With the iPhone 4.0 OS coming very soon I decided to Jailbreak my 3.1.3 3Gs while I still had the chance. I did some research and found that with my model iPhone (MC) combined with the Modem Firmware (05.12.01), I only had one option.

Spirit.

I had a really good read on how to do it, what complications could arise (and how to fix them) and decided to tale the plunge. After all, I could simply restore the iPhone with iTunes if anything went wrong and come out the other side no worse than I left off. So I downloaded the Spirit Jailbreak and ran the program.

Was I suprised? YES!

The entire Jailbreak (which comprises of advantage being taken of a security loophole in the Apple software) took 10 seconds! Amazing to say the least. In that time the hack App store Cydia had been installed which gives access to Apps that Apple wish had never been written.

• Change themes
• Enable Bluetooth file transfers (Wouldn’t work on mine – stack issues)
• Change Fonts
• Change message alert tones
• Enable internet tethering without a tethered data plan (also with the possibility of creating a Wifi hotspot!)
• Access to pirate Apps intended to be paid for through the Apple App Store (A service NOT supplied by Cydia or Spirit)
• Plus MUCH more…

Now I must stress at this point that I am not condoning this practice. I merely tried it to see what all the fuss was about. I have to say for my needs the Apple software provided with the iPhone is more than necessary and I regularly happily pay for Apps knowing that 90% of the revenue goes back to the App designers – Plus I still get excited when updates are released for Apps I’ve paid for!

When 4.0 is released I’ll be going back to the official Apple OS. Until then I’m going to keep on hacking!

PS. The Spirit hack also works on the iPad!

The fourth-generation iPhone prototype that leaked its way out into the world over the weekend has found its way to Gizmodo, and they’ve examined it exhaustively enough to prove that it’s the real thing. Not only does it show up in iTunes, Xcode, and System Profiler, but it has different product identifiers than the 3G or 3GS, and it’s packed with Apple-labeled components inside. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get it to boot out of recovery mode, but a number of new features and changes are evident just by looking at it. Obviously, it’s thinner than the 3GS, with smaller internal components and a larger battery inside the metal frame. There’s also a front-facing camera, a larger and better camera with a flash on the back, a higher-res display that’s slightly smaller than the current models, a second mic for noise cancellation, and that new back, which Gizmodo seems a bit confused about but is possibly glass or ceramic. It’s also three grams heavier than a 3GS, with a 16 percent larger battery and the same new MicroSIM slot used in the iPad.
It was also told the phone was found running iPhone OS 4.0 but that it was remotely killed before Gizmodo could actually see it, and that they can’t get it to boot because it requires a bespoke build of the OS.

Apple will be surely after this, although there is some speculation as to weather this is a viral campaign to muster a lot of interest in the product again after the much-hyped iPad. It’s probably working.

So yet again Telefonica O2 get exclusive rights to another high profile handset in the UK, presumably setting its competitors even further back in the dust. How will they combat O2 this time? One can only guess. In the mean time O2 will undoubtedly prosper even further from an ever increasing market share of customers flocking for the handsets that everyone wants, the Apple iPhone range and now Palm’s very own Pre. Coming to a store near you on the 16th October 2009, only 2 days after O2 Germany launch their own exclusive on the handset. 

With the continuing rumours of O2 losing the older 8GB iPhone to other networks later this year, will O2 even care? With their portfolio now so strong that whichever network do pick up the lower model, they will only to be seen to be picking up the scraps that O2 left behind?

Handset Comparison – Palm Pre Vs Apple iPhone 3Gs

o2.com

o2.co.uk

3MP Camera

Video Capture

32GB Option

Black or White

Faster Processor

Awesomeness!

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