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

[portfolio_slideshow id=28250]Despite 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.