Apple’s iPhone 1.1.1 is one step closer to opening up for third party apps now that the iPhone Dev Team has managed to implement a jailbreak on the smart phone. The unsupported hack allows only a subset of non-Apple applications to run, but developers are already hard at work expanding the list of supported apps, according to The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

"Jailbreaking" is a process to essentially unlock an iPhone, and now the iPod touch, so that third party applications can be added to the device. Apple officially supports Web-based applications on the iPhone and iPod touch, however it has gone to great lengths to lock out the ability to install applications directly on the handheld devices.

While jailbreaking works on iPhone 1.0.2, the 1.1.1 software update "re-jailed" hacked phones and disabled all third party applications that had been installed. The update may have added several new features to the combination iPod and smart phone, but it also blocked users from taking advantage of the growing list of useful, but unsupported, applications.

The iPhone 1.1.1 jailbreak is certainly not ready for prime time yet, but it is a step in the right direction. For now, only a handful of third party apps are running, and many of the applications compiled for iPhone 1.0.2 will likely have to be reworked to function with the updated software.