It turns out the new boot ROM doesn't totally prevent the 24kpwn exploit employed by the Dev Team hackers. [See update below] The result? You can still jailbreak your late-model 3GS, but the device needs to be tethered to your computer in order to boot up. It's a major annoyance, especially given how crash-happy 3.1 phones—especially jailbroken ones—can be, but not necessarily a dealbreaker.

Anyhow, chances are it won't be this way for long—remember the iPod Touch 2G? It was jailbroken fairly quickly after launch, but it had a new, slightly more secure boot ROM, and there needed to be tethered in order to boot. A few weeks later, the hackers finished their thing, and there was moderate rejoicing. This chain of events, which is already under way again, is starting to read like a script.

UPDATE: Evidently, the boot ROM update does disable the 24kpwn exploit, which was the bit of code that allowed for untethered jailbreaks in the first place. For what it's worth, the Dev Team still sounds unfazed. [Gadget Lab]

With it, Windows users will have available to them a jailbreak solution for OS 3.1.2 on all iPhone and iPod touch generations. Installation is pretty simple: Download and install the app on your PC, then plug in your device.

Update: There is a warning associated with this, so read on and take note:

WARNING: Even though the GeoHot jailbreak supports 3.1.2 do not update if you are on iPhone OS 3.0.1 or 3.0. You will lose your unlock. Use PwnageTool to safely update to 3.1 without performing a baseband update. If you really must have 3.1.2 then wait for the next version of PwnageTool. If you have already updated to 3.1 or 3.1.2 without using PwnageTool then you've lost the ability to unlock for the time being. You can now use BlackRa1n to at least regain your jailbreak :)

Update provided by iClarified and the comment section. Thanks! [On the iPhone via BGR]

• Resolves sporadic issue that may cause iPhone to not wake from sleep
• Resolves intermittent issue that may interrupt cellular network services until restart
• Fixes bug that could cause occasional crash during video streaming

It weighs 241.7MB. Go get it in iTunes. After the update—which is also available for the iPod Touch—you will be able to update to AT&T Carrier Settings 5.6. [Thanks Mark]

# mproved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos
# iTunes U content organization
# Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
# Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
# Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
# Option to "Save as new clip" when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
# Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on

* Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe
* Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
* Paste phone numbers into the keypad
* Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
* Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
* Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
* Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

Genius Recommendations for Apps

Get recommendations for apps you might like based on apps you've already downloaded.
Genius Mixes

Have iTunes automatically create mixes based on what's already in your library. You don't even have to choose a sample song.

Download Ringtones Wirelessly

Choose from thousands of iPhone ringtones on the iTunes Store and buy them with a tap.
Organize Apps in iTunes

Use iTunes on your computer to drag apps onto virtual Home screens, then sync them to your iPhone.

Think about it: the rumors are of essentially a gigantic iPod Touch with a 3G connection. It's a web tablet, right? But we live in a time where $300 netbooks are the norm. Are people going to really be willing to part with $800 for a gussied-up netbook with a touchscreen and Apple design?

Sure, fanboys will drop money on anything that Apple puts out, but what features are people expecting this to have to make it worth the scratch?

eBook Reader—People are saying Apple is taking aim at the Kindle with this. But this won't deliver anything that a laptop doesn't other than making it easier to hold like a book. But it still has an LCD screen, which people don't like reading books on as much as eInk or paper. And it'll definitely cost way more than the Kindle.

Web Surfing — You can do this on a netbook for a fraction of the price.

iTunes Album Art — This is little more than an added bonus, not a selling point for a piece of hardware.

Gaming — Sure, gaming on the iPhone can be annoying because your fingers get in the way. But do you know what's more annoying? Using a touchscreen for gaming in the first place. Gaming on the iPhone is annoying because it's a touchscreen, not because it's a small touchscreen.

And there are serious issues with the entire idea of a tablet platform.

Typing—How do people envision typing on this thing? Are you going to lie it flat on your desk? Flat on your lap? And how is typing going to work on a flat surface? You won't be using your thumbs like on the iPhone. There's a reason laptops are designed the way they are with the screen at an angle to the keyboard.

Apps—Is this going to run a modified version of the iPod Touch OS or a gimped version of OS X? If it's just a big iPod Touch, we're looking at apps designed for a totally different resolution and control scheme that will then be made to work on this. How is that worth it? Is there going to be a new category in the App Store for this device, making you buy your apps over again for this new format? In what way will it straddle the line between MacBook and iPod Touch?

Performance—The iPhone is not the fastest way to surf the web, but we're OK with that because it's a phone. The tablet will be closer to a laptop, and we'll expect laptop speeds out of it. No dice. It's going to have the power of a netbook, but with less space to stuff components due to its lack of a keyboard. There's no way this will perform at a high level without it costing as much as a MacBook Pro.

There's just nothing to justify what will probably be a $700-$800 device here. Sure, it'll be slick. It looks like something from Star Trek and when it's announced, we'll all want one. The idea of lying on the couch and dicking around on the internet on a beautiful, thin slab is appealing.

