Up to Speed

So, all of this sounds intimidating. Jailbreak, sign, secpack, unlock, baseband, iBoot, seczone, ZiPhone, pwnage.

Don't worry, this should bring you up to speed.

We'll start with three terms

activate--to bypass the required iTunes signup jailbreak--to allow other applications to run on your phone unlock--to allow the use of any mobile phone carrier

Now a timeline

• June 29, 2007 -- iPhone is released. World's most hyped consumer product.
• July 3, 2007 -- DVD Jon first cracks activation. People can use the apps on the phone without a subscription
• July 9, 2007 -- dev team releases jailbreak method. The first use of this is ringtones
• July 20, 2007 -- nightwatch ports a toolchain to the iPhone. The first apps are compiled.
• August 14, 2007 -- First phones are used with other carriers by means of a * SIM hack
• August 21, 2007 -- Installer.app is released, first GUI apps are distributed
• August 23, 2007 -- geohot and team release hardware unlock method.
• September 10, 2007 -- IPSF releases first software unlock method for money.
• September 11, 2007 -- dev team releases iUnlock, first free software unlock
• November 2, 2007 -- jailbreakme is released, bringing jailbreaking to the mainstream iPhone user
• November 15, 2007 -- Bootloader comes out, new iPhones can't be unlocked.
• February 8, 2008 -- geohot releases software unlock for 4.6, Apple states 25% of phones were never activated with AT&T
• February 11, 2008 -- Zibri releases ZiPhone, the all in one unlock, activate, jailbreak solution.
• July 11, 2008 -- iPhone 3G is released
• July 19, 2008 -- dev team releases pwnage, jailbreaking 2.0 software on iPhone and iPhone 3G