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    Monday, October 18, 2010

    Drama in the Jailbreak Land: SHAtter Delayed

    Cross-post from JitLife.

    Drama in the Jailbreak Land:  SHAtter Delayed

    Assimilation: A Review of iPhone 4

    Cross-post from JitLife

    Assimilation:  A Review of iPhone 4

    Double Fisting It on AT&T

    Cross-post from JitLife.

    Double Fisting It on AT&T

    Shutting it Down

    I'm going to be shutting this blog down and moving everything over to http://michael-rollins.blogspot.com.  Head on over there for the latest.

    "Abusing" AT&T's System

    "Keep the minutes you save."  That's what the commentator says at the end of this AT&T add for the A-List with Rollover minutes.  But in a recent conversation I had with an AT&T rep, it turns out that's not exactly true.

    Here's the situation, since activating the A-List we have been banking minutes like they're going out of style.  Currently, we have more than 5 months worth of minutes banked.  With two iPhones on our account, the prices are starting to creep up...  Way up.  So, as a means of saving some money, I figured I could downgrade our base plan for a few months while we eat away at the ridiculous number of rollover minutes we have.

    Going into this, I knew that we would lose the A-List if we downgraded our base plan.  If you have anything less than the 1400 minute family plan, the A-List isn't an option.  However, I did not think I would be called out for attempting to "abuse" the plan structures.

    When I explained to the very polite customer support rep that I would like to downgrade my base plan until I ate up the enormous store of rollover minutes that I had accrued, the rep informed me that I would only be able to carry as many minutes with me as I would get in a single month on whatever base plan I chose.  So, if I chose a 700 minute plan, I would only get to keep 700 rollover minutes.  In the ensuing conversation (once again, a very polite conversation), the rep told me AT&T had made the change to the rollover program when people started "abusing" it:  Namely, they would bank a bunch of minutes, then downgrade their plan and live off the rollover minutes they had accrued.

    Ironically, that's not the first time that I've had an AT&T customer support rep throw around the "abuse" word.  Another time I called to discuss the possibilities of switching my SIM card around to other phones (one of the prime reasons for using a GSM phone), the rep I was speaking with said I needed to be careful that I didn't "abuse" the AT&T system.

    When all the dust had settled with the minutes discussion, the rep had agreed to allow me to keep twice the normal amount, which would have amounted to 1400 minutes.  Not many, considering the nearly 8,000 we have banked,  But, I do have this to say for AT&T customer support:  They're courteous and quite honestly a pleasure to talk to, going above and beyond to support me.  Two times (and the irony of this is not lost on me) I have had dropped calls when talking to a rep.  Both times, the rep called me back to finish the conversation.  Some are better informed than others, but all of them have been earnest and sincerely seem to believe that they are there to help me make better decisions.

    Monday, October 11, 2010

    Drama in the Jailbreak Land: SHAtter Delayed

    Egos are a fact of life.  They run rampant in almost everything, though it seems that the bigger the limelight, the more likely it is that an ego will jump to the front.  This is surely the case in the hacking world, where egos are attached to handles that don't necessarily bear any resemblance to reality.  Such is the case with the latest iOS 4.1 jailbreak.

    Chronic Dev Team, a group of hackers known for developing some of the most capable jailbreaks for the iPhone, have been touting a major bootrom exploit for the latest generations of iOS devices called SHAtter.  With SHAtter, which relies on an unpatchable vulnerability in the bootrom of all current generation iOS devices, jailbreaking would be guaranteed for the life of the device (source: QuickPWN).  The exploit is at such a low level that it would be all but impossible for Apple to patch it with software.

    The exploit was announced several days after iOS 4.1 went live with a message that the jailbreak was verified and would make its way to the wires soon.  The raw jailbreak was announced with this twitpic photo on July 15, 2010.  Note the version of iOS which states 4.1 along with "rooted".  Eventually, this jailbreak was slated to be rolled into a package called "greenpois0n", which would be released on 10.10.10 at 10:10 am (the Geek holiday).

    Drama and egos, though, are apt to ensue with something this highly touted.  On October 9, 2010, one day before greenpois0n was to be released, another member of the iOS hacking community released a different bootrom exploit, rolling it into a package called limera1n.  That hacker, George Francis Hotz (born October 2, 1989), aka geohot, had previously released a tethered jailbreak known as blackra1n.  This release of limera1n was apparently against the express wishes of both the Chronic Dev Team and the iPhone Dev Team.  In a tweet that would come out shortly after the limera1n release, some insight into the drama that must have been running amok is revealed.  The tweet states:


    chronic dev team
    use limera1n at your own risk. it has been untested and geohot screwed over @ who trusted him to wait.
    It is worth noting that limera1n is in beta form and does not work on older devices.  Further, it is rumored to not work on newer bootrom iPhone 3GS devices.  Finally, it is currently only Windows based.

    In the ensuing fallout, the Chronic Dev Team postponed greenpois0n, pulling the SHAtter exploit from it completely and choosing to implement the bootrom exploit which geohot used.

    At issue here is that each bootrom exploit is precious.  Apple can patch and remove these exploits as they iterate hardware.  To release two bootrom exploits at the same time would be a waste, in that Apple could roll up both of them in the next iteration.  By doing the "mature" thing, the Chronic Dev Team is at least giving potential life to SHAtter on another device, and it may serve as the means of a lifetime jailbreak on the next iteration of iOS devices.

    Given the beta nature of limera1n and the timing of its release, it certainly seems as if it was released as a means of grabbing the limelight.  It was also apparently an unpopular thing to do in the small community which is known for turning out solid jailbreaks.  The fact that it does not work on older devices and is rumored to not work on the newer iPhone 3GS devices seems to indicate that it is an inferior jailbreak, as well, which is a true shame:  It is unlikely that the SHAtter exploit will see the light of day anytime soon.

    Greenpois0n will be released soon, according to the Chronic Dev Team.  It may be wise to wait for their fully tested version to be made available before jumping into the hairy landscape of jailbreaking.  If you can't wait, however, limera1n is available and waiting.

    Sources: Chronic Dev Team twitter, geohot.us, quickpwn.com