[Infowarrior] - Apple ready to disable iPhones again

[Richard Forno]

Apple Set to Disable iPhone Apps ‹ Again

http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2007/11/04/apple-set-to-disable-iphone-
apps-again/

British reviewers who have tested the Apple (AAPL) iPhone that goes on sale
in the U.K. Friday report that it comes pre-installed with a software update
‹ 1.1.2 ‹ that disables third-party applications.

According to the British gadget website T3, the update closes the so-called
TIFF exploit ‹ the software loophole used by hackers to ³jailbreak² version
1.1.1. This loophole allowed iPhone owners to install dozens of third-party
apps, including such popular add-ons as Navizon (a location finder), Voice
Notes (a voice recorder) and instant-messaging programs like Apollo and
Mobile Chat.

Thanks to one-click installations scripts like AppSnapp, these unauthorized
iPhone add-ons have become almost mainstream. AppSnapp¹s developers report
that their software was downloaded 144,000 times in its first three days ‹
which suggests that as many as 1 in 10 iPhone owners could be in for a rude
surprise when they upgrade their software next weekend.

Some Apple bloggers ‹ led by Quincy Pince-Nez at 9to5 Mac ‹ advocate
holding-off any iTunes and iPhone updates until programmers can find another
way to install their apps. Apple would undoubtedly prefer that everybody
wait until it releases its official iPhone software developers kit (SDK) in
February, and Apple-sanctioned apps start to flow in.

The update is also likely to disable ‹ and perhaps re-brick ‹ iPhones
unlocked to work with cellular providers other than Apple¹s official
carriers (AT&T in the U.S., O2 in the U.K., T-Mobile in Germany and Orange
in France).