Apple puts heat on jailbreakers, plus iOS 4.3 set for December?

Apple has snuck a feature into iOS 4.2.1 to ward off iPhone jailbreakers, while we could be seeing its next major update as soon as mid-December.

Apple has put a baseband requirement into the iPhone’s software, according to BigBoss. This means the main part of the OS will check the baseband firmware, which controls the cellular radio, and if the signature doesn’t match what was expected, the iPhone won’t boot. It’ll be stuck in recovery mode until you restore it back to 4.1.

Put simply, this means the iPhone won’t work if you’ve been trying to perform some types of jailbreak. Although jailbreaking is not illegal, it’s very much frowned upon by Apple, and breaks your warranty. It’s all a game of hack and mouse though, and we’re sure some script kiddy in Fresno has already thought of a way round it.

Apple is already making plans to release its next iOS update as soon as mid-December, according to macstories. iOS 4.3 will apparently support recurring subscriptions — crucial for paid-for news applications such as Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily.

9 December could be the day we see a joint announcement on the launch of iOS 4.3 and The Daily. Before then another iPad-only newspaper is set to be launched by Richard Branson — possibly next week, as reported in the Guardian. Unlike Murdoch, Branson seems to have chosen not to launch the project with the help of Apple’s engineers.

Image credit: TFTS 

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