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In the early hours of this morning the iPhone Dev team released the latest version of their “Pwnage Tool”. This software modifies the iPhone firmware to unlock and jailbreak the phone.

To the uninitiated, unlocking the iPhone lets you use the phone on other networks than was originally intended. For example, in the UK if you want an iPhone you have to sign up to an 18 month contract with O2. If you’re getting a better deal with a different network you can’t just put that sim card in an iPhone, it won’t accept it as it’s locked to O2.

So if that’s unlocking what’s “jailbreaking”?  Well, prior to July the 11th you couldn’t install any new applications on your iPhone, you were stuck with what came with it.  On July the 11th Apple launched the App Store in iTunes which lets you download free (or low cost) applications and install them on your iPhone.  The only catch is that Apple decides which applications go in the store.  Jailbreaking your iPhone lets you download any iPhone applications off the internet and install them.

Modifying an iPhone in this manner can be risky.  If the process goes wrong there is the chance of “bricking” you iPhone, which in other words renders it useless.  And it voids your warranty…

We unlocked our old 2G iPhone this afternoon as we intend to sell it as it’s now surplus to requirements due to a few upgrade to the new 3G iPhone.

Here’s a video we made of the process:

Filed under: Gadgets
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