Many have been jailbreaking their iPhones since the very first jailbreak was available, but the necessity of jailbreaking continues to drop, starting with the introduction of the App Store, and more recently with the addition of push notifications (which make running apps in the background less necessary). So let’s hear it from our readers: is this something you look for as quickly as you used to?

Let’s hear more specifics on your reasoning—whether you’re still jailbreaking or not—in the comments.

If you do still jailbreak your device but were waiting for these releases from the iPhone Dev Team, head over to the Dev Team post to grab your downloads: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/137214493/whats-old-is-new-again

1. Jailbreak 2.2 released for the iPhone
2. No iPhone 3.1 Jailbreak available….yet
3. Jailbreak 2.2.1 released for the iPhone

Downloading and installing the unlocking tool requires that you have jailbroken your iPhone and it’s only available for users with 2G or 3G iPhones, and not the new 3GS—though the Team is working on 3GS access. Still, if you’ve been intrigued at the idea of switching away from AT&T for another GSM carrier, now you can do so with a 3.0 phone.

Ultrasn0w for iPhone 3G is ready!

1. Ensure you have upgraded to iPhone OS 3.0
2. Jailbreak your iPhone 3G using redsn0w or PwnageTool (this will also install Cydia/Icy)
3. Run Cydia or Icy
4. Please add the repo repo666.ultrasn0w.com to Cydia or Icy. That last “o” is actually the number zero “0”! If you use the letter “o” you’ll get an error.
5. Search for ‘ultrasn0w’ in cydia or icy and install ultrasn0w
6. Reboot your iPhone 3G
7. T-Mobile USA users should disable 3G before using ultrasn0w
8. Enjoy

Found success with unlocking your iPhone in the past? Wondering who in their right mind would go through this just to pay one exorbitant data plan over another (most data plans are essentially priced the same these days)? We’re aware reception in some areas with some carriers is different, but is it worth all of this software shuffling?

1. iPhone unlock team another step closer to cracking the phone
2. iPhone Software Unlock GUI released!
3. Dev Team to demo new official 3.0 iPhone Unlock tonight

On Tuesday evening they will do a live demo of the new yellowsn0w carrier unlock working on official 3.0 firmware, just before the big Apple release. While jailbreaking is already possible on 3.0, this is good news for would-be unlockers with an iPhone 3G, though those going for the 3GS will have to wait a bit longer (probably a few weeks or so).

This has been almost a tradition with new software iPhone releases at this point, and especially after a new model is released.

Here’s the update from their blog: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/124232620/big-week

1. Dev Team to release 3G unlock on New Years Eve
2. anySIM v1.1 – Free GUI based SIM unlock tool for (Virgin) iPhone OS v1.1.1 released
3. iPhoneSimFree.com will release iphone unlock software in 72 hrs

Too much? That’s up to the market, we suppose. But with the new models coming out soon, that seems like a lot.

The sales description says that these phones work fine with software updates; something software unlocks don’t, but your instructions may come in a language that’s not English. That’s a small price to pay for an unlocked iPhone. A big price to pay? $800.

No word on how long these will last, or where they got these phones from. Odds are Apple will get the message eventually: people are willing to pay for unlocked iPhones, and pay large premiums for them. Maybe its time Apple woke up to this, and consider it as an option for their upcoming line of iPhones.

The odds of this happening: Not good. But we had to say it

1. Unconfirmed: Apple blocking push notices in unlocked phones?
2. Tale of the Missing iPhones
3. SlingPlayer restrictions blamed by AT&T on the iPhone not being a phone?

We combed the internet to find this very cool site resource that lists, blow by blow, each country and their success (or failure) at unlocking their iPhone using the latest version.

The site is here: http://report.yellowsn0w.com/

From studying the tables, it seems to be pretty much 50/50 as far as chances of an unlock working. Venuzuela, for example, seemed to have really bad luck with 4 out of 5 users not getting to work. The UK, US, Brazil and most other countries were running about 50% success rate or so, which may prompt some users to think twice before attempting to unlock an iPhone (a few users ended up breaking their phone in the process).

1. Yellowsn0w unlock updated to version 0.9.5 beta; fixes “most issues”
2. iPhone 3G software unlock is released to Cydia
3. Hackers unlock the iPhone

The previous version, released a few days ago, had issues and errors for a fair number of people, as it seems Apple is fairly intent on being opposed to unlocking (for understandable reasons).

It’s estimated that about 18% of iPhone users jailbreak or unlock their iPhones at some point for various reasons; to use a certain app, for example. Cydia has emerged as a leader in supplying unlock apps, some of which are not available for typical iPhones yet.

It is suggested that everyone update to the newest version of yellowsn0w. For more info – check out the Dev Team’s website here: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/

1. iPhone 3G software unlock is released to Cydia
2. iPhone Software Unlock GUI released!
3. Great country by country resource for yellowsn0w unlock fans

They also explained the message from earlier today. Interestingly, the unlock is not only able to unlock the latest firmware build, but requires it to work.

From their Blog:
“Now to explain the above screenshot. The soft unlock has undergone many changes in the last two days. The most significant one: the soft unlock will now be only for baseband 02.28.00 (the most recent baseband). Yes we’ve been advising everyone to avoid updating their basebands, and in general that will always be the best policy. Not every baseband version is guaranteed to have a hole through which we can inject the unlock.”

Make sure to read the Cydia site completely before trying the unlock. There’s been a few glitches and you’ll need to pay careful attention to the unlock procedure.

1. iPhone Software Unlock GUI released!
2. Free iPhone Unlock Software Released
3. Full software unlock of 1.1.2 released

We have been working hard on a few other things. The main one being the 3G unlock codenamed “yellowsn0w”. This is now completed and is currently being packaged into a user-friendly application with the simplicity that you see in QuickPwn or BootNeuter.

The target release date for the unlock is New Year’s Eve 2008.
This unlock method is available to iPhone 3Gs that have 2.11.07 baseband or earlier, we did warn you.
The unlock requires a jailbroken 3G iPhone.

They have also posted some details of the DFU problem experienced by some users have upgraded to Mac OS X 10.5.6 system update.

We believe this behavior is due to a kernel bug not a specific countermeasure by Apple. Possible fixes are (try at your own risk!) -

1. Replace the following plugin kexts from within IOUSBFamily.kext with the ones from 10.5.5 and then rebuild kextcache (if you don’t understand this, then you shouldn’t attempt it!)

/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBHub.kext

/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBCompositeDriver.kext

2. Use a USB hub in-between the DFU device and the Mac and insert/reinsert the iPhone’s USB cable.

3. Use a PwnageTool created .ipsw on Windows! Oh the irony!

Read the full post here

1. iPhoneSimFree.com will release iphone unlock software in 72 hrs
2. iPhone unlock team another step closer to cracking the phone
3. Dev Team to demo new official 3.0 iPhone Unlock tonight

Any-Network.com have released a sim adapter that is claimed to fully unlock the 3G iPhone for use on any network including the use of 3G Data

UNLOCK ANY PHONE including the latest iPhone 3g

Works out of the box with any phone.

100% tested with Apple iPhone 3G.

Allows your phone to use 3g data as normal.

No dropped signal or having to swap sim from phone to phone.

Works with all networks including 3.

Easy to use & hassle free.

No warranty void.

No breach of contract with Service Provider.

Our universal card works by placing it in between your normal SIM and your phone. No software, no cables , no future costs. Simply place between phone and sim card.

Their solution claims to unlock your iPhone for use on any network including 3g data. You simply place the Any-Network sim onto the back of your existing simcard, insert into your iPhone and away you go, your iPhone is unlocked. New software upgrades can be obtained from iTunes as normal without the need to unlock again.

The Any Network Sim currently costs £22 and can be delivered worldwide. We haven’t tried this ourselves so if anyone has any experience of this we would love to know.

1. Unlock your Apple 3G iPhone for $16.99
2. iPhone will be unlocked by software method?
3. No more unlocked iPhone for Germany

Deal Extreme have just launched the i-SmartPhone Operator Network SIM Card Unlock Attachment for Apple iPhone 3G that frees your iPhone from the network lock allowing you to use any other operators sim card in your iPhone that costs just $16.99 including shipping worldwide.

You will still need an activated iPhone to use this and yes you would have had to sign up to a lengthy contract to do this but it is ideal for travelling avoiding costly roaming charges by putting a local sim card into your iPhone.

More details can be found at Deal Extreme.

1. 3G iPhone Unlocked including Data
2. Can you unlock your 3G iPhone?
3. Russia’s MTS signs a deal with Apple Inc. to sell the iPhone in Russia