(AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Apple iPhone is an innovative smartphone that allows users to fully enjoy multimedia features in high speed and quality.
The iPhone offers extra crispy clear sound, a 3MP camera with auto focus, a 3.5-inch widescreen display to enjoy movies, videos, photos and 3D graphics games in high resolution and more.
You can download and install various exciting applications, turning your iPhone into any kind of gadget you desire.
But, what if someone told you that these are only some of the iPhone's capabilities and if you jailbreak it you will unlock a new digital world? Hacking You are probably wondering what jailbreaking is all about. In electronics, jailbreaking is the colloquial term for hacking or circumventing an electronic device's default security and operating limits.
The term generally refers to the hacking of Apple's iOS mobile operating system, but may be applied to other types of gadgets.
Jailbreaking opens the phone so that you can access and modify portions of the phone that are normally off-limits.
This is not the same as unlocking a phone. Unlocking allows you to change your mobile phone service provider from the one in which the phone was previously locked to.
Jailbreaking will unlock your device so you can install third-party applications on it that are not available in Apple's iTunes store using an applications store called Cydia.
Some of the popular applications people install once their phone is jailbroken is: MxTube which allows you to download and save YouTube video on iPhone; iPhoneModem or PDANet, which lets you use your iPhone as modem, allowing you to connect your laptop to the Internet via the iPhone; and, V-Out which is a software that allows any iPhone content on your TV.
The downside is, Apple will not support a device that has been jailbroken. Also some devices become unstable causing crashes when making or receiving calls.
Void your warranties Basically, as alluring as many of these prospects may be, jailbreaking could potentially void your warranties, violate your provider's terms of service, or even irreparably damage your device.
Since jailbreaking methods are unsanctioned by manufacturers and subsequently forgo most security protocols, they are susceptible to viruses and vulnerable to exploits that feed hackers your personal information.
But not to be mistaken, there are many iPhones that are jailbroken and have worked fine. The good thing is that you can always restore your phone to its previous state using iTunes. Just make sure to back up your data before attempting to jailbreak your phone.
According to Apple, jailbreaking is not illegal but Apple strongly cautions against installing any software that hacks the iPhone OS.
Rooting is a term used in reference to the Android operating system to describe a similar process to jailbreaking. In both jailbreaking and rooting, you take administrative control over the operating system. However, the purpose of rooting is a little different from jailbreaking.
For Android users and developers, the benefits of rooting aren't quite as extensive, as the platform is already fairly open to personalisation and customisation.
Still, depending on the device you're using, you can tap into features like mobile hotspots and tethering, as well as overclocking your device's built-in processor for faster, albeit power-draining, performance.
There are many pros and cons to jailbreaking or rooting your smartphone - you can get access to alluring new features and added power but at the risk of potentially voiding your warranty, service provider's terms of service, endangering your personal information, or even irreparably damaging your smartphone.
Phone manufacturers don't want you to do it because of the small number of cases in which it can make the phone unstable or open it up to security breaches. It then makes them look bad because it is their phone that is crashing or introducing malware to your network.
Sam Wambugu is a monitoring and evaluation specialist.
Copyright The Nation. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). [ Satellite Spotlight's Homepage ]
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