iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak to be released "tonight or tomorrow"

We've received word that the a software-based jailbreak method for iPhone software/firmware 1.1.3 (enabling the installation of unofficial third-party applications) could be released as early as tonight or tomorrow. We previously reported on the existence of a hardware-based method and two software-based methods, one more straightforward than the other.

iPhone Atlas has now learned that one closely guarded, software-based jailbreak method will be reserved for release after Apple ships the official iPhone SDK, which the company is due to discuss (but not necessarily ship) sometime in February. The other method will be released much sooner. Both methods are described as "tedious," but not significantly more so than the iPhone 1.1.2 jailbreak. Like previous methods, the 1.1.3 jailbreak will consist of a series of scripts and require some level of user interaction.

As previously noted, applications must run in a restricted user mode under iPhone software/firmware 1.1.3. This means that several current third-party applications will not work properly, at least initially. Any applications that required access to the /var/root directory will no longer be functional. However, developers are scrambling to quickly update their applications for compliance with the new system. NES.app, a Nintendo emulator, has already been updated by its developer Jonathan Zdziarski.

It has also been revealed that the iPhone toolchain (used to create unofficial native applications) will be updated for compliance with software/firmware 1.1.3. As such, applications re-compiled with the new toolchain will work properly under the new iteration.

We'll keep you posted as the jailbreak is publicly released and dissected.

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