14 DAY TRIAL // iOS hacker and security researcher Stefan Esser has managed to jailbreak iOS 5.1 on the A5-based iPad 2, according to a number of photos posted by the coding guru on his Twitter stream.
Esser (who uses @i0n1c as his Twitter handle) had been waiting for his third-generation iPad to arrive but apparently the delivery service (Hermes) was moving rather slow.
So he played around with his existing iPad 2 and managed to exploit a few holes to install Cydia on the device. He confirmed his progress via a few photos (one of which is displayed above). He is now moving on to the iPad 3.
Last time we checked Esser’s Twitter stream, he was actively discussing other potential exploits with the infamous Pod2g, another prominent hacker and security buff. Pod2g is the leader of Chronic Dev Team, whose Greenpois0n tool has jailbroken millions of iDevices.
Since the third-generation iPad is very similar to the iPad 2 in terms of hardware, there is every indication that Esser will have an iOS 5.1 jailbreak ready for the new device in the coming days.
In fact, the hacker himself said in a tweet (blaming the delivery service chosen by Apple): “…so maybe the iPad 3 will not be jailbroken tomorrow, but on Monday or whenever I get my iPad 3.”
Esser had noted earlier that “Hermes is known to employ everyone who has a driver's licence and can count to 3. Counting beyond 3 is not a requirement.”
The hacker was visibly upset by Apple’s choice for the delivery service.
“I would really like to meet the person responsible for hiring the cheap as [expletive] delivery service Hermes for Apple,” he said. “Last time the iPad2 delivery guy did not ring the bell and ran away with the iPad2 because the bell said Esser/OthName instead of Esser,” he added.