FCC Makes Jailbreaking A Legal Practice, iPhones on Any Cellphone Carrier

The FCC made several rulings early this morning, but the biggest one involved the jailbreaking of phones.

Jailbreaking, the process of unlocking a phone, especially iPhones, to be run on networks not pre-approved by the phone’s manufacturer, was long considered illegal and persons could be subject to a fine or arrest if caught. (Although, neither has been reported of ever happening) The FCC decided to change all that this Monday morning.

In their ruling, the FCC stated that jailbreaking is a completely legal practice that actually enhances the usability of a phone, and was legitimate under fair-use rules. Now phone owners can break into their phones, install unsupported applications, and switch carriers as they please without fear of any sort of penalty. Your current cell phone carrier might not help you, and jailbreaking will probably void your warranty, but I doubt many people would care. Millions of phones have been jailbroken already, and carriers can expect more to come.

For networks like T-Mobile, US Cellular, and etc., with a really less than inspiring lineup of smart phones, many people have jailbroken their iPhone orr whatever smart phone they could to use on their networks. The fact that people can now do this legally is sure to send smiles across the faces of the  public, and frowns across the faces of phone manufacturers, especially Steve Jobs.

With strict rights with AT&T and their network for the iPhone lineup, for people to be able to iPhones on other, less restrictive networks, Jobs might have to end up forcing his hand and actually tagging onto other major carriers to release the iPhone with. (I know I wouldn’t stay on AT&T and their network and restrictive plans if I could be with T-Mobile or Sprint). The only difficulty would be that those same carriers might not be as easily influenced with any sort of limitations he’d like to tag onto his phones and the plans that go with them. T-Mobile would unlikely budge if he tries to takeover. They’ll probably get the highest influx of customers out of this ruling anyway. What would they need him for?

This is definitely a pro-consumer move. Now, let’s just wait and see what the manufacturers’ and carriers’ next moves are.

Samsung Epic 4G to Launch In August?

Based on the post dates for previously launched variants of the Samsung Galaxy S, AT&T’s Samsung Captivate on July 19th, and T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant on July 21st, writers over at  AndroidPolice believe that because the Epic 4G’s video will air on August 20th that it will be released by then.

(The theory does make some sense, and I hope it’s actually true because I’ve been looking forward too the handset since I first heard about like many others have.)

Click to see the videos on the Samsung TV page.

The Epic 4G, a highly anticipated 2nd 4G phone for Sprint, looks to outdo the Evo 4G and probably will. With dual-cameras, a physical qwerty keyboard, Swype technology, the six-axis accelerometer, a 1GHz processor, and much more, the Epic 4G will be a force to be reckoned with.

More.

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Microsoft Confirms Dell, HTC, and the Rest of Their Windows 7 Partners

For their launch of their first batch of Windows 7 Phones, Microsoft has let it be known that: HTC, LG, Asus, Dell, and Samsung will be the initial partners in selling Windows 7 Phones for their launch. Greg Sullivan, Microsoft’s senior product manager made the statement in an interview with Pocket-lint. And while no word of what the devices themselves actually look like, unfortunately, everyone’s eyes and ears will be on the lookout for shots and info on them to see if Microsoft manages to screw this up like they usually do.

More.

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Barnes and Nobles, Groupon Launch Android Apps

A couple more companies have hopped in the Android market app pool. Both Barnes and Nobles, and Groupon have launched apps this week for Android users.

The Groupon app allows users to buy, find, and redeem great deals in over 60 cities. The company already has an app for iPhones, which launched back in March. They pretty much work the same as one another, so if you’re looking for a good, local deal, then give this an app  a try.

Barnes and Nobles also brings its e-Reader, the Nook, to Android to compete with the recently launched Kindle app from Amazon. Users can shop for over one million eBooks through Barnes and Nobles online store, customize the text with several font styles and sizes, and even offers eBook lending. Users can access free samples to try out with this free app.

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Motorola DROID X Rooted

Thanks an Android user under the alias “Birdman”, the DROID X has already been rooted. After being reported that the e-fuse software on it would prevent rooting, it’s already been done. Wow.

To get a copy of the root, you need to go to droidxforums. Thanks BGR!

Let me know how it works out for you all who use it!

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