As I noted on my own blog, I’ll be away from Friday until September 7. The news (and everything else) will be in the capable hands of the rest of the staff during that time.

While WordPress 2.6.1 is an optional update, we’re working on installing it as soon as this weekend. Hopefully it will fix some bugs that we’ve been having with version 2.6.

Also, we finally hope to deploy our planned roll-out of a minor layout update, which will help you better access our “latest” in-focus content, and better see the stuff that you need to better get in-touch with PhoneNews.com. Getting that up this weekend may not be a sure thing, but we’re working on it.

We’ll be at LinuxWorld 2008, providing on-site coverage. So, while we don’t expect there to be a ton of earth-shattering announcements, we’ll be there for all the Android, MOTOMAGX, and just about any other mobile Linux news you can think of.

So, stay tuned to PhoneNews.com all this week for complete LinuxWorld coverage!

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.