August 25, 2007
N.J. teen opens up the phone to overseas users
George Hotz of Glen Rock, N.J., spent his last summer before college figuring out how to "unlock" the iPhone, freeing it from being restricted to a single carrier, AT&T Inc.
"The procedure, which the 17-year-old laid out on his blog Thursday, raises the possibility of a cottage industry springing up to buy iPhones, unlocking them and then selling them to people who don't want AT&T service or can't get it, particularly overseas.
Hotz demonstrated an iPhone running on T-Mobile's network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone's cellular technology.
Hotz spent about 500 hours on the project since the iPhone went on sale. On Thursday, he put the unlocked iPhone up for sale on EBay, where the high bid was above US$3,000 on Friday afternoon. "
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