Does anyone own one of these handsets?
They are delivered in the USA with MMS disabled.
MMS can be enabled if the handset is unlocked.
Has anyone done this?
If so, what program did you use?
Is this product any good?
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Does anyone own one of these handsets?
They are delivered in the USA with MMS disabled.
MMS can be enabled if the handset is unlocked.
Has anyone done this?
If so, what program did you use?
Is this product any good?
There are a number of free utilities that can fully unlock the phone. I believe one is called QuickPwn. I've never used it.
However... it appears that what's actually going on with the new iPhone 3.0 software is that all the settings are stored in a special "carrier file." This file can apparently be updated by running iTunes in some kind of carrier testing mode, and then editing the plist file in the carrier file to enable things like mms and tethering.
I started looking into this last night. There are a lot of articles like this: http://www.blogsdna.com/3610/how-to-...uild-7a341.htm
The key is in the ippc file. It's basically a bundle that has a few assets, some language information, and a plist or two. They are all fully editable. I'll take some screenshots when I get home, but it appears that adding things like MMS and tethering as as easy as editing the files and adding an extra line.
I really want to get a new 3GS, but I'm simply not going to get one and pay for a crippled piece of **** that can't do MMS or tethering for no other reason that AT&T hasn't figured out how much extra they are going to charge people. There are rumors that it will be an extra $15/mo for MMS and an extra $55/mo for tethering. Just what I always wanted, a $110/mo data plan. And it's not impossible. AT&T has charged extra for MMS in the past.
I wasn't planning on using AT&T even though I've been their customer continuously from when they were called McCaw Cellular in the '80's.
The handset will be used for travel, mostly in Central/South America and Europe with a Vodafone SIM.
FWIW QwikPwn doesn't work on the 3GS yet. That's why I was asking about the iPhone Unlocking product.
You can tether by turning on that option in the iPhone. Make sure it is allowed by your data plan.
You can turn on the MMS option, but the network must support it. If you can lock onto a tower, you may be able to roam on the T-Mobile network for MMS. My old Motorola V635 can lock onto a tower using the engineering menu, but I don't know about the iPhone.
The thing is, AT&T does support MMS. They have just chosen to *hide* it via the carrier file until they find a way to charge for it. Same with tethering, although the contract not so much.
As far as Jailbreak and unlock go... I would wait until the Dev Team comes out with tool. I've never trusted any of the paid stuff. A lot of them are just outright scams.
I don't think there is any 3GS jailbreak yet.
FWIW redsn0w is my favorite tool for jailbreaking.
I won't buy one until I'm sure I can swap sims for each country I visit.
Wait for the official Dev Team jailbreak then. Otherwise you might get stuck with a half-broken phone you can't return.
3gs has not been jailbroken or unlocked yet
i expect a jailbreak within this week... an unlock will probably take longer since its new hardware ( i would say a month or more)
you can buy a factory unlocked iphone (sold overseas) for $1k
I did that with my old Motorola. I couldn't get service or firmware updates, except when in Europe. Motorola refused support in the USA. I won't do that again.Quote:
Originally Posted by kpxgq
jailbreak and unlock for 3.0 on the older 2g and 3g hardware was just released today. i would expect the gs hardware to be jailbroken by the end of this week. an unlock, not so sure
i just unlocked my 2g for 3.0 OS and it worked well! i like redsn0w better than pwnage tool!!! i just ordered a 3g s and gonna switch from tmobile to att and see how there 3g works and hopefully get a little better reception than tmobile.. i will miss there cheaper voice and data plans.. So i hope thery come out with it soon for the gs phone... i will miss my "girls next door" them and cyldia.
I will say this: the iPhone has some terrible reception. It's a great piece of tech, but they need to spend more time on the actual phone antenna.
you are referrring to the new 3g s or other generations? i have a 2g which i will agree has terrible reception drop more calls than other unlocked phones i have used on tmobile... well i have that 30day window to play with things... back the shack it will go if does not go well... thanks for the info!!
