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1st October 2007
iPhone Price Not An Issue
To correspond with the launch of the "Pricey" £269 iPhone O2 will be releasing 3 new tariffs.
1) £35 for 200mins and 200 texts per month2) £45 for 600 mins and 500 texts per month and3) £55 for 1200 mins and 500 texts
Pretty reasonable tariffs but on top of that you are given free voicemail and unlimited data access via EDGE/GPRS or Wifi Hotspots (subject to fair use). The minimum term of the contracts are 18months rather than the standard 12.
I am currently with O2 and pay for a £45/month tariff. In addition to this I pay an extra £15/month for a data plan that isn't unlimited. So over the period of 18months the new iPhone £45 tariff it should save me.... £270 - so basically a free iPhone.
However, price was never my issue with the iPhone. It's the missing features. No 3G even in the UK edition means no video calling and slow web access when away from wifi hotspot. It also is missing picture messaging and the ability to record video with the built in camera. Some of these features are of little interest to some users but not missing my baby daughter doing something new because my wife can video call me or send me a video/picture message has become something I'd find hard to do without.
On top of that are several PocketPc Apps that I regularly use on my XDA Exec which I'll miss badly such as iSilo which allows me to used condensed versions of big apps like encylopedias and Office. Not being able to write word documents will be a pain. Although I don't watch many movies on my phone as I have a PSP and laptop for that sort of thing when on the go, I do watch the odd episode of my favourite shows on it. This is usually when I'm in a rush and don't have time to encode it for the PSP. With the iPhone only supporting one format of video I would have to convert anything I want to play on it which is time and space consuming.
I had considered the XDA Orbit with built in GPS which is again another key feature sadly lacking in the iPhone
So my dilema is not going to be is the iPhone worth the money but is it worth giving up a host of features I am used to having in exchange for a snazzy interface.
1st October 2007
Truphone allows free iPhone VoIP calls
Truphone chief executive officer James Tagg made the call at the DEMOfall 07 show in San Diego yesterday.
The VoIP software company also gave a demonstration of an application that mashes up social networking site Facebook and traditional telephony. Any Facebook user will be able to click on a friend's Truphone "Call Me" button, and a free phone call will be initiated to whichever phone their friend has chosen. This will mean free calls to real phones for everyone in the Facebook community.
Many people have called for true VoIP calling on Apple's iPhone. Truphone has proved it is possible using the iPhone's built-in Wi-Fi capability.Truphone's demonstration comprised of two iPhones connected to Wi-Fi on the DEMOfall 07 stage. A VoIP call was initiated from one handset, routed via Wi-Fi and the internet to Truphone's servers, and then back again to the Wi-Fi access point and onwards to the destination handset≠- a 100% IP phone call. The demonstration was not a commercial launch of Truphone on the iPhone.
Truphone does not need to unlock the iPhone Sim in order to operate its service for the iPhone. AT&T is the sole mobile carrier for the iPhone in the US, and O2 was recently announced as the sole UK iPhone carrier for when the iPhone launches here in November.
At least two carriers in the UK have blocked Truphone from working on the handsets they sell.
29th September 2007
Update bricks free iPhones
Imagine if a major automobile manufacturer came up with a way to use an onboard computer to require that you buy gasoline from a particular company. It's the same gas you can buy anywhere, but unless the pump includes special circuitry only available to a single company that paid a bunch of money to the car's manufacturer for the privilege, the gas tank can't be filled.
Now let's say that an enterprising individual wants to choose his own gas station, so he comes up with a way to reprogram the car's computer, allowing the owner to fill the gas tank from any pump at any gas station. Let's finally suppose that there's a recall on the car, requiring owners to bring them into a dealership for free repairs, but while the car is being fixed, every dealer is required to check the fuel tank computer to make sure it hasn't been tampered with to allow gas from non-approved sources, and disable the car's engine if evidence of tampering is found.
