Billed as a "compliment" to the existing PwnageTool, iphone-dev has released a working beta of what it calls QuickPwn, a utility that uses a crafty new jailbreaking method to forgo the installation of a fresh IPSW. In layman's terms, that means you can have a fully jailbroken phone running 2.0.1 (and soon 2.0.2, we'd imagine) without the mild discomfort of having to restore your precious sidearm from scratch. The tool's still being developed and is currently only available on Windows, though the team is quick to point out that because QuickPwn operates only on the iPhone's app processor, any screw-ups should be totally undoable. Be that as it may, you know the drill: keep your gloves up, protect yourselves at all times, and let's have a clean fight.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Hopes were high that 2.0.2 would decisively crush the reception woes some iPhone 3G owners have experienced since taking delivery of their cracking beauties; dropped calls, latching onto EDGE reception when 3G (also known as "the good stuff") is available, and general signal strength wonkiness have all plagued a select group of handsets since launch, making for a decidedly MobileMe-like user experience. Some upgraders are actually reporting just the opposite, though -- for these lucky few, 2.0.2 seems to be making reception somehow worse than it already was, and what's more, there are intermittent reports cropping up of broken third-party apps, too. With the 1.x line of builds having chugged along with relatively little drama for a year, here's our question: what the hell is going on? Why does 2.0, after two post-launch builds, still feel like a beta? MobileMe took the lion's share of the fall for Apple having spread itself too thin through the launch-heavy summer months, but did some of that fire-drill mentality trickle over to the breadwinner, too? Sound off in comments with your experiences putting 2.0.2 through its paces so far!

[Via Mobility Site]

Update: Apparently Steve Jobs, who should have his face buried in a developer workstation somewhere in Cupertino slaving away on iPhone bug fixes, somehow found the time to slack off for half an hour and fire off an email to some guy who wrote him complaining about third-party apps that are crashing on startup. Jobs allegedly says that the issue is a "known iPhone bug" and that it'll be fixed in the next update come September -- but frankly, we wish he'd let his assistants attend to this sort of needless communication so he could get back to, you know, writing code and inventing phones. Thanks, Alexander!

It has taken its sweet, sweet time in arriving, but it seems the iPhone Nike+ running application is just... about... here. A slew of new screenshots of the application have emerged, and while there are no juicy tidbits to accompany 'em (release date, cost, etc.), we all know how many lines of text a single snapshot is worth. Hang tight runners, the app you've been waiting (and waiting) for can't be far from the finish line now.

[Via MacRumors]

Google feels really badly about that several month-long stretch where it kept any and all updates to its Android SDK out of the public limelight, developers, honest, but it wants to make it up to you. It seems that yesterday's 0.9 release, which represented the first official SDK available with a platform even remotely resembling what Google intends to release on retail devices this fall, was just the first in a string of goings-on leading up to the grand 1.0 launch in the coming months according to a new roadmap published on the Android site. To start, there'll be "additional Android 1.0 (pre) SDK releases made available, as necessary" in September, followed by the first 1.0-compatible release in the Q3 to Q4 timeframe (that's any time between now and the end of December, for you calendar-disadvantaged folk). Finally, the Android source will leak out in the fourth quarter along with the first "Android 1.0 devices" -- pay special attention to the plural "devices" there -- and an announcement about Android Developer Challenge II. It gives us a warm fuzzy to see that Google's interested in keeping its devs engaged with these contests on an ongoing basis, because let's be honest: "prize money" has a much nicer ring to it than "VC money" ever will.

[Via Talk Android]

Well okay, we don't know if it's angry or not, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the 2.0.2 update of Apple's phone OS is out there for your downloading pleasure (via iTunes, specifically). So far, all we know is that this iteration tackles those pesky "bugs," but what those exact bugs are, we couldn't say... nor could Apple. We're grabbing now and will update with any exciting developments.

Update: Well we've got the new firmware up and running, and it's true -- those bugs have been fixed. Which bugs? Well, it's still hard to say, but our voice suddenly sounds deeper, and we've noticed improved grammar during calls.

It's an interesting day for the folks at Google. Not only do we see the supposed GPhone (AKA, the HTC Dream) get trotted out to the FCC, and hear new rumors about the device's release date, but now there's a brand-spanking-new release of the Android SDK available. The version? 0.9 -- a number which puts this dangerously close to a number that most would consider non-beta. Meanwhile, the new version of the mobile OS has been significantly changed, adding a new widgetified (big old clock: present!) and flickable homescreen, a handy (and speedy) tab to pull up your apps, plus a media player, camera, and handful of other noticeable design tweaks. Don't believe us? Check out the video after the break showing it all in action.

Update: We've included a gallery of screenshots as well. Check out the sync contacts option. Sweet! Also, you may note that it asks you to "open keyboard to compose message" in the SMS screen -- almost like it's made for a device with a slide-out keyboard.

Mettlesome souls have been swimming in the Windows Mobile 6.1 seas on their Motorola Q9h for a few weeks now, but those waiting (and waiting) on a proper update can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The official ROM update that brings WinMo 6.1 to AT&T's Q9 is all ready for your attention, though we'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that backing up your device beforehand would be an absolutely stellar move. Why spend another minute living in the pre-6.1 era? Get that download a-blazin' and let us know how things turn out.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

JoikuSpot is one of our favorite S60 apps, turning what is otherwise totally capable smartphone into a pocket-sized WiFi hotspot. Now the company behind it, Joikusoft, is partnering with FON to release a new version called FONspot, which will turn Symbiotes into Foneros. (Symbreros?) Users will be able to share their mobile hotspots with up to 5 friends and, in keeping with FON's business model, access those provided by others Foneros free of charge. No word yet on up-front cost, but the updated app is due sometime in Q3 2008 which is... right now, actually.

