My wife has a similar situation, except her iPhone3 is unlocked, but the only sim card she could find worked until the minutes ran out and she couldn't add more time to it. Where did you get your sim card?

tanstaafl.

My SIM card came from the local AT&T owned wireless store, zero hassle, zero questions about a phone. Additional credit is added to it via www.paygonline.com, I think a $100 credit will keep the account active for 365 days.

I guess it depends on what neighborhood you're in and how you ask. Maybe if you use the term "burner" some people will know what you're talking about. Or "prepaid" - available at 7-11 among other similar locations.

I'm willing to bet that every drug dealer in the US has at least one such phone if not three or four. Dozen.

I can almost guarantee that's what you do. I'm comfortable enough that I would easily bet money on it.

While other names providers won't have a subsidized iPhone for sale to lock customer to their network, they'll be more than happy to sign you up for service with your own phone. I've never heard of anyone turning away a customer bringing their own compatible phone in the US or Canada.

Also, locked phones may work (all I've tried have worked) on the network they're locked to, generally even through an MVNO, including with PayAsYouGo or any other plan. Phones can be network locked, not simply provider/brand locked which they'd do with a SIM lock for GSM. And definitely not plan locked. It's just when you buy new you're usually restricted to a set of specific plans - but even there you have wiggle room sometimes as long as you're committing to an equivalent contract term.

Up here that means SpeakOut Wireless and Petro Canada (MVNOs) work with ROgers network, etc.

Oddly, it looks like the CDMA portion of the phone is not usable unless sold with Verizon or Sprint service. Perhaps it may even be disabled on unlocked and European phones?

Rob, that footnote is about the iPhone 4, so it might not apply to the 4S or it's an oversight they weren't more specific.

The unlocked iPhone 4 is GSM-only. From what I gather they will also sell the CDMA-only iPhone through Verizon and Sprint, which is locked.

Everything in the keynote indicated the 4S would be "world" capable which implies fully functioning CDMA and GSM radios compatible with all CDMA and GSM carriers using the same frequencies. At least when sold in an unlocked state.

I don't think it's been made clear yet if the 4S is actually carrier locked at all, or if it's only carrier locked on the radio which your current carrier uses, or if it's carrier locked only within the country you bought it in, etc.

Ah, I see now. I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

My speculation was incorrect. I've found clearer language on the specs page:



So it appears that the only "world" phone is one originally activated on a CDMA network. Now the question is whether the GSM radio is unlocked on such phones. If it's not, I'd argue a serious case of false advertising and that the phone is not in any way a world phone. They shouldn't be advertising it as such anyway because of this restriction.

I'm having a hard time coming up with any reasoning for this move since I can't imagine they're actually producing two SKUs of a phone with otherwise identical specs. From what I understand they've standardized on the new chip that does both CDMA/GSM, so the difference would only be in the baseband software.

It may be something to do with SIM usage. Possibly the CDMA carriers issue SIMs that doesn't do CDMA authentication (that bit being done by another set of IDs which are not stored in the SIM) - the SIMs they issue only being for GSM roaming.

It'd make it harder for a general phone to roam onto CDMA if there are no suitable credentials in the SIM.

However, I managed to avoid CDMA when I was at apple and so don't know the technicalities of this. I've not seen any world-phone providing GSM carriers talking about their phones roaming onto CDMA either though.

Huh? Where are you at now, and when did that change??

Thx!

I left back in May, and went to the Google chrome team. However, that didn't work out for a few reasons and I'm working on my own startup now.

Can't say much more about it apart from it's something that's needed doing properly for many years, and we are doing it properly

Yay a new in car mp3 player

Wait, you're running the U.S. Government? That seems a bit outside of your normal skillset . . .

This is all too much like the hitchhiker's guide and the guy who actually runs the universe

According to these guys, Jobs' death was simply marketing genius at work. Disrespectful of both the living and the dead.

http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/articles...-steve-jobs.htm

It's a stupid article, and they do say seem to imply that the increased sales had an emotional push, but I don't think they're coming off as badly as you say they are.

My thoughts are that his death did draw a great deal of attention to the launch. Do you think that didn't contribute a little to the sales? It's not offensive to observe a cause and effect.

But I think that the biggest contributor to the sales numbers was the longer time between product releases, thus bringing people closer to their contract renewal periods, so in that way I disagree with the starting hypothesis of the article.

I think that one part of the reason for the iPhone success and large 4S preorders is how Apple is focused a little differently then some of the other vendors. Right from the start, Apple didn't just aim at the smartphone market, or the enterprise market. They aimed at the phone market as a whole. It was very clear messaging from day one, this is a phone for everyone. Not a push e-mail device aimed initially at businesses (Blackberry), or the classic IT smartphone (Windows Mobile 6 and below/ Palm Trio). Android reaimed at the consumer prior to launch, but after the iPhone and with a weaker initial start.

