..idle writings from an idle mind..

my sexy new phone is not so sexy any more. these days it crashes, turns itself off and generally annoys me; so it’s time for a new one… an apple iphone.

i said i was waiting for a 3G model, i said i was going to wait for the australian release and i know this makes me a complete lemming, but i’m happy with my shiny lump of aluminium and glass as designed by apple in california.

this all came about because of the problems with my existing phone, coupled with my flatmate being over in london and O2 having a sale. £100 off! translated to AUD, i ended up paying $350.

of course, the idea is you sign up to a contract to get the phone cheaply. something i’m not really interested in doing, so some hackery was required to get an australian sim card working. for those that care – here’s how i managed it (glossing over the silly mistakes i made along the way):

• upgrade iphone from 1.1.2 to 1.1.4
• download and install the dreadfully-named PwnageTool software
• carefully read an excellent tutorial on exactly how i’m going to break in to this phone
• use the software to re-write the boot system on the phone to allow “unsigned” code to operate
• use the software again to compile a custom “iPhone restore” package that has already been ‘jailbroken’ and has the unlock tool built in
• go and make coffee while the software installs and does it’s thing
• use itunes to “restore” my phone to working condition..
• configure wireless and change a few other settings
• remember to install the australian localisation packages that make australian number formatting work correctly

that’s about it really. it’s actually a pretty good phone, all things considered. i’ve already played with a couple iphones before and thought they were okay, but actually owning and properly using one – i can see why people like them.

- zac.