The iPhone 3G has been available for less than a week…and already tools are appearing that enable users to jailbreak the device to run their own software or use the phones on other GSM networks. The iPhone Dev Team had posted PwnageTool 2.0.1, enabling users to install any application or software they like on the devices—and, in the case of the original iPhone, decouple the devices from AT&T’s mobile network. However, PwnageTool 2.0.1 does not free the iPhone 3G from AT&T’s network
The IPhone Dev Team noted it leveraged a new, heretofore-undisclosed exploit it had been keeping in check in the hopes Apple would not patch it in the iPhone 2.0 firmware.
Apple’s officially policy is that jailbreaking an iPhone voids the product’s warranty, and users run the risk that any software update from Apple may turn their expensive device into little more than a paperweight. Nonetheless, the demand to cut iPhones free from AT&T service is considerable, and numerous Internet sites host iPhone applications and tools for unlocked phones—tools that are not (and are never likely to be) available through Apple’s new App Store.
Apple no doubt hopes the availability of the App Store, coupled with vastly improved international availability will cut down on the appeal of jailbreaking iPhones.
The iPhone 3G continues to be difficult to find after customers rushed to acquire the device as soon as it hit store shelves. Many Apple and AT&T retail outlets remain consistently out of stock.
