Click to View

Those iPhone/iPod users who love running 'unofficial' third-party applications directly on their jailbroken Apple device can now breathe a sigh of relief ... maybe. It appears firmware update version 1.1.3, which broke the 1.1.3 jailbreak, has been successfully hacked to allow users to install third-party software directly on the iPhone.

(If you're new to the iPhone, you may want to check out the software short course at the bottom of this page. It'll bring you up to date on the different types of apps the iPhone supports and explain why it is necessary to hack the iPhone if you want to run applications on the iPhone itself. )

Unfortunately, this hack apparently requires some sort of hardware modification to your iPhone, always risky and sure to void your iPhone warranty, so only the most technically adept or daring need apply. It is so complex, the developers who created this jailbreak have decided not to release it publicly yet.

This video on YouTube, which iPhone Atlas says it has confirmed as legitimate, supposedly shows a jailbroken iPod touch with firmware 1.1.3 installed.

Hackers have been able to jailbreak the iPhone without the need for you to mess with hardware in the past, so they may be able do so again. So even if the 'how too' for the current hack is eventually released, you may want to hold off on performing it on your iPhone.

Anyway, the release of the iPhone software developer kit, which is due to happen next month, should make iPhone jailbreaking moot. After it is released, developers will be able to develop native iPhone applications that run on the iPhone without it being hacked to do so.

Software short course: The iPhone supports two types of applications, native and so-called Web 2.0 apps. The latter are accessible only through the iPhone's Safari web browser, but they run from a remote location. This is as opposed to native software, which runs directly on the iPhone itself.

Regrettably, the only way to be able to do this right now is to open your iPhone up to third-party software through a hack known as a jailbreak.

See top article below to learn more about what iPhone firmware update 1.1.3 brings to the table.