Apple peeps are free to open source now... Kinda... long live the devs!!!

iPhone jailbreaking (and all cell phone unlocking) made legal

Owners of iPhones and other smartphones are one step closer towards taking complete control of their gadgets, thanks to a new government ruling Monday on the practice of "jailbreaking."

This weekend has seen a flurry of activity about digital rights, but the biggest news dropped Monday morning, when the FCC announced that it had made the controversial practice of “jailbreaking” your iPhone — or any other cell phone — legal.

Jailbreaking — the practice of unlocking a phone (and particularly an iPhone) so it can be used on another network and/or run other applications than those approved by Apple — has technically been illegal for years. Most jailbroken phones are used on the U.S. T-Mobile network or on overseas carriers, or are used to run applications that Apple refuses to sell, such as Safari ad-blocking apps, alternate keyboard layouts, or programs that change the interface to the iPhone's SMS system and the way its icons are laid out.

While technically illegal, no one has been sued or prosecuted for the practice. (Apple does seriously frown on the practice, and jailbreaking your phone will still void your warranty.) It’s estimated that more than a million iPhone owners have jailbroken their handsets.

Apple fought hard against the legalization, arguing that jailbreaking was a form of copyright violation. The FCC disagreed, saying that jailbreaking merely enhanced the inter-operability of the phone, and was thus legitimate under fair-use rules.

The upshot is that now anyone can jailbreak or otherwise unlock any cell phone without fear of legal penalties, whether you want to install unsupported applications or switch to another cellular carrier. Cell phone companies are of course still free to make it difficult for you to do this — and your warranty will probably still be voided if you do — but at least you won’t be fined or imprisoned if you jailbreak a handset.

In addition to the jailbreaking exemption, the FCC announced a few oth er rules that have less sweeping applicability but are still significant:

• Professors, students and documentary filmmakers are now allowed, for “noncommercial” purposes, to break the copy protection measures on DVDs to be used in classroom or other not-for-profit environments. This doesn’t quite go so far as to grant you and me the right to copy a DVD so we can watch it in two rooms of the house, but it’s now only one step away.

• As was the topic in the GE ruling I wrote about, the FCC allows computer owners to bypass dongles (hardware devices used in conjunction with software to guarantee the correct owner is behind the keyboard) if they are no longer in operation and can’t be replaced. Dongles are rarities in consumer technology products now, but industrial users are probably thrilled about this, as many go missing and are now impossible to obtain.

• Finally, people are now free to circumvent protection measures on video games — but, strangely, only to investigate and correct security flaws in those games. (Another oddity: Other computer software is not part of this ruling, just video games.)

Yeah this is great news. But I don't know if AT&T and Apple will change their policies. They'll probably figure a way out to circumvent them and blame the user any way. lol. The good thing is, for the most part, you don't really need to root in Android. You can run the majority of apps without root so root isn't as necessary as a jailbreak is. Here's a good article on what root is for Android:

http://www.androidcentral.com/rooting-it-me-some-qa

Did you guys see the Android tablet being sold at KMart for $150? Wifi, 2GB memory, 256 MB RAM, access to the Google store and runs 2.1 Android.

http://www.geekwithlaptop.com/augen-...-kmart-for-150

jailbreak it.. upgrade to 2.2 and rock it for $150 bucks! I would get one just to watch movies and play music for that price!:thumbsup:

If it had a GPS it would've been an awesome GPS replacement unit in the car. However, for that price its still not too bad as a web surfing device. Now if it could get Froyo and future updates then its a no brainer.

Is there a way to hack it to get Froyo or is it impossible?

I wouldn't say its impossible. I guess it depends. The source code for the device needs to be laid out, especially the drivers. Anyone using Android is required to share their source code under the GPL requirements. If those are all given along with the drivers intact then its an easy porting.


Now, should they not share the drivers, it would be more difficult and time consuming and most devs don't have the time or incapable of disassembling the drivers especially without documentation of the hardware. They could do trial and error with other drivers but its not always going to be successful. Hopefully, this company will give out all details and all a dev has to do is port Froyo over.


HTC uses the same parts in different phones which allowed devs to do trial and error when HTC didn't provide the drivers. This is one reason why the devs prefer HTC over the other phones. If HTC decided to not upgrade an old phone, they can just grab the drivers from the new phone and it would probably work for the most part with a few changes. Compared to Motorola or Samsung, their parts are usually not the same per phone so trial and error with drivers is less successful and harder to upgrade when they don't include their drivers into the source.

