We've already seen the iPhone 3G got unlocked to function on any carrier (and you can already buy unlocked versions in several countries), but we haven't seen a locked handset get unlocked via software only, and the folks at gsmphone-unlocking have the first video we've seen of Steve's newest baby doing the SIM swap dance without any adapters. Yep, there it is, going from Rogers to Fido. Sadly, the video is more of a shameless ploy for publicity than actually useful information, and until we're told otherwise, we're just going to assume that they've just gotten hold of an early copy of the Dev Team's unlocking tool -- which should be free to the public sometime soon. So, you know: video after the break, but feel free to ignore the obnoxious phone numbers and URLs.

Mass unlocking and reselling of prepaid phones has been a pretty hot topic as of late, with AT&T taking its high-power legal team out of its holster recently and TracFone famously pursuing unlockers for some time now. In fact, according to the latest press release, TracFone has now filed a bewildering 28 lawsuits against a grand total of 80 defendants (including one disconcertingly called "Skynet"), all in an effort to stamp out the so-called "theft of subsidy" concept that rips off TracFone when its ultra-cheap phones are worked over and sold elsewhere. The legal angle seems to be working, too, with a $1 million judgment being handed down this week against a guy (who goes by no fewer than three names, it seems) in a Texas federal court.

[Via HotCellularPhone.com]

An under-the-radar class action lawsuit against Sprint Nextel is winding its way towards a settlement this week, and it contains a pretty huge concession by Sprint: the company will unlock phones for both current and former customers, and will begin training its customer service reps on how to connect non-Sprint phones to its network. The settlement was tentatively approved by a California judge on October 2, but hasn't had a final approval hearing yet, according to Sprint -- but it's still a huge win for US consumers, who haven't been able to buy mainstream unlocked phones from any of the major carriers. Of course, since Sprint's network is CDMA, unlocked phones will only work on other CDMA carriers like Verizon -- and there's no guarantees those companies will be happy about it -- but at this point we'll take whatever we can get.

Unlocked iPhones continue to be a hot commodity around the world -- carrier locking and limited regional availability will tend to do that to a popular handset, don't cha' know -- but it still might come as some surprise just how hot we're talking about here. Analysts at Piper Jaffray report that folks buying the per-customer limit of 5 iPhones were a common sight in twelve hours of research it undertook during September, suggesting that as many as 10 percent of all new iPhones sold during the month went on to become unlocked and resold. Of course, with the possibility (if not likelihood) that future firmware updates will continue to temporarily brick, relock, or otherwise cripple unlocked devices in the field, the street value of these things likely fluctuates by the minute. You know what they say: buy low, sell high.

Shortly after Apple released a brief statement yesterday regarding iPhone modifications and their impacts on warranties, the firm's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing has stepped up to clarify a few issues. In a recent interview, Phil Schiller was quoted as saying that the upcoming software update "has nothing to do with proactively disabling a phone that is unlocked or hacked." Furthermore, he added that it was "unfortunate that some programs have caused damage to the iPhone software," but he noted that "Apple could not be responsible for... those consequences." All in all, it doesn't sound like Apple is changing its stance, but it seems safe to say that Cupertino won't be listening to any crying should subsequent updates render your hacked iPhone useless.

[Via AppleInsider]

It didn't take El Jobso and the Cupertino team long to hit the millionth iPhone mark, and with bigger hopes for the holiday season, Apple will need to keep up its game. Two friends who decided to aid Apple's effort, have taken matters into their own hands and are offering free iPhone unlocking service outside their local AT&T store. With no word on how long AT&T will allow these shenanigans to continue, leave us a comment if you know these two!

So you say writing SIMs all by your lonesome isn't part of your daily routine, but you're still interested in freeing the iPhone from AT&T's surly bonds? Yeah, we can't blame you -- we're pretty much in the same boat -- so we're glad to see that an ever-so-slightly easier unlocking trick has bubbled out of the hive mind just a week after the original. This new hackery involves a specialized SIM card called a "Turbo SIM" manufactured by the Czech Republic's BLADOX. The idea behind the Turbo SIM is that you can add... well, stuff to the Turbo SIM, sandwich it between your regular SIM and your phone, and the loaded material then becomes available to the handset; traditionally, that "stuff" is value-add software like customized SMS directories, security, logging, and the like. In this case, though, the chip is used to pass through the original AT&T SIM's identifying information to the phone while preserving the calling capability of the Carrier X SIM of your choosing. Of course, a €59 (about $81) Turbo SIM has to be ordered from afar to get this accomplished, the phone has to be jailbreaked, and a handful of files need to be downloaded, edited, and executed, so this still isn't for the faint of heart. As always, buyer beware, and find a nice stack of paper that needs weightin' in case everything goes south in a hurry.

[Via iPhone World]

If your SDA is feeling a little long in the tooth, don't throw cash out the window on a new device -- give 'er a makeover! Besides overclocking the 195MHz OMAP to a more palatable 240MHz, we have here some tips on unlocking the phone yourself (at no cost) and throwing Skype on there for some do-it-yourself dual mode action. Like the article says, proceed at your own warranty-voiding risk, but honestly, what red-blooded Faraday or Wizard owner hasn't putzed around with ROM images at this point?

[Via Hackaday]

If you've ever found yourself facing a locked phone asking for its PUK code, you know that you're kinda in a bind when that happens. Typically you need to call your carrier, wait the standard 3.44 minutes for a rep to answer, provide some identifying information so they know you're who you say you are, and you get your code. Phone thieves, rejoice: O2 is now offering PUK codes through its website to anyone providing little more than a phone number. Granted, very few people actually lock their SIMs down with a PIN and PUK, but for those that do on O2, your safety margin just got a little smaller.

[Via textually.org]