The Register is reporting that "Famed reverse engineer Jon Lech Johansen claims to have discovered a way to "activate" an iPhone without signing up for a contract with AT&T." Johansen is somewhat famous for having hacked the iTunes encryption and has been a thorn in Apple's side for some time. The current hack apparently allows users to use the iPod and Wi-Fi capabilities of the device, but doesn't allow the use of the phone features. iPhone is currently only available in the U.S. and only on the AT&T network, a non-activated iPhone will not function except to call 911, if Johansen's claim is true the iPhone could be used as a cool but expensive iPod. It's only been a few days since the release and many sites have popped up claiming to be able to hack the iPhone to allow its use on other networks and in other countries, these for fee services should be avoided in my humble opinion. As always , consumer beware! It's highly unlikely that anyone has totally cracked the device this quickly. The "God Phone" as it has been dubbed is such a hot commodity that some may be willing to take the chance, but from what I've heard and read I think I'd rather wait for the next version anyway, there still may be a few things for Apple to work out before it reaches deity status in my books.
