As stated on their blog, it seems that the guys from the iPhone Dev Team are very close now to the 3G software unlock. Hit the break to see the video.

This ability we now have to spawn background tasks means we are one step closer to the 3G soft unlock. We have a clear path to follow, and “all” that remains is the implementation.

Persistent Nucleus Tasks from iphonedev on Vimeo.

A quick summary of the key 3G-unlock-related achievements made so far:
1. Unsigned code execution on 3G baseband
2. Reverting 01.45 baseband to previous versions
3. Patching of static text (the AT&V demo)
4. Injection of AT routines (task list demo)
5. Injection of background tasks (this demo)

Now it’s on to overriding the baseband code that enforces the carrier lock.

A high-quality version of the video is available via bittorrent here.

A version that’s playable on your iPhone or iPod Touch is available here

P.S. That “One more thing!” text is being generated by the backgrounded “steve” task at 5-second intervals. The “A0” is the task’s priority.

P.P.S. Remember…don’t update to official 2.2 when it comes out if you ultimately want a 3G soft unlock!

More Info: iPhone Dev Team