Still no baseband unlock, but if you've been dying to feel the marginal improvements of iPhone OS 2.0.2 while still rocking those crazy homebrew apps, the Dev Team has come through again with PwnageTool 2.0.3. A new Windows version of the QuickPwn tool is also out, with a Mac version to follow within the week -- you know the drill, if you're brave enough to update let us know how it goes in comments.

[Thanks, David]

Billed as a "compliment" to the existing PwnageTool, iphone-dev has released a working beta of what it calls QuickPwn, a utility that uses a crafty new jailbreaking method to forgo the installation of a fresh IPSW. In layman's terms, that means you can have a fully jailbroken phone running 2.0.1 (and soon 2.0.2, we'd imagine) without the mild discomfort of having to restore your precious sidearm from scratch. The tool's still being developed and is currently only available on Windows, though the team is quick to point out that because QuickPwn operates only on the iPhone's app processor, any screw-ups should be totally undoable. Be that as it may, you know the drill: keep your gloves up, protect yourselves at all times, and let's have a clean fight.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

As some of you already know, updating your iPhone to firmware 2.0.1 means that you've lost access to all your jailbroken apps. That's pretty much expected and should be rectified by the DevTeam soon enough. What's notable from an unlocking perspective, however, is that Apple's 2.0.1 release also updates the iPhone 3G baseband. This puts iPhone 3G owners in a bit of a quandary: update now via iTunes in desperate hopes of the stability and improved keyboard response we've been seeing but do so at the risk not being able to unlock your iPhone 3G in the future (if and when the DevTeam gets around to releasing it for firmware 2.0). A lot can happen in the course of a 2 year (or longer) carrier commitment. According to the DevTeam, you'll get all the benefits of Apple's 2.0.1 update (without the pesky new baseband) just as soon as they can kick out the updated PwnageTool (current version is 2.0.1) onto the Internets. Decisions, decisions.

Sure, it was already possible (if complicated) to jailbreak a first-gen iPhone running the 2.0 software under Windows, but this is the one-click tool all you crazy cats with those extra G's need if you don't have a Mac -- too bad no one's come up with a better name than "pwn" yet. Please, people. Let's do better.

PS.- As usual, you run the risk of totally destroying your phone mucking around with this stuff, so don't say we didn't warn you.

Update: winpwn.com is down already, mirrors in the comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Feeling a little left out after yesterday's Mac-based Pwnage Tool festivities, Windows users? Fret not, because the ever-vigilant, ever-studious hacking community has managed to come up with a series of steps to get you back on your feet again with a fully pwned first-gen handset. The whole shebang isn't necessarily for the most casual jailbreakers -- let's just say it isn't quite as straightforward as the Mac procedure yet -- but it'll allegedly get you going if you're starting with an iPhone running 1.1.4 (there are additional steps if you jumped the gun on 2.0, you impatient son of a gun, you -- think of it as penance). As always, exercise extreme caution, understand that this could cause your iPhone to spontaneously combust into a useless pile of metal, plastic, and ash, and let us know how it goes in comments.

[Thanks, Z-]

Sort of. Pwnage Tool 2.0 can't handle 3G iPhone SIM unlocks just yet, though jailbreaking should work just fine, and we're also faced with the teensy little problem of the Dev Team's server being totally destroyed by downloads already -- mirror please? -- but the friendly little jailbreak app has finally been unleashed upon the earth. We'd never suggest trying out software like this right out of the gate, but, um, let us know how it goes, yeah?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We're seeing mixed results so far in the comments, but no bricked phones to speak of. Always a good thing. Oh, and plenty of mirrors to be found in the comments, thanks guys!

Update 2: Looks like 2.0.1 is already out with a few fixes!

