone to CertiCell for a new car (a Nissan 350Z) and three 8GB iPhones, which he plans to send to the three people who helped him hack his iPhone.
CertiCell also offered Hotz a paid consulting job but says they have no plans to commercialize the results of his hacking. Good thing because AT&T has already contacted CertiCell to warn them against using Hotz's discovery.
What do you think about the hacked iPhone? It only took Hotz 500 hours to hack the iPhone. Do you think there is trouble in the air for the profits AT&T planned? What about the relationship between AT&T and Apple? It should be interesting to watch the subsequent events unfold.
From the Catalyst Code blog:
If you buy a mobile phone in Europe, you are not tied to any particular carrier. Yet in the US, all major carriers only sell phones that can only work on their networks. They sell them at a discount and then get back that discount through long-term usage contracts that are tied to the phones. Suppose all phones had to be sold unlocked, perhaps because these ties were declared illegal. Phones would be more expensive, but calling and data services would almost certainly be cheaper. You might see Nokia and Samsung operating retail outlets instead of Verizon and T-Mobile, with the Nokia person giving you a choice of carriers and handling the hook-up process for you. With the power of the carriers reduced, phone makers might be able to solve the hard chicken-and-egg problem that prevents us from using our mobile phones as payment devices, something Japanese consumers have been able to do for some time now.
Here's the link: LINK
Posted by: Bill | August 28, 2007 2:51 PM | Permalink to Comment