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True to their promise of bringing the world yet another round of iPhone-jailbreaking madness, the iPhone Dev Team has gone live with their Pwnage Tool 2.0 application. The iPhone Dev Team apparenty wanted to push the tool out in to the wild ahead of any official launch - which basically means eager iPhone jailbreakers get an early crack at the new jailbreak tool.

Pwnage Tool first debuted as the (arguably) simplest and most definitely safest way to jailbreak, activate, and unlock your iPhone. Pwnage Tool allowed users to hack their iPhone firmware file to automatically restore any first-generation iPhone and iPod Touch to full jailbroken-status right out of the gate.

With this latest iteration of the Pwnage Tool application brings a few changes to the jailbreaking scene. Unfortunately (and expectedly), Pwnage Tool 2.0 doesn't unlock your iPhone 3G, so all you iPhone 3G owners looking to free your handset from your official iPhone-carrier's grasp will have to wait a bit longer. The application will still jailbreak and activate your iPhone 3G, but it'll be tied to AT&T (or whatever your official iPhone carrier happens to be). Pwnage Tool 2.0 is available through the iPhone Dev Team's blog or from this mirror.

Hang in there, early adopters. The iPhone Dev Team will roll out an update to enable iPhone 3G SIM-unlock support for Pwnage Tool 2.0 in due time. Until then, iPhone 3G'ers and first-generation iPhone owners with iPhone 2.0 OS installed might want to give Pwnage Tool 2.0 a good once-over. Let us know how it goes, 'kay?

Want instructions on how to use Pwnage Tool 2.0? Check the vid below:

[Via: iPhoneDevTeam]

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Our favorite location-based Twitter client for the iPhone has finally hit the Apple AppStore. In addition to native iPhone applications like Twitterrific, Twinkle brings the convenience of a native Twitter client to the iPhone's official application repository.

We've been playing with Twinkle for some time now on jailbroken first-generation iPhones, and it was a shame to have to give up all that location-sensing social network goodness. But, now that Twinkle has hit the AppStore, we can get back to position-based twittering.

The AppStore's version of Twinkle for the iPhone 3G and updated iPhones running non-jailbroken iPhone 2.0 OS firmwares works in much the same way as the jailbreak-based Twinkle application. Of course, now that the iPhone 3G and updated iPhones support geo-location via cellular-triangulation or GPS, Twinkle automatically finds your location upon launch.

In addition to the integrated geo-locating features, Twinkle has undergone a bit of a cosmetic refresh with a new, more 2.0-ish UI.

Find the new Twinkle application in AppStore and get to all that twittering that you love so much.

Not feeling the black-on-green look of the Sony Ericsson TM506 that popped up on the FCC's website? No problem, we're hearing that T-Mobile will be offering their mid/high-end 3G clamshell in a more subdued black-on-black and black-on-white color scheme.

The alternate color offering should have the Sony Ericsson TM506 (codename: Bella) toting the same aGPS, web-feeds reader (RSS, podcasts, news), and 2 megapixel camera that we're expecting in its more brightly colored counterpart. Oh, and let's not forget the Sony Ericsson TM506's support for dual-band 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) frequencies - specifically, the 1700Mhz and 2100Mhz bands that T-Mobile's AWS 3G network requires.

Pricing and availability? You wish. More on that later.

[Via: CellphoneSignal]

Sprint's entry-level clamshell stable is going to be adding a new handset to the lineup. With numerous Sanyo Katana variants already picked up by the No. 3 US wireless carrier, we're not surprised to see this latest Sanyo Katana Eclipse headed to Sprint.

The FCC has just unveiled the newest slim flip-phone from Sanyo. The Sanyo Katana Eclipse features a modest spec-sheet listing a 2 megapixel camera, EVDO, GPS with Sprint Navigation, Bluetooth, microSD card slot, Sprint TV, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Other than that, details are slim.
Of course, pricing and availability aren't yet known. We'll keep you updated as we learn more about Sprint's upcoming Sanyo Katana Eclipse.

FCC

[Via: CellphoneSignal]

It's happening all over again. A few months ago we saw AT&T offering their iPhone customers free access to all 17,000 nationwide AT&T WiFi HotSpot, only to abruptly take the page offline. And, then, it happened again.

Today, AT&T pulled another fast one on iPhone 3G customers. AT&T posted details about a free WiFi HotSpot offer to its website earlier today. But, the link is no longer active.

"AT&T knows Wi-Fi is hot, and free Wi-Fi even hotter, which is why we are proud to offer iPhone customers free access to the nation's largest Wi-Fi hotspot network with more than 17,000 hotspots, including Starbucks," according to the website. "Now users can relax and access music, e-mail and web browsing services with their favorite blend in hand from the comfort of their favorite location."

AT&T is apparently blaming employee-error on this latest mis-timed posting. Whether or not the free WiFi HotSpot offer is ever going to actually go into effect is no longer clear. What is clear, however, is that AT&T needs to get its act together on iPhone 3G-related matters.