Howardforums just did a comparison of the new Sony Super LCDs that are replacing the HTC Desire, Google Nexus One and HTC Droid Incredible that were using AMOLED before to ease up HTC's screen shortage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY6qp...layer_embedded

Source: http://www.howardforums.com/content....-Super-AMOLED?

So it went like this Super AMOLED > Super LCD > AMOLED > LCD. Whats with all the "Super" nomenclature?

^ that's solid info... Sprint still doesn't have EVO's in-stock, online as of yesterday... LOL

Brotha you need to get this device STAT!

OMG, I know Brotha, I am behind a stack of 8 balls... my Pre freezes more now... must be jealous... it knows I am up to somethang! :ninja:

i just installed Froyo 2.2 on my HTC HD2...superb speed and big screen!

That's awesome! I was thinking of picking up an HD2 and hacking it to do a triple boot: WM6, WP7, and Android. How are the speeds with Android on it? Might have to take a look at it again now that they've got Android almost fully working.


Looks like most of the Froyo builds are coming out August. The rumor is that the Droid Incredible, X, and original Droid on Verizon are supposed to be getting Froyo starting August 6 onwards.

http://androidspin.com/2010/07/26/fr...ces-next-week/


There's already an official Froyo build out there on XDA for the Incredible which adds the 720p video recording on the phone and a few other new features:

http://www.androidcentral.com/froyo-...oid-incredible


Finally, an early Froyo build just got leaked for the European Samsung Galaxy S:

http://www.samsung-firmware.webs.com/

It looks like its Froyo but its not tweaked yet. So this means the Captivate and the Vibrant should be getting an update shortly after the official build drops. :wish: If not, I'm sure the devs can rip this one apart and make it for the Captivate and Vibrant.

:thumbsup:

i been running the cm6 froyo for the past 3 days and all i can say is the phone is so much more faster in every aspect. Im able to get 45 mflops :what: there are a few items that need to be worked out like 4g but since most places dont have 4g yet its not high on his list. I cant wait for a full release. I just need to get my fps up which im currently at 30.

CM6 RC1 is pretty stable. I'm running RC2 on my Ion and they added some new cool features like the music control on the lockscreen and some other small new details I've been noticing. I haven't been able to make it crash yet although I felt as if RC1 maybe have been a tad bit faster but all my benchmarks say otherwise. So maybe its just all the apps I have installed. lol.


So apparently, another Froyo test build for the Samsung just got leaked a few hours ago correcting some of the problems that the first leak had. Flash is now fully working but it looks like it still has room for optimizations:

New firmware test build:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY2AsoVRywk


Earlier firmware test build:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2oWELcd-lI

The TouchWiz UI doesn't look all that bad. I like how you can turn off wifi, bluetooth, gps, and lock the rotate screen by just pulling down the notification window instead of having a separate widget. The colors in the menu settings are a nice touch too. Although, that could easily be done with some theming in other ROMs.

I don't know why this guy hasn't got the update, but the SERO plan will be able to add the smart phones starting on Oct 1st. i even verified it with a employee rep and have a note in my account. I will be able to go back to my SERO plan. The thing is its the $30 plan, plus the $10 for premium data or Sprints bogus 4G tack on as well as $10 for Sprint tv add on ...so all in all $50 for EVO or $40 for smart phones. here are a couple links as well to read on...

http://www.phonenews.com/sprint-roll...ber-1st-11868/


http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/07...int-sero-plans

second link has multiple people who have verified it along with me by speaking with employee care. :2cents::thumbsup:

So, Sprint seems like they are picking and choosing who they let keep their old sero plans... and they are pushing their "new" sero plan which must cost more :yuck:... kinda like the Airwaves... some peeps got free ones with free service and some had to pay full price and pay for the service too...just depends on a dice throw in retentions department... :tomato:

I am super glad you were able to work this out in your favor, hoping that lots of others can too!

Thanks for the update and the links!!!!:thumbsup:
Please Keep us posted on this subject!

I wonder how many SERO plan peeps jumped ship before the tried to fix this situation?

Galaxy S with 2.2 looks sweeeet!

