We all knew it was only a matter of time. For some it has taken longer than expected while others are shocked at how rapidly hackers were able to tear apart the reportedly impenetrable Apple defenses on the iPhone. Regardless of your level of surprise, the fact of the matter is that the iPhone is now fully unlocked, and the iPhone can be used on any GSM carrier anywhere in the world.

The unlock is here, without question, though it might not be from the source most people were expecting. The iPhone Dev Wiki team, which has been behind the vast majority of progress in hacking the iPhone, and who have been knocking at the full unlock door for weeks were not behind the unlock. Though it's unclear whether or not their efforts contributed to the unlock (it is incredibly likely that it did), the unlock announcement came from another source.

Today at high noon, Engadget posted a report offering extensive, detailed proof that a team of hackers out of iPhoneSIMfree.com had acheived a full, software based unlock of the Apple iPhone. In the demonstrations provided to Engadget, the iPhone was unlocked using the iPhoneSIMfree.com software. Subsequently, a T-Mobile SIM card was inserted into the iPhone and re-registered on the T-Mobile network.

The whole process reportedly took only minutes and was relatively painless.

For the most part, the unlocked on the iPhone is pretty much the same as a locked iPhone on AT&T's network. There are a few added options for carrier selection and EDGE settings. Of course, visual voicemail doesn't work, as this feature requires AT&T's service.

Unlike the Dev Wiki team which has been making all of their hacks and advancements publically available, the iPhoneSIMfree.com team is not releasing their unlock software, at least not at this point. The presumption is that they'll be trying to make money off their acheivement, and who can blame them?

We'll stop rehashing all of this at this point. Head to Engadget via the link at the bottom of this article for all the details, pics, video, and more.

[via Engadget]

Labels: Hack iphone, iPhone