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    iPhone thread

    Ok so ive been eying up an Iphone for some time now, love the way it feels and the touch screen works so well. But having an 18 month contract with orange and the initial prices of unlocked ones i couldn't be arsed.

    What i would like to know is how are they fairing price wise (unlocked) now days, can apple render them inert by releasing new firmware? and what functions are disabled by not being with o2 in the uk?


    any help is appreciated.
    Last edited by Keith; 05-07-2009, 16:19.

    #2
    Cant remember where I saw this, but I think if you buy one from Carphonewarehouse website, all you pay for is the handset direct to CPW and then the tariff is selected through iTunes once you get your iPhone, therefore if you have no plan to sign up for the 18 month tariff you could effectively unlock it yourself and have an unlocked one for the price of the handset.

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      #3
      Originally posted by HaHaUK View Post
      Cant remember where I saw this, but I think if you buy one from Carphonewarehouse website, all you pay for is the handset direct to CPW and then the tariff is selected through iTunes once you get your iPhone, therefore if you have no plan to sign up for the 18 month tariff you could effectively unlock it yourself and have an unlocked one for the price of the handset.
      That sounds totally wrong. How can iTunes offer a tariff? It's not a mobile network. o2 handle the tariff for all iPhone contracts, it's nowt to do with Apple.
      CPW do indeed sell iPhones as "handset only" but they cost around ?600, so you h'ain't gonna be conning them or getting one for cheap or anything like that.
      Kept you waiting, huh?

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        #4
        No you have to sign up for the tariff in the Carphone Warehouse shop - you sign a contract there and then. The phone is activated through iTunes however and you get your phone number in an email after activation.

        And yes Apple can render them inert if you install a firmware update through iTunes onto a hacked device.

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          #5
          If you buy an iPhone and unlock it for use with another network you would be missing out on Visual Voicemail, Edge data services and the included Cloud Wi-Fi subscription. I don't know what other providers charge for unlimited data services though.

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            #6
            All I can say is bring on the 3G version. Really, really want one but there's no way I'm using slower Edge connection...most frustrating. Surely it'll be out soon...?

            As for the 18month contract, don;t think that's too bad tbh and unlimited data is very appealing.

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              #7
              My previous phone was 3G and ran Opera mini 4 on a QVGA screen. The browsing experience on the iPhone is so superior that I don't care it's not 3G speed. Edge is actually pretty quick. Comparable to 256k 'broadband'.

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                #8
                If you buy direct from Apple you don't sign a contract (i thought it was the same wherever you bought it, maybe not), you just get the phone and sign up to o2 via iTunes when you first connect to your computer. You could unlock it before you do this and use your own sim. The easiest method I have seen is by using Ziphone, took me less than one minute.

                Basically if you unlock it you lose visual voicemail, all other features work ok.

                Apple could brick it by a firmware update, but they never install them automatically, you always get the option whether to install or not.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by CMcK View Post
                  My previous phone was 3G and ran Opera mini 4 on a QVGA screen. The browsing experience on the iPhone is so superior that I don't care it's not 3G speed. Edge is actually pretty quick. Comparable to 256k 'broadband'.
                  Stop tempting me!

                  I'm still gonna wait...he says...

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                    #10
                    I got mine 2 weeks ago. Better than I expected, very happy.
                    Not really noticed a difference between Edge and 3G for the stuff I've been looking at, and when at home or work it uses my wifi anyways so...

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Ish View Post
                      No you have to sign up for the tariff in the Carphone Warehouse shop - you sign a contract there and then. The phone is activated through iTunes however and you get your phone number in an email after activation.
                      I got mine from the o2 shop and just paid for the handset. Choosing the tariff and setting up payment was all done in itunes.

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                        #12
                        Edge is perfectly usable and not as slow as people expected or still claim it to be. The reason I went for an iPhone is because its mobile email and web client are second to none in terms of usability IMO. The screen and quick zoom really help in terms of browsing full web pages. Once the 3rd party apps start to appear, its really going to unlock the potential of it.

                        I was really disappointed that MMS was missed out. But now I don't miss it as its become force of habit to just email people pics instead and as your contacts are synched between your PC and phone, more contacts tend to have email addresses attached to them.

                        Downsides? Bluetooth is limited at the moment (you can't send files via BT for example), but you have email, so maybe that's not important to you? I think the picture quality from the camera is quite good, but its certainly not up to the standard of the Sony Ericsson phones from the last couple of years.

                        The 3G phone will come along this year apparently, but I'm not sure if its worth waiting for. Like all things tech, if you want or need it now, buy it now. Otherwise you'll always be waiting for the next thing to come out. The one thing I would say is that Apple kit at least has a decent resale value, so even if the new iPhone comes out, you'll still be able to sell your old iPhone on to someone.

                        Have a play with one in a shop alongside something like an N95 and see what you think. The unlocking market will always react quickly to future firmware updates and you do get asked if you want to install a new update when it becomes available so there's no reason to worry about that side of things although it might get frustrating if you have to wait to be able to use some of the updates which are released.

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                          #13
                          I have to say i was impressed with it when i was playing with one in the apple store the other day. Shame the visual voice mail doesn't work away from o2, i take it its an o2 specific service then? and i wouldn't use the edge network as i have wireless routers almost everywhere i go anyway.

                          I did notice that the touch screen is so far ahead of everything else ive used as well, got a very nice tactile feel to it even though theres no feedback from it if that makes sense. Considering that the camera was only 2 mp it was also very good, mast have a high quality lens in it. Also liked the fact that the email log in screens comes up straight away on the email section, just click who your with and log in straight away, very handy!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            3G iPhone will likely be announced (& possibly released) in June at WWDC. All signs point that it is in advanced stages of development with even manufacturing contracts being up for grabs already. If you don't need it now and can wait till then do so. If you need a new phone and want the iPhone now go get one now.

                            In terms of unlocking there are several tools out there including Ziphone and the soon to be released Pwnage Tool (video). These tools unlock (that is allow use on a different network) and jailbreak (allow you to run unsigned application) current firmware. Using these tools is not strictly illegal but you are breaking the Apple licence agreement if that bothers you.

                            Unlocking the phone for another carrier also means you won't get Visual Voicemail because it depend on server-side software as well as the phone application and only O2 has this set up in the UK.

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                              #15
                              Ive had mine about a month. Its sim unlocked and jailbroken. Done with Ziphone in about 3 minutes.

                              Ive got a few extra apps on there from the installer package and am chuffed to bits with it (in fact I just posted as much in another thread - ill be called out as a mac fanboy next!)

                              Im on an O2 simplicity plan so I still dont get the visual voicemail despite being on O2 but no huge loss there and as someone has previously mentioned, EDGE web browsing is nowhere near as slow as I thought it would be.

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