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Free the iPhone from AT&T
Acererak was one of several readers who noted that DVD Jon has released information on unbricking an iPhone. You sacrifice all cel phone functionality of course, but you have an iPDA that will work on your WiFi. Currently the hack is windows only but it doesn't look very complicated.
Why is it assumed that phone functionality must be sacrificed? Why can't another SIM be used?
would a voip webapp be feasible? then the iphone would be pretty cool even whitout gsm functionality
"Words of wisdom: drop that zero and get with the hero" -- Vanilla Ice
Cancel within 4 days and you get the activation fee refunded; and since you are within 30 days there is no early termination fee.
Essentially you are buying a very expensive iPod/WiFi web browser.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
My hope is that the iPhone would bring into the limelight how restrictive all mobile phone service providers are. They do nothing but restrict progress and rip off the consumer. I think they're responsible for why phones in the US market lag behind the rest of the world in terms of technology. If US consumers had access to what's available elsewhere I think people would generally be less impressed by the iPhone.
To me the activities the US carriers engage in is just as bad if not worse than DRM. It's a big problem and unfortunately I don't see many people calling attention to it.
Synchronization is important to me. I hate my Treo 700p because it sucks as a phone, but I need it because it syncs my calendars and contacts with my Mac. The only reason I don't buy an iPhone yet is I haven't been able to see one in person.
Currently hooked on AMP
Perhaps others have already told you - the Telecoms don't have to sim-lock the phones they sell to earn the profit. Instead, the Telecoms just have to bind the customer with a contract.
In other words, the sim-lock defendings are nothing but BS from the Telecoms. They just don't want to admit that they are so greedy.
The subsidy is based on the idea that you'll use your shiny new phone a lot. People who get a phone cheap and then hardly make any calls are money-losers for the phone companies, they're balanced out by those who use their phones a lot. This balancing has tremendous benefit for society - it means I can basically assume somebody will have a mobile phone regardless of their personal wealth, because the actual equipment is so damn cheap. Without locking, people would sign up for a contract to get a phone that is subsidised on the assumption of usage, then immediately swap the SIM for a cheaper pay as you go module. Now the original phone company is losing money because they bought you a phone but you aren't making any calls with them.
Now you could argue that any business model that involves (temporarily!) tying the phone to the company who paid for it is somehow immoral or wrong because it sounds like DRM, but that's an argument that won't carry much weight outside of slashdot. The system has worked well for a long time and has meant everybody can afford a phone regardless of their usage. Are there alternative business models that don't involve locking, yes of course, but would they allow poorer people who want a phone but don't use it much to be a part of the system ... probably not.
I'll repeat the point I made above - I'd be interested to know why Apple did an exclusive deal with AT&T. What's in it for AT&T is obvious, but what's in it for Apple if AT&T aren't subsidising the price and hoping to make their money back by attracting high-paying power users? I can't see any reason why Apple would do that if not to reduce the price for the consumer significantly, which is what sim locking is normally about, so it makes sense. If AT&T are not subsidising the product in any way, then I would also join those wondering what the point is. I'd really like to see a citation for your claim that AT&T don't subsidise the iPhone. Is that announced anywhere?
500,000 units sold in one day. That's one of the many reasons Verizon wishes they hadn't.
Visual voicemail is cool but, it hardly justifies such an odius 5 year AT&T lock-in. I'd would gladly give up visual voicemail for an iPhone that could be used with any provider. Think about that. Apple can't sell an iPhone that works with any other provider FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. That's an eternity in the tech industry and in 5 years, you better believe that all other major phone manufacturers will have easily surpassed the iPhone in terms of elegance and ease of use. Apple isn't going to sit on their thumbs for the next five years but they showed other phone manufacturers how to make a simple elegant device. They gave away the store with this AT&T deal.
I carry my n800 in my pocket all the time.
Of course, I'm a pretty big guy and I don't wear tight pants - so YMMV.
In the winter, I've got coat pockets that make it even easier - in the summer, my shorts tend to have those big superfluous pockets, so that's a no-brainer too.
And the important part of 'the n800 is bigger' is that the nokia's screen is 800pixels wide.
Despite what Jobs would have you believe, the real internet is not 480 pixels wide, nor is it browsed by zooming in and out and sidescrolling as a matter of course.
As a mobile browser the iphone is far ahead of other phones, but it's still a ways behind opera (with flash) on the n800.
The n800 also has 2 SD slots, a usb port, a non-recessed-to-hell headset jack, is infinitely hackable and has a superior landscape thumbboard. Taken together it's exponentially better as a mobile platform. Particularly for anyone on this site.
The only advantage the iphone has over the n800 is integrated phone capability.
If you take that out (as DVD Jon has) the iphone costs far too much for far too little.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
I'm obligated to point out that the first generation Nano can play MPEG 1 and 2 videos full speed if you use Rockbox firmware.
Yea, the screen is small, and I'm totally ignoring your larger point.
It just needed to be said.
Maybe someone with an iPhone can see if this works.
I can confirm that it worked with an earlier AT&T-only phone on the pre-Cingular version of AT&T Wireless (circa 2002 version).
The phone is the Siemens S46. The unlock technique is simple.
Find somewhere without a cell signal. In my case, this is a corner of my basement, as long as the phone is in an old coffee can.
Turn off the phone.
Remove the AT&T SIM card.
Replace with a different SIM card.
Turn the phone back on.
Confirm you have no signal.
Dial 911.
Because the phone, by law, MUST make 911 calls, even without a SIM, the phone will eventually unlock and seek other GSM signals. With this phone, the Siemens S46, you can then stop the outgoing 911 call, attach the T-Mo signal, and you're in.
There you go.