Anyone think there will be unlocked iPhones?

pipser

Hey all, I don't live in the US, actually I live in Trinidad in the Caribbean. I am really looking forward to getting an iPhone but, if you have to buy one with an AT&T plan then it will be locked into their network right? So does anyone think that someone will sell the phones without a plan and if so how long do you think it'll take before they do?



Thanks in advance.

spindrift

Quote:

Originally Posted by pipser


Hey all, I don't live in the US, actually I live in Trinidad in the Caribbean. I am really looking forward to getting an iPhone but, if you have to buy one with an AT&T plan then it will be locked into their network right? So does anyone think that someone will sell the phones without a plan and if so how long do you think it'll take before they do?



Thanks in advance.

Not for a long time yet.

davegee

Quote:

Originally Posted by pipser


Hey all, I don't live in the US, actually I live in Trinidad in the Caribbean. I am really looking forward to getting an iPhone but, if you have to buy one with an AT&T plan then it will be locked into their network right? So does anyone think that someone will sell the phones without a plan and if so how long do you think it'll take before they do?



Thanks in advance.

IMHO getting an unlocked iPhone (in the first 6 months) will be next to impossible... but even if that hurdle magically goes away the fact is in order for the Apple iPhone to do the voodoo that it do required changes to the providers cellular network. In other-words for that cool voicemail and other demoed features to work the way to do too some cooperation and network changes from AT&Terrr...Cingulerrrr....AT&T. Unless Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint or insert your fav carrier here knows the changes the iPhone requires and is willing to make said changes you're not going to have 'the full iPhone experience'



Dave

pipser

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveGee


IMHO getting an unlocked iPhone (in the first 6 months) will be next to impossible... but even if that hurdle magically goes away the fact is in order for the Apple iPhone to do the voodoo that it do required changes to the providers cellular network. In other-words for that cool voicemail and other demoed features to work the way to do too some cooperation and network changes from AT&Terrr...Cingulerrrr....AT&T. Unless Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint or insert your fav carrier here knows the changes the iPhone requires and is willing to make said changes you're not going to have 'the full iPhone experience'



Dave

Thanks for the replies, I would think though that the only real carrier specific feature would be the voice mail which really is neither here nor there for me. 6 months is not that bad a wait.....early xmas gift to myself maybe



Can you think of any other carrier specific features that may not be accessible outside of the "new" AT&T network?

spindrift

We are yet to see the full functionality of the iPhone. Visual voicemail is just one of the revolutionary features. It's possible that the Google Maps feature may require some server side assistance from the network provider. I also have a strong suspicion that we'll see some additional unseen features at launch.