Teen unlocks iPhone from AT&T

[Kiwon]

Teen unlocks iPhone from AT&T

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/phones/2007-08-24-unlocked-iphone_N.htm

[Freak Out]

http://www.iphonesimfree.com/

[Scott Campbell]

Now that all the hype has died down, people are starting to notice how RIM (Blackberry) has taken a big chunk of smart phone market share from Palm.

IMO, this generation iphone turned out to be a big yawner.

[Kiwon]

Who here at Packer Rats has an iPhone?

I want to hear some first-hand experiences. What do you like? What don't you like about it?

[Zool]

Who here at Packer Rats has an iPhone?

I want to hear some first-hand experiences. What do you like? What don't you like about it?

I have 3 friends with iPhones that I talk to pretty much daily.

The phone portion is nothing short of below average. Picks up tons of extraneous noise and crackles and pops like crazy. Think stage microphone at an outdoor show in the wind.

Every other feature of the phone is damned cool. The touch screen interface is great, if a little finicky. I still dont think its worth $600 for an 8G, but if it was $300 I would have one.

Here's to Gen2 hardware, hopefully early next year, but Apple usually isn't that quick on the turn around for hardware upgrades.

[Kiwon]

They're trying to work out a deal to bring it to Korea.

I can't imagine what the cost will be like. Everything here is more expensive than in the States. I'm just curious.

The "hand phones" here generally are 1-2 years ahead of what comes out in the US. It will be interesting to see how they will market it to a pretty tech-saavy audience.

[Scott Campbell]

The phone portion is nothing short of below average.


So as long as you don't use it as a phone, you'll be happy with your iPhone.


:lol:



I wonder how much AT&T paid for their "exclusive". Suckers!

[BallHawk]

NEW YORK - Hackers have figured out how to unleash Apple's iPhone from AT&T's cellular network, but people hoping to make money from the procedure could face legal problems.
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At least one of the companies hoping to make money by unlocking iPhones said it is hesitating after calls from lawyers representing the phone company.

Unlocking the phone for one's own use, for instance to place calls with a different carrier, appears to be legal. But if it's done for financial gain, the legality is less certain.

"Whether people can make profits from software that hacks the iPhone is going to depend very much on exactly what was done to develop that software and what does that software do," said Bart Showalter, head of the Intellectual Property practice group at law firm Baker Botts in Dallas.

John McLaughlin of Uniquephones.com, an outfit based in Northern Ireland, said in a phone interview Wednesday that its unlocking software for iPhones is ready, but the company is holding off while it gets legal advice.

He said it had been contacted by lawyers from O'Melveny & Myers LLP, an international law firm representing AT&T, who told him the software contained material copyrighted by Apple Inc.

"They don't have it, so therefore they can't actually threaten us," McLaughlin said. "It was 'friendly advice.'"

AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel and Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock said their companies had nothing to say about the case.

Uniquephones.com had planned to release the software via iphoneunlocking.com. The price for people on its mailing list, which contained just fewer than half a million addresses, would be $25 per iPhone, McLaughlin said.

"From their e-mail addresses, they're from everywhere in the world," McLaughlin said. "Everybody is just waiting for it."

The iPhone is sold only in the U.S., and only for use on the AT&T network, but it is compatible with cell phone technology used around the world, which means an unlocked phone can use an overseas account and number. In the U.S., T-Mobile is the only other major carrier compatible with the iPhone; Sprint and Verizon Wireless use different network technologies.

Most U.S. phones are locked to their carrier when sold, because the carrier subsidizes the cost of the phone. The iPhone, however, is apparently not subsidized by AT&T.

Some carriers provide the unlock codes on request when a subscriber's contract expires, but that doesn't apply to the iPhone, and in any case, the phone only went on sale two months ago, while the minimum contract length is two years.

Another Web site, iphonesimfree.com, has said it plans to release iPhone unlocking software in a few days.

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress last year issued a statement that unlocking cell phones was not a violation of copyright under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That law has been used to go after software that copies DVDs.

But Tracfone Wireless LLC, a Florida-based company selling phones that use prepaid plans, won an injunction in February against a couple who bought its phones in large numbers and resold them unlocked.

The U.S. District Court in Orlando found that the DMCA exception did not apply to those unlocking a phone with the intent to resell it.

Bruce Sunstein, a patent lawyer with Boston-based Bromberg & Sunstein, said unlocking software could well stand up to a legal challenge.

"They're aiding and abetting something that's completely legal ... the exemption the Copyright Office created does not state that it applies only to the user," Sunstein said.

George Hotz, a 17-year-old in New Jersey who managed to unlock his iPhone last week, using both software and hardware modifications, tried to sell it on eBay but ended the auction after apparently fake bids send the price to $100 million.

Instead, Hotz traded the unlocked phone for "a sweet Nissan 350Z" and three iPhones, according to his blog.

Hotz made the deal with Terry Daidone, co-founder of CertiCell, a cell phone repair company in Louisville, Ky.

In a statement on his Web site, Daidone said he was "keenly interested" in having the teenager help his engineers modify phones, but does not have any plans to commercialize Hotz's unlocking procedure.

[BallHawk]

X.

[Kiwon]

What's your take on Apple eliminating its 4 Gig iPhone and slashing $200 off the price of its 8 gig iPhone 2 MONTHS after the initial launch?

If I had paid $599 for something and a few weeks ago later the company, not through a temporary special offer or anything, cuts the regular price to $399, I would be royally ticked off.

