I'm in the same boat. I've tried pwnage tool on my 3g 16gb (leopard 10.5.4, itunes 7.7) and it won't work. I've tried connecting my phone before starting pwnage tool, and after. I've tried it with itunes open and closed. I still get the "failed to enter dfu mode" message. This sucks. What am I doing wrong?

ah, it's always great to see when an excellent (and often overlooked) university pioneers a new technology. Go dandelions! ;)

When I first discovered Helio, it seemed like a great deal. For over a year, I've wanted a phone that works as an all-in-one communication device, offering fast voice and data and a simple, affordable, all-inclusive plan.

But despite Helio's interest in appealing to my generation, and their obsession with sleakness (as far as I can see from their website) there are some MAJOR drawbacks to using this service.

First and foremost, they only offer two phones, and neither supports bluetooth. This is absolutely inexcusable. Whoever designed these phones must be an idiot for failing to incorporate a popular industry standard in any of their devices.

One of the great things about 3G is the capability of high-speed data transfer, but in my opinion, 3G speeds are useless if a carrier doesn't allow customers to use a phone as a wireless modem. What's more, failure to offer a full web browser is very limiting -- at this point, it seems that helio customers can only visit web sites that were designed to be viewed from a mobile phone.

If you travel internationally, avoid these phones. GSM is the world standard, and many countries (especially Western Europe) have no CDMA networks, making this device useless in many overseas markets.

Helio also offers very little technical information on their website, making no references to CDMA or other wireless technologies, as far as I can tell. Slickness and simplicity are important, but detailed technical information should be easily available online.

As frustrating as it is, I'd avoid this service and wait for Cingular to roll out it's 3G/UMTS network. Or, if you're not an international traveler you could go with Verizon or Sprint, which offer many more phone options and do (as far as I know) support bluetooth and phone-as-modem.

I wish Helio would get with the program. They've gotten very close to providing a great service, but they've overlooked some very important issues. Hopefully they will soon be resolved. If not, I guess I'll just have to wait until my carrier (Cingular) rolls out broadband connect in my area.