July 16 - 4:35pm EDT   Apple left the iPhone exposed to a serious vulnerability for months despite knowing how to fix it, a security analyst alleges. Charlie Miller of Independent Security Evaluators notes that while the iPhone 2.0 firmware has since fixed the problem, for over three months, the v1.x firmware was vulnerable to the same WebKit exploit used to hack a MacBook Air within two minutes. The feat earned him $10,000 from TippingPoint Technologies. [full story]

July 15 - 9:15am EDT   Apple may already have the next iteration of iPhone firmware in late development, web traffic indicates. Data analyzed from server logs shows a minority of references to iPhones running firmware titled v2.0.1, instead of the normal v2.0 available preloaded or as an iTunes upgrade. The connecting phones are further divided into different builds, with 2.5G models running 5B101, and 3Gs relying on 5B103. [full story]

July 14 - 5:15pm EDT   Apple has explanations for the lack of certain features on the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 2.0 firmware, says Apple product head Greg Joswiak. Cited in a new report, Joswiak says that the absence of cut and paste functions, for instance, was omitted only because it was considered a low priority in Apple's ongoing feature wishlist. Other features were simply judged more important for the 3G launch. [full story]

July 14 - 11:15am EDT   Hackers have managed to penetrate to one of the deepest levels in the iPhone 3G's software, according to claims. The makers of the PwnageTool say that in working on v2.0 of their software, they have managed to crack "iBoot," the command line used to communicate with the 3G's equivalent of a BIOS. iBoot is said to be present because iTunes requires a lever for restoring a phone; normally, however, iBoot is said to be "heavily restricted," permitting only Apple code. The only access layer deeper than iBoot is said to be in ROM, and so any further anti-unlocking efforts could force hardware changes. [full story]

July 11 - 10:45am EDT   Early experience with the iPhone 2.0 firmware is cause for optimism, says analyst Shaw Wu of American Technology Research. Wu explains that like hosts of others, AmTech was able to download and install the v2.0 firmware in advance on Thursday, in turn enabling the installation of software from the iTunes App Store. Wu notes that over 500 applications were available for the App Store's debut, and that this number should eventually extend into the thousands. [full story]

July 11 - 10:35am EDT   Apple officially released iPhone version 2.0 via iTunes on Friday morning. And as thousands of users upgrade their first-generation iPhones, reports of glitches have begun to surface on Apple support discussion boards and MacNN's forums. One user says after waiting an hour and 15 minutes for the upgrade to install, his iPhone was bricked. He and a number of other users say the iPhone needs to contact the iTunes Store for reactivation but the process doesn't appear to be working. [full story]

July 10 - 11:05pm EDT   Just hours after the iPhone 2.0 operating system went live on Apple's servers, it was revealed to have been jailbroken for quite some time, with the iPhone Dev Team set to release its Pwnage tool in the coming weeks. Gizmodo reveals it has been using the jailbroken iPhone 2.0 for its Push email test coverage, with the unreleased Pwnage tool having been available privately for the last couple of weeks, since build version 5A345. [full story]

July 10 - 1:55pm EDT  With the release of the iPhone 2.0 firwmare (available from Apple's own servers), we installed the software on our previously "jailbroken" and "unlocked" iPhone without any problems (no word yet on whether the unlock is still working). The entire process took about 20 minutes (maybe a bit longer) using iTunes' restore function (download the software and click option. We have the first screenshots of the painfully long process. [full story]

July 10 - 1:35pm EDT   Apple has quietly released the iPhone 2.0 firmware, work has uncovered. Though not officially announced, or yet distributed through iTunes 7.7, the IPSW file can now be downloaded directly from an Apple server. The firmware enables both native applications and access to the App Store; installing it at this stage, however, is only recommended for advanced users familiar with manually synching such updates. A fresh installation of the v2.0 software takes approximately 20 minutes; normal distribution methods should begin by Friday morning. [full story]

July 9 - 9:20am EDT   Apple's flagship American store, the Fifth Avenue location in New York City, will temporarily close on July 10th, Apple has announced. The store will shutdown at midnight on the 10th, and only reopen several hours later at 8AM, allowing preparations for some of the first North American sales of the iPhone 3G. The closing is notable in that the Fifth Avenue location is normally open 24 hours a day, year-round, making tomorrow a rare disruption. [full story]

June 29 - 11:00pm EDT   Helped by the hype of iPhone 2.0 platform and a buzz over the pending iPhone 3G announcement, the iPhone generated huge traffic for internet search engines in April. ComScore, which provides market research for advertisers, says 1.3 million Americans conducted 6.9 million iPhone-related searches in April. The word “iPhone” was the most popular term, with nearly 1.5 million searches, followed by “iPhone 2.0” and “iPhone 3G.” The vast majority of those seaches -- 88.4 percent -- went to Google, Yahoo got about 7 percent, with MSN getting less than 3 percent. [full story]

June 25 - 3:50pm EDT   Wiping data off an iPhone should become more secure with the v2.0 firmware than in the current release, say sources using the most recent beta. Although both the v1.x and 2.0 releases present users with an "Erase All Contents and Settings" option, v1.x only performs a regular deletion; v2.0 should mimic the "Secure Empty Trash" option of Mac OS X, and delete files, unlink them, and overwrite the affected memory sectors several times. This comes with a time penalty however, as the whole process is said to last an hour. [full story]

June 25 - 2:10pm EDT   The final iPhone 2.0 firmware could be complete as soon as Friday, rumors say. A report cites a source within Apple's iPhone software team, who claims it is "highly probable" that the firmware's gold master -- official production version -- will be finished by the end of the work week. This version would be following build 345, which enables new code-signing and encryption options. [full story]

June 23 - 4:55pm EDT   The iPhone 3G may be a great aid to the pornography industry, writes Time. The current 2.5G unit is already said to popular with porn producers, due to its use of a desktop-like web browser, and better handling of video than most cellphones. "There are a few hundred iPhone porn sites now in use," says the VP of business development at AVN Media Network, Farley Cahen. Google Trends is meanwhile tracking a high use of the search term "iPhone porn." [full story]

June 11 - 11:45am EDT   Apple's iPhone 2.0 firmware, primarily built to support native applications and the App Store, should be available in advance of the 3G hardware many are expected to use it with, Engadget writes. The information comes by way of the Australian Apple website, in which the iPod touch section specifically states that the App Store will open on June 27th. Apple has previously said that the App Store will not function without the v2.0 firmware. [full story]