For nearly two months I've had a single obsession: to unlock my Apple iPhone and use my T-Mobile phone service here in the UK.

In theory, this was not possible.

Although a customer can walk into any Apple Store in America and purchase the device without signing a contract, all functions of the iPhone are locked until it is activated online through Apple and AT&T, Apple’s exclusive mobile service provider in the States.

A worldwide community of hackers, however, had other ideas.

With their help (via the wonder of the world wide web), I was immediately able to activate most of the iPhone’s functions – including the inbuilt iPod, web browser, Wi-Fi and camera – but not the phone. Apple had locked down the device to work only with an AT&T sim card.

Attractive as the device undoubtedly is, it is annoying to spend £300 (yes, I bought mine before Apple slashed the price) on a phone that can not make calls.

But the iPhone had captured my imagination like no other toy. Beside the usual pleasing aesthetics of an Apple product the user interface is a joy to use and the screen a feast for the eyes. It’s the first touch screen product I’ve used that is truly responsive to a fingertip. No more fumbling with a cocktail-stick stylus.

The real attraction, though, is that it’s a poser’s toy. Whip an iPhone out in a meeting, the wine bar or at a party and you’re the centre of attention. I went into an Apple Store in Southampton to find an accessory and within 30 seconds of showing the iPhone to a sales assistant I was surrounded by all the shop’s employees eager to get a glimpse of the phone they would be selling later this year.

Other mobiles can do more, but none seem to do it quite as sexily as the iPhone. Just a shame that I couldn’t make a phone call or send a text message. Not until last night.

Unlocking the phone had become a holy grail for hackers. Solutions were found a few weeks ago, but they either involved opening the phone and modifying the hardware, or an in-depth knowledge of sim cards.

Neither was user friendly and some unlocking methods were potentially illegal or left users with dead ("bricked") iPhones. One user I came across managed to blow up his phone when he short circuited the battery during his unlocking attempts. For most users, then, running a user-friendly program to unlock the phone was about as technical as they could manage.

For a few weeks I’ve been in contact with people who claimed to be able to unlock the phone with software.

Contact was restricted to e-mails and the people behind iPhoneSimFree.com remained anonymous. For all the claims, no software was forthcoming.

More dubious was the fact that iPhoneSimFree.com wouldn’t sell their product directly, cloaked their dealings in secrecy and anonymity, but were asking resellers to send tens of thousands of pounds to a bank account in San Marino on the promise of software licences in return. It seemed about as reliable as an unsolicited Nigerian e-mail promising vast riches in return for one's bank account details.

Then last night I get a phone call from Jim. He doesn’t have a surname. But he does have software for me to install on my iPhone. Within a few minutes I am making phone calls with my T-Mobile sim.

The program really works and it is as simple as pushing one on-screen button. It looked like the iPhoneSimFree guys – a group of six anonymous hackers – were going to make a fortune.

Except for one thing. Within hours of their software reaching the computers of a few hundred people worldwide, hackers had discovered the secret and they too released programs to unlock the iPhone, but this time for free.

A word of warning to those tempted to rush out to import an iPhone from America. The unlocking and activation procedure requires a little technical knowledge and can be quite time consuming. And you may "brick" the device.

Also, Apple’s response remains to be seen – it’s likely that future upgrades will re-lock the phone and hackers will have to find new ways to take control.

If you fancy a challenge and want more control over what your phone can do, iPhone hacking is ideal for obsessive compulsives. I’d write more now, but I have more software that I want to install on my iPhone.

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