So last Friday we got two things from iPhoneSIMfree: the
demo version of their software SIM unlock solution, and the promise that it would be available for purchase today. We can't confirm that anyone's actually received their iPhone unlock orders, but we did get to test the release version of the software unlock today -- the very same thing people all over will be paying to unlock their devices with -- and, not surprisingly, it works like a charm. In other words, while we can't vouch for any of
the vendors selling the software, we can vouch for the software itself working exactly as advertised. We've got the full unlock on video, which we'll be posting shortly.
saounds great!
What? No "video after the break" ???
"We've got the full unlock on video, which we'll be posting shortly."
Congratulations. You quoted the summary. Further proving that they worded it differently.
YAY! It's finally time to buy an iphone! Now if only there was a DIY battery replacement kit that won't cause your phone to blow up...
Do you hear this, Apple?
How are Apple going to get away with this when they release in Europe later this month, aren't their laws against locking phones in this way? They're already in trouble for illegally blocking users from buying in different EU countries.
The way I see it is that alot of people will be using this software. I think it's great that they test it to avoid many people being scammed
Apple will end this relatively quickly. Don't waste your money folks.
[conspiracy theory]
Or it could be a ploy by Apple black ops so that many more people can buy the iPhone while they still continue to officially honor their contractual obligations with ATT
[/conspiracy theory]
Well... You never know. Steve's capable of doing pretty much anything regardless.
Why is everyone so concerned about Apple retaliating? In the unlocking scheme of things, Apple stands to lose up to 10% of carrier revenue vs. AT&T's 90%. If anyone is sweating bullets right now, it's AT&T.
There are several non-hardware methods (i.e. simple database comparisons) AT&T can employ to put a hurting on those current AT&T customers who unlock the iPhone to avoid the 2yr contract. And for the other 6 users who unlock it to use on TMobile, well they'll probably just chalk that up as a loss.
As for the global market, the introduction of the iPod Touch and the lack of 3G kills the "must have unlocked iPhone" urge for a lot.
I don't think AT&T will be sweating at all over this - are customers going to switch from their shitty network to the arguably even more shitty T-Mobile network? No.
Apple might be concerned because it will prevent them from giving exclusive rights to European providers. It would be a big deal in the EU because there are many different providers and they all run on GSM networks, unlike the U.S.
Then again, Apple might go the tried-and-tested route of scrapping exclusivity alltogether and providing just the normal subsidized-phone discounts just like anyone else. Witness the recent price cuts for AT&T subsidized phones.
That way we'd be able to buy unlocked @ full price or locked and subsidized like we can with any other phone. And more importantly all the issues and legalities of that concept have long been figured out and there'll be no surprised. I think Apple just made a mistake by not offering an unlocked version (for more $$$$ of course) and I hope Apple realizes this now and lets us customers who are more than happy to pay for an iPhone but can't use the AT&T exclusivity actually buy the things.
I have said it before too, exclusive / subsidized phones don't even exist in Asia, at least not where I am, so Apple would have to forego a very significant number of potential customers. It doesn't make any sense.
There are people outside of the US that would like to use the iPhone too. That's the real point of an iPhone unlock, not just for T-Mobile use. Such is the beauty of GSM.
and this is newsworthy because?????
this is worse than the play by play of the apple news conference....at least there were products for purchase at the end of that drawn out report.
I don't really understand the draw of using the iPhone on another network. Visual voicemail, one of the best pieces of iPhone goodness, won't work. Also, has it been confirmed that EDGE will work on other carriers?
What's so great about visual voicemail?
I'm not sure why the low ranking when I was simply pointing out what I assumed to be the flaws of using the iPhone with another carrier? I'm not particularly fond of AT&T, but I honestly don't see the point of using the unlock. Maybe if you live in another country and the only choice is a slightly crippled iPhone vs no iPhone at all...
Ellianth: For business users Visual voicemail is a huge asset. I probably get 20+ voicemails a day and being able to pick which ones I want to hear rather than wading through all of them to get to the last 3 is a great time saver. Not to mention being able to save and replay the important ones without having to worry about them getting auto-deleted after 30 days.
