iPhone unlocked

[Desert Rune]

Those living outside of the US are now in luck. A group of hackers successfully managed to unlock the iPhone. Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/24/iphone-unlocked-atandt-loses-iphone-exclusivity-august-24-2007/) broke the story when they were contacted by the team (http://www.iphonesimfree.com/) at iphonesimfree.

Now's the perfect time to snatch up those iPhone auctions (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230164884672) on eBay before the price goes up a little.

[Alexander Nikishin]

I'm absolutely addicted to my iPhone, it doesn't leave my hand for longer than an hour at a time.

[Leo Ticheli]

Love/hate.

I love the iPhone, but ATT is so terrible in coverage and reliability, not to mention customer service & tech support, that I'm often unable to make/receive calls. Their "fewer dropped calls" advertising claim is a joke.

I'm seriously considering returning to the bad old days when I carried two mobiles hoping one would work. Probably be back to Verizon for the second line; I never had a problem with them.

I understand the technical reasons for selecting ATT, but they really are ranked at the bottom on almost every survey for very good reasons.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

[Gavin Greenwalt]

oh no they don't drop calls I'll give them that. But that's because they're very selective in what calls you get to make.

"Hmmmm nope not here I might drop a call here, you don't get to dial out right now."
"Hmmm our network is pretty busy it might drop your call try again later."
"Hmmm you're getting an incoming call but... I don't think you really want to talk to them how about I just take a message instead."

AT&T is the worst cell phone carrier I've ever been on. And they're the only carrier that even slightly covers my home block.

[Jason Francois]

Same here. Love my iphone, but the AT&T is just garbage. Went on a trip this past week with a friend who had Verizon. He had service up in the middle of Arizona on a mountain and my phone wasn't having anything to do with a signal. Not even a moment.

[Chuck T.]

It's not on HSDPA/3G.... other than that and ATT it's an amazing device.

[Gavin Greenwalt]

I can't wait for Xuhm or whatever it is Sprint is calling their nationwide WiMAX service. Forget touch interfaces... 5mbps wireless. now that's revolutionairy.

[Michael Schrengohst]

I guess AT&T gives Apple a nice deal. I think Verizon is to much
about building their own network. How long is the exclusive deal
with AT&T?

[Leo Ticheli]

ATT/Apple iPhone: 5 years.

If I have to carry an additional mobile, it will cost me in excess of $6000.00, probably closer to $9000.00 for the five years.

What's the deal with ATT? Obviously terrible management at the top, lack of a customer service emphasis, but what about the terrible coverage and constant system failures? Is it lack of investment in the structure?

Aren't they Federally regulated? Can anything be done?

Good shooting, good reception, and best regards,

Leo

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Aren't they Federally regulated?

You mean like like those pinko-commie fascists in Europe! Hardly. This is AMERICA!

[Poi Boy]

the att deal is for two years. my experience having switched from t mobile is that they are about equal in mediocreness. the i phone on the other hand (no pun intended ) is nothing short of brilliant, makes all the others seem pathetic.
Aloha
-A

[Jack Wester]

Those living outside of the US are now in luck.
What do you mean 'we're in luck'? The iPhone is *really* cool, but currently it does not support broadband mobile networks. When you're not stationed at a WiFi spot it is not a multimedia phone. As the iPhone is 2G (as in GSM/GPRS/EDGE), it's way to slow for decent quality audio/video.

Japan, the rest of Asia and big chunks of Europe has gotten used to much higher speeds. Where I live, watching TV and Video on demand (movies, music videos, clips, etc) on your phone while commuting on the bus is commonplace. The iPhone is very cool, but to compete it would need third generation mobile networks.

Today 2G is around 0.2 mbit/sec and 3G is around 3.5 mbit/sec. In Japan and in major city areas, you need to offer around 7mbit/sec to compete. 0.2 mbit would be unsellable.

When Apple comes up with 3G, they will have a possibility to gain a huge marketshare though.

[Poi Boy]

the us network lags behind the eu and japan for sure...not iphone's fault. The device itself is way beyond anything on the market, use one for a day and you will have no doubt. In my day to day I'm usually close to wi fi but I can hardly wait till 3G is common in the US, that is when you will see it on the i phone.
Aloha
-A

[Desert Rune]

What do you mean 'we're in luck'?
You know what I mean. Don't play games... I've had enough of that today.

[Jack Wester]

...not iphone's fault.
To be honest, I'm just p***ed that I can't buy it and use it here. It is awesome.

[Jack Wester]

I can hardly wait till 3G is common in the US, that is when you will see it on the i phone.

When iPhone is launched in Europe this autumn, I think that it will only be launched in the countries with poor 3G coverage. Where 3G is dominant, I doubt it would be very well accepted as, though uber cool, it would not cut it for audio/video experiences and for surfing the internet.

Rumour has it (or maybe had it) that there are two manufacturers of the iPhone. One is the the taiwaneese Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) and the other one is Quanta Computer. The rumour has it that the reason is because Apple needs two versions. One aimed at the 2G countries and one aimed at the 3G countries.

[Leo Ticheli]

Actually... Only the interface is awesome. It's still very much a v1.0 product. You can't even copy/cut/paste with it.

I'm fine with the early stage software, but the really critical flaw is the poor sensitivity; while ATT is bad enough, the iPhone can't receive calls in areas where other ATT subscriber phones can.

Sitting not ten feet from a large plate glass window in a restaurant last night my friend with a cheap phone from ATT could receive calls; mine went straight to voice mail.

Reception in my office and throughout the facility is either awful or nonexistent.

It's a very sad experience for this ardent Apple customer. I do plan on buying the next hardware release if it improves reception, but if it does not, I'll have to carry two phones or ditch iPhone for something else. Probably not as cool, but functional.

Let's not forget the extra features are fun, but the primary job of phone is to make and receive voice calls!

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

[PaulClements]

It's unfortunate that the Iphone has these little quirks that make it less competitive for use in 3G countries.

Vodafone will be rolling out 7.2Mbps in Q4 this year. If the rumours I've heard that Vodafone may possibly inherit the UK Iphone market then perhaps they will push apple to make the phone compatible. It would afterall explain the lengthy delay in reaching non US customers if they were working on a 3G model.

[Poi Boy]

Actually... Only the interface is awesome. It's still very much a v1.0 product. You can't even copy/cut/paste with it.

I'm fine with the early stage software, but the really critical flaw is the poor sensitivity; while ATT is bad enough, the iPhone can't receive calls in areas where other ATT subscriber phones can.

Sitting not ten feet from a large plate glass window in a restaurant last night my friend with a cheap phone from ATT could receive calls; mine went straight to voice mail.

Reception in my office and throughout the facility is either awful or nonexistent.

It's a very sad experience for this ardent Apple customer. I do plan on buying the next hardware release if it improves reception, but if it does not, I'll have to carry two phones or ditch iPhone for something else. Probably not as cool, but functional.

Let's not forget the extra features are fun, but the primary job of phone is to make and receive voice calls!

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo
You should probably get your phone checked, I haven't had this issue.
Aloha
-A

[Leo Ticheli]

Thanks for the suggestion; can't hurt to have the phone checked against others at the Apple store, however there is a plethora of complaints about this on the forums and that's probably more instructive than the experience of someone in a relatively small and unique service area.

I will try to get my phone checked out and report if a replacement helps. Not holding my breath, especially since I had ATT (Cingular) a couple of years ago and experienced the same poor reception.

I'm a bit envious of both your iPhone experience and your beautiful island!

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo