The iphone-dev team, a group of hackers unaffiliated with Apple, have released the newest version of their PwnageTool and QuickPwn tools for jailbreaking the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod Touch. This new version of the software is capable of jailbreaking iPhones that have been updated with version 2.2 of the firmware.

Jailbreaking enables third party applications to be installed on the iPhone and iPod Touch that are not available via the iTunes Applications Store. Soon after the iPhone was initially released, a vibrant group of developers rallied online around the device and developed numerous homebrew applications for the iPhone that were available freely to anyone wiling to jailbreak their devices. Several of these free applications have become available via Apple's official application store for a fee, but there is still a large selection of additional applications available freely for people willing to violate Apple's terms and run the PwnageTool or QuickPwn on their iPhones. If you are an iPhone 3G owner patiently awaiting a solution to unlock the phone for use with a network other than AT&T's, the iphone-dev team advises against using either of these tools, as they will most likely prevent future unlocking.

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