Now this is what I call an iPod sound system. Most iPod speakers are pretty weedy. Not the Mix Boombox IMT800, a digital ghetto blaster released on Thursday by Altec Lansing. Available now for $300, the Mix Boombox promises to be loud and heavy.
Altec Lansing also announced a stylish — and loud — 200-watt computer speaker set: the Expressionist Ultra MX6021.
More images and details after the jump.
Stock in the internet phone company Vonage jumped a whopping 36 percent on news it will likely soon have an iPhone app.
Vonage’s stock saw its biggest three-day rally since the ailing company went public in 2006, Bloomberg reports. The rally is tied to news that Vonage has submitted an app to Apple. The app will likely be approved after a minor technical glitch is fixed.
What the app does, no one is saying, but it’ll likely rival Skype, offering low-cost VOIP calls over Wi-Fi. Vonage also offers visual voicemail.
The company is in deep trouble and is danger of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. It has lost about 100,000 customers in the last year as customers opt for cheap digital-phone service by cable companies.
UPDATE: Nack provides further insight, backtracks, stating “It turns out that the Photoshop team has tested Photoshop CS3 on Snow Leopard, and to the best of our knowledge, PS CS3 works fine on Snow Leopard.” Hmm. This flatly contradicts what I’ve heard from jobbing designers who’ve worked with CS3 on very late Snow Leopard builds. I guess we’ll discover the real truth over the coming week or so.
Adobe’s rolling out its Snow Leopard FAQ, and John Nack’s post offers a doozy:
Apple and Adobe have worked closely together (as always with new OS releases) to test compatibility. As for CS4, everything is good with the exception of auto-updates to Flash panels (which I guarantee you’re not using*) and Adobe Drive/Version Cue (which doesn’t work at the moment on 10.6). CS3 & earlier haven’t been tested. Please see the FAQ for additional info.
(My emphasis.)
Back in the day, I used to love Adobe software. Hell, I still want to love Adobe software and I use Photoshop almost every day, but the company’s making it real hard. It seems that CS has become more about sticking to turnaround schedules than innovation, and there’s a horrible tendency to use the next release to fix major problems, rather than fix them here and now.
From what I’ve heard, both on forums and directly from professionals running 10.6 betas, there are some major problems with CS3 and Snow Leopard, such that Apple’s update simply isn’t safe in Adobe-reliant mission-critical environments. This means a whole lot of industry professionals won’t be flinging 30 bucks in Apple’s direction and won’t be upgrading their Macs to the new OS. But surely this is only temporary? Presumably, Adobe won’t leave everyone high and dry?
Nack again:
No one said anything about CS3 being “not supported” on Snow Leopard. The plan, however, is not to take resources away from other efforts (e.g. porting Photoshop to Cocoa) in order to modify 2.5-year-old software in response to changes Apple makes in the OS foundation.
Nice. A 2.5-year-old piece of shareware being mothballed to concentrate on the current version, fine. But a hugely expensive suite that people use in a pro capacity, that cost hundreds (or thousands, depending on the option you picked) of bucks in the first place?
And you’ve got to love the dangled carrot—CS3 probably won’t be fixed, due to Photoshop being ported to Cocoa. (Out of curiosity, Adobe, are you going to get rid of your broken and proprietary windowing system, or will that stay in place?) I know the world’s finances are screwed, but surely looking after your existing customers is important? I guess it doesn’t matter if you have a near-monopoly on creative apps.
Gah.
Like I said, I used to love Adobe, and I really want that feeling of excitement and passion regarding its apps to return, but this kind of thing just pisses me right off. Nack’s comments come across like people are asking for something insanely stupid—support for antiquated wares. But it’s not like people are getting all angry because some ancient piece of software has been killed—they’re annoyed because a massively expensive suite that was still on sale recently and replaced well under a year ago is going to have major problems on Apple’s new system.
Is this entirely Adobe’s fault? No. (In fact, if Nack’s “in response to changes Apple makes in the OS foundation” comment is indicative of Adobe’s attitude in general, ‘not at all’ is presumably the company’s thinking.) But could Adobe be doing more to help this situation, other than telling us to stop whining, open our wallets once again, cause our credit cards to cry out in pain, and eat baked beans for the coming months? You tell me.
The Shanzai.com blog has posted pictures of a butt-ugly MacBook Air knockoff. It promises to be dirt cheap but misses the point by being fatter and uglier.
