iPhone Hysteria

[Coligny]

Typical persecution complex and buck passing peculiar to hysteric women

Remember that.

By the context in which you use them I don t think you really understand the meaning of those words. Don t answer to rethoric with bordello psychology... While drunk... Thats way too confusing for my small brain

PS:WTF these days, jack and take totally unleashed, the full moon is approaching or what ?

[BigInJapan]

WTH? I can almost comprehend that some early adopters wanting to get their grubby little paws on the latest shiny piece of plastic, metal, glass and silicone, will line up to purchase it, but just to make a pre-order?
Apparently this lineup is somewhere in Tokyo (would have been better if it showed the Apple store of Softbank sign).


It looks like at least one FG managed to get in the pic too.

[American Oyaji]

By the context in which you use them I don t think you really understand the meaning of those words. Don t answer to rethoric with bordello psychology... While drunk... Thats way too confusing for my small brain

PS:WTF these days, jack and take totally unleashed, the full moon is approaching or what ?

No, just that time of the month.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

Typical persecution complex and buck passing peculiar to hysteric women

Well, I have been restricted to use the function marking red/blue snot by bikkle.
Remember that.

Typical paranoid guilt complex and assumption of everyone assigning of fault peculiar to dickhead men

Well, not that anyone gives a fuck if you spread reputation around but all your snot are belong to us.
Remember that.

[BigInJapan]

Getting back on topic, it seems that international Apple Stores (UK, France, and Canada) will offer a sim-free (unlocked) iPhone 4.

http://www.tipb.com/2010/06/15/apple-posts-faq-simfree-unlocked-international-iphones/

"iPhone 4 works with micro-SIM cards from compatible carriers, including prepaid cards. Non-GSM carrier networks do not support iPhone."

It will be interesting to see if docomo SIM cards will work. My guess is that Softbank will retain its monopoly on the iPhone in Japan, but you never know.

[Mike Oxlong]

You may well be able to use a Docomo micro-SIM...

[alicia454]

[FG Lurker]

Thanks for the great tip BigInJapan. No mention though about pricing for the unlocked versions of the iPhone4. But since it is offered in Canada, I will likely have to ask one of my friends or family to pick it up for me.

You can use an unlocked iPhone4 on Docomo (with their PC-oriented data plan) but Softbank will not give you an unlimited data plan on an iPhone they didn't sell you. If you take the SIM out of your current iPhone and put it into your new phone you will get a massive packet bill as they will charge you full price with no limit. Softbank sucks.

[Coligny]

[Cyka UchuuJin]

ok, i have a real question now.
someone in my office has just asked if i can buy the iphone 4 while on my travels. i do still have my crappy old j-phone (literally from when they were called j-phone!) and i still have an account with softbank. do they still have this retarded rule about iphones can only be sold if you have a work permit?

and if anyone knows of iphones that are being sold back alley, where could i get one?

[CrankyBastard]

ok, i have a real question now.
someone in my office has just asked if i can buy the iphone 4 while on my travels. i do still have my crappy old j-phone (literally from when they were called j-phone!) and i still have an account with softbank. do they still have this retarded rule about iphones can only be sold if you have a work permit?

and if anyone knows of iphones that are being sold back alley, where could i get one?

SoftBunk says....... http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/iphone_en/purchase/replace.html

[Yokohammer]

SoftBunk says....... http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/iphone_en/purchase/replace.html

Holy crap!
In "Other Important Notes" at the bottom of the page:

Applicant may be required to provide non-interest-paying deposit up to Y100,000 per subscription. This will be held until subscription is canceled, and then refunded less outstanding charges.

Anyone had to do this?

[CrankyBastard]

Holy crap!
In "Other Important Notes" at the bottom of the page:


Anyone had to do this?

yeah, fuggin great, isn't it! and people like Jack wonder why we bitch about this stuff!

[FG Lurker]

ok, i have a real question now.
someone in my office has just asked if i can buy the iphone 4 while on my travels. i do still have my crappy old j-phone (literally from when they were called j-phone!) and i still have an account with softbank. do they still have this retarded rule about iphones can only be sold if you have a work permit?

and if anyone knows of iphones that are being sold back alley, where could i get one?

You don't want to buy an iPhone in Japan as they are being sold locked to Softbank here. There is currently no unlock available for newly sold iPhones and unlocking is a PITA for anyone who isn't technically inclined. It's also prone to getting relocked again if they update their iOS without carefully crafting the IPSW file. As I said, it's not for anyone who isn't technically inclined. (And even for the technically inclined brand new iPhones can't be unlocked at the current time.)

