They are only sensible from the studios point of view. Region encoding is a loss for consumers.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
T-Mobile Relocks iPhone in Germany
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They are only sensible from the studios point of view. Region encoding is a loss for consumers.
If you are in Germany and are willing to pay for an unlocked iPhone, why not simply buy one in France? Currently there is a special offer, you can get a ticket to Paris and back on the Thalys for just 29. There are also cheap flights available. Buy your unlocked iPhone there, it will be cheaper than what T-Mobile offered - Have a nice visit to Paris and forget about T-Mobile and that f.... court.
Christian
Except that they are looking for all sorts of French ID before they sell you a French iphone.
My only problem with Apple is that they actively attempt to re-lock the hardware. It's your hardware and you should be able to do what you want with it. Now that we know Apple has allowed unlocked phones out in the wild, I expect an unbreakable unlock in the near future.
What Apple is doing is that they are actually not actively attempt to brick your iphone. What they are doing is "being lazy" and not check whether you altered the firmware or not.
It's like you are driving a car and expects all the other people follow traffic laws --- other cars signal for every turn and people don't jaywalk. You will get into accidents if you do that.
Yes it is Apple's fault. The 30-40% cut they are demanding from the phone companies has to come from somewhere and it is the consumer who ends up paying for it.
I agree with you...it is frustrating...I love the ability to put my daughters voice as a ringtone "Daddy you have a Phone Call" with this last update and know that it was mistake and will be eventually locked out and I will be stuck with music tones again...but I accept that because I understand the terms that came with me buying this phone.
Again, Apple invented this phone and have every right to market, sell, distribute, contract and change to their hearts content. What most fail to understand or comprehend is that as consumers if we dont buy a product then that product will be changed, price lowered or it will disappear from the market like the Newton did. When over 1 million people have purchased and use the phone as is (for the most part) and sales keep going up then why should they change their strategy...they are a company and company's make money...its a straight up fact.
If you invented the smallest, fastest, most efficient PDA in the world and you were making millions off of this new invention because it was the best in the world...would you open up your invention for others to emulate, copy and make better? This would eventually cut into your market and product...Apple is only trying to protect its interests as long as possible because they know what they have and the world does as well. This is why you have the jealous haters and those that accept as is and those that think they can make it better. This form of debate will always happen with any great invention that changes the way users do business.
Take for example...and some may be to young to remember...Sep 11, 2001...yup the famous 911 day. Air travel was simple, easy, hassle free prior to that famous day, but everything changed...the security on everything went crazy and overboard and to this day we still have to take our shoes off to board an airplane-the world changed and we adapted....well, Apple has done the same thing with the iPhone...it has changed the way the world uses cell phones...this is a next step in evolution (even though somethings are missing) otherwise it would not be selling so well, otherwise there would not be hundreds if not thousands of blogs, websites and forums discussing this product and think of all the debates like this one going on. We all must adapt to change and take it for what it is...Apple can do what they want with a product that they created and haters can piss and moan about it till they have strokes or stress attacks but in the end the only thing that will cause change is to stop buying the phone or cell contracts...and I sure don't see that happening anytime soon. Its all common sense stuff and if your open minded then you will accept if not then I feel real sorry for those that hate change, restrictions and apple and look at life with a glass half empty.
AT&T manages to both price their iphone plans cheap and satisfies with Apple demands at the same time.
Hey its life if you don't like it accept it and move on. Just say that to the folks in China may not like Hu, or Venezualans may not like Chavez, or North Koreans may not like Kim, or Cubans may not like Castro, or the Pakistanis may not like Musharraf, or the Iranians may not like Amnidinijad. Just grin and bear it.
Nicely said.
Now if we can only get you to get "The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year--or for that matter, ever--is a Mac." - PCMag.com. You'll really be a happy camper.
Now if we can only get you to get "The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year--or for that matter, ever--is a Mac." - PCMag.com. You'll really be a happy camper.
No. Orange is a company itself and they also earn money on every unlocked phone they sell. They won't make that doo difficoult.
Nicely said.
Now if we can only get you to get "The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year--or for that matter, ever--is a Mac." - PCMag.com. You'll really be a happy camper.
LOL...Thanks...but only if you give it to me for free! I love my gaming to much! Nothing wrong with the Mac's at all and I have never and will never cut down a Mac computer...IMHO all are good at something and all have their equal flaws at one time or another. None are perfect and each user has a pref. Someday I may try a Mac out but will never leave my PC. Oh...and they haven't sold me on vista yet...Im die hard XP!
And Thanks for the Support!!!
