Apple iPhone 2.0 software goes live one day early, App Store launches

By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published July 10, 2008, 11:14 AM

First Look: iPhone 2.0 SoftwareDespite Apple's official Web page continuing to state its iPhone 2.0 firmware is "coming soon," iPhone users everywhere have already discovered its existence, thanks in large part to MacRumors.com. Build 5A347 is directly available from this link, as an unofficial release.

With Apple's new iPhone App Store launching today, users need the iPhone 2.0 firmware to be able to take advantage of it. And how can they do that unless it's available? -- thus, the unofficial release of the firmware.

Upgrading your iPhone using this unofficial release is a manual procedure, which will erase all data on the device. An Apple notification states that iTunes is capable of performing a one-time media backup of your iPhone's media contents to your Mac or PC, for restoration following the procedure.

If you don't know it already, there's a secret process: First, make sure your iPhone is fully synced. Download the file from the link above. It's a 225 MB file with an .IPSW extension (iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw). For PC users, if it ends up being downloaded with another extension (like .ZIP), make sure you change that extension to .IPSW.

Then in iTunes from your PC or Mac, there's a "Check for Update" button. Press the Option key on your Mac (Shift on your PC) as you click this button. This will bring up a file-open dialog box; use this to locate and choose the .IPSW file you already downloaded.

BetaNews is testing the iPhone 2.0 firmware now, on a non-jailbroken model. We'll have fresh analysis of what we find throughout the day, as well as a detailed look at some of the cooler, most practical, and most interesting applications we've found for sale.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

Having downloaded the 'beta version' of 2.0, I was initially happy to get it up and running. However I'm now finding that there are many glitches:

1. constantly trying to connect to itunes via the iphone and re-entering my password gets draining.
2. applications from 'appstore' are crashing before fully initiating.
3. error saying that appstore applications cannot be used without a wireless network connection? this really makes me think that the beta version was unintended for old iphone users...

I'm pretty disappointed with Apple for not looking after it's original customers - especially those that invested twice the current price. Why is there STILL no official release for the 2.0 software? Why is there not even a mention of this on apple.com?

Score: 0

|

Ok I was going to wait for the official release, but the suspense is killing me! Downloading now...

Score: 0

|

This is how it starts, first it's the slick and gorgeous iPhone then it's the slick and gorgeous Mac... GOTCHA!

Score: 0

|

While the Iphone is without a doubt an amazing little device it is not without flaws. The fact that it doesn't even allow MMS is pathetic. This is not a new feature and it is pretty much standard nowadays. Not to mention that the speakerphone is absolutely ATROCIOUS. The feature that got me was the web browser and the mail client.

Score: 0

|

Same for me on the two features mail client and browser, which is why I bought the Itouch instead :D

Sucks they are charging for an update for the device which is a bunch of bull but it is what it is...

Which sucks now as the 16 gb iphone is what I would have paid for the 8 Gb Itouch...

While I do think its a nice device, Apple won't be taking over the market anytime soon as its still missing basic features every phone has had for years.

Score: 0

|

The iPhone is better *because* it is missing features on the other phones. To claim it is worse is to misunderstand the device and the intended use.

Score: 0

|

Hope that was sarcasm...

Score: 0

|

...and then do we all get to turn into raving idiots like you?

Because that would be an awesome selling point. They should really advertise that...

/sarcasm

Score: 0

|

Another wet pence for those nerdies.

Score: 0

|

Slow day for news, eh? We have four (4), yeah that's right, news stories over the iPhone's new software. I think someone has a hard on for a phone.

Score: 0

|

Well, when was the last time you saw a line to purchase the AT&T Tilt (8900) or IBM build an e-mail client for a specific smartphone/PDA?

Score: 0

|

My worked great!! Just make sure you are using itunes 7.7. Took about 15 minutes to complete from start to finish. I used the backup feature from itunes to backup my info as well.

Score: 0

|

7.6.2.9 iTunes on a PC doesn't prompt for a file location when holding Alt and clicking "Check for Update"...use "s***"

Unfortunately didn't work...got an Error (5), and restarted needing a "Restore"...restore put the old version back on. Oh well...wait until tomorrow.

Score: 0

|

anybody has any comments is it working or not - i tried but failed :(

Score: 0

|

Updated my previous post...no workee ;(

---UPDATE---

Ok...updated to the latest version of iTunes...now works great :)

Score: 0

|

Worked fine for us. Make sure the file is named properly and is not extracted.

http://www.betanews.com/...to_App_Store/1215704079

Score: 0

|

Renamed the .zip to .IPSW Hmmm...I wonder if "case" matters? I'll give it a shot.

Score: 0

|

Nope...same error...

The iPhone "iPhone" could not be updated. An unknown error occurred (5).

Score: 0

|

works great now - but will not sync contacts, movies, etc. what's up?

Score: 0

|

PDC 2009: What have we learned this week?

There was the freebie that no one will forget, the heebie-jeebies courtesy of Scott Guthrie, and a teensy bit clearer picture of how this cloud thingie should work.

Live report: Will Google Chrome OS change Linux?

The mysteries of just what Chrome OS is, and how much of an operating system it truly is, may be resolved today.

PDC 2009: Microsoft cares about Web browser performance

The effort to give users of the world's dominant Web browser the impression of quality, is a personal one for the man who leads that battle.

Nokia re-affirms its commitment to Symbian, sort of

Maemo won't necessarily be replacing Symbian in the Nokia N-Series, but that's definitely a place where it will be found.

E-book readers will be in short supply this holiday season

E-readers are hot this year, and a lot of compelling new products have been released, but are there enough electrophoretic displays to go around?

Sony looks to finally open a single storefront for downloads

Sony has had many different download portals for movies, music, e-books, and games, and now it's looking to make a single shop for all of it.

Tuning out the tablet: Time to give the endless speculation a rest

Wide Angle Zoom: Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying....won't put an iTablet on the market.

Five improvements for IT managers in 2010

If businesses are to improve their efficiency for next year, they need to stop and reassess the basic tenets of their job.

AOL's spinoff from Time Warner to shed 2,500 jobs

As AOL moves toward become an independent company again, it will cut nearly a third of its workforce.

Gartner: SMS-based money transfer will be bigger than mobile browsing, search

Gartner issues its predictions for the 10 things our phones will be doing in 2012.

Don't forget to upgrade to Firefox 3.6 beta 3 today

Mozilla has released the latest beta its Firefox 3.6 browser software, just over one week after beta 2.