[Via IntoMobile]

Some of those sweet-sounding bug fixes neatly tucked away in the last firmware update for Europe's N78 have finally trickled down to the second-class citizens left of the pond -- a bit late, yes, but if it's any consolation, users will still be able to take advantage of Nokia's slick over-the-air interface to grab the goods. Perhaps the most important change in this build is improvement of the sensitivity of the right soft key, a pretty big problem out of the gate that plagued our test unit. Speaking of sensitivity, the Navi wheel's has apparently improved as well, as has the music player's ability to remember where you left off in podcasts. Thanks for not forgetting your loyal North American customers, Nokia, but seriously, could we try to keep the love just a little more in sync?

[Via Symbian-Guru]

Looks like that promised big-ass update for the Instinct has started to materialize -- but wait, there's a catch: it's going down piecemeal. Rather than receiving updates for a bunch of the Instinct's core components at once, app updates are being delivered in nice little bite-sized chunks because each app is individually "updated by the vendor, and the vendors set their own schedules," according to Sprint. By the time all is said and done, virtually everything on the phone will have been refreshed in one fashion or another; if you want to get into the nitty gritty, it looks like Picture Mail, the browser, YouTube, Sprint TV and Radio, Navigation, Email, the Music Store, and Visual Voicemail (among others) are all getting some love in this round. Many modern phones support OTA updates, but very few ever have the good fortune of getting bugs fixed and features added -- carriers are too busy turning their attention to the next great thing to bother sprucing up their existing lineups -- so it's refreshing to see Sprint seemingly putting some serious effort into getting the Instinct right. Keep it up, guys.

[Via Everything Samsung Instinct]

Funny story -- these guys will be one in the same here in just a few months, but until then, you'll have to pretend there's absolutely no relationship between Palm's 700p (Verizon) and 700wx (Alltel). Jibber-jabber aside, those still rockin' either Treo may be interested in sucking down what's apt to be the final ROM update for both handsets on these carriers. As predicted, Palm didn't go into great detail about what all the respective Radio Patches were, um, patching up, but you know you can't walk around without the latest and greatest on your phone. That being said, tap the links below (choose carefully!) to get your download on.

[Via PalmInfocenter]

Read - Palm 700p (Verizon) update
Read - Palm 700wx (Alltel) update

mocoNews is reporting that T-Mobile is getting ready to throw its sacred content deck wide open to all interested parties, adopting an App Store-esque model that lets Joe Developer submit his apps straight to the carrier. Once an application is approved, it'll be made available on the deck in order of popularity with no unnecessary fiddling on T-Mobile's part (good for them), and here's where it gets really interesting: the exact details of the revenue share depend on the intensity of the app's data consumption. The more bits an app gobbles up, the more money T-Mobile will take, meaning that developers will be helping to pick up the slack for its generously-priced unlimited data plans offered to subscribers. For what it's worth, devs currently testing the system say that the shares are still very generous even with the sliding scale in place -- and because the content deck will be available across T-Mobile's entire range of products regardless of platform, Java-based applets that are relatively platform independent could nab sales from nearly all segments of T-Mob's 30-plus million subscriber base. Sounds cool, but we're sure the devils are in the details; either way, it should be interesting to see what they've managed to cook up by the time it apparently kicks off this fall.

So Nokia has officially launched the beta process for an app it simply calls "Email," a replacement for S60's in-built Messaging application for managing -- you guess it -- email. Besides a true push service and a slightly slicker interface than what we're used to, it doesn't seem to offer terribly much that the standard client doesn't, and what's more, it sounds like Nokia intends to charge for the pleasure of using it once it exits beta. It'd better be crazy cheap, crazy impressive, or preferably, a combination of the two by the time it launches -- otherwise, Messaging will continue work just fine for us, thankyouverymuch.

Folks never satisfied with ROMs as they are (we see those hands) can celebrate jovially, as version 1.93 for HTC's Touch Diamond has officially emerged. Said ROM was already available on the intarwebz, but this time it's ready for downloading at the handset maker's actual website for UK / Europe-based users. Reported improvements include "camera navigation, text alert speed, tab-switching speed and a new city selector in the weather tab to make it easier and quicker to choose your location." Give it a go and let us know how it turns out, would you?

[Via coolsmartphone]

Steve Jobs, presumably speaking from a hyperbaric chamber where he's being nourished with an infusion of liquefied developers-souls before his next public appearance, had a few interesting tidbits about the AppStore for the Wall Street Journal this morning. Namely, users have downloaded some 60 million programs for the iPhone representing sales of about $30 million since the launch last month -- a 30/70 revenue split between Apple and developers, respectively. "The thing's going to crest a half billion soon," Jobs added, "I've never seen anything like this in my career for software." He went on to say that phone differentiation is no longer about radios and antennas (or uh, battery life) but about software. Steve also confirmed the controversial iPhone application kill switch in the event that Apple inadvertently approves a malicious program for distribution. Jobs said, "hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull." As to the $999.99 I Am Rich application, the dubious download that displayed nothing but a glowing red gem, pulling that from the store was a "judgment" call. Sure, but that doesn't explain how it made it through the vetting process to begin with.