The knockoff also has a smaller screen — 11″ instead of 13″ — runs a shit processor and has no RAM (1.6GHz Intel Atom and 1GB DDR2).
Amusingly, the blog claims the Air’s design has been “improved” by the addition of some missing features, namely: a removable battery, two USB ports instead of one, and an internal slot for a 3G card (the Air has no 3G support built-in).
No word on pricing, availability or whether it can be hacked to run OS X. It does have a Windows key on the keyboard though.
More pictures and the full specs after the jump.
It looks like Apple is finally getting serious about security — not!
Apple has added a very rudimentary antivirus system to Snow Leopard, which is due out in stores Friday. The system is so basic, it kinda defies belief. It’s the Fisher Price of anti-virus blockers; a system so simple and limited, it appears basically worthless. It pops up a warning if you try to install an internet nasty, and advises you to move the file to the Trash. Here’s all you need to know in three easy steps:
* It includes information about just two Trojan Horses: OSX.RSPlug.A and OSX.Iservice. Both of these Trojans are in the wild but are fairly rudimentary. OSX.Iservice has been found in pirated copies of iWork on the file sharing networks; and OSX.RSPlug is typically found on porno websites masquerading as video codecs that need to be installed by the user, who types in their system password.
* It intercepts files downloaded only using Safari, Firefox, Mail, Entourage, Thunderbird and iChat and several other applications, according to The Register. It does not check files downloaded by hundreds of other applications or files on CDs, DVDs or USB thumbdrives.
* The system was quietlycadded to the latest builds of Snow Leopard. It’s present in build 10A432, the most recent version that is widely assumed to be Gold Master. It can be found in the system files: /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/XProtect.plist
Of course, Apple may update the system in the future with more malware definitions and applications. Ironically, Apple is running a new ad touting the Mac’s invulnerability to viruses and headaches.
Are you looking for options to keep your desk sleek and uncluttered but don’t want to give up the iMac, iPod, Mac mini and associated gadgets you must have nearby? Maybe you need a makeover. Twelve South, a new All-Mac company, offers two choices: the Book Arc and Book Pack.
The Book Arc is a creative way to vertically store your MacBook. The Book Arc accommodates a closed MacBook (up to 17-inches) or MacBook Air in a 10-by-4-inch slip with silicone cushions specifically designed for these laptops.. The product creates a desktop or workstation from your laptop and display. Running your MacBook closed stops your video display from splitting its resources, causing a noticeable operating speed increase in such intensive applications as Photoshop, the maker claims.
The Book Arc costs $49.95 for individuals or $249.99 for six people. Free shipping for a limited time.
UPDATE: The MacBook stand can actually give your MacBook 13″ a speed boost, claims Wired.com’s Charlie Sorrel. Using lower-end MacBooks (those without dedicated GPUs, like the new 13-incher) with the lid closed frees up the CPU from refreshing the screen, boosting the speed of whatever you’re working on.
Here’s how Apple’s tablet will work and why it’ll be a paradigm shift. Using your fingers as an input device is extremely intuitive, and it’ll make the mouse and keyboard seem as antiquated as punch cards.
On the following pages is a gallery of concept designs created by Jon Doe, an anonymous grad student from Georgia who has done a LOT of thinking about how Apple’s tablet will work.
Doe has done a remarkable job of figuring it out. Over the course of a year, Doe has imagined how the device might work, what gestures it might support, and how Apple could adapt its popular iLife software to work in a multitouch environment. He’s created a blog to showcase his ideas and a series of YouTube videos. There’s so much to see, I’m publishing several posts over the next few days.
“The problem is that the current PC interface (PC as in Macs, Windows, and Linux boxes) is outdated,” says Doe. “We’re reaching the limit of what we can do with a mouse and keyboard.”
Check out the video and gallery after the jump to see why Apple’s tablet will be such an exciting device.
For just $35, a professional hardware called Reid will swap out your MacBook Pro’s optical drive for a super-speedy SSD drive.
Why would you want to do this? Because the SSD drive is an unbelievable 7x faster than a traditional hard drive, even a fast one. Use it as your boot disk, and the OS will fly. Store your movies and pron on the regular hard drive, which remains intact.
Reid already has this two-drive setup running on his new MacBook Pro. Reid took out the optical drive, which opened up a spare SATA interface. Apple doesn’t use standard SATA connectors, so Reid had to make his own by chaining together a couple of adapters from Fry’s and Amazon. It’s not pretty, but it works.
