Aug 28, 2007 6:39 am US/Central
Teen's Hacked iPhone Nets Him 'Sweet' New Car
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) ―
-
-
The iPhone is available for retail sale only in the U.S. (File)
AP
The teenage hacker who managed to unlock the iPhone so that it can be used with cellular networks other than AT&T will be trading his reworked gadget for a new car.
George Hotz, of Glen Rock, N.J., said he had reached the deal with CertiCell, a Louisville, Ky.-based mobile phone repair company.
Hotz posted on his blog that he traded his modified iPhone for "a sweet Nissan 350Z and 3 8GB iPhones." The hack leaves all iPhone functions except the "visual voicemail" feature intact, according to an earlier report.
"This has been a great end to a great summer," Hotz wrote.
The 17-year-old Hotz said he will be sending the three new iPhones to the three online collaborators who helped him divorce Apple Inc's popular product from AT&T's network. The job took 500 hours, or about 8 hours a day since the iPhone's June 29 launch.
Hotz made the deal with Terry Daidone, co-founder of CertiCell, who also promised the teen a paid consulting job.
"We do not have any plans on the table right now to commercialize Mr. Hotz' discovery," Daidone said in a statement.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)