Just hours after a jailbreak for nearly every portable Apple device hit the Web yesterday – including the latest iPhone 4 and iOS 4 – and an app has been released that brings FaceTime to the 3G network.
FaceTime, Apple’s video chat app released for use with the iPhone 4, has been restricted to use over wifi connections up until now, but My3G brings face-to-face video chat to the 3G network for newly-jailbroken iPhone 4 users.
The Library of Congress last week added new exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), exempting “jailbreaking” devices as “fair use”. A jailbroken device – in this case an iPhone 4 – can install and run apps not approved by Apple or offered in Apple’s App Store. Apple has said that jailbreaking its devices will void the warranty, but the process is easily reversed with a device restore.
The My3G app allows users of any jailbroken iPhone to run apps that are restricted to wifi networks by making them think they are connected to wifi when only 3G is available. In addition to running FaceTime on the iPhone 4, iPhone users can also download podcasts and TV shows over 3G via iTunes or watch hi-def YouTube videos.
This functionality has been available for a while, but the latest update brings the feature to iOS 4 and the iPhone 4. The My3G app is available for download and costs $3.99. iHackintosh predicts that the app will also be available shortly for Cydia, another directory of apps for jailbroken Apple devices.
As we mentioned last week, Apple’s statement that jailbreaking its devices would void the warranty seemed more like a last ditch effort to retain control more than anything else, as jailbroken devices can function in a number of ways that go at the core of Apple’s business. In this case, allowing FaceTime to run over the 3G network could mean trouble for AT&T’s already taxed network, were it to become popular enough. For now, however, it is unlikely that enough iPhone 4 users would have jailbroken devices and would use this feature to actually affect the network.
