Hacking the iPhone

For the past few weeks, exceptionally geeky gadget lovers have been celebrating a series of breakthroughs in the pursuit of one of their Holy Grails: opening the Apple iPhone to software applications not written or approved by Apple. Their dedication and success is a harbinger of things to come for the wireless industry, which is headed, kicking and screaming, into a long and fitful transition from central control to user liberation. That transition is being fueled by devices such as the iPhone, and by federal regulators, who imposed unprecedented requirements for openness last week on a new generation of wireless services.

By Jon Healey

August 6, 2007