This is one of those gray areas. Should we offer Apple’s bootloaders up for download? ZiPhone includes them, and Apple hasn’t objected.

Now, in the past, we’ve sided with hackers on Windows Mobile ROMs… for the most part. After all, those were firmwares that could only be run on the device licensed.

The bootloader is tangled in even more legal questions. The federal government says unlocking tools are legal and exempt from DMCA. Apple would probably say they’re covered under their own EULA… even if you never agreed to the EULA. And, here I am, stuck in the middle with you. Oh, shoot, I might have just angered the RIAA.

To be honest, I’d like to hear what you think. Sound off in the comments while we decide…

Update: It appears current events may have impacted this more than I thought. If you see the update to our PwnageTool 2.0.1 article, it’s pretty clear that the SIM unlocking process is unstable… and may brick your phone. We’re holding off on posting the files until that is cleared up.

We haven’t reported on PwnageTool for iPhone OS 2.0. Why? Well, we’re having trouble with it. It’s not working with iPhone 3G.

We’ve re-written the coverage a good three times… because there have been three post-release developments. Each of them haven’t helped us get it working however.

We’re hoping that PwnageTool 2.0.2 will come soon. Version 2.0.1 was a no-go…

Update: Got a workaround, see the post for details…

Until about last Tuesday, I was out sick… but the fun didn’t stop there. This weekend got derailed by a gas leak (the second one this year to hit the office). Thankfully after the first one I installed a cabon monoxide/propane detector. And yes, it went off long before anyone could smell anything.

But, having to pack everything up and re-locate zapped most of the weekend, and now I have to unpack.

The silver lining in this cloud is… WordPress 2.6 should be going up sometime today. It has been tested and is good to go.

To those that have applied for jobs, I apologize for the ongoing delay. We’re going to get right on those, as soon as things stabalize.

Update: All done! We’re rocking to WordPress 2.6 across MechaWorks.

MediaWiki 1.12 is almost done testing, and will be deployed soon on the Phone Encyclopedia. This release, like many MediaWiki releases, will make the Phone Encyclopedia “faster and more reliable”…

Today, WordPress 2.6 came out. This release makes mostly backend and caching changes. We expect it to be a quick testing phase, we’ll have it deployed on testbeds as soon.

Finally, a long-delayed upgrade to the ad server will be deployed tomorrow. That should free up quite a few CPU cycles on the server.

P.S. Thanks again to all of you for tuning in. This month is shaping up once again to be a record-breaker!

Live from an undisclosed location in Northern California, the AT&T Retail Store in Chico. Welcome to liveblogging coverage of iPhone 3G, or iDay 2.0 as AT&T employees know it unofficially (iDay was the official title for the iPhone launch internally).

4:15 AM - We’re a little over an hour in (okay, almost two hours in). I was the fourth person in line this time around, but only because I wanted to stay out of the smoke. And, I really feel sorry for the folks around me… I’m the only one with a filter mask on. Weird looking? Perhaps, but I’m the only one not breathing in ash. Few are sleeping, most are awake.

4:45 AM - I should note that mobile broadband is being provided this time by Verizon Wireless. Verizon, because EV-DO Rev A is simply faster than anything else here. Oh, and for some reason, Sprint’s EV-DO network is off the grid up here too. Not sure why… but it definietely is dead today. Line count now stands at nine.

Just to compare to last launch, four hours before opening there were probably a good 15 to 20 people, and the line was wrapping around the building at this point. And, that was in about 95 degree weather. Right now it’s a comfortable 66 degrees outside. However (again), smoke is probably playing a bit of a factor too.

6:00 AM - The line is starting to shape up, it is now wrapped around the corner of the building. We’ve got a good 20 or so people in line now. And, PhoneNews.com is offering free coffee to everyone! That’s right, it pays to have PhoneNews.com in line with you.

7:45 AM - Posting from iPhone as the time draws near. The line now almost completely wraps around the building. Second round of coffee (compliments of us) was passed around. And, we answered just about everyone’s last-minute questions. We’ll post next time, iPhone 3G in hand…

9:10 AM - Back at the northern offices. Fourth in line, first out the door. The crowd cheered when I told them that’s how long it took (all of four minutes).

We can confirm that iTunes activation servers are completely down. In fact, the iPhone was not unbricked in-store, which we were previously told “had to be done for iPhone 3G to be sold to the customer.” Apple says they are working on a solution. If you have bought an iPhone 3G already, you can pop the SIM out of the new iPhone 3G, and put it back in the first-gen iPhone. We’ll let you know when things clear up with iTunes.

12:10 PM - iPhone 3G is activated. Done.

In the middle of last month I attended MobileCampSF2, and the photos that came back from it weren’t so stellar. Someone finally however sent me a photo that actually shows me (and not as either an ant, or make me look sound asleep).

Yeah, that’s me. Want to see the presentation I gave? It’s posted it on the MobileWiki product page.

Back in the same place I was a little over a year ago. But, there’s no line outside the door for iPhone 3G.

Now, it’s not why you might think. See, fires in Northern California are so bad, that the smoke has actually gotten much worse from the last time I blogged about it. So bad, that it’s 104+ degrees outside, and the smoke is thicker than fog.

Oh, and there’s a nice thin layer of ash on everything. Bottom line, I’m being called a genius for having multiple air purifiers in the office and a home, on top of microbial air conditioning filters, and 3M N95 face masks.

In other words, I’m one of the few actually capable of camping out for iPhone 3G up here. Thankfully, I won’t have to.

Today, Google confirmed to us that we’ll be showing up on Google News in the next few weeks.

That means that when you run a search on Google News, you’ll now get the best, most comprehensive wireless industry coverage out there… straight from PhoneNews.com.

While it took longer than it should have, we’d like to thank Google for (finally, finally, finally) putting us on Google News. Better late than never… but we like to feel we helped make Google News a bit better today.

We’ve posted this on a few other web sites… but I felt important to post it here as well:

Hello Everyone,

I realize that the events of these past days about SERO may have left a bitter taste in your mouth, both to Sprint and to PhoneNews.com.

I want to personally clarify that we have simply been updating these multiple situations as the events have unfolded. At each point, our editorial policies have been consistent… we haven’t gone to press without independent confirmation from multiple sources on each update.

It has taken Sprint quite awhile to figure things out internally, and give us the straight talk on these SERO matters. However, within the past hour they have done so. And, as we have done in the past, we’ve updated as soon as new information has come in, and been confirmed.

You can read the official response to SERO events of the week, here.

I want to thank the community across message boards for working with us. The enthusiast community is what drives the wireless industry, and PhoneNews.com is proof of it. We wouldn’t be here without you.

The fires raging across California have impacted our operations. Namely, the smoke is the problem. I’ve been treating it as an extended weekend… but now reports are that the smoke won’t start to clear for another 48 hours.

Just to give you an idea of the state of things, at the high point, there have been about 1,200 separate fires impacting everything from Redding to Bakersfield. That’s half the state!

And yes, those air purifiers in the office that I talked about on this blog previously, have been a huge help. The key is, you really need one in each room that you’re working in. Otherwise, the air from the outside will leak in and not get purified. However, it’s still not a perfect science. With the atmosphere almost two times as toxic as what is considered dangerous… it’s still bad just about everywhere.

But, we’re picking back up speed. Two reviews are about to get pushed out (the Nokia N95-4 and the Instinct), as well as the Touch update coverage later tonight.