Im shure people outside US prefer using their phone as a phone than visual voicemail ... but thats just the rest of the world
edge has been confirmed to work on tmobile's network - i dont see why it wouldnt work on others
as far as i know - the only things that wont work "out of the box" are visual voicemail and youtube (although, there are fixes for the youtube button not working)
Hmm... I don't have visual voicemail with my carrier. But I can do all all the stuff that visual voicemail offers. Only difference is it's not some application on my phone, it's just calling my mail box. For example, I can skip messages, get info on who left the message, fast forward, rewind, save, delete, jump back a couple seconds, etc. I learned all this when I pushed the help button when I first got my cell phone.
Anyway i'm glad you like your phone. I just wanted to know what all the fuss was about with visual voicemail. And with 20+ messages a day you're very popular. I wish my 'friends' would call me :p.
Cause ATT sucks ass around where I live and tmobile is alot cheaper
To get your answer, I suggest you take a vacation. Outside the USA - you know, that thing called the "rest of the world".
Now i can start thinking about buying an unlocked iPhone from the US and use my own SIM-card
(I live in Holland)
Would be the first one on my school! YEA!
wow, be proud!
I used the Social Security number hack to go month to month just for this reason.
Picked up an iPhone 4GB for $299 on 9/6. What a steal. This thing is AWESOME.
Please elaborate :)
You still have to buy a new phone for that price with AT&T plus subscription, though.
When you go to activate your phone, the prompts will ask you for your personal info, this is the part when you subscribe to AT&T. Well, if you slap in a social security number of 999-99-9999, the setup forgoes signing you to a 2 year agreement and will offer you another plan, GoPhone, which is month to month. Just remember though, the initial GoPhone monthly plan is $29.99 + $19.99 and this is non refundable. So you just use ditch the plan and use up the month.
I initially wanted a Touch, but the Touch is missing the camera, speaker, microphone, bluetooth and email.
iUnlock... I iLike.
Ryan, does this last past a restore? IE if after the unlock, you restore the firmware, what happens? If it re-locks the phone, can you run this thing again?
I do not think Apple can re-lock your device, the SIM unlock code is unique to the IMEI number, which is the phones unique serial number. Unless Apple/AT&T want to send an update to every unlocked device that writes a new IMEI to the hardware, it probably isn't possible, and even then, how do they know which devices are unlocked? My two cents, feel free to prove me wrong.
this is grear , now i can use it in mexico
"I don't really understand the draw of using the iPhone on another network. Visual voicemail, one of the best pieces of iPhone goodness, won't work."
I totally agree, having used the iPhone since the day of the price drop, I haven't had a problem with recieving or sending calls, the Edge network is slightly faster than Dial-up, so it's not that bad and the visual voice-mail is One of the main reason I got the iPhone, so that I don't have to hear the stupid automated system repeat itself several times before hearing my messages and I can choose whom I want to listen to instead of being made to go through the whole list.
Hackers, get them!
wheres the torrent already?
Someone is going to make a LOT of money off this.
I hope Apple don't end this soon, it's sure to make the iPhone more appealing to a wider market so should be a wise business move, it makes for a better future if everything starts to open up a little. Great Job!
edge works fine once you setup apn as far as upgrading past 1.02 for now 1.03 wont add that much except itunes ringtones and itunes wireless store, i dont buy from itunes now so why would i start.
To anybody who has actually done this, does it work with Tracfone?
Important question:
Let's say I have an AT&T plan with unlimited data and text messages that I am plenty happy with. Now let's say that I would like an iPhone but don't want to swith to pay-as-you-go and don't want another two years of lock-in. What do I give up by unlocking an iPhone and using it on AT&T's network anyway? $100 is cheaper than breaking a 2yr contract.
i want one too... let it come out... plz add the video guys...
