Got An iPhone 3Gs? Time For Jailbreak! - Shelly Palmer - MediaBizBloggers

Apple is having a bit of a public relations problem. As everyone on the planet now knows, if you hold your iPhone4 and cover the antenna on the lower left side of the unit, you can reduce the radio reception by up to 20 dB and that's enough to drop calls. I'm not a fanboy, but I think Steve Jobs had it right the first time he commented on the issue, "Don't hold the phone that way."

Anyway, love it or hate it, I have an iPhone 4. It replaced my iPhone 3Gs, which I still own. Since my new iPhone 4 was a direct replacement, will my 3Gs devolve into a really expensive iPod Touch or mini iPad or a paperweight. No way!!!

First, a fantasy come true, let's make my iPhone 3Gs work over the Verizon network. That's easy. You don't even need to run jailbreak to do it, just purchase a Verizon MiFi 2200 WiFi/3G Hotspot and you can make Skype, Truphone, iCall or Fring VoIP calls immediately. You also get WiFi wherever you have a Verizon 3G network signal (which is pretty much everywhere) and you can share the connection with up to five devices at a time. Heaven! But I'm thinking about going underground. So let's turn to the dark side and Jailbreak my iPhone 3GS. After all, it's mine ... all mine and AT&T has nothing to do with it now!

A quick tech note: at this writing, there is no jailbreak for iPhones running iOS 4. It has been tested with the beta version, however there is no released jailbreak for the official version. iPhones 3G/3Gs running the 3.1.2 and 3.1.3 versions can be successfully jailbroken using websites such as blackra1n.com. To watch step by step instructions, just Google "blackra1n" (the "i" is replaced by the number "1") and you will find dozens of excellent tutorials from knowledgeable jailbreakers.

If you have already updated your iPhone to iOS 4, or own an iPhone 4, you are out of luck for now as these devices aren't compatible with the latest jailbreaking efforts. But don't worry, the Dev-Team (blog.iphone-dev.org) is currently working on releasing a jailbreak that will work for iPhone's running the version 4 software (including the newly released iPhone 4).

After you complete your jailbreak, get ready to download tons of cool apps that Apple just wouldn't let you have!

If you didn't upgrade to the iPhone 3GS, one must have app for your jailbroken device is Cycorder, which allows you to record video on your iPhone or iPhone 3G. Another great app available through jailbreaking is Winterboard, which allows you to fully customize the background on your iPhone including the icons, battery images, keyboard, icons, and more! Finally there's MxTube that allows you to save and download videos from YouTube for offline viewing! There's also xGPS which allows you to use both the phone's GPS along with Google GPS, and you even have a voice directing you (instead of having to follow the dot on your screen).

As you know, Apple is quite parochial about what can and cannot be downloaded from the Apple App Store. However, once you have jailbroken your iPhone, you never have to worry about that again. While it's true that you will void your Apple warranty, all you need to do to unjailbreak your iPhone is plug it into iTunes and reset it to the default Apple software. No one will ever know that you took a walk on the wild side.

Is there a jailbroken future for the millions of recently retired iPhones? Maybe. Think about how much that would change the culture of iPhone users. There would be a serious yin and yang (choose your own metaphor) to the user base. There would be "bad apples," those scofflaws with cool, underground, contraband apps and Little Goodie Two-shoes types. Hummm ... what an interesting future.

If you are really adventurous, you can, jailbreak an iPhone that has a current AT&T contract and continue to use AT&T's phone service. You just can't get your phone repaired by Apple or AT&T if it is not running an official operating system from Apple. But, that aside, look for some interesting things to happen with the still-very-capable last generation iPhones. They're not dead, but they are about to go underground!

Shelly Palmer is the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer, a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, New York House Press) and the upcoming, Get Digital: Reinventing Yourself and Your Career for the 21^st Century Economy. (2009, Lake House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards). For information about Get Digital Classes, visit http://www.shellypalmer.com/seminars.Watch Digital Life with Shelly Palmer Tuesdays at 10p ET on WNBC's NY Nonstophttp://www.shellypalmer.com/digitallife.

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