The iPhone is here and, undoubtedly, people are trying to crack the device’s code. But to do what? Here, nine unauthorized functions we’ll probably see in the near future.

Multiple Carriers
Why go to AT&T when you’re a happy T-Mobile customer? Both AT&T (formerly Cingular) and T-Mobile use the GSM network, and customers of those services have technically been able to use the same phones for years. Though the iPhone is designed to work just with AT&T, it might not take much tweaking to make the device equally flexible.

Porn
Apple isn’t going to allow X-rated—or even NC-17—movies in its Apple Store anytime soon, but pornography always manages to penetrate new technology. We can definitely expect to see programs that will allow renegade directors to make their homemade movies compatible with the iPhone.

Other Music Formats
Apple has had a stranglehold on the iPod with its proprietary music format. The iPhone’s computer-like architecture will make it easier for tweakers to enable other formats to be heard.

iClones
Asian copycats will probably reverse-engineer the iPhone—at least crudely—by next year. Korea, China, and Taiwan will have cheap iClones available in 2008. Just don’t expect them to be as smooth or reliable as Apple’s original.

Gaming
Apple’s own to-be-announced gaming initiative won’t be enough to satisfy hardcore players. But most hackers are gamers too. They will come up with the appropriate tools to help unauthorized developers create games for the iPhone that are like those on Macs and PCs.

G.P.S.
Triangulation—using the distance between three cell-tower signals to find a phone’s location—makes this modification a given. Hackers could create a program to pinpoint your location and feed it to Google Maps to guide you to your destination.

Viruses
Not all hacks are to our benefit. The iPhone carries a version of Mac OS to run its features, and iPhone-specific viruses will almost assuredly be coming along for the ride. Like traditional computer viruses, they will likely work to make your files and information vulnerable to theft. The iPhone’s always-open WiFi connection makes this virtually inevitable.

Downloadable Music
You still need a computer to download music from the Apple Store. But by year’s end, unauthorized websites will let you download songs directly to the iPhone.
 
Multimedia Sharing
Apple is known for aggressively blocking file-sharing applications, but with the iPhone’s WiFi- and Mac-inspired infrastructure, hackers will have users passing goods back and forth like they have Microsoft’s swap-happy Zune media player.