George Hotz

Infobox Person

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image_size = 150px
name = George Hotz
birth_date = birth date and age|1989|10|2
birth_place = USA

George Francis Hotz (born October 2, 1989), alias geohot, million75 or simply mil, is known for publicizing the collaboration leading to a procedure for unlocking the Apple iPhone, allowing the phone to be used with other wireless carriers, contrary to AT&T and Apple's intent. [] [cite news | title = Interview with 17 year old iPhone hacker | publisher = CNBC | date = September 30, 2007 | url = http://www.webcastr.com/videos/science_technology/interview-with-17-year-old-iphone-hacker.html] Hotz grew up in Glen Rock, New Jersey, where he attended the Bergen County Academies, a magnet public high school. He has one sister, Julia Hotz, alias fifty. [ McKay, Martha. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk4NDgmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxODU2MTMmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkz "Tech whiz cracks code tying it to AT&T network"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", August 24, 2007. Accessed August 27, 2007. "The 17-year-old Glen Rock resident posted the complicated steps on his blog Thursday.... 'I've lived and breathed that phone for the last two months,' said Hotz, a Bergen County Academies grad who won a prestigious $20,000 Intel science fair prize this year for a device that projects a 3-D image.]

Unlocking the Apple iPhone

On August 21, 2007, Hotz announced on his [http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/ blog] that he had successfully executed and demonstrated the first Hardware unlock of the iPhone using a technique that was developed by a team of five hackers, Hotz being one of this team. The unlock allowed the iPhone to be used with any SIM card. [ [http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/2007/08/full-hardware-unlock-of-iphone-done.html On the iPhone: FULL HARDWARE UNLOCK OF IPHONE DONE] , Accessed August 24, 2007.] He later posted the team's 10-step method on his blog. [ [http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/2007/08/its-release-time.html On the iPhone: ITS RELEASE TIME] , Accessed May 3, 2008.] Although other purported unlocks appeared earlier, Hotz claims theirs was the first to allow full functionality of the iPhone with almost any GSM wireless carrier without any external hardware, although the process requires experience with soldering and software.Fact|date=February 2008

Hotz, who had bought his first iPhone on its launch date, was originally associated with the "iPhone Dev" unlocking team, but was later banned from the team. [ [http://lpahome.com/r.htm ~geohot's unlocking manifesto] Accessed May 3, 2008.] He estimates that he spent more than 500 hours working on the unlock. He said his primary aim was to enable other users to easily unlock their own iPhones.Fact|date=February 2008

According to his blog, Hotz traded his unlocked 4GB iPhone to Terry Daidone, the founder of Certicell, for a Nissan 350Z car and three 8GB iPhones. [http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/2007/08/iphone-has-been-traded.html On the iPhone: THE iPhone HAS BEEN TRADED] , Accessed May 3, 2008.] Hotz said he wanted to give the iPhones to the other members of the team who created the hack with him.Fact|date=February 2008 Hotz's hardware based unlocking technique has largely been replaced by software unlocking that does not require disassembling of the iPhone. [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/09/01/apple.iphone/index.html Code to unlock iPhone cracked] Accessed October, 11, 2007.]

George Hotz recently developed the first software unlock for the iPhone's new Bootloader Version 4.6 that was previously only achievable with a "testpoint based hardware unlock" [ [http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/2008/02/11246unlock-good-enough-for-prize.html On the iPhone: 11246unlock, good enough for the prize ] ]

Controversy

On July 12, 2008, Hotz posted on his blog that he had obtained a copy of the iPhone Dev Team's unreleased hack for the iPhone 2.0 firmware.
Hotz created a website, www.yiphone.org [ [http://www.yiphone.org yiPhone Website] ] . It was widely accepted that should the Dev Team fail to release their hack by the time the counter hit 0 that Hotz would release his exploit under the name of yiPhone. The Dev Team responded to the threat and created the site www.ihazsupper.com [ [http://www.ihazsupper.com Dev Team Spoof yiPhone Website] ] .
The website was a spoof rework of The last supper that targets Hotz and Kroo who are identified by Google sweaters and with the distinct lack of a halo that are adorned by the rest of the other characters in the image, Hotz takes the place of Judas Iscariot and the character of Kroo was made to lay in the lap of Steve Wozniak, these being obvious references to the leaked software and underhandedness of the subject matter.
Hotz later claimed that yiPhone itself was a spoof of the controversial unlock/jailbreak utility, ZiPhone and was Hotz's commentary on the claim that the author of Ziphone was using stolen code and soliciting large amounts of money. Hotz, in a statement on his blog stated that he " [has] never done the jailbreaks for any previous versions of the phone..." [ [http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/2008/07/yiphone-and-otherwise.html On the iPhone: yiPhone and otherwise ] ]

Other accomplishments and recognition

Hotz was a finalist at the 2005 ISEF competition, with his project "The Googler". [ [http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/photos/isef_2005_photos.htm ISEF site listing finalists] ] Continuing with robots, Hotz competed in his school's highly successful Titanium Knights battlebots team.

Hotz competed in the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a science competition for high school students, where his project, entitled "I want a Holodeck," received awards and prizes in several categories. [ [http://www.sciserv.org/isef/results/grnd07.pdf Grand Awards Ceremony of theIntel International Science and Engineering Fair 2007] . Intel Education. Accessed August 24, 2007.] Hotz has received considerable attention in mainstream media, including interviews on the Today Show, FOX, CNN, NBC, CBS, G4, ABC [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbRKA5OmtHQ YouTube - Teen 'Unlocks' iPhone From AT&T Network ] ] CNBC [ [http://www.breitbart.tv/html/4823.html Breitbart.tv » iPhone Hacker Explains How He Did It ] ] , and articles in several magazines, newspapers, and websites, including Forbes [ [http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0723/060.html Junior R&D - Forbes.com ] ] , BBC and CNNFact|date=February 2008.The Forbes article said Hotz hopes to go into neuroscience: "hacking the brain," he called it. In March 2008, PC World magazine listed George as one of the top 10 Overachievers under 21. [ [http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143201-page,10-c,techindustrytrends/article.html PC World - Meet the Whiz Kids: 10 Overachievers Under 21 ] ]

In December 2007, Hotz travelled to Sweden to attend the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar and talk about his 3-D imaging invention (called Project Holodeck) that netted him a $20,000 Intel prize earlier this year. [ [http://www.fuf.org/swe/verksamhet/siyss/participants SIYSS Participants List] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvJ1RGlxe8Q YouTube Video of Hotz's Unlocked iPhone]
* [http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/ Hotz's blog]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20080208175647/http://lpahome.com/ Hotz's Website] (through Internet Archive)
* [http://www.technologymadness.com/?p=299 NJ teen unlocks iPhone + YouTube Video]
* [http://editorial.co.in/software/unlock_apple_iphone.php iPhone is unlocked at last]
* [http://www.iphone-hacks.com/2007/08/page/2/ GeoHot's guide to iPhone unlocking]