The upcoming quarterly results should be interesting, since it will have numbers on how many iPhone 4 sold during the "dead" quarter when everyone was anticipating a new iPhone 5. My hunch is that it was still one of the better iPhone quarters in the history of the product.

That would imply that iPhone 4 sales were dropping up to the release of the new model, when in fact the opposite is true. Remember that the new product was expected for WWDC and sales up until that point had also been on the rise with a record quarter.

It always amazes me that people come up with these elaborate theories and explanations. Can't it be as simple as the iPhone is a well-liked product by a large number of people? Yeah, I suppose that's preposterous. The iPhone can't possibly do as well as it has been simply because it's a great product.

I don't think Jobs's death had any bearing whatsoever on iPhone 4S sales.

Both you and Tom seem to be applying my comments to all prior iPhones for some reason, even though I didn't say anything to imply that. I was only talking about the 4S.

Yes, it could be because the 4S a great product, but why is this phone selling so many MORE units than others did? The average consumer doesn't see it as a major update because it looks the same. They don't know about A4 vs A5 (aside from "it's one better, right?"), and while Siri is cool, I doubt any of them really understand it all that well.

Tech-friendly people like us might understand the advantages of the phone's new features, and I'm suggesting that the longer period between device releases played a factor in the significantly larger sales growth.


You're still taking this too personally. It's not his death that increased sales, it was the coverage his death received. It was front page news all over the country. The networks interrupted shows like Jeopardy to announce the news, give a quick summary of the man's life, and briefly mention things like "...Apple, which announced their new iPhone this week..." You honestly don't think that drew attention to the product?

I'm sure the 4S would have sold just as well or better than the 4 did over the same time span, because the smartphone market is growing as a whole. I was merely trying to speculate why this model was selling beyond what might have been expected, considering it's not the leap in design that some people - justified or not - might expect.


You seem to be hearing all my statements as "if Jobs hadn't died Apple would have sold 200 units of the iPhone 4S." I never said anything of the sort.

The simple answer as far as the UK is concerned is that those people who bought the 3GS on contract (probably 18 or 24 month as that is what most phone operators were offering) will now be out of contract or in the "we want to retain" you period at the end of a contract, they will be accounting for a large proportion of sales.

I don't know the average length of a contract in the US, so I can't really comment about your side of the pond.

I am due for a new phone due to my contract being up (I have a 3GS) and I was waiting for the new phone to come out because of this. I actually have decided not to but a new one because I'm perfectly happy with my phone and I don't want to shell out the cash at this time (even with a contract, I'd still have to pay to get a big enough phone to contain my music library).

You read into things too much My comments were intentionally both about the 4S and the iPhone in general. Too many people seem to be tied up in the nitty gritty details, instead of looking at the complete picture. In general, iPhones are continuing to rise in popularity, and this means whatever current model is going to be what sells more then previous models*. This is why I pointed out the 5% marketshare graph. There is 95% of the mobile phone market sitting as potential iPhone switchers.

If I had to guess looking at the 4S only, it may be partially influenced by the availability on Sprint. Their customers seem to have a bit more loyalty to the carrier first, and were likely less inclined to switch to Verizon or AT&T.

*Though now having an iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S for sale may complicate this a bit.

The story has been the same for previous iPhones, but I'm not attributing your comments to those versions. I'm just saying that for all versions, there have always been these elaborate explanations - or better yet, excuses. I'm also not saying that you're the one making them up.



Many possible reasons. The iPhone now has more than 4.5 years of press and marketing behind it, therefore greater public awareness, both in the US and globally. It's now available on the three largest carriers in the US versus just ATT only a year ago. The new model is twice as fast as the previous model and blows away all handhelds for graphics abilities. There are more apps today than ever before, with many getting some good press. You can talk TO your phone! And it answers back. That's huge.



Totally incorrect, in my experience. The average consumer only knows that it looks as good today as it did yesterday. The iPhone 4 physical design is the pinnacle of mobile handset design. The iPhone 4 was already the best selling handset model. Now you have a new release that looks just as good. Most of the people I know are not techno junkies by any stretch of the imagination. However, when Apple releases a new iPhone, I'll usually get hit up for info from most of them. These people seem to be up to date about iPhones and iPads, but that's as far as it goes. Never once have I heard anyone complain about a new iPhone looking too much like an older one.