After the huge build-up and very successful launch, it seems to me that Apple has poked its loyal customers in the eye.

Your opinion?

[GBRulz]

Apple is giving the early buyers $100 bucks back towards the phone.

[Scott Campbell]

What's your take on Apple eliminating its 4 Gig iPhone and slashing $200 off the price of its 8 gig iPhone 2 MONTHS after the initial launch?

If I had paid $599 for something and a few weeks ago later the company, not through a temporary special offer or anything, cuts the regular price to $399, I would be royally ticked off.

After the huge build-up and very successful launch, it seems to me that Apple has poked its loyal customers in the eye.

Your opinion?


They're probably not selling as well as hoped for.

[Kiwon]

What's your take on Apple eliminating its 4 Gig iPhone and slashing $200 off the price of its 8 gig iPhone 2 MONTHS after the initial launch?

If I had paid $599 for something and a few weeks ago later the company, not through a temporary special offer or anything, cuts the regular price to $399, I would be royally ticked off.

After the huge build-up and very successful launch, it seems to me that Apple has poked its loyal customers in the eye.

Your opinion?


They're probably not selling as well as hoped for.

That's the conventional approach for an underperforming product but (I don't know for sure) I thought the iPhone was selling very well which is why I was puzzled by their pricing move.

It seems like they are going for broke and trying to squash the competition with the introductions of new designs/models at cut-rate prices.

Steven Jobs is apologizing but this really rings hollow with me. The pricing strategy wasn't developed yesterday. He knew what he was in the works.

[Partial]

What's your take on Apple eliminating its 4 Gig iPhone and slashing $200 off the price of its 8 gig iPhone 2 MONTHS after the initial launch?

If I had paid $599 for something and a few weeks ago later the company, not through a temporary special offer or anything, cuts the regular price to $399, I would be royally ticked off.

After the huge build-up and very successful launch, it seems to me that Apple has poked its loyal customers in the eye.

Your opinion?


They're probably not selling as well as hoped for.

They have huge profit margins. They were selling OK but will easily hit the 10 mil figure they wanted for the first year now. Way to stick it to their customers, though. Asshats. At least they gave them 100 bones store credit back, I guess.

[GBRulz]

I just wish the iPod was bigger than 16GB though. My 30GB is 3/4 full... I guess if I didn't put my Justin Timberlake videos on there, my songs would still fit on the new model :wink:

[Zool]

I just wish the iPod was bigger than 16GB though. My 30GB is 3/4 full... I guess if I didn't put my Justin Timberlake videos on there, my songs would still fit on the new model :wink:

The new classic is very thin and 80G for $250..thats where i'm leaning. The touch is unneccessary

[Scott Campbell]

Is that 80G of flash memory? Holy smokes.

[Zool]

No, only the iTouch and Nano are flash. Its a HD.

[GBRulz]

I just wish the iPod was bigger than 16GB though. My 30GB is 3/4 full... I guess if I didn't put my Justin Timberlake videos on there, my songs would still fit on the new model :wink:

The new classic is very thin and 80G for $250..thats where i'm leaning. The touch is unneccessary

Have they axed the 30GB model? I read where the 160GB model was $350, but didn't say anything about a 30GB.

[Zool]

80 and 160 are the only new ones. They are almost as thin as the iTouch but not quite. For 80G or 160G at that size, you cant beat it.

[Partial]

I agree with Zool. Paying more for less space on an MP3 player doesn't make much sense to me. The flash is still too expensive per gig.

iTouch is kind of cool I guess but it is just not worth it in my opinion. The regular one is a really good deal right now.

[Kiwon]

Apple has three class action suits against it already over the iPhone - one for each of the last three months.

The latest one is over roaming charges.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=fe9b3042-f173-45c5-9636-42c12c6fd49f&p=Source_CNBC&t=s55&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004316/&fg=

[Kiwon]

Apple update shuts down hacked iPhones

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Apple has issued a software update that creates problems for iPhones modified to work with a cellular carrier other than AT&T.

Apple warned earlier this week that the iPhone update — which adds access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and fixes some security flaws — could permanently disable phones running programs that untether phones from its exclusive partner's network.

Several gadget enthusiast websites, including Gizmodo and Engadget, as well as online postings from hacker communities reported that, depending on which unlocking program was used, certain modified phones no longer worked after they installed Thursday's software update. In some cases, the phones worked, but only with the original SIM card that ties the phone to AT&T.

Some sites also reported that iPhones equipped with unofficial, third-party applications were disabled after the update.

Some hackers had characterized Apple's warning as "a scare tactic." Despite Apple's history of playing cat-and-mouse games with hackers in the past, company officials insisted they were "not proactively" trying to make hacked iPhones useless.

It was unclear how many iPhone owners had unlocked their phones, but the programs — including several that can be downloaded for free — appeared to be particularly popular with European consumers. Apple isn't selling the iPhone or initiating the service in Europe until November, so the unlocking software allowed Europeans who bought iPhones in the United States to use the $399 devices.

Installing Apple's latest iPhone update is optional.
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It's always interesting to see how technology companies fight to protect their products. It appears that despite Apple's claims that they are playing hardball with hackers, especially before the lucative European market opens.

[Partial]

I think its a dick move to brick unlocked iPhones. Then again, what company doesn't do it? Microsoft released "dashboard" updates to brick modded xboxs.

Somebody will have this hack figured out within a few days to install the update and not brick them. I hate the exclusive contract with Cingular and long for a CDMA version of the phone.