Thanks for the vids bro!

one of my co-workers got a white EVO....I worked with her yesterday... looks better than I thought it would... she had it skinned at BB when she 1st got it, so it had a nice feel to it... less likely to slide around on surfaces or slide out of your hands... the edges were still alil slick, but thats like whatevah... anyhoo, hers is not modded at all... super fast... and the screen is HUGE compared to my Pre... she has been charging once a day, even with heavy use... I forgot to see which screen she had installed.... she said that BB had gotten in 13 white and 11 black and all were spoken for... there was a line just to pick up a reserved unit...LOL

just saw this over at xda. Froyo for the Evo should be out 8/1 with a few earlier releases.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/29/e...omorrow-loads/

Looks like Froyo officially drops for the EVO next Tuesday :thumbsup::

http://twitter.com/sprint/status/19864826140

2.2 FTW... LOL @ hot spot hack shutout....:tomato:

unofficial Download tomorrow afternoon... :toocool:

Just rooted and flashed Cynogen Rom. Man this thing is customizable, there are almost too many options.

If Sprint is trying to stay ahead... they better build more EVO's... faster!

:woot:

... yeah, and its in a constant state of improvement... just :crazy:

there are still some things missing and i get force closes every once in a while but nothing i cant deal with. But once froyo is released i cant wait for all the cooked roms that will be coming out. The main thing i wanna try is fring with the forward facing camera and the better 4g reception.

Same thing that happened with the Hero on sprint, they couldn't keep up and it hurt them in sales. The Evo might save them in the short run, but they need more sick phones.

Ok not an Android phone, but did anyone see the Nokia N8 ( I know meh symbian...but the phone looks capable)? This would be a nice addition for them once it hits stateside. I'm really beginning to like sprint these days, just hope they can turn their sales trends around.

CGFebTSX04,

the froyo on HTC HD2 right now is still in the works..but the speed and everything is amazing with the HD2 hardware!

can't wait till the iron everything out..almost there though

I saw the N8 on engadget and its a sweet phone but unlocked at $500+ is BS. I think Italy sells it for more but they have all kinds of additional fees in the EU.

http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-n8

N8 looks pretty sweet! sick colors and we know Nokia is known for phones that last fo-evah!

I saw them talking about this on XDA the other day... I know, if you got it, ya wanna use it!

Official Froyo update for HTC Evo is live!

http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/07...vo4g-download/

Link to Froyo: http://liveimage.htc.com/OTA_Superso...2e98n4o6xn.zip

You probably want to downgrade back to stock if you do this. You will also lose root with this update and I don't think root is available yet. Looks like a nice upgrade list there especially that share an application. Wonder how that works.


EDIT: Actually it looks like there is a rooted version on XDA already. Man they work fast. lol.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=720682

Should be careful with this one because you're manually updating the radio and WiMax which may brick the phone if you don't follow the instructions in order. Just make sure you reboot after applying the radio before applying the WiMax and you should be fine.

Man I'm gettin jealous of all you EVO owners getting Froyo. I hope they consider the Aria for this, I know it isn't some flagship phone, but I'm sure it can run it. Albeit my camera has no flash :sad:

Oh just curious, why are all android distros named after dessets? :yum:

The Aria will be getting Froyo. HTC promised that all phones being released this year will get it. They haven't specified a date but I'm sure it'll be soon since its running the Sense UI found in the Evo.

Its just Google's way of being Google. Instead of boring alpha, beta, etc. codenames, they use desserts to name their builds. Build A was Android, no build B that I'm aware of, Build C was Cupcake, Build D was Donut and Build E was Eclair. Now they're on Build F for Froyo and Build G will be Gingerbread and so on and so forth. They even have sculptures of each new build on their campus. There used to be a dog sculpture too but someone stole it. I'm sure the Gingerbread sculpture will be coming soon.

http://www.pocketables.net/2010/05/n...-desserts.html

Well it looks like the leaked Froyo aren't final according to HTC.

http://twitter.com/htc/status/19949859328

this dev was able to load a custom rom to update to froyo while still being rooted. I think by monday most of my preferred devs will have their custom roms out as well. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=720682

i got my HTC HD2 to run froyo 2.2 smoothly now. Everything is working, gps, internet, data, battery life aok.

i hated window mobile on the htc, now that android is operating it..it feels like i just got a whole new phone =)

to all you htc hd2 owners out there..go load android on that suckaaa!