iphone dev team

Three more days until the latest iPhone software release. Ever since the September release of firmware 2.1 there has been speculation of what features might be added to 2.2. Confirmed improvements mostly revolve around the maps application, including pedestrian and Google Transit directions, Street View, and location sharing.

Firmware 2.2 also includes improvements to the MobileSafari browser, support for audio input from third-party devices, and over-the-air (OTA) podcasts. Downloads of audio or video podcasts will be limited to 10MB file sizes when using 3G or EDGE, similar to app store downloads.

Apple is trying to get smart, however the iPhone DevTeam seems to have them beat. iTunes 8.0 has new features that prevent the Pwnage exploit on iPhones and iPod Touch models that have not already been jailbroken. iTunes 8.0 will not allow restores to a hacked IPSW archive on a factory firmware device. Syncing is possible, however, if the device has already been Pwned.

The problem for Apple is that PwnageTool works by exploiting a hardware bug. According to the iPhone DevTeam, this means that Apple can use software to prevent jailbreaking, but only until the DevTeam comes up with new countermeasures in the form of patches. DevTeam has already released a software patch to circumvent iTunes 8.0 when jailbreaking a clean iPod Touch.