The New Jersey teenager who managed to successfully “force” Apple’s iPhone into working with T-mobile’s network- thus shattering AT&T’s exclusivity for the Cupertino-crafted gadget- struck a hell of deal for just one phone.
Ok, I agree, it’s *the* phone, the UniquePhone, call it as you like, but is it really worth exchanging it for a brand new Nissan 350Z, plus not one, but three 8GB AT&T-locked iPhones?
George Hotz, one of the representatives of the new, tech-savvy generation that builds up YouTube’s or Facebook’s audience, made a historic claim last week on his blog, saying that with help from his buddies he successfully eradicated AT&T’s dominance from iPhone’s SIM, forcing the craved gadget to accept calls run through T-mobile’s network.
Since we’re talking about one of humanity’s most important technological quests today (the unlocking of the iPhone), the media frenzy around Hotz’s daring deed (which would not have been possible without the cooperation of geeks like “jpetrie-the first donater“ “gray-the reversing genius”, and “iProof- who is truly amazing at finding stuff online”) could not have been more intense, with Hotz already giving interviews and being quoted on a lot of other sites.
However, it’s not celebrity Hotz wanted. He wanted a Nissan 350Z. And he got it, just like that. Apparently, from Terry Daidone, the founder of Certicell, who contacted Hotz and proposed him the “mutually” profitable exchange: “I give you three new 8GB iPhones and a car, you give me that marvelous unlocked iPhone”…Hm, I wonder, would anyone envy Hotz right now?
But wait, there’s more. According to his blog posting, he is now an employee of not only Certicell, but also Puremobile, although he is a high-school freshment:
“I will be doing consulting work for Certicell and Puremobile in the little bit of free time I have. My project for now is a GPS for the iPhone that uses triangluation from the cell phone towers. I believe the towers are public record and you can use an AT command to get signal strengh.”
He left for college on August 26, saying “this has been a great end to a great summer.” I bet…
Hotz also described the tools required to unlock the iPhone, which include a trusty case opener, a soldering iron, fine pitch wire, and an unlock switch.
