Saturday, January 22, 2011

Second Windows Phone 7 jailbreak on the way

Julien Schapman, a Windows Phone developer, is planning to release a Windows Phone 7 Device Manager that includes a new way to jailbreak Microsoft’s mobile operating system.
Schapman, previously known for his work on the TouchExperience software for Windows Mobile, is planning to release the Device Manager application after





Microsoft’s first Windows Phone 7 update. The application will allow owners to manage their applications, explore devices, create device backups, add ring-tones and sync favorites. Device Manager will also jailbreak Windows Phone 7 and allow for the side-loading of applications.
“My unlock method is similar to that of ChevronWP7 in the way they both use a fake registration server, but my method is different and more reliable,” wrote Schapman in an email to WinRumors. “For example it automatically detects when a WP7 is plugged in and will check if this is a registered developer phone, if not it will register it once and for all, so the device will never re-lock like with ChevronWP7.”
Schapman says he’s not willing to divulge any further details as he doesn’t want Microsoft to fix his method in the upcoming update. “As a developer I worked on this unlock method in order to create homebrew apps for the community without having to pay a $99 subscription which is aberrant to me!” said Schapman.
ChevronWP7 famously released their Windows Phone 7 “unlock” tool in late Novermber that allowed owners to side load home-brew applications. The tool, named ChevronWP7, used a method to trick the OS into registering itself as a Windows Phone 7 developer device with the application rather than Microsoft directly. Microsoft normally charges $99 a year for the privilege of loading developer applications. ChevronWP7 pulled the tool at Microsoft’s request just two weeks after it was originally released. It was later revealed that Windows Phone 7 devices “phone home” after around two weeks to re-lock unofficial developer devices, rendering the tool useless.
Microsoft is currently preparing its first Windows Phone 7 update, due in February. Company representatives met with Rafael Rivera and Long Zheng of the ChevronWP7 team on Monday to discuss the tool and Microsoft’s plans to support homebrew applications on Windows Phone 7. Microsoft says it is planning to disable ChevronWP7 in its first Windows Phone 7 update. Microsoft’s Brandon Watson confirmed that ChevronWP7 will no longer function in future. “Yes, the hole ChervonWP7 team found is closed,” said Watson.
Schapman has made it clear he does not condone piracy. “I don’t want to see WP Device Manager used in that purpose, if needed I will work with Microsoft to prevent this,” he said. Schapman also plans to remove the unlock feature if Microsoft provides an official free method. “Unlocking is not the main feature of WP Device Manager, and I hope to remove it as soon as there will be an official way to use my app on any device.”[Via winrumor]

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