But like the MacBook Air when it was first announced, after the lust wears off we'll be looking at a middle-of-the-road computer in fancy packaging that costs twice as much as comparable devices.

And the last time I checked, the economy isn't doing so hot. So really, unless Apple has an ace up their sleeve and is going to either give this some functionality we haven't thought of yet or is going to sell it for under $500, I can't imagine the demand being all that high for it.

But hell, maybe I'm underestimating the value of design. Will this thing be sexy enough to justify spending a whole lot of money on something that, functionally speaking, won't do all that much that's special?

We've covered this before as well, and decided it would be good to revisit with all the new rumors we've heard about the tablet and what it can do.

AppleInsider says that Dow Jones carried the report as well, though it comes from a paper less well-known than say, DigiTimes. The September or October launch date Apple Daily reports is slightly more aggressive and definite in its time table than the Financial Times report that came out this weekend, which simply said that Apple "racing to offer a portable, full-featured, tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season."

A morbid thought, but if Foxconn is building the tablet, what if the tablet was the prototype Sun Danyong lost before he was driven to suicide? They wouldn't say he lost the mythical Apple tablet, after all.

AppleInsider still thinks it's coming in 2010, for what it's worth. We still think never trust rumors. [AppleInsider]

The talks come as Apple is separately racing to offer a portable, full-featured, tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution. The device could be launched alongside the new content deals, including those aimed at stimulating sales of CD-length music, according to people briefed on the project.

Apple is working with EMI, SonyMusic, Warner Music and Universal Music Group, on a project the company has codenamed "Cocktail", according to four people familiar with the situation.

The Financial Times' sources point out that the device will have a 10-inch touchscreen and run iPhone OS. The tablet will be able to connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi like the iPod touch, and—according to publishers—it will also have a book marketplace. Yes, that's Jeff Bezos' worst nightmare.

Like always, remember our rule about rumors: Don't trust them—although secretly I hope they are right. Or else:

[Financial Times via 9to5]

Here's the breakdown, according to people who've played with it:

* Video editing on iPhone 3GS wont overwrite the clip over the original when you are editing a clip.
* iPhone will now vibrate whenever you switch to the mode where you can move and arrange icons on the iPhone home screen.
* "Fraud Protection" toggle has been added to settings under Safari.
* iPhone boot time is now faster.
* Voice Control over Bluetooth.
* New APIs to enable third party apps to access videos and edit them.

The changes are decidedly incremental and oriented towards 3GS owners, but I wouldn't have expected much more from a decimal upgrade. And of course, this isn't an official feature list, so more changes could come to light soon.

Update: The iPhone Blog has gathered a few more, but nothing huge:

* Updated AT&T profile to 4.2
* Updated modem firmware to 5.08.01
* Improvements to OpenGL and Quartz.

That second bit there could be a hurdle for the Dev Team types; we'll have to see. [Redmond Pie, iPhone Blog]

The guys at winandmac say they've noticed a change in the YouTube app's stream handling. Now, instead of defaulting to the low-res OTA version of a YouTube video when connected via 3G, the app plays the high-res version previously reserved for Wi-Fi.

Meanwhile, in our comments and over at the iPhone Blog, AT&T-bound Beta 5 users are reporting that the simple MMS stopgap hack is no longer possible.

It's only been few hours since Beta 5 burst forth into this world, naked and screaming, so more changes are bound to bubble up to the surface—there are already rumblings that new anti-tethering measures have been implemented, but this hasn't been confirmed (and may have more to do with new security features in iTunes 8.2 than iPhone OS). [winandmac and the iPhone Blog]

Basically, this is opening the flood gates for nickel-and-diming microtransactions from the App Store. Before, when you spent $5 on a game, you knew you were getting the whole game—with free upgrades. Now, you'll spend $5 on a game and you'll need to spend another $5 to unlock all the levels and weapons. And that's on legit apps. Just wait for the novelty fart apps with one fart sound that want you to pay for extras, or a flashlight app that wants you to pay for different colors.

This could easily turn tons and tons of apps into crippled trialware without consumers knowing, and it's going to make developers hungry for the extra cash they can make by charging you for extra feature they would have included in the full version anyways. Like a game charging you $3 for fancy horse armor on the Xbox 360, but without the filter than comes from the huge budgetary requirements of Xbox 360 games, this is going to open the floodgates for the sleaziest app behaviors possible. The worst part of it is, there will be enough people willing to pay a little here and a little there to support this kind of behavior. But I for one, am out. Do not want. [Gizmodo's iPhone 3.0 Coverage]

Q: Where do you stand on tethering?
A: There's two pieces needed to support that: client side and working with carriers. We're absolutely supporting tethering in the client side in iPhone 3.0, but we're working with carriers around the world to see when they can add tethering support on their networks. But we are building that support into iPhone 3.0.

Looks like jailbroken tethering will live on, for now.

[iPhone 3.0 OS Guide: Everything You Need to Know]

Search Everything With Spotlight
Instead of digging through 10 screens for your apps, search them out just like in OS X through Spotlight.