I think "you can talk to your phone" is pretty easy to understand. By your reasoning, Porsche should/could have failed long ago because all their cars have essentially always looked the same. I do agree that the subtle details of the new offering will be lost on most people initially - that goes for some tech pundits as well however. But I maintain that the iPhone is a huge draw without knowing the secrets to every feature.



But that only works if you also suppose that iPhone 4 purchasing slowed or was otherwise being held back. Because if it wasn't, it either means new customers or people buying multiple phones. Neither case supports the delay theory.



I know what you meant, you don't need to explain that part to me. Any press is good press, but the iPhone 4, even without the extra press attributable to Jobs' death, was going to get covered on the front page of everything in the world.



I don't think it had any bearing on anyones decision to buy the phone, no.




Apple isn't in the smartphone market however. As Tom pointed out, they're simply in the mobile handset market. And they have a lot of room to grow.



I do suppose some people weren't expecting it. But a lot of people, myself included, were. iPhone 4 was already the top handset, there was little to no reason to think the 4S would be any different. Coupled with wider availability it would no doubt sell in higher quantities.



That last most significant leap in mobile handsets was in 2007 when Apple showed the original iPhone. This device is immensely significant because of the voice recognition, but it pales in comparison to the revolutionary introduction of the original, yes. But everything needs to be looked at in context. No other mobile product has had even a fraction of the significance since 2007.



I know you've echoed what had already been expressed by a number of other sources, but I was commenting on much of the press coverage in recent years. There's always some angle, some convoluted theory, about why the iPhone does well. While Jobs was alive it was some magic mind-control he had over "iFans" now that he's dead it's sadness that's driving people to take out their wallets. Or it's the extra 3 months on the release schedule compared to previous versions - everyone has just been waiting for the 4S and not buying phones all summer. And now that the 4S is here, even though it's a let-down, they're all climbing all over themselves to buy it.

One random data point: my father has a 3GS and is looking for what to do next. I'm pushing him to wait until Android 4.0 and the new Samsung Nexus Prime whatever phone are announced. He's ready to buy something right now and it bugs him no end that he has to wait some unspecified time between now and the end of the month to make a decision.

Does he like the 3GS? If so, tell him he should pre-order a 4S. It's going to please him to no end. Android just isn't going to cut it unless he is already dissatisfied with iPhone/iOS.

In the meantime, he can update that 3GS to iOS 5 to see if he likes the new additions/changes to the OS. I'm personally waiting for an untethered jailbreak before I press the update button.

So here's the latest "world phone" info from everything I've been able to source, including official statements from Sprint and Verizon.

Sprint have debunked a rumor stating their phones would have an unlocked GSM SIM slot. Their phones will come with a SIM and the phone will be locked to that SIM. A so-called "roaming SIM" that will be used when you're traveling, the same way an ATT SIM would be used.

Sprint will not be unlocking phones and further claim that the SIM is non-removable. I doubt this last part, but have no reason to doubt that the phone is fully locked down. Quite possibly forever.

Verizon claim that they will "international unlock" any phone, including the iPhone, after 60 days have passed of "good standing" on your account. There is no way this unlocked state will work with other carriers in the US. Their phones may also be forever locked out of using other US carriers.

Buying a Sprint or Verizon phone gives you the possibility that one day it *may* be unlocked for GSM/UTMS , but it will always be locked to the original CDMA provider. There has been no news to indicate you will ever be able to move a specific phone between Sprint and Verizon's CDMA networks.

Clearly, buying an UNLOCKED iPhone 4S from Apple is not the same thing as buying a Sprint or Verizon phone, whether they unlock at a future date or not. The factory-unlocked phones do not have any CDMA capabilities. You will never be able to use them on Sprint, Verizon or any other CDMA carrier in the world. They are strictly GSM/UTMS phones, the same as iPhone 4. The Sprint/Verizon phones may never be able to use other US-based networks at all. As far as I know, there is no mandate to force carriers to provide unlocking capability/service.

EDITED: Sprint re-states SIM slot usability. John Gruber posts image of Sprint phone with ejected SIM:

http://daringfireball.net/misc/2011/10/sprint-sim.jpg

All of this is why I'm just going to wait for people to get the unlocked ones in November and report hands on experience. The photo and what even Sprint reps are saying doesn't fully line up yet, so lots of bad/misinformation out there already.

It's too bad that Google's own voice recognition feature gets such short shrift in the press. For fun, I just spoke "open the Pod bay doors, Hal" to my phone and it offered to redirect me to the IMDB page with quotes from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Not bad, eh?

That appears to be the "I'm Feeling Lucky" result for that Google search. I think what elevates Siri in attention (beyond being tied to Apple and the associated brand hype) is the attempt to go beyond recognition and into conversational interactions with a computer using natural language.