iPhone 4 Unlock for ALL Basebands Announced!

*April Fool's Day Prank* FINALLY!!!!  In a surprise announcement, the iPhone Dev Team announced that they finally have a stable, working unlock for the iPhone 4 that is baseband independent.  This will also work on the iPhone 3GS. (Baseband 3.10.1 and up)

After months of unstable trials and failed attempts, they stumbled upon an unlock exploit that works regardless of baseband version or firmware version.

The Dev Team has released a unified unlock tool for all iPhone versions and until Apple patches the hole, it should work on future updates as well.  It takes advantage of a coding error in the Apple Activation Server, rather than the phone itself.  Although the actual process is being kept a secret, the basic idea is that the unlock acts as a proxy between the phone and the server.  The unlock gathers activation info from the server, then activates the phone.  And in an ironic coincidence, this also unlocks the App Store allowing authentic paid apps to be downloaded for free.  Similar to the Gevey SIM in the process, but no user intervention (other than clicking UNLOCK) is needed.

This is a completely untethered unlock.

Download the unlock tool here.

Please share this news with those who you think would appreciate it before the exploit is patched!

*Update, this was meant as an April Fool's Day prank (and it worked) Since it is no longer April 1, I added a warning at the beginning of the post*

Hi, My Name Is Earl... I mean, URL

Today's Tech Gospel is on URL security. URL, or Uniform Resource Locator (aka website address) is what you usually type in your browser to visit a website.  Now, recently there have been a whole crop of new viruses on Facebook.  Most ask you to click on them to see some 'scandal video'.  These do not infect your computer.  They infect your Facebook account and can gather your personal information.

When you see a link on Facebook, or any website for that matter, place your mouse over the link.  On the bottom part of your browser, there is usually a status bar that will show you the URL of the link.  Sometimes, you can tell right away if this is a scam link or a legit one.

An article that says "Youtube video of ______ scandal.  Click here" ... if it is a legit link, the status bar at the bottom of your browser SHOULD start with "http://www.youtube.com".  Try not to click on links that have addresses from unknown sites, or sites that don't look official.

Fake URLs (aka phishing sites) can pose as bank login pages, email login pages, shopping sites, credit card forms, etc... anything that will allow a site to collect information from you.  These LOOK like the real websites of banks, social networking sites, email login sites...but are hosted on another site.  Be aware of the address on the top and bottom of your browser.  Make sure it has the address of the site you think you're visiting or viewing before entering any sensitive information, or even clicking on links.

Although not 100% secure, it's always a good idea to Google a questionable link first to see if there are any reports of a new virus or hack that's been going around.

App Stores Everywhere

If iTunes Store, Android Marketplace, and RIM AppWorld wasn't enough, Amazon.com is now entering the mobile applications market with their own Appstore.  Initially for Android users in the US, this will be in direct competition with Android's own Marketplace.

Seeing as how everyone is making an app these days, there seems to be no shortage of places to sell them in as well.  Although, if Amazon's Appstore can't sell to countries that Android's Marketplace doesn't sell to either, I don't really see the point.  Hopefully paid apps will be available on Amazon's Appstore faster than Android's own Marketplace in restricted countries like the Philippines.

Secure Your Facebook

On the topic of online security, Facebook is one site that has an enormous amount of personal information. A lot of Facebook accounts have been hacked lately, including Mark Zuckerberg's personal page.  Most of the time, these can be avoided by using Facebook's new security feature:

Simply go to your Account, then click on Account Settings

Expand the Account Security section, check the box that says Secure Browsing (HTTPS).

Save your settings.  And you're all done.  Unfortunately, some apps, like Networked Blogs, do not support HTTPS yet so you'll have to repeat this procedure every time you use an app that disabled this security setting.

Encrypted Google

Online privacy is a serious concern.  So much of our lives and information is already floating around the cloud, most of which we have no control, or knowledge of.  One of the more recent developments in the personal security is the vulnerability of our information when we're on a WiFi network.

Google is now testing a new secure search engine.  This means that all your searches are secure from prying eyes.  It's called Encrypted Google and it's using SSL.

SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a security measure that protects all the data that's transmitted between you and the website you're visiting.  When we surf the internet, it is possible for others to view the webpages we've visited, and even get our passwords since the information that's transmitted between your laptop and a website are not hidden or scrambled.

Any site that deals with sensitive information should be running SSL, you'll know this because of the HTTPS (instead of the usual HTTP) tag on the top part of your browser.  Somewhere on the browser, there is usually a little padlock icon to inform you that you are now browsing over a secure connection.  Look for the HTTPS indicator on your browser.  This is extremely critical, specially when giving out your credit card, or other types of sensitive information.

Try Encrypted Google now!