Unlocked iPhones a growing industry
A cottage industry has grown up surrounding unlocked iPhones, and two new companies are looking to cash in.
Brazilian company DesbloqueioBr came up with a clever way of using a SIM-card adapter to enable unlocking the phone and choosing a carrier at your discretion. It's much like the Turbo SIM unlock. (There's video showing how this works at our sister site, Engadget.)
It ain't cheap: according to this site, the company plans to charge as much as $375 for the hack. Trouble is, the call quality is apparently worse, and Apple can break your unlock with a software update.
So, if you're not willing to drop that much for a hack, and you're into totally shady, fell-off-the-truck deals, then this is for you: You can order a "original" Apple devices direct from a dealer in Hong Kong. You do have to place a minimum order of $1,000, but everything you get will be network-unlocked.
Who knows, though, if they'll get here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kiko said 1:57PM on 7-17-2008
Inaccurate. The unlock from the Brazilian guys will cost 375 BRL, that is about 250 USD. That is quite fair - 100 dollars is for the TurboSIM and 150 dollars for the service for the first and only unlock yet.
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mSiqueira said 2:17PM on 7-17-2008
And there's a third way, known as "The iPhone Dev Team"... (have anyone heard of it, already?)
In a few days, Pwnage will be available Activating, Unlocking and Jailbreaking 2.0 firmware, and Activating and Jailbreaking 3G. Hopefully unlocking for 3G will be released soon, too.
It's reliable as a hack can be, it's a beautifully made solution and.... it's free.
So pls, folks, be patient and stay away of the scum...
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DDrDark said 2:33PM on 7-17-2008
hi!
this dealer in honk kong it's safe? someone have bought anything?
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caixapostal said 2:35PM on 7-17-2008
I wonder how many phones add up to a grand. Actually I sent them a message through Alibaba asking that. No answer yet though.
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mark said 3:33PM on 7-17-2008
Their video proves NOTHING. No unlock here.
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munchkin said 7:05PM on 7-17-2008
Or you could buy an unlocked iPhone from New Zealand...
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Greg said 1:59AM on 7-18-2008
I'm sorry but how does call quality get worse with this method? That's ridiculous nonsense.
SIM is only used for identification, has nothing to do with the comm circuits.
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doobi18 said 10:08AM on 7-20-2008
check out http://www.kingsim.com/kingsimen.htm
this guy sells sim-unlock devices like those used in the unlockable 112 period for much cheaper prices than those listed above
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Dane said 8:46PM on 7-20-2008
$1000?!? Why not come to Australia, buy the prepaid iphone (from optus) for $720 then pay $80 to get it legally unlocked? For $800 you get a legally unlocked iphone which won't eventualy be bricked by a software update
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