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When I upgraded my iPhone firmware from version 1.1.4 to version 2.0 I realised that I had lost the use of EDGE on the Vodacom network.

Justin from WantItAll alerted me to the iPhone Configuration Utility which allows you to create custom profiles for your iPhone.

What I didn’t realise and what became clear when I played with the iPhone Configuration Utility is that Apple created the functionality for corporates to have customised profiles on an iPhone that have pre-configured settings for their network and by using this tool you could in theory change APN and other settings thereby bypassing the default ones set by the network.

That was the theory but I just couldn’t get the Configuration Utility to work properly and it also required some technical know-how which I couldn’t really be bothered to understand so I decided to search for something simpler.

In so doing I stumbled across an APN Changer website based in New Zealand called Unlockit.

Unlockit provides a simple tool for changing your APN and other settings by creating a custom profile for your file which you can install. It’s an identical method to Apple’s utility just much simpler and easier to use. Here’s the steps I took to get my iPhone back on the Vodacom EDGE network.

Step 1:

Visit http://unlockit.co.nz in Safari on your iPhone.

Step 2:

Click on Set Custom APN.

Step 3:

In the APN text box type internet and then click on Download Custom Config.

Step 4:

Safari will close and you’ll be asked whether or not you’d like to install the custom profile file. Just click Yes and once the file has installed you’ll be back on the EDGE network.

In order to run this hack you’ll need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network. I also suggest that you read Dion’s post on how to reactivate the Cellular Data settings in the Network settings tab. Dion’s solution is a more complicated but once done you’ll be able to change the settings as and when you need to.

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I rest my case…

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After upgrading my iPhone firmware it’s clear to me now that Vodacom’s iPhone network is alive and kicking.

I upgraded Colin’s iPhone on a Cell C network and none of the localisation functions had kicked in like it did on my Vodacom phone. The real bitch in all of this is that EDGE/GPRS doesn’t work on my iPhone while it does on Colin’s.

The new version 2.0 firmware no longer has a menu to set you APN key like on previous versions so I decided to see if I could manually change this in one of the preferences files on my iPhone. Look at what I discovered in the XML file:

The APN key has now been set by the network as iphone.vodacom.za and nothing I do can change this setting as it simply overwrites the string each time.

The result of this is that each time I try connect I get an error message saying “Could not activate cellular data network: You are not subscribed to a cellular data service”.

Seeing as Colin’s Cell C iPhone connects to EDGE without any problems I have to believe that Vodacom are going to enforce a data package subscription when the iPhone is officially launched in SA. I also bought a data bundle from Vodacom to see if this would work but I still get that pesky message.

The fact that my iPhone is completely localised, as opposed to Cell C’s network, is interesting to say the least. It’s a little scary though because as a Vodacom subscriber I can see I’m going to have problems with an unofficial iPhone down the line.

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On Saturday evening the iPhone-dev team release PwnageTool 2.0 for Mac (version 2.0.1 has now been released as well).

This new version jailbreaks and hacks any 1st or 2nd Generation iPhone so you now have the ability to run the latest iPhone firmware 2.0.

When I tried to hack my version 1.1.4 iPhone with the PwnageTool I couldn’t get the damn application to pick up the latest 2.0 firmware file. It turned out that I had downloaded the 3G firmware instead of the 1st Gen firmware and this great tutorial from iClarified really helped seal the deal for me.

The hack took about 25 minutes and was easy to do once I had all the correct files and I’m now officially running firmware version 2.0 (5A347) on my Vodacom SIM card without any problems.

A couple of interesting observations about the new firmware:

• Under the Phone settings you can now use all the forwarding, call waiting and caller ID functions.
• Under that same menu is a Vodacom4me link… I wonder if this in preparation for iPhone launch in SA?
• All my settings were localised to South Africa - and this was before I set the phone up in iTunes.
• AppStore is awesome and I have Google, Apple Remote, Twitterific, Facebook, iYardage and Last.fm apps downloaded and running.
• Install.app is no longer available in 2.0. Instead, Cydia is the new “illegal” application manager and it runs off Debian Apt - VERY NICE!
• Google Maps actually works!!!! It pin-points me to my current location (which is a little inaccurate) and I don’t even have the GPS on my iPhone. It must use the Vodacom cell towers for this but I am super impressed that it works for the first time.
• You still can’t forward an SMS…….. and there is no copy and paste functions. Have Apple learnt nothing about basic phone functionality?

That’s it for now. Not sure if I’m the first SA hack but I’m loving it nonetheless.

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I am Rex. Hear me purr.

Rex The Lion surfaced at the beginning of this month and the hype around this pussy cat is something to behold. Quite frankly I am bored.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept and the software they’re using is awesome but I feel Rex could be executed far more effectively.

As an anonymous user, who’s sole mandate is to talk about the local blogosphere, I would expect Rex to be more controversial but alas all we get is name-dropping and link-baiting which is really not amusing or interesting in the least.

If I were Rex, and clearly I’m not, I’d be ripping bloggers off and really creating some hype. This lack of controversy leads me to believe that Rex is simply a marketing ploy developed by some person/agency to get exposure for something which will most likely be revealed in the near future.

Unlike Bolton, Guy Mclaren or even Vernon Koekemoer - Rex The Pussy lacks originality in his content and the only thing going for Rex is his cool software.

Come on Rex, let’s really see you roar!

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