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San Francisco - Those behind outlaw iPhone software add-ons have quickly rebounded after a recent update from Apple wiped out a lot of their work.
The developers' speedy one-upping of Apple illustrates how Apple is engaged in a serious "game of cat and mouse", as Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs recently described it, with developers exploiting holes in the iPhone's software core.
Last week, Apple released a new iPhone operating system which updated several features. Once installed, most software downloaded onto the phone from third parties stopped working. That included unlocking software, which allows the iPhone to work on any cell network, or other programming to make free ringtones from Apple's iTunes music store.
By Monday, developers took a giant step back in business by unleashing a way to revert the iPhone back to its original operating system, and thus have all their programs work again.
By doing so, they are resurrecting the likes of iPhoneSimFree and the handful of other companies that makes the unlocking software, which threatens the exclusive arrangements Apple is reaching with cellphone operators in the US, Europe and Asia.
IPhoneSimFree sells their software for $99, others give theirs away for free.
"It works, I'm back in business again," wrote The General, the screen name for a number of posters to Apple fan forums that have had success with the latest Apple workarounds.
An Apple representative didn't return a call seeking comment.
- Dow Jones