You buy and unlocked iPhone 3G in a few markets, but that's not the case for most regions, including - as you all know - the U.S. Well, it took a bit longer than expected, but it appears hackers have finally cracked the latest version of the iPhone.

The iPhone Dev Team plans to release an iPhone 3G unlocking procedure and software on New Year's Eve. They've codenamed it yellowsn0w. To implement yellowsn0w you'll have to already have jailbroken (baseband 2.11.07 or earlier) your iPhone 3G to run third-party applications.

By unlocking your iPhone you'll be able to use it wither GSM carriers other than Apple's official operator partners, which includes the very first iPhone partner, AT&T. As a result, you'll be able to keep your T-Mobile service, if you're partial to it, and still use the iPhone, for example.

Keep in mind, because the iPhone 3G's cellular-wireless broadband radio isn't compatible with T-Mobile's 3G network, it will only transfer data at much slower 2.5G EDGE rates, just like the original iPhone - to the chagrin of many - did with AT&T. Voice service will work just fine, however.

Unlocking also voids your warranty with Apple and some services, such as Visual VoiceMail, may not work correctly or at all

Also, don't be surprised if the next iPhone 3G firmware update breaks the new unlock, starting up the game of cat and mouse between hackers and Apple all over again.