Reid is using the SSD as his boot disk and discovered that it runs an incredible 7x faster than his already fast 7200 rpm hard drive (which he’d upgraded also).
It cost about $300. “So, FOR LESS THAN APPLE CHARGES for the single 128GB SSD upgrade (which really is a POS, if you ask me), I got 280GB of reliable hard disk space. FmyWarranty!” he writes on his blog.
He’s now offering to sell the adapter for $30 apiece (plus free shipping). Or he will perform the upgrade himself for $35 (he’s a pr0). The customer supplies the parts. An 80GB SSD runs about $200.
“Just send me a heads up, a check, a second sata drive*, and your MacBook Pro (with a tracking #, PLEASE) and I’ll return the computer to you a day after it arrives (UPS $14.00).”
Email Reid at: [email protected]
Designers continue to be inspired by Mac icons as home decor.
The choice for these handmade fleece pillows is a bit random — iCal, the start button and an devilish version of Finder — but cool nonetheless.
$14.99 each at Etsy.
A week after EU regulators launched an investigation into safety issues of overheating iPods and iPhones, another French user found himself with an iPhone flambé in hand.
This time it happened to Yassine Bouhadi (above), a 26-year-old supermarket security guard in Villevieille, near Nîmes. He was texting his girlfriend (giving new meaning to the term “sexting?) when the device overheated and the screen shattered.
“The phone made a noise like ‘schplok’. A little bit of screen hit me in the eye and I had to remove it with a tweezer,” said Bouhadi.
The incident — similar to the teen in Aix-en-Provence whose iPhone screen shattered sending splinters into his eyes — made the front page of local paper Midi Libre.
Whether this is a copycat incident or evidence of an uptick in defective devices remains to be seen.
The EU commission is examining reports of problems with iPhones in France and an iPod in Britain.
Apple maintains these overheating issues are isolated incidents and not evidence of a general problem but is cooperating with EU investigations.
Via Charles Bremner
Today’s deals lead-off with hardware. Imacs starting at $99. MacBook Air laptops starting at $1,099 and MacBook Pro Core 2s for $1,898 – plus much more.
Details on these and other great deals can be found on the CoM Daily Deals page.
Parallels, regarded by many as the premier virtual Windows solution for the Mac, announced Tuesday a special Switch to Mac Edition, extending a welcome lifeline to computer users who are choosing to embrace the elegance, power and simplicity of Apple’s Mac OS in increasing numbers every day.
Cult of Mac received an extensive tour of the new “Switch to Mac” features recently and it’s a good bet Parallels will deliver on its promise to have former Windows users working comfortably in the Mac UI within hours instead of the more usual learning curve that can often take weeks.
“For years I have worked with switchers coming into Apple stores with questions about how to use their new Mac,” says Saied Ghaffari, Switch to Mac Advocate, who gave us the tutorial demo.
“Parallels Desktop Switch to Mac Edition thoroughly addresses the concerns switchers have,” Ghaffari said, adding, “the product is designed to make moving to Mac as fast and simple as possible, regardless of the level of technical knowledge of the switcher.
Featuring a set of easy-to-use tools and interactive tutorials such as Click to Learn, Watch Saied, and You Try incorporated with Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, the Switch to Mac edition promises to help “Switchers” understand how to operate Mac OS X, transfer all PC data and applications, and seamlessly run their Windows applications on their new Macs.
“It’s like a friend teaching you the Mac at your own pace,” according to Ghaffari.
Parallels Desktop 4.0 Switch to Mac Edition is available from today at Apple stores, at Apple.com and through other preferred retail partners in English, German and French. The suggested retail price (SRP) of the product is $99.99.
Hit the jump for more information and detailed explanation of the Switch to Mac edition’s features.
If you want the feel of a touchscreen monitor for your MacBook but don’t want to wait until Apple unveils its rumored tablet, Mimo Monitors may have an alternative: a 7-inch display with resistive touchscreen for USB 2.0 Intel Macs.
The Mimo 720-S has all of the features of the Mimo 710-S plus a touchscreen. The screen provides 800×400 resolution and is on a 90-degree pivot. The device weighs less than 1 pound.
The monitor also offers an integrated stand and cover. The Mimo 720-S is $229.99 and requires USB 2.0. Mac users must download Mac OS X drivers.
[Via Mimo]
Apple has tapped the comic genius of actor Patrick Warburton for its latest “Get A Mac” TV ad. But despite a very promising start — you smile just seeing him – the ad is a dud.
