Apple says the new iPhone 3G will be "uncrackable". How long before it has to eat its words, skin, pips, core, stalk and all?

In a report filed over the 4th of July weekend while most of the US was busy doing other things, CNET.com says a memo has been sent to retail employees of the iPhone’s official US telco, AT&T, to warn them to be on the lookout for a special iTunes “unbricking” utility that was supposed to be pushed to the computers of all retail employees.
 
That memo also says the iPhone 3G will need to be physically connected to an "in-store computer", suggesting also that every iPhone 3G will have to be activated in a shop at the time of purchase, and that all buyers will also have to sign a two-year contract to boot, before they can take actually home the greatest gizmo in the history of the entire universe.
 
The original iPhone, that launched in June last year, was initially available only in the US and was only for use on AT&T’s network. However, in less than a month, enterprising hackers
had discovered how to unlock the handset and thus make it available for use on other networks, including those overseas.

Thereafter, iPhones began to flow out of America in ever-increasing numbers, and analysts estimate that between 33 per cent and 50 per cent of all iPhones ever sold were never connected to the AT&T network.

And, according to Indiatimes Infotech, a company based in Syracuse, Utah, an organisation called Freeit4less has already posted the cost of unlocked iPhone 3G models on its website at US$100 above US shop prices. However, the company's CEO, Kyle Jourdan says he is not accepting pre-orders for the device until the "uncertainty" surrounding activation requirement is resolved.

Mr.