We can't say this is a surprise... but it is sweet to see. The iPhone Dev Team has added a video to their blog showing off the latest version of their upcoming PwnageTool 2.0, along with a video of what they claim is the "world's first" jailbroken iPhone 3G. Check the video after the break, and hit the read link to see how their progress is coming on the new case-cracker.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Just a few hours after we brought you the exclusive hands-on video with the DevTeam's PwnageTool... it's out! Mac only for now, Windows on the way shortly.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Those crafty kids on the iPhone Dev Team have already hacked the 2.0 firmware, but now they're getting ready to release the oh-so-creatively-named PWNED tool, which takes iPhone hacking to the next level by patching the bootloader to let you load any firmware image you want -- even images not signed by Apple. That means custom patched firmware can now be loaded directly from iTunes, which simplifies the jailbreaking / unlocking process tremendously, and also means that a patched version of the 2.0 firmware is coming soon. We're putting the tool through its paces right now and we'll have a hands-on with it (and the Dev Team's patched 2.0 firmware) as soon as we get it all working, but check out some highlights after the break, and hit the read link for more info.

Update: Looks like PWNED / Pwned Tool / Pwnage Tool / Pwnage / whatever they're calling it is being delayed for a week. Bummer. Thanks, Neophytos.

This is just getting silly, don't you think? The iPhone Dev Team has once again proven their totally gnarly talents by freeing up the latest firmware before it's even the latest firmware. Apple, here's our suggestion -- just let people do what they want with your devices, since they're clearly going to do it anyway. That way, instead of making enemies, you're making lifelong buddies. Reasonable, right? Steve, give us a call, we're more than happy to riff on some ideas for playing nice with the end-user.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We know, we're flat on our backs from being blown away here, but Apple confirmed to us in a post-keynote Q&A session that SIM unlock software will not be allowed in the iPhone App Store. You know what that means? The Jailbreak community lives to crack another day.

If you happen to own an iPhone, and you happen to have updated to the 1.1.4 firmware, you can now easily jailbreak, activate, and unlock your phone with a couple of simple solutions. As you may have heard, iNdependence 1.4 beta 5 is out, which will do all sorts of non-Apple approved things to your device from OS X, though if you're looking for the ultimate cross-platform solution, you probably can't do better than the latest version Zibri's all-in-one package, Ziphone 2.5. Both apps make it about a million times easier than this was a few weeks ago, though we've seen video of a new solution -- jailbreaking directly from iTunes -- that could make this process even simpler (though considerably more illegal). Check that out after the break and get a glimpse of your deviant future.

[Via TUAW; Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - iNdependence
Read - Ziphone's Blog

We're not yet entirely sure how it works, but iPhone hacker Zibri's just released a new app he's calling ZiPhone, which claims to jailbreak any version iPhone -- including new 1.1.3 phones right out of the box -- without messy downgrades and baseband changes. We haven't tested it ourselves, but prepare for the onslaught of downloaders to take it offline in five... four... three...

[Thanks, Tyler and Eugene]

Update (2/13): Looks like v2 is out, and it's capable of downgrading the bootloader from 4.6 to 3.9. Thanks, Yuri.

While it likely won't come as much of a surprise to those reading this, it seems that Apple's recently released iPhone sales numbers and AT&T's customer number don't exactly match up, leading those ever so insightful analysts to conclude that many of the phones are being sold with the sole intention of being unlocked. What is somewhat surprising, however, is exactly how many phones that might be. As MacWorld reports, Apple says it sold 3.7 million iPhones in 2007, while AT&T says it signed up about two million or so iPhone customers during the same time period. While those aforementioned analysts point out that Apple's numbers were boosted by 300,000-400,000 sales in Europe, and likely a few sold over the holidays that were yet to be activated, that still leaves over a million iPhones running free out there. If you do the math, that seems to suggest that roughly one in three iPhones sold are being unlocked although, obviously, we're not about to get a confirmation on that number from anyone.

Those of you torn between having an SNES emulator and vibrating icons need worry no more -- a team of iPhone hackers led by the illustrious Nate True has just posted an iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak. There are some hacker politics between the iPhone Dev Team and Nate involved, and the jailbreak is currently only for Windows users with previously-jailbroken 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 iPhones, but it's still sweet, sweet freedom. We're busy getting it up on one of our iPhones here at Engadget HQ, we'll let you know all the gory details when we're done.

[Via TUAW]