Warburton is best known for playing Elaine’s boyfriend, David Puddy, on Seinfeld. The man is just funny, period. Unfortunately, Apple’s new “Top of the Line” ad is not. (Watch it below).
Warburton plays a top-of-the-line PC — a fast, smooth machine with a big screen.
The computer shopper — a young woman — is initially impressed, but is turned off when he admits he’s not immune to viruses and other headaches. The silly fool forsakes Warburton’s charms for the unbearable Justin Long, who plays the Mac.
The ad isn’t funny, just like the rest of the ailing series. This joke has definitely run its course. Like Sieinfield itself, it’s time for Apple to pull the plug.
Now that he’s back at work full-time, Steve Jobs is focusing his full attention on the Apple tablet, the Wall Street Journal reports. And he’s kickin ass!
“Mr. Jobs’s focus on the tablet has been jarring for some Apple employees, who had grown accustomed to a level of freedom over strategy and products while the CEO was on leave, said a person familiar with the matter. “People have had to readjust” to Mr. Jobs being back, this person said.”
This is excellent news. Nothing is better for Apple products than Jobs throwing a fit over them. It’s such an important part of the cooking process.
Also important is the ritual killing of the project during the development process. Almost every major project at Apple has been killed before it was started over, from the iMac to Apple’s retail stores. Killing a project and starting over is Jobs’s MO. The Journal says Jobs has already killed the tablet twice. The first time because the battery life was too short, and the second time because “there was insufficient memory,” the Journal says. (This last one’s a puzzler. Presumably it refers to solid-state memory (SSD hard drives), which until recently have been pricey. Perhaps earlier prototypes used SSD drives that were too small and crippled the device?)
Though the Journal report uncovers few new details, it does say that Jobs is currently working on the tablet’s advertising and marketing — which suggests the tablet’s launch is imminent. The Journal has no time line though: “The people familiar with the matter declined to give details on the tablet or disclose when the device would come out.“
Also, it’s stating the obvious, but the Journal notes that Jobs’s focus on the tablet is a clear sign of its importance. Although Apple has released several important pieces of hardware recently, the last product to get Jobs’s full attention was the prototype iPhone back in 2006/2007.
The report doesn’t detail what OS the device will run, which is perhaps the key unanswered question. Nor does it name the price: It’s somewhere between $399 and $999, the Journal helpfully reports.
Jobs is also recovering well from his liver transplant, the Journal says. “People close to Apple said Mr. Jobs is still thin as he recovers from the liver transplant, but his health has improved significantly.”
Good news all round.
Here’s a great idea for making tangle-proof earbuds. It’s so simple, I’m surprised no one has thought of it before.
To prevent your earbud wires from tangling when not in use, join them together using a Ziploc-like zipper.
By pinching the two wires together into a single wire, they become tangle-proof, like a piece of thick, rubbery string. The two wires are simply unzipped when you want to use them.
The idea was dreamed up by London design student Lee Washington, who has made a short video to demonstrate them in action — see below.
“The prototype was made very basically with a sandwich bag seal,” says Washington. “It was just designed to demonstrate the concept.”
As yet, Washington doesn’t have a manufacturer. He’s talking to his professors this week about patenting the idea. He now regrets making the video, which is fast becoming popular. He’s afraid his idea will be ripped off.
“This could go either way,” he says. “Either the video will get very popular and someone at Apple will eventually see it or someone will do the idea themselves. That would be a pity.”
Indeed. We wish Washington the best finding someone to market his brilliantly simple idea.
Today’s deals: upgrade to Leopard from your current Mac OS X for just $29; scan the latest App Store freebies for the perfect addition to your iPhone or touch; kick back and listen to some tunes with Logitech’s AudioStation Express iPod speaker system, plus much more.
Details on these bargains and others can be found at CoM’s Daily Deals page.
Apple’s Fifth Avenue store sells the equivalent of a Mercedes-Benz C300 in iPods, MacBooks and iPhones per square foot.
As our own Leander Kahney found out on a recent visit to New York, Apple’s Fifth Avenue location is recession-proof, filled with people waiting in lines to buy Apple gear in one of Manhattan’s most famed shopping streets.
But don’t take his word that the store is heaving, here’s what Bloomberg says:
Apple’s Fifth Avenue emporium probably has annual sales of more than $350 million, said Jeffrey Roseman, executive vice president of real- estate broker Newmark Knight Frank Retail. The location is 10,000 square feet, putting its sales per square foot at a minimum of $35,000, based on Roseman’s estimate.
