Kanji and hangul support would be freaking sweet and I'd go so far as to switch mail provider in order to have that on my phone. The trouble is that kanji/hangul support isn't good enough because you need auto-completion and dictionary lookups as well. Essentially, you need something like NJstar on your phone. Or you need to go the route of the Japanese and have each key represent a sequence of kana (like a-i-u-e-o for 1, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko for 2, etc) that ties in to a dictionary-like lookup.
No idea how to effectively input chinese on a phone, but 10,000 ideograph input on a phone for SMS messages seems complicated without help:)
The 'deregulation' can serve as an opportunity for other connection mediums to emerge. In the face of great adversity emerges new tech (after years of patent litigation) like WiMax or BOPL or White Space whatever that can act in a similar fashion to the hardlines scattered across the country.
Unless the telecos also buy up all that spectrum and companies with new broadband patents and the like. Then we'll spend years in monopoly litigation and try to decide if one or 2 companies holding all the access keys really constitutes a monoploy or not and, if so, how to 'regulate' it... like it was years before we ended up at that point.
Try to think on the bright side with this announcement. We'll slowly right ourselves, just may take years to get back on track.
But the question is more of 'Why does the DMCA have an exemption for the unlocking of cell phones?' Personally, I like to think that these DMCA exemptions are made with a purpose or reason behind them and not just chosen randomly out of a hat. Otherwise the DMCA might have not had an unlocking exemption and instead had an exemption on allowing for the free distribution of bunnies or whatever other soft, cuddly animal one pulls out of a hat these days.
So what was the purpose/reason behind the cell phone unlocking exemption? It might've been to given consumers more freedom in choosing a wireless provider and prevent economic abuse of a provider/manufacturer variety. Even if you legally pay out your AT&T contract and want to switch to T-Mobile, you can't while maintaining an up-to-date iPhone.
This case will be interesting if they approach it from the DMCA exemption purpose angle. It's definitely the first case of its kind in relation to this unlocking exemption (that I'm aware of). Alternatively, we can wait 6-12 month and have better 'iPhone' clones that are unlocked like the Meizu M8 (which I hope isn't vaporware):)
So you buy an iPhone, then pay off the remainder of the 2 year contract. Now you want to use it with T-Mobile or move to Europe. How do you do that with the iPhone? Can you? Sure. Does Apple want you to? No. Why not? They got their money from Apple (unless they get a % of the monthly billing and not a contract-term total), they got their money from the phone... what else is there? How do you legally and with Apple's blessings take your iPhone and use it on another network like the DMCA has (seemingly) intended (http://www.copyright.gov/1201/):
Computer programs in the form of firmware that enable wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telephone communication network, when circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network.
It would seem that Apple just doesn't want to let that be.
Does anyone who unlocked their iPhone really give a hoot whether Apple will void the warranty or not? The car example was used above in relation to aftermarket parts and, as was mentioned, adding an aftermarket dvdplayer won't void the warranty on the whole car regardless of what the dealership might say. But even if it did void the warranty on the whole car, the car would not be bricked. It would function just fine (assuming you didn't screw up installation somehow... damn wires). Now lets say there's a recall on the car to upgrade the pistons or something because they aren't performing properly (ie, it's a bug).
You now have 2 choices. One, don't go through with the recall and stick with stock pistons. Two, go with the recall and hope it doesn't make your car unusable. In theory, because you just installed a new radio, changing the pistons (firmware) doesn't brick the vehicle so, in theory, you're fine.
Now lets look at the iPhone. If Apple wants to void a warranty on an unlocked phone that is legally unlocked due to exemptions in the DMCA... fine. The product will still work. I could take my unlocked phone to T-Mobile or over to Europe or somewhere else and be fine. I don't think that's the issue. The issue is bricking the phone, making it so the entire device ceases to function. No phone, no ipod, no contacts, no nada. Such an act is pretty uncool. Unfortunately I'm not savvy enough to know how the various iPhone unlocks work in relation to the rest of the code-base thus making any comment on how firmware upgrading would brick the entire device retarded, but if the iphone dev team unlockers can come up with an app that will 'restore' the iphone to it's original status then this may be a non-issue anyway.