When irate owners complain to dealership management they're simply told that a license agreement they agreed to by driving off the lot voids the car's warranty, and another on a piece of paper they signed to get the recall work done allows the dealership to modify the car in whatever way the manufacturer wants, so basically there's nothing they can do. It sounds like a ludicrous situation, but it's not as far fetched as it may seem at first. Replace the word car with mobile phone, and choosing your own gas station with choosing your own wireless provider, and you've got something that looks a lot like Apple's apparent plan for the iPhone.
Earlier this week Apple announced a major update to the iPhone. Unfortunately for iPhone owners who have unlocked their phones to use them on networks other than AT&T, the update will also cause their phones to cease working at all. The phones appear to be in the same pre-activation state as when they're new, but they can't be actived with a non-AT&T SIM (which requires the phone to be unlocked) or the original AT&T SIM that came with the phone.
Additionally, iPhones that have been hacked to allow unauthorized third party software to be installed will be modified, although they won't stop working. Instead, all software not specifically allowed by Apple simply disappears. An announcement from Apple did make it clear that software for unlocking the phones "will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed."
When asked for clarification, an Apple representative stated that the company is not "proactively trying to disable any iPhone that has been hacked or unlocked by software," However, this seems to contradict a statement made by CEO Steve Jobs last week. At a London press conference officially announcing the iPhone's availability in the UK he said “It’s a cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We try to stay ahead. I’m not sure if we are the cat or the mouse. People will try to break in, and it’s our job to stop them breaking in.” Despite the contradictory company statements, one major clue seems to stand out.
Although the unlocked phones become inactive after the update, and can't even be used on AT&T's network , they can still make emergency (911) calls, as mandated by the FCC. In other words, the one thing that would have ensured a government investigation if it didn't work is the only thing that does.
Though this certainly doesn't prove anything conclusively, it does raise legitimate questions that someone in the government should be asking. Unless it can be proven that Apple is intentionally targeting unlocked iPhones with their updates, consumers have little or no recourse. If, however, a government investigation were to find that this is exactly what Apple is doing, it would drag the practices of tech companies like Apple (and many others) into the light for the kind of public scrutiny most other industries face. If the scenario were truly one of an automobile manufacturer getting paid to ensure their cars only accepted gas from a single company there would be hearings in Congress starting next week.
If it was determined to be legal, you can be sure a law would quickly be passed to outlaw it. Instead, since it's computer technology, which to paraphrase author Arthur C. Clarke seems indistinguishable from magic to lawmakers, the public appears to be left to their own devices for solving the problem.
A warranty that's void because of tampering with a device is fairly standard and certainly legal, although perhaps morally questionable when it comes to simple software modifications.
Taking advantage of that to break legally purchased devices because their use runs counter to the manufacturer's business model isn't standard. If this is, in fact, Apple's strategy it also removes any questions about the plans immorality. If they want to keep their grip on the mobile device market apparently considered key to the company's future plans, they'd be well advised to consider all their customers, including the ones who think their $400 phone should work on any compatible network they choose.

25th September 2007
Apple issues dire warning on iPhone hacks
Apple has warned users that upcoming iPhone updates could ruin the device for users of third-party unlocking software.
The company said in a statement on Monday that it has found "irreparable damage" caused to the phone's software by many of the unlocking tools currently available. When new updates are installed, the iPhone could be rendered "permanently inoperable".
The iPhone will also be unfixable, as the company pointed out that unlocking the iPhone is a violation of the licensing agreement and voids the warranty. Previous updates have told users with modified iPhones that the device was damaged and needed to be reformatted. An Apple spokesperson told vnunet.com that this update will render even that option unusable.
Apple executives have said that the company does not purposely design updates to disable or damage hacked iPhones, but warned that it would not accept any responsibility if its updates damaged phones with third-party software.
Currently, the Safari browser engine is the only supported method for developers to code for the iPhone. The company expects to issue its next iPhone software update sometime this week which will include software to support the iTunes Wi-Fi store. Software updates for the iPhone are checked for each time the device is docked. Users are then notified of the update and given the choice of whether to install it or not.
The unlocking tools remove the access restrictions on the iPhone in a process known as 'jailbreaking'.This allows users to add their own software and modify the device. Uses range from installing third party applications to allowing the device to accept SIM cards from other phone carriers.