So you believe that Vodafone pushed this lawsuit because they felt the iPhone was not a competitive product? Then why did they want it unlocked and available to be used on their network? My guess is that they saw it as a competitive threat. It encourages competition because if these mobile service providers who do not sell the iPhone want the business of the customers who are buying iPhones on their competitors networks, they need to partner with a manufacturer who makes something as desirable as the iPhone and bundle it with a package that they feel will draw some potential iPhone customers their way.
Also, once you sign into a contract, that's your plan. If the plan changes you can get out. Especially T-Mobile. Some people got out of their contracts right before the iPhone was released in the States because they changed the price of text messaging.
Just because the pair of companies working together is not the pair that you prefer, it does not make either of them anti-competitive, or monopolistic, or whatever the general consensus is.
Again, the Square/Nintendo analogy. Two companies team up to weaken the competition by strengthening themselves by combining services/products. If the competition wants, they can COMPETE and try a similar partnership strategy or try a completely different strategy that they feel will draw consumers to their product/service.
Apple is carrying out credit checks for people wanting to purchase a phone and a contract. This is not unreasonable. The credit check is obviated for an unlocked phone, however, as this is a one-off payment.
It would be utterly illegal for Apple or Orange to request ID of any sort before selling an unlocked phone in France, as this would fall foul of local racism laws (we only sell to the French) and EU competition laws.
...and what about those of us living in a country that has already got iPhone..but, they picked the wrong carrier? In the UK O2 coverage sucks. I'd have an iPhone in a heartbeat but where I live there is no EDGE coverage, WIFI is useless for me. The shame is that Orange has superb coverage. How come Orange are good enough for Apple to deal with in France but not UK? Deffo not the best deal for the customer here, Apple grabbing the best deal for them. I reckon it'll tank in the UK (seems to have so far)
I don't understand.
I know the unlocked iPhone will not be sold in Germany any longer, but the title says "T-Mobile relocks iPhone in Germany". So if you paid 999 euros for an unlocked phone then your phone is now useless without a T-Mobile contract?
If that's the case then they should refund everyone the difference, at the very least.
Eddie
I know the unlocked iPhone will not be sold in Germany any longer, but the title says "T-Mobile relocks iPhone in Germany". So if you paid 999 euros for an unlocked phone then your phone is now useless without a T-Mobile contract?
If that's the case then they should refund everyone the difference, at the very least.
Eddie
Why on earth would anybody defend Apple's strategy of locking down the phone, creating a large black market and generally making using an iphone seamlessly internationally hideously expensive and awkward (like the caller id issue)? It just doesn't make any sense to me that people would side against their own interests.
Which would be illegal as (for example) a UK citizen could be resident in France, and it would be classed as discrimination (based on nationality) which would also be illegal. They could ask for proof of residency, but thats all.
Most countries require that radio devices be certified, it is not legal to sell a device without the certification. EU has one, US has one, more than likely Canada has the same type of requirement.
While you can probably use a EU or US phone there, I don't believe it is legal to sell it without the certification. Who knows if there are other rules about its use also.
Are you always an ASS, or was it something special about the post I did for someone else?
No thats not what I said or believe.
The main point of the original lawsuit, as I read it, was that T-Mobile was restricting the customers options by limiting the iPhone to 1 of 3 plans, and preventing customers from buying an unlocked phone for use on another network. They went on to say that this *could* cause a precedence in that future phones may be locked to specific carriers and plans.
Now, we all know that there are exclusive phones on all networks, including Vodafone, but these phones upto now have been available on all plans, and when bought for full price (as the iPhone is), or as part of a contract then they are also unlocked.
The wonderful post iPhone future is that all high end phone could be sold at full price, locked down hard and offered with limited (and expensive) plans.
This could olso overflow to other product lines. Ford cars bought in Texas are not allowed to drive out of state. Use olny Texaco oil or at your next service we will lock your engine management computer. Your next Apple Mac can only be used with .Mac mail. Any attempt to use another internet mail service will be a breach off license. And so on.
I would love to have an iPhone, but I am happy with Vodafone and am about to renew my contract. I pay 10 Euros amonth for my plan. The minimum iPhone plan is 50 Euros. I have had very bad experience with T-Mobile which ended up with legal action being taken against me, (I won btw). T-Mobile/iPhone is not an option.
My original point was that had the iPhone been made available to all operators, even on the current markup system and locked down, then the competition between the operators would have caused a selection of comparative tariffs available to choose from, probably at lower prices or including more minutes/data.
The argument that I could get an N95 for some other phone is not the point. We are talking iPhone here.
I am not sure if this is correct or not, I heard it second hand ..... I heard that the phone for France was unlocked but would only work with the French cell providers, like I said this could be way off.
Anyone knows for sure?