Those sales trump tony jewelry sellers along the famed street — currently earning about twice as much: Tiffany & Co. rakes in just $18,000 per square foot, Harry Winston between $12,000 – $13,000.
Leander noted the place topped by a big glass cube seemed more like a hip bar than an electronics shop, something not lost on the Bloomberg reporters:
Some people even use the Fifth Avenue store as a “pick-up place,” said Consolo, who passes the location every day on her way to work. Tourists used to ask how to find Bloomingdale’s, Saks and Louis Vuitton, she said. “Now they say Apple store, Apple store,” Consolo said in a telephone interview. “It’s the main event.”
Maybe someone will make a movie about Breakfast at Apple?
Via Bloomberg
What it is: The developers at Jump Associates – creators of the highly regarded iPhone photo application Pix Remix – have created a free version of the app, called Pix Remix Lite, that blows the doors off of any free photo manipulation software on the App Store.
Why it’s cool: Back in July, we wrote about Pix Remix, the very cool photo transformation application that allows users to easily combine a group of photos with captions into an animated collage or documentary-style narrative show within minutes – and share with friends and family easily via email or posting to Facebook and Twitter.
The free Pix Remix Lite has all the basic features of the highly acclaimed original software, plus some new features that have also been incorporated into an updated version of the 99¢ paid version, making Pix Remix a must-have tool for anyone who likes to share photos from their iPhone.
New features available in both versions let users remix shows others have sent to them, upload photos to a Facebook gallery while posting a show, and embed shows in any blog or webpage.
The paid version of Pix Remix now also lets users save shows locally on their device, export a collage as a high-res JPG (up to 1024×682), and use Copy and Paste to add photos to a show. Users can also save individual photos from a show (one they have created or one they have received) to the iPhone’s Photo Library, allowing for easy syncing with a computer.
Pix Remix Lite limits collages and shows to 5 images, while the paid version supports up to 10 images in a single collage or show.
Check out the YouTube demo here, and go here to see more sample shows like the one above.
Where to get it: Pix Remix and Pix Remix Lite are both available now on the iTunes App Store.
UPDATE: Ah, well it looks like the store was down for Snow Leopard, which you can pre-order now but ships Aug. 28.
Some of the changes (“refinements”) to the latest version:
If there are any other major differences to the Apple store, we’ll let you know.
The Apple store is down. Mac World speculates it’s for the next release of Snow Leopard.
I’m hoping for more of a shake-up — price drops, new product.
We’ll keep you posted.
OK, so we’ve already established that the iPhone camera is capable of some pretty amazing photography, even if you don’t use one of the many fantastic photography-related apps available on the Store.
One thing I’ve not seen it used for to date has been action shots; but Oregon-based photographer Jared Souney has been putting his 3GS to good use for just that.
I wanted to find out how he did it, so I asked him. Here’s what he said.
Goggle’s Voice App undermines the one of the iPhone’s core functions — making phone calls, Apple said on Friday in a response to an inquiry by the FCC.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is looking into the rejection of the Google Voice iPhone application from the iTunes App Store. In an unexpected move, Apple has published its response to the FCC on its website.
Apple says the Google Voice app hasn’t been rejected at all — it’s still under review. Apple is taking its time because Google’s app replaces one of the iPhone’s core functions — making calls — with its own user interface and telephony functions.
“Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it. The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone’s distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone’s core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail. Apple spent a lot of time and effort developing this distinct and innovative way to seamlessly deliver core functionality of the iPhone.”
In addition, Apple says the Google Voice app doesn’t make use of Visual Voicemail or the built-in Messaging app. And it may violate users’ privacy by uploading contacts to Google’s servers with no assurances the data will be used in “appropriate ways.”
Many had speculated AT&T was behind the app’s rejection, even though the carrier has denied it. Now Apple says AT&T has nothing to do with it.
Apple’s response also throws some light on the murky approval process, which has drawn fire for being secretive and capricious.
* AT&T has no role whatsoever in approving or rejecting apps. The only restriction is no VOIP over the cell network, which is why Skype and similar apps are WiFi only. Weirdly, Apple says it doesn’t know if the Google Voice App has a VOIP element.
* Apple has 40 full-time trained reviewers. Every app is scrutinized by at least two reviewers.
