iPhoneSIMfree updates us on their orders, future unlock plans

In the wake of yesterday's news that the open source community had come up with its own free iPhone unlocking software, iUnlock, we began to get a slew of emails coming from customers of iPhoneSIMfree's largest distributor, Aussie iPhone Unlock. The email AIU sent to its customer list stated that IPSF had become unresponsive in fulfilling new orders for unlock licenses, and outlined the company's intention to instead donate the money from incoming orders to the iPhone Dev Team (itself a highly sketchy move, to say the least). Today we caught up with iPhoneSIMfree who let us know that they have not ceased fulfilling orders, and will continue to do business as usual in selling their unlock solution to new customers.

Of course, now that a free solution is available we've all begun to play the waiting game in seeing whether Apple will re-lock all these newly unlocked iPhones with its next update, due out this month. We tried to get a firmer answer out of IPSF as to whether or not they'll unlock a customer's phone a second time should Apple re-lock in a future update; unfortunately there just isn't a final answer since it's still only hypothetical that Apple will re-lock unlocked iPhones. But IPSF did state that if re-engineering the next iPhone unlock isn't too difficult, they do intend to offer re-unlocks to current customers at no additional charge.

[Ken Jones @ Sep 12th 2007 6:16PM]

There is a lot of shady stuff going on with company. They should have just gone free in the first place.

[E71 @ Sep 12th 2007 6:37PM]

You're about to make a grown man burst into tears if you post yet another Apple-related article.

[Fred @ Sep 12th 2007 6:18PM]

I guess the fact that this has been up this long without comments goes to show how willing we are to brick our now $400 phones. Thanks, but no thanks, guys.

[Dom @ Sep 12th 2007 6:18PM]

This entire thing is sketchy.
I have a feeling that IPSF only sold bulk orders because they knew a free solution was going to be available soon, and it was the only way to cash in quickly.

[newgalactic @ Sep 12th 2007 6:18PM]

Ya mean they did it for a quick buck???

/sarcasm

[Dustin Frazier @ Sep 12th 2007 6:24PM]

Can we get an iPhoneSimFree only section for the two people who actually care about any of this? Cut this repetitive non-news from the main mix please!

[Todd @ Sep 12th 2007 6:25PM]

I don't understand, if I have an unlocked iPhone, with a T-Mo SIM in it, how can Apple "re-lock" it with an OTA software update? I am not using AT&T any more.

[Nick @ Sep 12th 2007 6:34PM]

is apple doing OTA updates? or are they issuing updates via iTunes?

[tencount @ Sep 12th 2007 6:44PM]

I have the same question becuz with my ipod 5g you're not "forced" into updating it, it just suggests you do.

[Sirius @ Sep 12th 2007 6:51PM]

Someone speculated that Apple was probably already tired of AT&T a while ago on Engadget... so isn't it even *remotely* possible that Apple would love for users to go unlocking their iPhones, thereby "getting back" at AT&T? If that's the case, unless AT&T demands for Apple to relock the phones, Apple wouldn't bother... (It's not like Apple profits a lot from registration with AT&T... they profit most from the sale of the iPhone itself, so it wouldn't matter what provider the user registered with...)

[neeee! @ Sep 12th 2007 6:26PM]

Are you guys at engadget going to be reporting on what would happen if AIU and IphoneWorldWide indeed keep saying they are giving their proceeds to the Dev Team?

It's very shady for both companies to be doing this, given the fact that money should go back to everyone if no software is delivered...

???

[Tim Kirkwood @ Sep 12th 2007 6:53PM]

I agree that the whole unlocking thing is getting pretty old. Move it over to Engadget Mobile. I dont know that T mobile is all that much better than at&t anyways.

But thanks for being thourgh, for those who do care.
Engadget rocks!

[PsyberX @ Sep 12th 2007 10:39PM]

1) Engadget has feeds that are Apple free. Everyone stop whining. With over 50 articles posted a day on engadget, find something else to read.
2) Don't you all get it? In the US, there are millions of 'kids' that are locked into a t-mobile plan because they wanted the sidekick or razr. Now they can ditch those outdated bricks and own an iphone. Translation - More sales for Apple. More money in my pocket from rising stock.
Intl users now have options.
3) What iPhoneSimFree did was bait and switch for weeks. Shady bastards from the get go. the IphoneDevTeam has been working on this since GeoHot said you can go after the baseband. Has anyone confirmed it was actually reverse engineered? So far, pretty much everything(programs hacks etc) for the iPhone have been free. its refreshing to see such a charged group of hackers. and we're only 74+ days from launch.
4) The solution works! If you pay for it, or you get it free its your phone to break. So have fun with it.

/2 cents

[Mike C @ Sep 12th 2007 7:04PM]

There clearly was a problem with Aussie phone iLock, but I ordered from them Monday AM (UK time) and the order did finally come through late today after a flurry of quite dramatic statements from them. I'm guessing the backlog for all these companies is great. When iphonesimfree.com decided to cut out end users from their service it was probably because they foresaw the demand and problems that would come with the eventual release of the software. If only they'd have been straight with their retailers about when licences would really go live I imagine a lot of frustration would have been avoided. Anyway, I had my fair share, but all's good now - my iPhone is working here in London on Vodafone and I love it.

