DigitMemo.com

Apple is actively working against any SIM unlocks of the iPhone, which would void the warranty.

During a Q&A seesion that took place after yesterday’s press event in London announcing availability details of the iPhone in the UK, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was asked by a journalist whether unlocking was a concern for the company, Jobs said:

It’s a constant cat and mouse game, We try to stay ahead. People will try to break in, and it’s our job to stop them breaking in.

Click for more on Unlocking iPhone: May result in expensive brick »

Google will definitely launch its own-brand handset but has yet to finalize the handset’s specifications, OS, production contractor and operating partners.

Although market rumors previously stated that Google is likely to use an EDGE solution developed by Texas Instruments (TI) for its planned handset, recent developments indicate that Google is also evaluating the possibility of launching a 3G handset initially.

TI’s handset chipsets will find their way into the Google phone should the company decide to roll out an EDGE-compliant handset, but Qualcomm could turn out to be the winner if Google decides to bet on a 3G model, the sources noted.

Click for more on Google will definitely launch its own branded handset »

AT&T says NO to software unlocking…

So, as you may have seen, earlier this morning at 3AM local time UniquePhones (the team behind iPhoneUnlocking.com, who’ve claimed to have the second proper iPhone SIM software hack) got a threatening call from AT&T’s legal team urging them to not release their software — or else. Now, we can understand why any smallish business wouldn’t exactly want lawyers repping AT&T (and Apple) breathing down their necks for a potentially market-shifting discovery — which is why the company is now officially holding the release of their SIM unlock solution indefinitely while they assess their legal position. Fair enough, but we still haven’t even had a chance to verify their solution does unlock iPhones.

Click for more on iPhone SIM unlock software iefinitely delayed »

A teenager in New Jersey has broken the lock that ties Apple’s iPhone to AT&T’s wireless network, freeing the most hyped cell phone ever for use on the networks of other carriers, including overseas ones.

And no no, this is not the pure software-based unlocking. Some serious soldering work involved(and voids the warranty). It takes the guy 2 hours per phone.

Click for more on Unlocked iPhone sold for over $30K »

It’s high noon, Apple and AT&T — we really hate to break it to you, but the jig is up. Last night the impossible was made possible: right in front of our very eyes we witnessed a full SIM unlock of our iPhone with a small piece of software. It’s all over, guys.

The iPhoneSIMfree.com team has proved their claim that they cracked Apple’s iPhone SIM lock system, and prove it they did. The six-man team has been working non-stop since launch day, and they’re officially the first to break Apple’s SIM locks on the iPhone. It’s done. Seriously. They wouldn’t tell when and how they would release it to the public, but you can certainly bet that they’ll try to make a buck on their solution (and rightly so). We can hardly believe the iPhone’s finally been cracked. No, scratch that — we just can’t believe it took this long.

Click for more on iPhone unlocked: AT&T loses iPhone exclusivity »

There was a lot of iPhone chatter this week — although Apple might have done all it can to lock the little bugger down, it seems people are still finding ways to extend and explore its capabilities, while AT&T might have finally gotten the hint about those ridiculous paper bills.

• Logic3 unveiled the i-Station Traveler (pictured), the first speaker dock we’ve seen specifically for the iPhone. While most iPod docks tend to work fine with the iPhone, the $60 Traveller is designed specifically around the horizontal orientation, allowing you to watch movies while the iPhone is docked.
• Meebo and Facebook both launched iPhone-specific versions of their sites, allowing you to IM your friends and stalk your exes with all the swoopy-slidey flair you’d expect.
• Orange continued to act all coy about potentially being Apple’s partner in France, saying only that it had “no comment” on the iPhone, even as rumors heat up.
• The iPhone got straight-up benchmarked for the first time: Craig Hockenberry whipped out his stopwatch and discovered that Javascript in MobileSafari runs right around eighty times slower than on a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo Mac. He also whipped up a little app using that pirate toolchain we love so much and discovered that native ARM code runs right around 200 times faster than Javascript in the iPhone. Looks like that Safari sandbox might not be so “sweet” after all.
• AT&T seems to have decided that its vendetta against the trees of the world might be a little misplaced, and is in the process of moving to “summary billing,” according to a call center employee. Either that, or they’re trying to guilt people into switching to e-billing by sending out ridiculous bills. Really, that’s what the email says.

Source: engadget

Unlocked iPhones currently debut in HongKong.

(iPhone on HK CSL EDGE Network)

(The AD reads: Now available, no preorder; Work instantly with your own SIM card; Voice and SMS ready)

The merchant charges quite a premium for this: HK$6000($770) for unlocking only and HK$16800($2150) for a full unlocked phone.

The unlocking, however, can be done by using a special hardware called TurboSIM. costs only $80 at Bladox store. For more info read this thread at hackint0sh.