[Zapatopi]

Ok, so I'm really new to phone hacks/mods, etc. I keep seeing the phrases "unlocked", "jailbreak", "hacked" etc thrown around when referring to phones. What exactly do these phrases mean? Some people use the term "unlocked" to mean that you can modify all processes a phone can do, like unlocking custom ringtones on an iPhone for free, and other places on the net that say that an unlocked phone can use any carrier (for instance, using an iPhone on Tmobile).

Is there some table somewhere saying what phones can be tricked into using on other carriers (like the iPhone on Verizon for instance) or can you "unlock" any phone and use it on any carrier? (I doubt this because certain phones exclusive to certain carriers, like GSM on AT&T mean that you cannot use an iPhone on a CDMA-only carrier like Verizon right?)

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› See More: What Exactly is Unlocking?

[Zarphor92]

"Unlocking" is traditionally defined in the phone world as removing the limitations on your phone that stop you from using a different network's SIM card in the phone. It is perfectly legal to have it done. A phone can indeed be used on any carrier once unlocked - so long as the phone is not exclusive to the network. Just to clear any confusion this may bring, if your phone has an operator logo physically placed on the casing, or if it has operator exclusive functions in the menus, this does not necessarily mean it can't be unlocked. this is called branding, which is something entirely different.

"jailbreaking" and "Hacking" are the same thing at the end of the day. It essentially means to gain greater access to your phone's filesystem via a computer and allows the user to have more freedom - for example you can jailbreak the iPhone to be able to use 3rd party applications and bypassing any DRM protection it may posess.

[Zapatopi]

Ah ok then. Unlocking can't bypass basic network restrictions though like GSM and CDMA right?
Mozilla/4.1 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; ) 400x240 LGE VX10000

[Zarphor92]

Nope, not unless the phone in question supports both GSM and CDMA. GSM and CDMA phones use different hardware, meaning it's the phone that prevents this rather than the network.

[jhaimee]

So that's unlocking huh. Getting rid of the limitations of your cp. Isn't that sort of a cheat, selling phones with limited capabilities?

[Zarphor92]

It can be a pain when the full functionality of the phone isn't available at default. I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, it would be that branding is used to help advertise the company more to the user and it also means that the unbranded handsets will be worth more as they are typically in higher demand. It might also be cheaper for the provider to release a phone with their own firmware rather than a generic one. I'm really not sure...