Hacker promises jailbreak/unlock tool for iPhone OS 2.0

With Apple's self-imposed June deadline for a public iPhone OS 2.0 release looming, hackers are working hard to ensure that tools for unlocking (allowing it to operate with non-sanctioned wireless carriers) and jailbreaking (allowing full read/write filesystem access and installation of unofficial third-party applications) the device remain intact after the OS upgrade is released.

Now the author of the most popular unlock/jailbreak tool for Mac OS X and Windows, "Zibri," has vowed that his "ZiPhone" utility will work to unlock and jailbreak iPhones running OS 2.0 despite enhanced security measures developed by Apple.

Zibri writes:

"Firmware 2.0 will require a new iTunes version and a new "mobiledevice" framework. If it were for me I would not even bother to hack this version but I know many of you are going to upgrade so I will release a new ziphone version after the official release. I already patched activation (lockdownd) and unlock / Fake IMEI (baseband firmware)."

Some pre-release editions of iPhone OS 2.0 can already be unlocked and jailbroken with the use of Pwnage, a tool exploits a low-level vulnerability in the iPhone's boot process to allow the installation of custom OS files. This has allowed users to install pre-release versions of the iPhone OS, such as OS 2.0, which normally require expressed authorization and a special signature from Apple.

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