* There’s an executive review board (*cough* Phil Schiller *cough*) to oversee policy and procedure. The review board meets weekly, and deals with apps that present “new or complex issues.” Apple says 95% of applications are approved within 14 days, and the team is working like dogs.
“Apple generally spends most of the review period making sure that the applications function properly, and working with developers to fix quality issues and software bugs in applications. We receive about 8,500 new applications and updates every week, and roughly 20% of them are not approved as originally submitted. In little more than a year, we have reviewed more than 200,000 applications and updates.”
Apple’s full response to the FCC after the jump.
UPDATE: Both AT&T’s response to the FCC and Google’s have been obtained by Engadget. AT&T’s answers are pretty much in line with Apple’s version of events. AT&T “had no role in any decision by Apple to not accept the Google Voice application,” the company says. AT&T says it sometimes “has discussions” with Apple if an app presents the risk of network congestion.
Oddly, Google’s response to the question about its app’s rejection has been redacted. Very odd, when Apple is openly offering its story to the public. Why would the injured party hide its version of events? Smells fishy.
In his first interview since performing Steve Jobs’s liver transplant earlier this year, surgeon James Eason spreads some interesting light on the case.
Namely, he denies Jobs gamed the transplant system; Tennessee has lots of livers for transplantation; the surgeon is the leading experts in recurrences of Jobs’s rare cancer; he treats far more poor blacks than billionaires; Jobs has a pretty good survival prognosis; and the CEO is a “genuinely nice person.”
* Trained at Harvard, Eason is THE leading expert in treating recurrences in the rare type of cancer Jobs had. This is why Jobs went to Tennessee to get a transplant. Jobs always seeks out the best in the field.
* Jobs did not cheat the system to get a transplant. “It’s not gaming the system,” Eason says. “It’s people choosing where they want their health care.”
* Jobs’s prognosis looks good. Eason only performs a liver transplant if he’s certain he can eliminate all the spreading cancer. About 70 percent of patients have healthy organs five years after surgery.
* Memphis has more livers than patients. Or did, until Eason ramped it up. His Memphis hospital performed 35 transplants in 2005 (before he arrived). In 2008, he jacked it to 120 transplants, and 90 so far this year.
* Jobs is “really a genuinely nice person” and “a special person,” says the surgeon. Perhaps he also performed a personality transplant? Or more likely, Jobs made sure not to piss off the man who held his life in his hands.
The most important thing about getting a new bike is making sure it fits right. It’s all the difference between pleasure and pain — and very possibly a pair of blown knees.
The Test Rides iPhone app is a specialized but handy “virtual bike fitting room” that measures you up for a new bike. It looks handy for figuring out whether that beautiful bike on Craigslist will actually fit you.
First you take a picture of yourself from the side — you’ll probably need help. You then mark your joints on the picture: knees, elbows and ankles. The App calculates your body size.
Then you input the dimensions of the bike you want to buy – the top tube, bottom bracket, crank length, etc — and the App tells you whether the bike is a good fit or not. This part is a bit of work. Many used bike listings do not include all the measurments, and even the amount of info online about new bikes is inconsistent. While a lot of manufacturers have all the data, some do not.
Still, if you’re about to buy a new bike and have most of the measurements, spending $5 on this app seems like a good precaution to make sure it fits right.
Apple in Europe may unlock your iPhone if you have pay off your carrier contract, one blogger has discovered.
Olly Farshi of TheAppleBlog.com didn’t have to jailbreak or run ultrasn0w to unlock his iPhone.
He simply asked his carrier to unlock his iPhone 3G after paying off a two year contract. The carrier, Finland’s Sonera, submitted the request to Apple and the next time Farshi synced with iTunes, the software had him install an official carrier update.
Then iTunes displayed something rarely seen: an official message saying his iPhone had been officially unlocked. See the screenshot above.
“Regarding Sonera, think of it as a less-repugnant version of AT&T,” Farshi writes. “As the exclusive distributor of the iPhone over in Finland, Sonera has turned out to be a somewhat benevolent carrier.”
He continues: “Going the legit route was a much more painless process than using a proxy SIM or the Dev Team’s unofficial unlock. Also worth noting is that, unlike some of the illicit approaches, this unlock is permanent: I’ll be able to keep updating the iPhone’s OS without losing the ability to use any carrier SIM in the device.”
No word on whether AT&T will do this. Has anyone tried?
BTW: It is possible to buy factory unlocked iPhones for $1,000+.