It seems not even Apple's supply-chain expertise was enough to prevent iPhone shortages from hitting the Cupertino-based company's home-country. AT&T stores are reportedly running dry on iPhone 3G stock, with resupplies coming in a spate of shipments ranging from a dozen to 100 units.

The backlog has resulted in AT&T stores being sold out of stock as consumers scurry to get their hands on Apple's next-generation iPhone 3G. With a full week of sales since its launch on July 11, the iPhone 3G has apparently been a buying-priority among consumers.

Business customers are faced with even greater delays. As AT&T struggles to keep pace with frenzied consumer demand, business orders for the iPhone 3G initiated July 13th and onward won't be fulfilled for at least another 10 to 14 days. Apple opened the door to an enterprise iPhone 3G market to great fanfare, but the company's inexperience with the business-side of the mobile market is starting to become evident.

Even Apple stores are running low on iPhone 3G-stock. And, with long lines of eager iPhone 3G hopefuls waiting to get their hands on Apple's latest piece of wireless kit, US-demand for the iPhone 3G is certainly still going strong.

[Via: AppleInsider]

T-Mobile has yet to release their latest Sidekick with user-swappable and customizable shells, but that doesn't mean you can't get your eager hands on a Sidekick 2008 today. Leave it up to Craigslist to have a not-yet-released handset up for sale before its official launch.

If you've got the bankroll and the desire to get first-crack at the Sidekick 2008 Gekko, hit up the Craigslist ad.

But, before you blow your summer job paycheck on a pre-release Sidekick 2008, just be warned that this looks to be trial device given to field testers.

[Via: HipTop3]

Most of us out there with iPhone 3G's in hand probably don't have much use for an unlocking tool, having already signed that 2-year contract with AT&T and all. But, there are going to be a good lot of you itchin' to get your iPhone 3G unlocked and ready to work with any GSM network on the planet.

For the latter group, we have some bad news. The iPhone Dev Team has announced that they are not going to release their Pwnage Tool 2.0 with iPhone 3G SIM-unlock support. While the new Pwnage Tool will unlock (as well as jailbreak and activate) original iPhones running iPhone 2.0 OS, the iPhone 3G will only be given jailbreak and activation support.

The iPhone Dev Team has run in to some issues in unlocking Apple's next-generation iPhone 3G, and they don't want to release an unlocking solution until it's fully ready to work with any and all 3G-toting iPhones out-of-the-box. But, if/when the iPhone Dev Team gets a fully-functional iPhone 3G baseband unlock solution up and running, they'll push an update to Pwnage Tool that will enable iPhone 3G'ers to unlock their precious handset.

For now, the video of the "World's First Unlocked iPhone 3G" is going to be little more than a wish and a dream for anyone looking to unlock their iPhone 3G.

Stay tuned for the official release of the Pwnage Tool 2.0.

This is the "dream" mentioned above:

iPhone-Dev

While some handset manufacturers seem to be defying the global economic turndown and continuing to push ahead in mobile phone sales, other mobile phone manufacturers are struggling to keep pace. Sony Ericsson's fortunes are apparently much more bleak than Nokia's. In their most recent financial statement, Sony Ericsson posted massive 2Q 2008 profit declines compared to the same period last year.

The Japanese-Swedish mobile phone manufacturer noted that net profit for the second quarter amounted to a mere $6 million - a 97% downslide from 2Q 2007 net profits of $220 million. Sony Ericsson blamed the competitive market, higher handset development costs, and economic fluctuations as reasons for their massive profit decline.

To help ease the profit-choke, Sony Ericsson has announced that it will be cutting some 2,000 jobs within the next 12 months. The move is expected to save the company $470 million.

"Challenging market conditions are expected to prevail for Sony Ericsson for at least the rest of 2008," the company said, "in particular for the third quarter."

Sony Ericsson recently posted a teaser site to promote its upcoming Walkman phones. The move toward viral marketing of their next-generation handsets could be a sign that Sony Ericsson has realized its marketing weaknesses and is changing up its gameplan to appeal to the more savvy mobile phone consumer.

Keep reading for the full press release.

Read the full article

There's no doubt that Nokia is the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. Even in the face of an uncertain financial sector and declining global handset demand, Nokia has managed to increase their net profits in Q2 2008 compared to the year-ago period.

With €1.474 billion in second quarter net profits, compared to €1.393 billion net profit in the same period last year, Nokia has seen its profitable cash flow grow almost 6%. Net sales of handsets were up 4% and market share increased to 40%, globally. Nokia's market share for Q2 2007 was 38%, and came in at a solid 39% in Q1 2008.

And, to keep the good times rolling, Nokia has announced that it has revised its previous prediction of 10% global mobile phone market growth. The Finnish handset maker now believes that they'll see 10% "or more" in global handset growth throughout 2008.

[Via: MobileBurn]