What is the benefit to all of this jailbreaking and tethering and unlocking and redsn0wballingz0rsing?
Not being tied to AT&T, being able to use the phone overseas, being able to use features like MMS or tethering which AT&T doesn't support yet because they haven't figured out pricing.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJBeanPole17
Being able to install and run "non Apple approved" applications. There are thousands of free applications available for an iPhone after jailbreaking.
Tethering allows you to use the iPhone as a modem connected to a PC.
Unlocking allows you to use a non-AT&T sim.
Even though one can use AT&T while traveling, I like to use a prepaid sim from the country I'm visiting.
I have a local number that is much less expensive than AT&T's international rates.
You can only really use AT&T internationally if you are a billionaire. Otherwise, a few MB of data will cost you a few thousand dollars.Quote:
Originally Posted by ua549
So ridiculous. I really hope that, when the contract with AT&T is over, Apple says, "**** all," to exclusive carrier agreements and pioneers a new business model for selling mobile phones. Maybe they can sell the phones unlocked and crippled and bundle them with some kind of useful data service (like a version of Mobile Me that doesn't suck).
People in the US need to stop being so short-sighted and demanding subsidized phones that end up screwing everything up. I long for the day when I can just swap a SIM around on ANY phone and have access to ALL the features. Not this $99 phone +$100/mo plan for some crappy crippled, slow service.
I ****ing hate telecom in the US. I hate what it's become. It's so ********.
/end rant
Verizon services don't work in Europe. That keeps me from using their services.
Tmobile and AT&T are the primary carriers in the USA that use sim cards (GSM).
Telcom in the USA is decades behind Europe and East Asia.
As to pricing, the of the Levant have the cheapest cellular prices because they do not need to support a huge wired infrastructure.
3G and 3.5G international roaming rates are competitive between AT&T and Verizon. The real determinant for choosing the provider is the geography for roaming. The more data the better AT&T comes out the best.Quote:
Originally Posted by ImaNihilist
Verizon data rates
$130/mo within USA + Canada 5GB + $5.12/MB overage, international 100MB + $5.12/MB overage
$220/mo within USA + Canada 5GB + $5.12/MB overage, international 200MB + $5.12/MB overage
Pay Per Use Plan (must be purchased with a $59.99 Mobile Broadband plan in the U.S.) $20.48/MB
Most Verizon handsets are not capable of roaming in Europe.
AT&T data rates
$30/mo within USA unlimited + $0/MB, international 0MB + $19.50/MB overage
International data add-on plans
$25/mo international 20MB + $5/MB overage
$60/mo international 50MB + $5/MB overage
$120/mo international 100MB + $5/MB overage
$200/mo international 200MB + $5/MB overage
The Pay per use Verizon plan is clearly more expensive at $60 + 20.48/MB versus the AT&T plan at $19.50/MB.
The $130/mo and $220/mo Verizon plans are slightly less expensive than a similar amount of data on AT&T - $130 vs. $150 and $220 vs. $230.
When going over the included volumes of data AT&T becomes less expensive than Verizon.
In addition to determining the volume of data, one must determine the countries of travel.
Verizon handsets operate in North America, Brasil, Venezuela and some areas of Europe and Asia.
AT&T handsets operate in most of the world.
CDMA/Ev-DO coverage map
GSM/W-CDMA coverage map
Because of the roaming data rates, I like a GSM/W-CDMA handset that I can use with a local network sim. Local use is always less expensive than international roaming use.
*edit*
I just found a Vodafone callya-SIM "Vodafone live! InternetFlat for callya" for €15 per month, but web only.
Basically, everything you can access through a web browser (phone or notebook) works. Link
Here are other great prepaid deals from Fonic in Germany such as unlimited data for €2.50 per day.
Their normal price is €0.24 per megabyte and is billed in intervals of 100 kb.
You'll need a German friend to activate the sim.