Your friend can buy factory unlocked iPhones from HK online, or if you visit the UK, Canada, or NZ (maybe a few as yet unknown other locations too) the new iPhone 4 is going to be sold unlocked.

[FG Lurker]

Anyone had to do this?

Softbank sucks and I can't wait to get away from them. (I hate NTT for past problems but in the end I just want a @#(*%&* phone that works and has fast data rates...)

Anyway, Softbank had massive problems with people buying phones on contract and then abandoning the contracts and reselling the phones. For awhile Yahoo Japan was flooded with phones like this and the phones were being sold for far less than you would have to pay for them in the shops. This wasn't necessarily only gaijin doing this and I don't think the possibly required 10man deposit is only for gaijin either. I can certainly understand why Softbank would want to cover their asses with this sort of deposit in certain situations though.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

You don't want to buy an iPhone in Japan as they are being sold locked to Softbank here. There is currently no unlock available for newly sold iPhones and unlocking is a PITA for anyone who isn't technically inclined. It's also prone to getting relocked again if they update their iOS without carefully crafting the IPSW file. As I said, it's not for anyone who isn't technically inclined. (And even for the technically inclined brand new iPhones can't be unlocked at the current time.)

Your friend can buy factory unlocked iPhones from HK online, or if you visit the UK, Canada, or NZ (maybe a few as yet unknown other locations too) the new iPhone 4 is going to be sold unlocked.

thanks for that, FGL. i am supposed to go through HK for a day or two, are you saying i could pick one up there?

[FG Lurker]

thanks for that, FGL. i am supposed to go through HK for a day or two, are you saying i could pick one up there?

I've not tried to actually buy one on the ground in HK, I've just seen them offered online. I have no doubt they're available though, you just have to be careful to make sure you're getting a factory unlocked phone and not one that has been jailbroken and then unlocked. (The jailbroken + unlocked phones work perfectly they're just a PITA to update for most people.)

With the upcoming iPhone 4 coming out soon it's not a good time to buy the current model. Once the 4 is out (and the shortages are over) I expect to see a lot of iPhone 4 phones for sale online that are factory unlocked.

[dimwit]

It looks like at least one FG managed to get in the pic too.

I'm quite out of my depth here in this thread, owning neither any Apple product or a mobile phone for that matter, but looking at the picture, why do all the Apple customers look like the Microsoft nerd in their commercials?

[FG Lurker]

why do all the Apple customers look like the Microsoft nerd in their commercials?

[IkemenTommy]

It looks like at least one FG managed to get in the pic too.

Bunch of iDouches. They won't be able to pick up the phone for another week or so.

but looking at the picture, why do all the Apple customers look like the Microsoft nerd in their commercials?

TIJ

[Cyka UchuuJin]

I've not tried to actually buy one on the ground in HK, I've just seen them offered online. I have no doubt they're available though, you just have to be careful to make sure you're getting a factory unlocked phone and not one that has been jailbroken and then unlocked. (The jailbroken + unlocked phones work perfectly they're just a PITA to update for most people.)

With the upcoming iPhone 4 coming out soon it's not a good time to buy the current model. Once the 4 is out (and the shortages are over) I expect to see a lot of iPhone 4 phones for sale online that are factory unlocked.

but it's actually the iphone 4 that he is wanting.

[FG Lurker]

but it's actually the iphone 4 that he is wanting.

There's no big rush then... With all the preorders going on I wouldn't expect general availability until at least 30 days after the initial launch.

[2triky]

There's no big rush then... With all the preorders going on I wouldn't expect general availability until at least 30 days after the initial launch.

They said 600,000 phones were sold on pre-order in one day in the States. That's impressive.

[FG Lurker]

They said 600,000 phones were sold on pre-order in one day in the States. That's impressive.

Yep, and Apple has already pushed back the delivery date for some people who have preordered. I don't think it will be possible to walk into an Apple Store (or Softbank etc) and buy an iPhone 4 off the shelf for at least 30 days after launch but it could be longer -- 45 to 60 days wouldn't surprise me. I'm sticking with my 3GS for now and looking forward to seeing what Google does with Android over the next 6 months or so.

[Mulboyne]

[YThq]26ELpS3Wc4Q[/YThq]

[Cyka UchuuJin]

read the softbank terms, and even though i still have a contract with them, because i don't have a gaijin , i can't qualify to get the iphone 4.

anyone have a contract that wants to sell me their pre-order?

[FG Lurker]

read the softbank terms, and even though i still have a contract with them, because i don't have a gaijin , i can't qualify to get the iphone 4.

anyone have a contract that wants to sell me their pre-order?

