EON

Boston – Well everyone knew it was only a matter of time. It has been revealed that a teenager has written a software application that unlocks the iPhone restrictions limiting use of the much hyped cellphone to the AT&T network in the US, according to media reports Friday.

George Hotz, 17, said he has unlocked the phone and was using it on T-Mobile’s network in the United States.

The development could represent a serious blow to the US phone giant AT&T, which had been hoping to leverage the popularity of the sexy new phone into a dominant position in the US market. The hack would also allow the phone to be used on networks in countries outside the US.

The iPhone works on Global System for Mobile telecommunications (GSM) networks, which more than 80 per cent of the world’s wireless carriers use. With a typical GSM phone, the user can open it and swap the subscriber identity module (SIM) card provided by the carrier for one from another operator.

However, the design of Apple’s iPhone prevents easy access to the SIM card, and the device is wired to prevent non-AT&T SIM cards from working.

Hotz has written step-by-step instructions on his website to use the iPhone on any GSM network — including Rogers Communications here in Canada.

“That’s the big thing,” Hotz told the Associated Press.

However he warns that the process is not easy, and that the soldering may ruin your iPhone. “You are warned,” he wrote.

Hotz is selling his unlocked iPhone on eBay. The current bid is at $51,000.