The nice thing about iTunes decisions is that we can provide you with patches to counter them. We have one such patch already for Mac iTunes 8 for iPod touch. We’ll be working out the full suite of patches for all the combinations over the next week.

Begun the Apple-Hackers iTunes Wars have. [iPhone Dev Team Blog]

According to their site, WinPwn 2.0.0.1 has the following features:

- Support for both 1.1.4 and 2.0

- Custom Image Support

- Custom Payload Support

- 3g iPhone support

[WinPwn and Rapidshare Mirror]

- It auto-finds the bl39 and bl46 files better, if they’re on your computer.
- It creates the ~/Library/iTunes/Device Support/ folder if not present, which should help with some 1600 errors people have been having.
- Many people have reported the PwnageTool not starting up at all (the icon never stops bouncing). This issue should be resolved now.
- The Sparkle AppCast URL is fixed in this version, so automatic updates should work for future releases.

If you successfully jailbroke and unlocked your iPhone with OS 2.0 with the previous one, there's no need for you to use this version. Otherwise, you can download from here or here.

We can't wait for the tool to be released. [iPhone Dev Blog]

You can download from here and here.

If you were wondering how I was doing push email tests on iPhone OS 2.0 and Vodafone UK, this is the reason why. The code wizard commandos at the iPhone Dev Team have been working on this non-stop since the early days of beta testing. In fact, I had iPhone OS 2.0 running on my iPhone since last week. That was version 5A345, two below 5A347, but identical in functionality.

Now that the official iPhone OS 2.0 is out, the iPhone Dev Team will release their Pwnage tool for everyone to unlock and jailbreak their iPhones soon, although the specific date/time is not firm yet. It may not be as interesting as before—since most countries now have the iPhone and it will be impossible to buy without doing a contract first—but people looking to install unsigned applications and buy pay-as-you-go cards while traveling—instead of roaming—will find it very useful.

And besides, we don't get tired of seeing the Death Star exploding again and again. [iPhone Dev Team Portal]

Apart from the previous unlocking and jailbreaking, the new version has three main features:

• Easily customizable images for start and restore screens.
• You can use packages to customize your firmware and install software right away, on one single update.
• You can now pwn iPhone 1.2.0 beta 3.

We also got confirmation of what we already hinted last week: Apple is preparing up to battle the hackers, with more and more code running signed and secured inside the iPhone. This will make things more difficult for the iPhone Dev Team.

How much more difficult? Would this be a real challenge to the iPhone Dev Team's current dominance in the hacking war? According to them, it may be. But it just makes things more interesting and fun, which is exactly what we wanted to hear.

Get your update now. [iPhone Dev Team via Pwnage in Gizmodo]

Pwnage is extremely simple to use. First you have to back up your iPhone data using iTunes.

Then, connect the iPhone, select the firmware from your hard drive and iPwn the iPhone. Pwnage will upload the new firmware to the iPhone and that's that: the tool will take care of everything and, in a few minutes, your iPhone will be ready to go.

I tried this with the latest modified version of iPhone firmware update 1.2.0 and it works as good as with the previous version. So go ahead, punks, and make Steve's day.

Note: if by any chance you come across a pwned version of the latest 2.0 firmware, my advice is not to use this version, as this Apple beta is not as stable as I wish. Instead, use the previous beta, which worked perfectly. [iPhone Dev Team]

Update: Due to legalities the Pwnage tool has been delayed. We'll keep you updated with any release information as we get it. [iPhone Dev Team]

[Hackint0sh]

Whats new? Visible changes are:

• Exchange Support
• Appstore
• Parental Controls
• SDK Support
• Calculator is more advanced
• CISCO VPN support
• Mail mass deletion

Features not included:

• There is no spotlight icon

[Gizmodo's iPhone Hacking Coverage and Hacint0sh]

pwned firmware means it's custom [firmware], you can have it install anything you would ever want :-) Pwned works with some magic, it will be hard to close but nothing is impossible (from Apple) with a mindtwist. But first, we will enjoy :)

They told us that this is all part of their previous Pwnage project, which instead of trying to hack into the iPhone, directly patches the firmware itself to both unlock it, so you can use the iPhone with any carrier you want, and allow you to install any applications you want. You can see how it works here:

According to the Dev Team, the custom 2.0 firmware (technically, 1.2.0,) is now up and running without problems in many of their iPhones, running unsigned applications without a single problem. However, current Installer.app applications need to be changed: "they changed lots of the API, a lot. We will see how much has to be changed to the Toolchain [the previous development tool for iPhone independent developers] to still work after 2.0."

The best news, however, is this: "the hacked 1.2 firmware works with anything. AT&T and others, it's pwned. And Apple will not really be able to patch it this time... somehow :-)"

I'm flabbergasted. As Han Solo would say, "that's one in a million, kid!" Once again.

The cool thing here is that Dev Team told us that this is 1) a true unlock and 2) Apple will have a very difficult time closing this hole. That's the news, not just jailbreak—in fact, it's not even jailbreak in the classic sense. It's built-in the hacked firmware, which allows for installation of any application, unsigned or "Apple Approved"

In other words, true carrier and applications independence. And for a long time.

Note: as you can see, the Dev Team is still working hard in making the iPhone a completely open, carrier-independent platform. If you want to help them, please send a Paypal donation to iphone.devteam@gmail.com or join them at hackint0sh.org.