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The crack has been created by the iPhone Dev Team, the same group behind the jailbroken version of the original iPhone software.

The original version took the team two months to crack, but the group has been working with the beta release of the new software since its announcement in March.

The crack will allow customers to use

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SIM cards from various network suppliers with the new 3G handsets, as well as generation one phones which have been updated with the latest version of the operating system.

The crack was popular before the UK launch of the original iPhone as it allowed handsets purchased in the US to be used on UK contracts.

While this is less of an issue now that the handset is officially available in many more countries, it will allow users to install pay-as-you-go SIM cards prior to the release of the non-contract version.

O2 said earlier this week that the pay-as-you-go version of the 3G iPhone will be available only "later this year", even though the contract version launched today.

It will also allow full read and write permission for the entire file system, letting users upload unofficial, or even pirated, applications for use on the handset.