***SMACK*** NO, it doesn't work with TRAC-FONE!!! ......geez.......
@Alan Partridge - in Europe they can legally lock them all they want _but_ they have to unlock the phone after a certain spend.
So if you unlock it, can you get 2.5G internet and all of the other features to work on another provider?
What really needs to be addressed is how effective will it be once Apple releases an update.
apple would be slight retards if they worked out a fix to reverse unlocks. more carrier-free iphones = more money for apple. all they have to say to at&t is "we cant reverse it"
Does this work with companies that us CDMA newtwork or only on GSM networkds
Only on GSM networks, no CDMA or other technologies. If it was CDMA i think it will be easier to unlock.
only GSM, the iPhone is currently not available to CDMA Sims- as GSM / CDMA is an issue of hardware, not software. can't be cracked. sorry.
Why don't you try it and tell us. Or google. :D
D*mn it, 0 result from mininova.
I-Phone, I-Moan. Who cares the 8525 kills I phone, can be unlocked easily, WM6, real apps like mobile office, PDFs, WI-FI, 3G, world capable, touch screen also with full qwerty, ringtones up the wazoo, Bluetooth, IR, multiple media playback functions, Push To Talk (PTT), battery you can replace, last long on its charge...etc...etc.. I could go on.
ihavetinyballs
8525 aka HTC TyTN aka HERMES 100
Windows Mobile 6 (HTC vp3G 3.0.0)
NoData
Opera
MS messenger + Live
Office Mobile 2007
VOIP
Google Maps
TCPMP
I got my iPhone the day of the price drop and activated a 2 year plan. Do you think I can still cancel the plan (within 30 days) and switch to Prepaid?
Wha-? Visual VM? Like the one Google has offered via Grand Central for like a year now?
http://www.grandcentral.com/
Has anyone bought a license yet?!
From whom, did you avoid getting ripped off and does it work?
So, you're you a happy camper, then?
Damn Verizons ESN!
Apple loves these hacks! Free publicity, more people purchasing the phone who wouldnt purchase before because they hate the network provider and being locked in...
So Apple will release some sort of fix (see band-aid) so they can seems like they are doing their part and keep AT&T happy. Then someone will hack it again, then apple will release some... Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
nice
Does the iphone need to be activated for the unlock to work?
I am a US Citizen living and working on a project in Singapore. They won't get the iphone here for almost another year!! Which baffles me because the cell phones here are far advanced from what we could get in the states. They all use SIM Cards. You can use any brand phone with either of the cell phone companies here. I guess that's why the iphone is slow in getting here??? I dunno?? But I want one and as soon as someone tells me how I can get an unlocked one I'm buying it.
I am in SE Asia too, they just don't do subsidized / exclusive / carrier locked phones here. It's all full price, and unlocked.
My guess is that Apple didn't know that there are large parts of the world where their little exclusive scheme just doesn't work. Seriously. Now they are waking up to it and the only logical thing to do is to switch to a cheap subsidized + expensive unsubsidized model just like everyone else is doing.
If you use a phone out of the box with no itunes registration, can you still unlock the phone or does it need active service established?
Ok here's the possible scenario
People jump at the chance to software unlock and iphones sales soar. Apple is happy with the increased sales of the iphone. AT&T is not because for each unlocked iphone they lose money on the 2 year contract. Now Apple waits until sales peak (3 months) and send out through update a unlock reversal, now all these unlocked iphone people are forced back to AT&T in order to use their iphone. Either way it sounds like a cat and mouse game with the consumer stuck in the middle.
CONFIRMED.
i am now using my TMOBILE sim on my iphone.
at first, had trouble getting the .app on the springboard. but using wINstallerGUI really helped.
itunes shows my number also :)
using 7.3 by the way.
Hey Ed, you got any problem with Yahoo mail? mine yahoo don't work.
also have you try to set up POP mail ??
thanks
joe
This might be a silly question but here it is anyways:
I do not want to lose my North American plan from AT&T that is no longer available. What are my options to keep this plan with the iPhone?
Someone... please help!
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