Joy of Gadgets

Ok, I was suckered into something I said I wouldn’t do: I actually jaikbroke and unlocked my iPhone. George Hotz, a.k.a. geohot make it so easy with blackra1n. It was a super easy process to do, and if you do a restore, your iPhone is back to its Steve Jobs approved state.

For the most part, I don’t want a jailbroken phone. However, Apple (or is it AT&T?) doesn’t permit the iPhone to be unlocked in the United States. I don’t need that often, but it is handy when I am traveling, which I have done quite a bit lately.

One other thing I can certainly use is the ability to tether, which AT&T still doesn’t officially support. However the blacksn0w also enables the IPCC “hack” that allowed you to download a provisioning file that enables tethering (i.e. using your iPhone as a modem). That’s also useful when traveling, particularly if there isn’t an iPass-compatible WiFi hotspot nearby.

There’s a part of me that feels uneasy about this. Geohot and others like him are finding and exploiting security vulnerabilities in the iPhone to inject code into the phone to make it do things Apple didn’t want you to do. Whereas we usually hear about the “bad” results of security vulnerabilities–and these exploits could be seriously bad in the wrong hands–this actually gives the user more functionality.

Apple will, of course, study these jailbreak tools and find a way to close the security holes they take advantage of. Typical in the game of cat-and-mouse between vendor and hacker. Of course, if Apple had more customer-friendly policies related to unlocking the device and allowing installation of “unapproved” apps, this problem would mostly go away.

Apple could be using these “hackers” to make their phone as secure as possible. Once Apple believe the phones are invulnerable to these kinds of attacks, they could simply provide easy access to device unlock and allow people to install whatever apps they want. People get the functionality they want with a much more secure device to boot. Everyone wins.

That’s just a crackpot theory, of course, and I’m probably wrong about it. I hope I’m not.

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• Enable Tethering on Your iPhone 3G or 3GS Running 3.1.2 [IPhone] (lifehacker.com)
• Dutch Hacker Hijacks iPhones. Offers Owners Fix…for Cash. (thenextweb.com)
• Blacksn0w Tool to Unlock the iPhone 3G and 3GS Coming Soon (techie-buzz.com)
• Blackra1n and Blacksn0w Tutorial to unlock iPhone 3G/3GS (techie-buzz.com)
• PSA from Geohot – iPhone unlock coming (geardiary.com)
• Tutorial: How to Tether on an iPhone 3G or 3GS running OS 3.1.2 (mobilecrunch.com)

The folks at Master Lock are taking the threat of iPod theft or loss very seriously and have come up with an intertesting product: the iCage Locking Skin.

The iCage Locking Skin is durable, lightweight protective skin complete with a 3-digit combination padlock and a flexible cable to make lockdown easier. Despite this, all of the buttons and ports of the supported iPod models can be used when in the iCage.

My question is: where the iCage for the Nokia N95?

Man, oh man, I wrote a lot of stuff this week. Let’s get straight on with it:

• Charge Your iPod With An Onion And Gatorage (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Use Your Nokia N95 As A Lightsaber (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Defensio Launches Comment Spam Filtering Service (From I Got Spam?!)
• Skype 2.0 For Linux Adds Video (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Plastic As Strong As Steel? (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• MAXroam Offering Free Inbound Numbers In More Places (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Feel Getting Pwned By A n00b (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Ways To Deal With Email Spam (From I Got Spam?!)
• Skype For Linux and iSight Camera Is No Go (From The VoIP Weblog)
• 20 Gigabyte Wireless? (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Numbr Expanding Their Service? (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Jangl and JAJAH Bringing Voice 2.0 To The Masses (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Windup Phone Charger Doesn’t Work (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Phishing Without Clicking? (From I Got Spam?!)
• Cubic Mobile, a.k.a. Pirelli DP-L10 (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Yak4Ever No Longer Yakking (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Want A Solio For 20% Off? (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Cubic Mobile, a.k.a. Pirelli DP-L10 (From The Gadgets Weblog) — yes, I did the post both places
• Juketower: Singing In The Shower Goes High-Tech (From The Gadgets Weblog)

This was one of those weeks were I felt “needed”–a lot. It made for a stressful week. Ended the work week on a high note, though, which is always a bonus.

Meanwhile, here’s this week’s rundown of what I’ve written:

• Receiver Initiated Authentication: The Holy Grail Of Spam Filtering? (From I got Spam?!)
• Charge a USB Device By Breathing (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Skype Improved Video Quality–But Only With Logitech Cameras (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Environmentally Friendly Gadgets May Be Less Reliable (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Keyboarding Not Responsible For Carpal Tunnel (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• High Quality Skype Video On The Mac? (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Digital Smoking Won’t Solve The Problem (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Skype Not Always Effective In Hotel Rooms (From The VoIP Weblog)
• How Big Was That Last Earthquake? (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• MaxRoam Has Competition: United Mobile (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Not Your Typical Cup-O-Noodles (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Do Carriers Need UMA? (From The VoIP Weblog)
• VoIPSupply Launches IPCameraSupply.com (From The VoIP Weblog)
• Wearing Fuses Around Your Neck (From The Gadgets Weblog)
• Clever Drawer For Your Wall (From The Gadgets Weblog)

Ran across this. Oh man this looks like an interesting device.

ZTE’s Home Gateway H110 comes standard with an Ethernet and PCMCIA Card Slot for Broadband access [via EVDO/HSDPA], with multiple LAN interfaces including four (4) Ethernet, two (2) FXS, one (1) FXO and (2) USB ports. In addition the H110 supports Bluetooth, Print and File Sharing, multiple VPN/VLAN support, and offers a superior user experience with innovative QoS, and a feature rich GUI. Whether you are at home or on the road, whether it is network computing, entertainment, Internet safety, or voice communication, the H110 Home Gateway provides you the total communication solution.

This could prove to be quite an interesting device. It is a little out of my price range, but it does combine several useful features into a tiny little box, which makes it worth considering.