Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Jailbreak Artist Geohot Spotted at iOSDevCamp 2011

Hacker extraordinaire George Hotz, or Geohot (as the jailbreak community knows him) has been confirmed as an attendant of the iOSDevCamp 2011 in San Jose, California.

Previously known as iPhoneDevCamp and iPadDevCamp, iOSDevCamp is an annual not-profit gathering where attendees have the main goal of developing iOS apps using both the native iPhone SDK and web standards.

Initially inspired by BarCamp, SuperHappyDevHouse, and MacHack, the event had the main goal of touting Cocoa Touch and web-based development for iPhone and iPod touch.

iOSDevCamp now brings together la creme de la creme of iOS developers, web developers, UI designers, entrepreneurs and testers.

With such attendance, Geohot must have felt right at home.

While development projects include both solo and team efforts, some attendees wish to work solo during the event.

The organizers generally encourage attendees to team up and work in ad-hoc project development teams.

Every year, all attendees must be prepared to work on a development project of some kind during their stay.

Activities include creating new applications for iOS, both native and web-based; migrating Mac OS X applications to iOS; testing and optimizing applications for iOS.

Attendees are encouraged to drop by Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference as well, in order to familiarize themselves with this type of event.

During the event, Geohot was spotted typing feverishly on a MacBook Pro in what is regarded as an indication that he is still interested in performing his brilliant hacks on Apple’s iOS.

Currently on Facebook’s payroll, Geohot is best known for his blackra1n and purplera1n hacks for iOS.

He’s also the kickstarter of the PlayStation 3 jailbreak. His hacking talent once got him in trouble with Sony, and while he’s not off the hook just yet, Geohot seems restless.

To clarify one thing, iOSDevCamp is not a jailbreak convention. In fact, the organizers say they are sensitive to the rules surrounding the Apple iOS SDK, including the company’s no-jailbreak policy.