Apparently, around one million iPhones are unlocked and in use. They have been sold on a "gray" market all around the world, especially in places where there is no authorized carrier yet, BusinessWeek reports.

As many already known, the latest iPhone update makes it impossible to break into the gadget and unlock it to work on other networks than Apple's exclusive partners. However, there are several hardware workarounds. One of them is developed by a tiny company based in Prague, Czech Republic. Its boss is Pavel Zaboj, a 36-year-old former math student who has developed Turbo SIM. The device was initially intended to provide mobile payment services using a mobile phone.

However, it turned out that it also works great to trick the iPhone that it's running on an authorized network. The phones are either bought by individuals, through front businesses or maybe obtained at the factories in China where they are made.

There are other unlocking solutions as well. PDA Cable, a one-man operation owned by 29-year-old Nathan Walberg, packages a device to create an altered SIM card and sells them for $44. It is based on a cheap Turbo SIM knockoff sold by a Chinese supplier, BusinessWeek reports.

Meanwhile, the 3G iPhone is still months away. It is hard to understand why Apple did not launch the gadget with 3G support, the only reasonable explanation being that they want to rip off people twice. 3G has been around for years, it's not like you have to build a rocket. In Europe, 3G is a must for Internet access, but here it is still not that widespread. Jobs previously said that 3G chips were "power hogs," which is partly true, but not enough to justify the fact that it has not yet been included.

Apple has recently cut again production of iPods, iPhones, and MacBooks, apparently as a consequence of the general downward economic trend. AppleInsider has found out that Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Research, announced his clients about the order cuts.

It is common knowledge that over the first quarter electronics sales are slower, considering the period is immediately after the holidays shopping spree. However, it appears that the production cuts ordered by Apple are more than the general downward trend of other electronics makers.

Apple hit the number three spot in the smart mobile device market in 2007. Considering that the iPhone made its debut by mid 2007, the 6.5 percent market share in Q4 is something worth mentioned, especially for the fact that the smartphone had a limited availability, compared to its competitors.

Apple Inc. has announced a new lineup of their iPhone and iPod Touch offerings which feature double storage capacities. This means that the new iPhone has 16 gigabytes of memory instead of only 8 gigabytes installed on the previous model. As far as the iPod Touch is concerned, it now comes with a substantial 32 gigabytes of memory and is priced the same as the premium iPhone, at $499.