Dev Team has promised to deliver the iPhone 3G software unlock today – on New Years Eve!
If you have a first generation iPhone, QuickPwn 2.2 & PwnageTool 2.2 would have already worked for you. But, those with iPhone 3g had to hold off from upgrading to firmware 2.2.
Why you shouldn’t have updated your iPhone 3g to 2.2 via iTunes?
iPhone 2.2 firmware contained a baseband update – 02.28.00. Dev Team warned against updating to this firmware using iTunes as this would prevent you from unlocking your iPhone 3G with the software (dubbed yellowsn0w) they are going to release today.
But, there was a workaround. You could have created a custom 2.2 firmware with PwnageTool (Mac only) that contained the older iPhone 3g baseband. This will allow you to unlock your iPhone 3g now with yellowsn0w.
If you have already updated to 2.2 via iTunes, you are out of luck in 2008. Dev Team did warn us butthe team loves hacking and chllenges. I have no doubt that they will be able to hack the new baseband as well and provide an unlocking solution. But, just not yet.
Jailbreaking vs Unlocking
Do these 2 terms confuse you? No worries.
Jailbreaking: Apple intentionally locked you to download apps only from AppStore. Jailbreaking your iPhone lets you install apps from outside AppStore and customize your iPhone to your heart’s content. Two jailbreak apps that let you do this are – Cydia & Installer. Some of the things you can get with jailbreaking are Record video in iPhone, Categories, Backgrounder, Quickgold, Winterboard Themes, Podcaster, etc. Check out our jailbreaking how-to post to get an idea on what’s involved.
Unlocking: This has to do with AT&T. iPhones are locked so it works only with AT&Ts network. Usually carriers including AT&T will unlock your phone after you have been through a certain period in the contract so you can use the same device even if you switch carriers. Or even just travel outside the counrty. But not for iPhones. But, Dev Team is here for our rescue. iPhone 2g was unlocked a long time back but iPhone 3g proved a little bit harder but we are finally going to see that change today. Once you unlock, you can just switch the SIM card in your iPhone and use it on any carrier.
Happy New Year
We’ll come back with a post on how to unlock your iPhone 3g shortly after the software release. Until, then we’d like to wish you a Happy New Year! 