This will be interesting in 2 years when AT&T contracts are up, that's for sure. But by then we'll have very different iphones than what we have today:)
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Kanji and hangul support would be freaking sweet and I'd go so far as to switch mail provider in order to have that on my phone. The trouble is that kanji/hangul support isn't good enough because you need auto-completion and dictionary lookups as well. Essentially, you need something like NJstar on your phone. Or you need to go the route of the Japanese and have each key represent a sequence of kana (like a-i-u-e-o for 1, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko for 2, etc) that ties in to a dictionary-like lookup.
:)
No idea how to effectively input chinese on a phone, but 10,000 ideograph input on a phone for SMS messages seems complicated without help
The 'deregulation' can serve as an opportunity for other connection mediums to emerge. In the face of great adversity emerges new tech (after years of patent litigation) like WiMax or BOPL or White Space whatever that can act in a similar fashion to the hardlines scattered across the country.
Unless the telecos also buy up all that spectrum and companies with new broadband patents and the like. Then we'll spend years in monopoly litigation and try to decide if one or 2 companies holding all the access keys really constitutes a monoploy or not and, if so, how to 'regulate' it... like it was years before we ended up at that point.
Try to think on the bright side with this announcement. We'll slowly right ourselves, just may take years to get back on track.
But the question is more of 'Why does the DMCA have an exemption for the unlocking of cell phones?' Personally, I like to think that these DMCA exemptions are made with a purpose or reason behind them and not just chosen randomly out of a hat. Otherwise the DMCA might have not had an unlocking exemption and instead had an exemption on allowing for the free distribution of bunnies or whatever other soft, cuddly animal one pulls out of a hat these days.
:)
So what was the purpose/reason behind the cell phone unlocking exemption? It might've been to given consumers more freedom in choosing a wireless provider and prevent economic abuse of a provider/manufacturer variety. Even if you legally pay out your AT&T contract and want to switch to T-Mobile, you can't while maintaining an up-to-date iPhone.
This case will be interesting if they approach it from the DMCA exemption purpose angle. It's definitely the first case of its kind in relation to this unlocking exemption (that I'm aware of). Alternatively, we can wait 6-12 month and have better 'iPhone' clones that are unlocked like the Meizu M8 (which I hope isn't vaporware)
It would seem that Apple just doesn't want to let that be.
Does anyone who unlocked their iPhone really give a hoot whether Apple will void the warranty or not? The car example was used above in relation to aftermarket parts and, as was mentioned, adding an aftermarket dvdplayer won't void the warranty on the whole car regardless of what the dealership might say. But even if it did void the warranty on the whole car, the car would not be bricked. It would function just fine (assuming you didn't screw up installation somehow... damn wires). Now lets say there's a recall on the car to upgrade the pistons or something because they aren't performing properly (ie, it's a bug).
:)
You now have 2 choices. One, don't go through with the recall and stick with stock pistons. Two, go with the recall and hope it doesn't make your car unusable. In theory, because you just installed a new radio, changing the pistons (firmware) doesn't brick the vehicle so, in theory, you're fine.
Now lets look at the iPhone. If Apple wants to void a warranty on an unlocked phone that is legally unlocked due to exemptions in the DMCA... fine. The product will still work. I could take my unlocked phone to T-Mobile or over to Europe or somewhere else and be fine. I don't think that's the issue. The issue is bricking the phone, making it so the entire device ceases to function. No phone, no ipod, no contacts, no nada. Such an act is pretty uncool. Unfortunately I'm not savvy enough to know how the various iPhone unlocks work in relation to the rest of the code-base thus making any comment on how firmware upgrading would brick the entire device retarded, but if the iphone dev team unlockers can come up with an app that will 'restore' the iphone to it's original status then this may be a non-issue anyway.
This will be interesting in 2 years when AT&T contracts are up, that's for sure. But by then we'll have very different iphones than what we have today