By installing the update, users can gain access to the Android Market, one of the researchers, known as Neuralic, said in a posting on Twitter.

RIM said it would look into the matter and potentially update its software in response.

“RIM is aware of reports that a security researcher has released a tool designed to allow BlackBerry PlayBook users to jailbreak their tablet,” the company said in a statement to AllThingsD. “RIM is following its standard security response process to investigate the functionality and impact of this tool and if needed, RIM will develop, test, and release a software update that is designed to minimize the potential adverse impact to our customers.”

That said, RIM might be best off using the jailbreak as a selling point for the tablet, which has lagged expectations and been on an inventory-clearing fire sale since Black Friday.

“Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience,” the company said in a statement given to Cult of Mac. “As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”

So you’re not going to go to jail for jailbreaking your iPhone, but you may well end up at the Apple Store dealing with an unsympathetic tech. As Greg Joswiak, Apple (AAPL) vice president of iPods and iPhone products and marketing, argued during a rule-making hearing last year, “When you hack the OS and remove all protection, anything can happen….The OS runs everything. And this allows any app, regardless of its functionality, its reliability, or even its safety, to run.”

I’m from Italy. Since the new iPhone 4 is not on sale in Italy yet, I was wondering if it’s possible to buy it in the U.S. without a contract and if I would be able to use it with an Italian carrier’s plan when I go home.

A:

According to AT&T, the answer is essentially no. It’s a bit complicated, but AT&T (T) says it offers a “no commitment” iPhone 4 starting at $599, or $400 more than the same model costs with a two-year contract. For this price, you don’t need to sign a contract or pay an early termination fee, though you still need a monthly plan. However, AT&T says all the iPhone models it sells in the U.S., including these no-commitment phones, are locked and cannot be used with other carriers’ SIM cards. So, you could almost certainly “use” it in Italy and pay high AT&T roaming fees, but you couldn’t just pop in a SIM card from an Italian carrier and switch to that carrier’s plan from AT&T’s.

As with prior iPhone models, it might be possible to “jailbreak,” or modify, the new model to get around this restriction, but doing that can have downsides, including security vulnerabilities and incompatibility with future official software updates.

Q:

Is it possible to buy an unlocked iPhone overseas and use it in the U.S. on T-Mobile instead of AT&T?

A:

Apple says that, in some countries, though not all, you can buy completely unlocked iPhones that can be mated with any compatible carrier’s SIM card. However, if you are referring to the new iPhone 4, note that it uses a new type of much smaller SIM card than most phones, and T-Mobile or whatever other carrier you wanted to use would have to offer such cards.

Q:

When will the iPhone be available on the Verizon network, not just AT&T?

A:

Neither Apple (AAPL) nor Verizon (VZ) has confirmed they are in serious negotiations, though there have been numerous rumors. Nor, as far as I know, does anyone outside Apple and AT&T know for sure when their exclusive arrangement expires, despite lots of speculation. So, while I hope Apple will add a second U.S. carrier at some point, I have no idea when, or whether it will be Verizon.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and Walt Mossberg’s other columns, free of charge online, at the All Things Digital website, http://walt.allthingsd.com. Write to him at mossberg@wsj.com

Apple frowns on developers who create these kinds of apps, but jailbreak supporters say that these developers push the boundaries of innovation. Cydia, the biggest marketplace for jailbroken apps, has offered apps that allowed users to cut and paste text or record video long before Apple introduced them earlier this year.

IPhone users who have modified their phones can also download software that will let them use devices like laptop modems. Some of the most popular applications on Cydia are those that let users change the look of their iPhone home screen with different icon designs or wallpaper.

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We hold these truths to be self evident:

That as long as Apple’s iPhone is locked, there will be those who wish it open. And that as long as this is the case, iPhones will be jailbroken and outfitted with third-party applications not vetted by Apple. And this will remain so regardless of whether or not Apple manages to convince the U.S. Copyright Office that jailbreaking an iPhone is copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. So all this jawing over Apple’s legal stance on iPhone jailbreaking is ultimately for naught.

