Catch-up time: QuickPWN for Mac was released a few short days ago. This go-around is for all of the Mac peeps out there looking to jailbreak the 2.0.2 firmware.  Still no software solution for unlocking, though...  sorry folks.  

It is important to note:

"QuickPwn is not a replacement for PwnageTool, they are different tools and provide different features, QuickPwn is for quickly pwning a device, whereas PwnageTool is designed to custom build and tailor the ipsw (Apple's iPhone firmware files) production process, both tools will be actively developed in the future."

"To use QuickPwn 1.0 Mac OS X your device should be running 2.0.2, if it isn’t then you can upgrade it to 2.0.2 using iTunes and then use the QuickPwn tool, we repeat, it’ll only work on version 2.0.2 of the iPhone or iPod touch firmware."

Now I am not going to leave all of the Windows loyalists left out in the cold.  Also recently released is WinPwn 2.5-Beta 2. Which is available here.  Keep in mind that this is indeed a finished version but "beta" is used to simply say "Use at your own risk".  

Join us in the TiPb's Jailbreaking, Hackery, and Jailbroken Apps forum for a more detailed look into the dark side.  Be careful and have fun!

So it seems Apple isn't the only one who can maintain break-neck code drop schedules. The iPhoneDev Team is back already with the latest version of their pineapple-iconed Pwange tool for jailbreaking iPhone 3G and iPod Touch, and jailbreaking and unlocking the original iPhone 2G.

Version 2.0.2 for use with 2.0.1 may be a little confusing for some, so maybe a better numbering system can be worked out there, but this update also includes the beta Installer.app 4, as well as Cydia.

Want it? rev up your Pwnage's sparkle-powered Software Update (what a world we live in...) or head on over to the iPhoneDev Team site.

And, as always, whenever performing ninja-like acts on your hardware, proceed with caution.

(Via TUAW)

Tired of the three-percenter Mac population hogging all the iPhone Unlock/Jailbreak/Pwnage goodness for their eye-candied, single-button'ied selves? No longer!

The Windows version of the iphone-dev team's Pwnage tool, WinPwn, is now available:

Support for both 1.1.4 and 2.0, Custom Image Support, Custom Payload Support, 3g iPhone support

So, if you really want to Pwn your iPhone and haven't already hunted down that turtle-neck wearing snob at the sushi bar and commandeered the aluminum sliver that passes for his laptop, your Microsoft compatible version awaits...

Depending on your carrier, their terms of service (TOS), and your willingness to break said terms and face possible consequences including death-by-over-billing, you can now tether you newly pwned/jailbroken iPhone 3G to your laptop to share the mobile 3G internet connection anywhere and everywhere you go (your coverage area, of course, may vary).

The process is a little involved, according to Macrumors (via Cre.ations.net):

Jailbreak your iPhone 3G. Install 3Proxy and Terminal. Create an ad-hoc Wi-fi network using your laptop. Join the network with your iPhone. Find the iPhone's IP address Open Terminal and run the proxy program. Open Safari on your iPhone and open a web page. Configure your browser to use the proxy.

Not a 133t level hax0r? Don't worry. AT&T (and other carriers) might just offer this option, complete with inevitable bandwidth cap, 'natch, sometime in the next millennium...

We had sort of been expecting that the iPhone 3G would be more difficult to unlock because it would be impossible to walk out of a store without signing a contract and activating the iPhone. We all know how that worked out on launch day -- iPhones were flying about unactivated anyway. Honestly, given that the 2.0 software has already been fully pwned (read: opened up, jailbroken, made to serve the whims of hackers everywhere), the early unlocking really should be no surprise.

Fernando writes in:

I just saw this today. A brazilian team seems to be the first one in the world to have a fully unlocked 3g iPhone. It's using brazilian operator TIM, that does not support iPhones here in Brazil; actually the iPhone did not even start selling here, and when it does it will be Claro and maybe Vivo.

The video is in Portuguese, so it might not be clear exactly what's happening to most readers. The method here, as Gizmodo notes, is

a special card that piggybacks to your SIM card, fooling the phone into thinking it's using an official carrier. While this is not the software unlock being developed by the usual suspects, the video clearly shows that it works fine.

We know a lot of folks are waiting for a clear path to unlocking and jailbreaking to get the iPhone 3G -- it looks like that wait isn't going to be much longer than an Apple store line.

JAR! Avast ye scurvy 2.0 firmware and prepare to be unlocked!

Didn't take long, did it? Well, actually it did -- the iPhoneDevTeam has been hax0ring away at it since the SDK went wide and Apple, in an attempt to woo legitimate developers, made the beta 2.0 firmware (all 8 versions of it), widely available.

Their latest, release version 2.0, Pwnage tool hasn't gone public yet, but will soon. Are you willing to unlock? 22 countries are getting the iPhone tomorrow, and 50 more are following, but with Apple's tight control of the SDK, my bet is there will still be a few folks out there who want to run anything they dang-well please on their iPhone.

What about you? Are you one of the crazy-ones, the pirates? Are you going to jailbreak/unlock?

Read

Avast ye scurvy 2.0 firmware -- prepare to be pwned! Erica Sadun of TUAW tells us the cartoon Jobs'ing, Russian slang'ing, custom firmware making, iTunes loading unlock solution has hit version 1.1:

The new tool allows you to add custom packages, logos and fixes EDGE settings under 1.1.4. Either pop over to iPhone-dev.org or choose PwnageTool > Check for Updates (Command-U) directly from the app.

But don't raise the Jolly Roger too soon, rumors are also circulating that Cap'n Jobs is coming about hard, cannon's loaded, and may just be upping the ante soon in the great unloack cat'n'mouse game.

Will Apple be able to hang the rascally pirates from the highest yard arm? Are the pirates too far ahead at this point? And how ironic is it that Jobs and co. once styled themselves as the pirates? What do you think?