Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2007/08/29/iphone_unlocking_video/
UniquePhone answers sceptics with video
Really: we can unlock an iPhone
Posted in Networks, 29th August 2007 09:37 GMT
Belfast company UniquePhone has reacted to accusations that it can't really unlock Apple's iPhone by posting a four minute video showing someone apparently doing just that.
The company has reported receiving legal threats from AT&T, aimed at preventing it launching an iPhone unlocking service. Sceptics have claimed this is a smokescreen concealing the firm's inability to actually unlock the handset.
Our own comments page hosted a great deal of suspicion about the company, before descending into a debate on where the septics live.
Greg was typical: "Seems to me that these folks were saying weeks and weeks ago that they had a working unlock but couldn't prove it. Now some better authenticated unlocks are in the news, and suddenly they're being targeted by big bad AT&T?"
Some also asked why Apple would object to having the phone unlocked, which comes back to its 10 per cent revenue share and leverage with network operators. A European operator isn't going to agree to give Apple 10 per cent of everything they bill to iPhone customers, if they can supply (or recommend) unlocked iPhones keeping the money for themselves.
The blurred and shaky video; apparently shot on a Nokia N95 - but providing no endorsement for that device - seems to show someone unlocking an Apple iPhone and making a call.
The quality of the video is so poor that it's hard to make out what's going on, and one has to question the motivation of UniquePhone, given that it's unlikely to convince the sceptics who will point out, quite rightly, that it could easily have been faked.
While the video might well show someone unlocking an iPhone, it definitely shows the importance of a tripod when shooting video.®