So the Electronic Frontier Foundation can argue that jailbreaking is protected under fair-use doctrines. And it can urge the Copyright Office to add a jailbreaking exemption to the DMCA on the grounds that “the culture of tinkering (or hacking, if you prefer) is an important part of our innovation economy.” And Apple (AAPL) can insist that such an exemption is “an attack on Apple’s particular business choices with respect to the design of the iPhone mobile computing platform and the strategy for delivering applications software for the iPhone through the iPhone App Store.”

And they can go round and round and round. But their sparring and bloviating will ultimately be meaningless. Because if Apple’s history with iPhone jailbreaks (see stories below) has taught us anything, it’s that they’re essentially unstoppable.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Apple HQ on Defcon 1 Tantrum Alert After iPhone 2.0 Crack
• iBrokeIt
• Latest Use for $100 iPhone Credit: Replace Inoperable iPhone

We hold these truths to be self evident:

That as long as Apple’s iPhone is locked, there will be those who wish it open. And that as long as this is the case, iPhones will be jailbroken and outfitted with third-party applications not vetted by Apple. And this will remain so regardless of whether or not Apple manages to convince the U.S. Copyright Office that jailbreaking an iPhone is copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. So all this jawing over Apple’s legal stance on iPhone jailbreaking is ultimately for naught.

So the Electronic Frontier Foundation can argue that jailbreaking is protected under fair-use doctrines. And it can urge the Copyright Office to add a jailbreaking exemption to the DMCA on the grounds that “the culture of tinkering (or hacking, if you prefer) is an important part of our innovation economy.” And Apple (AAPL) can insist that such an exemption is “an attack on Apple’s particular business choices with respect to the design of the iPhone mobile computing platform and the strategy for delivering applications software for the iPhone through the iPhone App Store.”

And they can go round and round and round. But their sparring and bloviating will ultimately be meaningless. Because if Apple’s history with iPhone jailbreaks (see stories below) has taught us anything, it’s that they’re essentially unstoppable.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Apple HQ on Defcon 1 Tantrum Alert After iPhone 2.0 Crack
• iBrokeIt
• Latest Use for $100 iPhone Credit: Replace Inoperable iPhone

The iPhone Dev Team, the folks responsible for the notorious iPhone jailbreaks, have cracked iPhone 2.0–before the software has even shipped. After decrypting the version of 2.0 included in the recently released iPhone SDK, the Dev Team jailbroke it so that it will run most any application (see video below).

Quite an achievement. And one that may have inspired shrieks of rage at Apple HQ. Many companies will obviously be put off by the security issues raised by such a hack, and it’s not going to be easy for Apple to close this hole. What’s more, if 2.0 is indeed hacked, it means Apple has potentially lost control of the sole point of entry to the device through which it had hoped to vet third-party applications.

Research In Motion (RIMM) must be smirking into its cornflakes this morning. Unless, of course, this is all part of Apple’s master plan. In which case, Steve Jobs is smirking into his soy yogurt.

Actually, it does get bricked out. Sources at Apple tell Ars Technica that the activation limbo into which unlocked iPhones are sent is the company’s definition of “bricking”: “Current attempts to reactivate across the Web are failing and therefore [a hacked] iPhone cannot be used to do anything–no phone calls, no Safari, no iPod, nothing. An unlocked iPhone that runs firmware update 1.1.1 is unusable no matter what SIM is in it.”

UPDATE:The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) reports that Apple Stores around the country are restoring bricked iPhones. “We’re not sure whether they’re doing a low-level reflash or just swapping units out,” TUAW explains. “We have reports of at least four customers who walked in with iBricks and walked out with iPhones. It is unclear at this time whether these customers unlocked their iPhones or not–we’re also receiving reports of iBricks from people who never unlocked or modded their units.”