We knew it would happen and it has. A group of intrepid hackers are hard at work trying to unlock the iPhone.

The issues are probably complex since the iPhone is activated via iTunes connecting to verify your credit etc. So, they need to get around something that is more complex than most regular cellphones use.

The other difficult part they need to solve is that most of the phone functions need to continue to work after unlocking it. So say I use my T-Mobile number, I am fine if visual voicemail doesn’t work, but I won’t be happy if I can’t sync contacts or use Google Maps.

You can follow their progress on their wiki and on the MacNN forum.

Do I think they’ll crack it tomorrow? No. But I do think they will crack it. How well and with how little disruption to the software is yet to be seen. And how they deal with firmware updates from Apple will be another interesting thing.

But, for all these reasons, I am cheering for them to free the iPhone!