Ok look, I found an iPhone and wondered if I can use it...

Finders keepers. Being nice would only get you so far, but I'm sure there is a way I don't know however since I've never tried. Maybe a restore?

i've had a similar situation happen to me. found a 3G in the middle of the road one day when I was walking around downtown. left it on to see if anyone would call it and ask for it. it also had a password so I could not see whos it was or contact anyone from it to find the owner. after not having any claims come in, i decided it was okay to keep at that point. well i didnt want the phone myself, so i did a restore and sold it on craigslist.

in short: yes a restore will work.

am i a horrible person? (sorry to kind of threadjack)

Krysiz said:

So AndyRiot how do you do a system restore, can I do it myself? Do I need to download or buy anything? Thanks for the replies.

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no purchase/download required. i simply put it into "recovery mode" by holding (i believe) the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons on bootup and and then when connected to your Mac, iTunes will recognize it has been put into restore mode and guide you from there.

plug it in, open itunes, Hold the power AND home button for 10 seconds, then let go of only the power button and hold the home button for 10 more seconds. A message alert will pop up in itunes and ask you if you want to restore, click yes, enjoy your iphone.

Krysiz said:

Ok then here goes, at least im being honest here.
I went to glastonbury at the weekend and found an iPhone sittin next to my tent one morning.
So i picked it up, put it somewhere safe, but left it on.
Ive had it a few days now, left it on an nobody has rang it.
So yesterday i took the sim card out, the phone still has a password on it.
Is there anyway I can get it unlocked somehow, and use my own sim card?

I know its wrong, but i did give it the chance to ring an nobody did.

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Why not putting the original sim card in, see if the phone is still active, and try calling people in the contacts list until you find the owner.

Oops didn't read the phone was locked. Try taking it to a dealer and have them contact the owner.

Krysiz said:

Wow simple as that?
Sorry my gadget knowledge slowed down after the Sony Walkman phones!

So whats all this I keep reading about Jailbreaking your iPhone, do I need to know anything about that?

Is it that simple that all I need to do, is download itunes, plug the phone in, hold the buttons, restore an I can use it?

What about if im on a different network?
The sim card I took out was 02, but my sim card is on orange.

An does this restore get with of the password problem?

Thanks again guys for all the help!

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jailbreaking is easy, but if you are going to restore with the previous mentioned method i believe the latest firmware cant be jailbroken. so then in that case, you have to search online for an older firmware compatible with the version of phone and that can be jailbroken. then use previous method to restore except you hold option (i believe) to manually choose which firmware to restore. then proceed to jailbreak. once jailbroken, you will have to run the unlock app to have it run on a different carrier (unless its already unlocked?)

btw this is just from my bit of experience with "hacking" iphones. you can find more specific instructions with a little google searching

do you have to? no.
does it make the iphone more enjoyable? yes.
do you sound like your capable of the process? probably not.

while it has been made as easy as possible to do these days, there are some steps in there that will more than likely trip you up if you arent a proficient computer user.

im going to guess that you are somewhere in europe, so the phone is probably already unlocked for use on any of the gsm carriers around there. dont hold me to that, but thats my guess being that its all gsm over there.

if thats the case, you dont need to jailbreak nor unlock it. jailbreaking gives you access to modify anything do your hearts content, and load it with free apps, etc. however for the average user, the app store will work just fine.

haha no problem man. i do believe your sim should be fine for use without any modifications. is the phone branded for the previous carrier? not totally sure how it works over there, but it was my assumption they come unlocked for "world" use on all gsm when purchased over seas.

Krysiz said:

Ha ha, got it one!

Yea I live in London, I dont know anything about the networks tho, but i'll go with what your saying.
I only want it to use as a phone an as an ipod, i just wanna save music on it and make and recieve calls.
My sim is pay as you go, is that do-able?
Thanks for all this advise man!

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If this is all you wanna do then jailbreaking is useless. Heck, I do dozens of things and it isn't necessary.

You can always sell it and buy a new iPod touch.

that's what passwords get ya. you could have called some recent people and got it back to the owner but instead it's locked. good reason not to password protect.

which iphone was it that you found?

enjoy!

I guess

I guess you English folk, at least those in your area of London or whatever, have never heard of the old adage . . . "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." In which case, go ahead and jailbreak it, restore it, cook it, dice it, have fun with it, whatever. Then, hope you never lose anything of value and the person who finds it isn't morally bereft.

I se it locked however something can still do I use voice dialing to call someone. Best would be call MOM or DAD or HOME.

Morality: The difference between what is Right and what you can rationalize.

Really nice of you all to help out a thief - essentially you should have handed this into the local police station, you didnt even make a valid attempt to return it to its owner.

Its really no different to that of the gizmodo story.

Krysiz said:

Ha ha, you obviously haven't seen the movie Oliver Twist.
"Gotta pick a pocket or 2!"

Its not all tea and biscuits over here!

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Thief!

Return it.

Hope you enjoy it! someone paid good money for that phone you have gained it by being dishonest !

OP, being honest doesn't cut it if you're not going to try to give it back. Call O2 or take it to your local police station. You'd hate it if you lose your phone.