Apple can permanently patch the blacksn0w exploit in their next firmware update. You must download Cydia's "On File" system in case Apple blocks more exploits in future updates.

It's still safe to run the tool, but keep in mind that Apple can—and probably will—patch the core exploit used by Blacksn0w, rendering your unlock useless, or worse. Running On File will ensure you can downgrade in the future, so you don't lose whatever precarious carrier/plan/phone arrangement you've so fallen in love with.

Mac and PC downloads are available here. [GeoHot via iPhoneOS3]

Yes, all we have here is an annotated hour-long PowerPoint, and yes, almost all of the content is of interest only to the actual haxxors that gathered at 25C3 to watch, but for me, it's a thrill to hear these guys talk about the software that we've covered and used ourselves for so long. It's also a thrill to hear little tidbits like the 180 IP addresses inside apple that the Dev Team guys have tracked as frequent updaters of Pwnage and Quickpwn.

Up until this weekend in Berlin, most of the iPhone Dev Team had never met each other in person. And I only wish we could have gotten a quick camera pan over to the guys identified as the team members who wish to remain anonymous—in the corner, wearing "PwnApple" t-shirts, speaking Russian. [hackaday via BBG]

(UPDATE: Actually, they claim that their new application also restores the baseband of your iPhone if you used any of the free unlocks. The result: a bricked iPhone can now be fully brought to life and unlocked with their paid solution. People who already unlocked the iPhone with iPSF just need to jailbreak their iPhones and activate because, according to them: "there's no need to re-apply the unlock because the unlock survives the firmware upgrade. It's permanent." - Jesús Díaz) [iPhoneSIMFree]

It all started here, when Frucci asked for a graphic about The AT&T/iPhone Moral Quandary. Little did we know what would come later, with the iPhone unlock race that started as soon as Apple's cellphone was released:

8:00 AM ON WED JUL 18 2007. The first approach started here: the Dev Team partially unlocks the iPhone. As a result, you could use any SIM card or contract from AT&T, instead of those contemplated in the agreement.

11:55 PM ON TUE JUL 31 2007. A new milestone is achieved: they announce they have reverse-engineered the software which controls the iPhone's radio communications.

5:57 AM ON SUN AUG 5 2007. Another milestone: obtain the plans for the fucking Death Star, extracting the full content of the radio memory.

8:59 AM ON MON AUG 6 2007. First unlock is achieved: hackers in Europe use the information previously obtained to forge a SIM and fool the iPhone to believe it is working in the AT&T network.

11:10 AM ON WED AUG 8 2007. We try the forge SIM hack, but it doesn't work: it only works with first-generation SIM cards.

8:45 AM ON TUE AUG 14 2007. The first solution that unlocks 100% any iPhone is announced: using a TurboSIM card the iPhone doesn't know if it's not working on the AT&T network. Still, this costs money and the cards are scarce. The search for the free software unlock continues.

12:20 PM ON MON AUG 20 2007. The iPhone grass-roots developer community say to Steve Jobs "TFSU!" as third-party iPhone applications become mainstream. AppTapp and iBrickr demonstrate how easy is to install them.

3:35 PM ON TUE AUG 21 2007. Using information and code from the Dev Team, a hacker unlocks the iPhone using a hardware soldering. Later it was discovered by others that no soldering was needed, just a couple of metal pins and a bit of wire.

12:20 PM ON FRI AUG 24 2007. Partly using the information obtained by the Dev Team, a group called iPhone Sim Free announces the first software unlock, but they want you to pay for it. Weeks would pass until they released their paid program to the public, only to be rendered obsolete three days later by the iPhone Dev Team with the free software unlock.

11:30 AM ON SAT AUG 25 2007. Knowing that only the free software unlock was going to be The Real Thing™ and that the Dev Team was demoralized by the news and the attitude of some people in the community, Gizmodo asks for your support for the iPhone Dev Team ongoing efforts

6:23 AM ON TUE AUG 28 2007. A newspaper claims Israeli hackers get yet another new unlock. Shortly thereafter, we discover it is an error and they just used the modified version of the hardware unlock.

3:00 AM ON TUE SEP 11 2007. The first commercial unlock gets released and the Giz witnesses as the reseller has countless problems installing it in two clients' iPhones. Gizmodo discovers there's a bug in the iPhone Sim Free software that makes it unusable with certain SIM cards. As a result of this discovery, iPhone Sim Free fixes the bug hours later.

7:40 AM ON TUE SEP 11 2007. Later in the day, some hackers vow to reverse-engineer iPhone Sim Free's commercial unlock. The core iPhone Dev Team, however, keeps working in its own independent solution.

6:30 AM ON TUE SEP 11 2007. Hackers race to obtain the unlock. GeoHot claims in a IRC channel that he has reverse-engineered the iPhone Sim Free. This was discovered to be false a few minutes later.

7:10PM ON TUE SEP 11 2007. The Death Star explodes: the Giz is the only media outlet to witness as the core iPhone Dev Team unlocks the iPhone with its own solution. It gets released as free program at 8:10PM, only a few hours after the paid software unlock was released,

1:00 PM ON WED SEP 12 2007. The next day some stupid bozo tries to snatch $41,000 posing as the "sole developer" of a graphical tool to unlock the iPhone. He fools a major gadget site into thinking he's the author. Hours later, Gizmodo uncovers the imposter, a 23-year-old from Belfast who got the original code from Erica Sadun and convinced another developer to make it work.

1:36 PM ON WED SEP 12 2007. The UIkit team, a separate group of programmers who work in graphical applications for the iPhone, announce that they are working on the graphical software unlock, which was released on September 15.

The same day, the iPhone Dev Team confirms that Apple may re-lock the phone with future software updates.

1:26 PM ON WED SEP 26 2007. As they get ready to battle the next iPhone firmware update, the iPhone Dev Team irons out bugs in the software unlock, bringing it up to version 1.0.2.

So yes, the iPhone Dev Team is still working on the unlock. Not only that, as you probably already know, they are preparing software to un-brick the iPhone and return it to its original state. And hopefuly, unlock it again. You can support them by donating money to the following PayPal account:

iphone.devteam@googlemail.com (yes, it's googlemail.com, not gmail.com)

Short FAQ about the Dev Team
Q: Will the stuff you find out be freely available on the forum and the wiki?
A: Simply, yes [as shown again and again.]

Q: Why do you think you can do this?

A: Simply remember the AppleTV. Many good hacks, including running OSX on your aTV came from here.

Q: Isn't that illegal?

A: No, we don't live within the US, there are a lot free countries that allow you to break or modify stuff on your own.

Q: Were can we talk on the iPhone hacking?

A: join #iphone at irc.osx86.hu

Q: Where is the money going?

A: Not much left, hosting is paid, and other stuff around the project, most of the time we run minus