[luap @ Sep 12th 2007 7:06PM]

the aussieiphoneunlock situation has happened to me i am awaiting a refund since they no longer offer iphonesimfree as promised. has anyone faced the same disapointment as me?

[christian cedeno @ Sep 12th 2007 7:11PM]

please i need help i already unlock my iphone and i'm using the Tmobile sim but i cant go to the internet with the phone. the message i get is. could not activate edge: you are not subcribed to edge

[Mohammed Mudassir Azeemi @ Sep 12th 2007 7:19PM]

the EDGE for t-mobile ... wap.voicestream.com

no user id and no password means ...Leave it blank, dude

[khriss77 @ Sep 12th 2007 7:28PM]

please give me step by step. i have no idea what to do.

[khriss77 @ Sep 12th 2007 7:21PM]

i need a little more than that please be more specific how do i do it.

[khriss77 @ Sep 12th 2007 7:25PM]

i need a little more than that please be more specific how do i do it

[Thameth @ Sep 13th 2007 6:49AM]

khriss77,

Go to www.HowardForums.com for full step by step on getting T-Mo Edge working on your iPhone...

[suntiger @ Sep 12th 2007 8:39PM]

GFE.

[TerminatioN @ Sep 12th 2007 8:02PM]

Sweet!

[mrhammerstein @ Sep 12th 2007 8:10PM]

purple monkey dishwasher

[mrhammerstein @ Sep 12th 2007 8:12PM]

"IPSF had become unresponsive in fulfilling new orders for unlock licenses, and outlined the company's intention to instead donate the money from incoming orders to the iPhone Dev Team (itself a highly sketchy move, to say the least)."

isn't this just what Apple did? 'sorry you overpaid for the iPhone. i'll give you $100 you can give back to me. Thanks.'

[Waruwaru @ Sep 12th 2007 8:47PM]

Now if they were in the good ol' US of A, iPhoneSIMfree could sue the iUnlock under DMCA for reverse engineering their hack...

[Waruwaru @ Sep 12th 2007 8:47PM]

Now if they were in the good ol' US of A, iPhoneSIMfree could sue the iUnlock under DMCA for reverse engineering their hack...

[Noah Kravitz @ Sep 12th 2007 8:48PM]

If anyone cares, I bought an unlock via one of the resellers and it worked like a charm. Super easy. Here's a vid of the process (which took maybe 10 min. total after I'd updated my iPhone's firmware): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnfew_ux-hM

[Jose Burillo @ Sep 12th 2007 9:26PM]

After I got the e-amil from Iphoneworldwideunlock saying that they were being snubbed by Iphonesimfree (and recommending the free unlock, and giving money to the Dev team), I got another one saying that it finally came through on Iphonesimfree. I unlocked my phone today with no problems with it. I guess there really is a backlog, but I would advise that if you bought from a reseller, wait until it arrives, the unlock is supposedly better (resists restores, doesn't screw up youtube, etc).

Besides, they say they will offer (if they can) new patches when apple undates, which the Dev team probably will too but later...

Anyway. I'm happy with my unlocked iPhone!

[Jose Burillo @ Sep 12th 2007 9:29PM]

Hey guys. STOP COMPLAINING about these posts. Nobody forces you to read them so just skip them. But some of us are actually interested in them.

I don't care at all about many of the posts but I just don't read them. But they don't bother me. Come on!

[simplyjas @ Sep 13th 2007 3:11AM]

Amen

[LegendZ28 @ Sep 12th 2007 9:31PM]

Does Engadget get a portion of every unlock this company sells or something? I have never seen a service talked about so much on this site that wasn't free.

[James @ Sep 12th 2007 11:22PM]

I just did the software hack through the guide and it worked perfectly

[mattbrown @ Sep 12th 2007 11:37PM]

Just make a seperate blog for iphones already. Garbage.

[Paul Hayes @ Sep 13th 2007 12:46AM]

Guys,

Some help please. I live in Hong Kong and so cannot purchase an iPhone yest, however have been offered a 4gb one, in it's original sealed box, not yet activated. Am I able to use the unlocking hack without having activated the phone with ATT first?

Any help or advice appreciated,

Thanks,

Paul

[PsyberX @ Sep 13th 2007 12:58AM]

Yes, You would have to run iasign or iNdependence or one of the other activators. A few of the tutorials here and around the web have instructions on unlocking from unwrapping the cellophane to inserting the sim and turning it on.

[med007 @ Sep 13th 2007 1:11AM]

Isn't it logical to assume that the Aussie supplier WAS the IPHONE dev team???

[simplyjas @ Sep 13th 2007 3:14AM]

Explain...

[Macindows @ Sep 13th 2007 4:51AM]

Did anybody buy the IPSF-software from iphoneworldwideunlock.com?
I did, and I requested my money back, since I unlocked my iPhone by myself. ;-)
Does anybody also has problems with getting his money back from those bastards?