Iphone: If They Unlocked They're Reality Through Pure Mobile Phones?

[Guest Reimar]

It looks like that the iPhone isn't compatible with the most existing systems yet, special in Asia and other places except north America!

Redad the blog of Oodee, who's a moderator in an other forum:

Unlocked iPhones are going to be a major commodity once the iPhone finally gets released. Although no one is exactly sure of the "SIM card situation" (whether you will be able to change one out), everyone seems to be optimistic that there will still be some way to do so.

That's why when pro blogger and PodTech VP Robert Scoble pointed out that Pure Mobile is prepping to resell unlocked versions of the iPhone, my interest was piqued. The company claims on its iPhone web page that it will sell both 4GB and 8GB versions of the phone that will not be restricted to AT&T/Cingular; this would make the phones compatible with most major GSM carriers in North America, such as T-Mobile, Fido, and Rogers.

Pricing for the unlocked phones is, predictably, not available right now. However, we can reasonably expect that the phones will most likely go for a premium. The company told Scoble that they expect not to be able to meet demand upon the iPhone's launch, because demand is currently "off the scale" compared to any other product they've dealt with yet. The only prices currently listed on the site are shipping rates ($29 and $19 for Priority and Economy shipping, respectively).

If Pure Mobile is truly selling unlocked iPhones, then I can see a great many users being interested in buying one through them, including me. Of course, features like visual voicemail won't be compatible with most other carriers, but just the freedom to be able to use it outside of AT&T will be good enough for most of us. We'll see soon enough whether the company is actually successful at doing what we all are hoping they can do.

Source

Arstechnica

[Ian_B]

I'm a sucker for phones with lots of gadets etc (bought my P990i mainly cos of its business card scanner, which I've only actually used 3 or 4 times!).

I'm still not sure about the iPhone though. I've a feeling that lovely touch-sensitive screen may mean that it needs charging each and every night.