Upgrade Applications Within Applications
Now, apps can solicit your business through in-app prompts. A game developer could offer to sell you more levels and a magazine could add issues to your subscription. The implementation could be annoying, like shareware and absurd microtransactions, or useful, seeing as you can buy desired upgrades within the application, bypassing the App Store when it's unnecessary.

Use Custom Accessory Controls
New custom applications can be designed to work with specific accessories. Your iPhone can become the control panel for any participating manufacturer's device.

Navigate Google Maps In Any Participating App, Along With Turn By Turn Directions
Do you like Yelp but you hate leaving Yelp to go to the proper Google Maps? Now that developers can embed Google Maps directly into their applications, complete with pinch zoom functionality, hopefully these days of inconvenience will be over—especially when coupled with new turn by turn directions support.

Cutting, Copying and Pasting Now Possible
Sounds simple enough. Double tap text to bring up cut/copy/paste options and drag left or right to expand your selection. Double tap again to paste, or shake the phone to undo. Since CC&P is part of the core software, it should work in all apps that want to use it.

Email Multiple Pictures At Once
Thanks to CC&P, users can copy multiple pictures and then paste them in an email to send all together. We don't have a nifty photo of this just yet.

Write Emails/SMS in Landscape Mode
Before, you had to use a third party application to write emails in landscape mode. Now, the wide keyboard comes to all core iPhone applications.

Send Photos and Audio Over MMS
The iPhone gets photo and voice recording support for multimedia messaging. Plus, you can forward messages and stuff, too.

Stream Music In Stereo Over Bluetooth
This small distinction snuck in amongst the bigger announcements, but the new software will allow Bluetooth audio to stream in non-gimped, A2DP stereo audio. This should be great for peripherals/accessories.

No, Apple did not reskin the iPhone UI, but they did make a few handfuls of little tweaks, many of which we'll end up using on a daily basis.

Note the mini magnifying glass all the way to the left of the navigation bar.

• Confirmed is support for sending and receiving photos, contacts (VCards), and audio files. Looks like video is not included.

• You can record voice notes with the iPhone's mic, edit them on the phone, and then send via MMS.

• Bad news for iPhone EDGE owners though: MMS is one of the features Apple is pruning from the 3.0 release for the first-generation iPhones.

Here's how it works: you double tap on a word to present a cut, copy, paste popup. Two draggable icons appear for customizing the selection. Double tap in an empty space to bring up the cut, copy and paste bubble and paste it in. Double tap again to select again, select entire block of text and paste again. Easy as pie.

You hold your finger down on an entire paragraph to select it. If it's got rich formatting, such as links or bold text, it'll copy it all for you. You can copy and paste across all apps, including web content. To undo, simply shake the phone.

It looks like they really did it right this time. It took so long, according to Forstall, because "it's tough to navigate security issues and nail a simple UI." Mmkay.

First off, we've got another version of The Sims. The graphics look good, but the demo was really just a chance to demonstrate a few dev features. Pictured: Mr. Sim dancing to music drawn from your actual iTunes library. You can also buy in-game items for your Sims for $0.99 a pop.

ESPN brought their web app native, taking advantage to two new features: background notifications and video streaming. Scores and game stats can pop up on your phone in real time, heralded by the famous ESPN alert sound, and you can stream video content—with adaptable bitrates for different connection speeds.

Meebo, the all-in-one IM web app, is moving to the App Store for the first time, too. Background notifications are obviously the star of the show here, but they've also integrated a few other services, like Facebook. Sounds like the Palm Pre's new 'Synergy' service, except standalone app-ier.

By far the most manipulative pitch of the afternoon, LifeScan shows how new Bluetooth connection capabilities and accessory functions can help a young girl manage her diabetes. Above is a week-long chart of her glucose levels, which are good to know if you have diabetes and don't want to die. LifeScan can pull these from a test unit via Bluetooth or cable.

Apple, stoke our enthusiasm for this ripoff-prone new purchases-within-apps feature! Huh? Touch Pets? A "social pet simulator"? In this iPhone Tamagotchi game I guess you can buy little shirts for your digital dog, or pay to have an imaginary vet express his anal glands. Also, you can also schedule meetings with other fake animals, and be reminded of your virtual playdates with background notifications. It was either this or the Apple tablet, people.

LiveFire is a Quake-y FPS in which you can send multiplayer invites to your buddies via push notification, then beat them horribly because you were willing to spend $35 on new weapons. Re: the multiplayer, it'll run via Wi-Fi or 3G, though your ping may be mildly hilarious.

Remember that iPhone Ocarina app from Smule? It was adorable and quirky. Now, as the creator plays "The Phantom of the Opera" on stage, it's kind of creepy. The makers of Ocarina and Sonic Lighter are here promoting the all-new iPhone 3.0-friendly Leaf Trombone, with the winds of Apple's new audio APIs helping them out. But hey, now your iPhone is an instrument, kind of. Congrats!