We saw the live video (see below) of the SIMable unlocking on the Mobile Industry Review video podcast by Dan Lane - he used it to unlock his iPhone 3G and use it on the 3 network. The issue of unlocking your handset is varied between countries, some countries insist on handsets being unlocked where others have the opposite and most just don't have any sort of legal stance on the subject.
Mobile Industry Review - SIMable spot from Ewan MacLeod on Vimeo.
Obviously the most simple method is to ask your Operator to give you the unlock code, in the UK most will albeit with a charge, and thus it's trouble free legal and safe 100%.
The question here is, is SIMable (and similar others) breaking the law by sending fake signals to the operator? This could be classified as tampering with an operators network and thus considered hacking - which in itself is usually illegal on most countries. In Germany you could face up to 3 years in prison, and we all know in the US you probably will be classified as a terrorist and sent to Camp Cuba.
SIMable stated:
Whilst mobile phone unlocking is not illegal, it will in most cases invalidate the handset’s warranty. SIMable requires no handset interference and thus the full manufacturer’s guarantee remains intact.So is it really worth the hassle of spending £17 (unless you are unlocking many handsets) and risking doing something which could be illegal and end up facing a hefty fine, imprisonment or other forms of punishment? Obviously you will not be able to unlock the iPhone (unless you are in France, where it is unlocked and in Belgium where it's the same story too), but on any other handset?
The company are keen to stress that unlike any other similar application on the market, SIMable enables 100% functionality on all phones, including full 3G operation.
I'd personally pay £20-25 and get my handset unlocked properly - it gives you a piece of mind.
Anyone that can clarify this situation from a technical or legal point of view feel free to send me an e-mail (found at the bottom of the blog).
via [iPhoneAlley]
2 comments:
It's nothing to do with sending fake signals to the network.
The phone queries the SIM. If the SIM returns the correct code for the lock the phone will work. If not, it will display an error message.
All the SIMable does, as far as I can tell, is returns a "Yes, yes I am a valid SIM for your lock" code - even when it isn't. The phone accepts this "unlock" and connects to the network.
The phone belongs to you. The SIM is probably the property of your network provider. You have a contract with your network provider. There are very few networks which won't let you roam any device on to them. Why should they care which phone you've got or to which network it's "locked".
I fail to see anything even remotely dodgy about this. Phones are locked generally because they're subsidised. As long as, in the case of O2 and iPhone, you continue to pay your monthly fee - what's the problem.
If you've got a bunch of locked handsets - and it'll cost you ~£20 to unlock each of them - the SIMable is probably fairly cost effective.
As an aside, Vodafone - my corporate lords and masters - don't lock their contract handsets any more. If you've got an older handset, you can ring up for a free unlock code.
Terence, Thanks for the heads up and info. If what you say is true and knowing you personally, I suspect it might be the case. I think it's the iPhone Dev team being cautious and seeing this as a competitor to what they do (unlock the iPhone's software lock) and it's just a way to keep would be SIMable customers to themselves.
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