Cyka, the iPhone 4 in Japan is locked to Softbank. It can't be used with a non-Softbank SIM -- at all. If you put another company's SIM into it you'll just get an error.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

Cyka, the iPhone 4 in Japan is locked to Softbank. It can't be used with a non-Softbank SIM -- at all. If you put another company's SIM into it you'll just get an error.

hmmm. every one of my j-locked phones in the past that i had with j-phone/vodafone/softbank i've had unlocked here in kenya. among those were makes from sony ericcson, 2 from sharp, and a no-name one that i can't remember. every time i upgraded (back when they had the upgrade points ), i always had the old phone unlocked to use with my safaricom sim.

[FG Lurker]

hmmm. every one of my j-locked phones in the past that i had with j-phone/vodafone/softbank i've had unlocked here in kenya. among those were makes from sony ericcson, 2 from sharp, and a no-name one that i can't remember. every time i upgraded (back when they had the upgrade points ), i always had the old phone unlocked to use with my safaricom sim.

The iPhone 4 will probably be unlockable too, but it is not a guarantee. Also, unlocking a locked iPhone commits you to a much more complex device than if you get one that is factory unlocked to begin with.

It's a long and rather boring story and quite different to unlocking a standard "dumb phone" or "feature phone" depending on which term you prefer for non-smart phones.

There are a group of people who are very dedicated to finding ways to jailbreak and unlock iPhones. You can find them if you Google for iPhone Dev Team Blog. They will be the top link. There are lots of companies around that charge for unlocking iPhones but they are all scams -- they *all* use the tools created by the iPhone Dev Team (or one of the very small collection of similar teams) and just charge you money for something you can get for free. Don't get sucked in.

Here is a short summary of how to unlock an iPhone and more importantly, keep it unlocked:

1) Phone must be jailbroken. Each time Apple updates iOS you must re-jailbreak. New versions of iOS can take a few days to a month or so for a new jailbreak to come out. There is no guarantee that any given version of iOS will be jailbreakable but until now all have been given enough time.

2) Go through the unlock process *if* you have a baseband that is supported by the latest unlocking tools.

The above two bits are the easy part.

Now comes the fun. If you have an unlocked device you can no longer upgrade your phone's iOS using the standard Apple upgrade system. This is because Apple upgrades the baseband with each iOS release and when you update an unlocked baseband it becomes locked again. You therefore must make a custom update file, or find and download one from a trusted source.

How big a problem is this? My iPhone 3GS is jailbroken and unlocked but anyone who buys a new 3GS today can jailbreak but they can't unlock. Anyone who updated their older 3GS to iOS 3.1.3 without making a custom update file now has a locked phone that can't be unlocked at the current time. They've been screwed for several months and may not get an unlock at all. Apple has really locked the baseband down tightly in recent releases.

iOS updates are quite regular and not being able to use the standard Apple update is a total pain in the ass. Apple's update keeps all your data and applications in place and just updates the iOS+baseband. The custom updates overwrite everything and then you have to reinstall everything and make sure your data is all back on the phone again.

Once the update is done you have to go through the jailbreak and unlock process again.

You can't ignore iOS updates forever as they fix bugs, plug security holes, and add new features. Newer apps sometimes won't work with older iOS versions.

This is the price we pay for buying handheld computers from a company run by a complete control freak.

You can avoid all of these problems by simply buying a phone that is factory unlocked. The prices are the same, just some regions are getting unlocked phones and some are not. Buy a phone from a region that is getting factory unlocked phones and save yourself a ton of problems. If I do end up getting an iPhone 4 (and I have no plans to do so at the current time) I will get one sent from Canada so I don't have to deal with all the baseband crap.

[FG Lurker]

I should add that there are two types of jailbreak:

1) Tethered jailbreak

2) Untethered jailbreak

The second type is much, much better but is also much harder to create. To develop an untethered jailbreak the iPhone Dev Team generally must find a bug in the boot ROM of the iPhone and find a way to exploit that bug to inject jailbreak code each time the phone boots. This allows the phone to boot in a jailbroken state.

The first type of jailbreak (tethered) really sucks. They are generally easier to create but if your phone only has a tethered jailbreak it means your phone has to be connected to a computer in order to boot. If your phone crashes and needs a reboot you can't use it until you get back to a computer that has the tools to allow it to boot. This sounds like a bad joke I'm sure, but it's not.

Thankfully my 3GS has a ROM bug and I can use untethered jailbreaks. New 3GS phones don't have any currently exploited ROM bugs so people with those phones were stuck with tethered jailbreaks until recently. The current jailbreak solution works on these phones but Apple will fix that with iOS 4 and they will probably be stuck with tethered booting again.

This shit sucks. Buy a factory unlocked phone.