Activating Factory Unlocked Iphone 3G

[boogy12]

Hello everyone,

Im thinking of buying a factory unlocked iphone 3G...my question is, do i have to activate it with the sim card it came with first to start using it?

also, with those phones upgrading to 2.2 and the new baseband should be no problem unless i want to jailbreak it down the road right?

and one final question, I have no itunes store in my country...will it work if i buy one of those prepaid credit cards from a country that has an itunes store and use it then recharge it every once in a while?

Thanks in advance.. and happy holidays

 

[ellsworth]

Lets see if I can accurately answer some of these questions for you:

"do i have to activate it with the sim card it came with first to start using it?"
If you go the "Pwnage" Route: you should be able to jailbreak and activate iPhone 3G. Until the end of the month: New Years Eve, you can only use the sim card it came with for American 3G iphones. I believe you're in another country so that's really hard to say. If you're phone is unlocked from the factory doesn't that mean you have other options for choosing a carrier?

"also, with those phones upgrading to 2.2 and the new baseband should be no problem unless i want to jailbreak it down the road right?"

If you jailbreak your phone, you should never upgrade the phone until checking out this forum or checking out the Dev-Team's Blog. Just about every time Apple releases an updated firmware, it gets rid of the jailbreak on your phone. Using the Pwnage tool properly will allow your baseband to be alright.

"and one final question, I have no itunes store in my country...will it work if i buy one of those prepaid credit cards from a country that has an itunes store and use it then recharge it every once in a while?"

I believe itunes is regulated based on where you live. Since I live in America, I can't access Canada's itunes store or any other countries itunes store. Many times, the UK'er have some really cool apps that only they can have and we can't. If you buy a itunes charged card from another country, I doubt you'll be able to use it. Since you don't have an itunes store in your country, what happens when you open up itunes and click on the app store button or the shop button?

Hope this helps out some. Good luck

 

[boogy12]

The phone is factory unlocked (from australia)...so i guess any sim card i insert in it will work right away..(i hope)

and I am not planning on jailbreaking it...unless the app store problem is not solved soon (im in jordan...we should be getting the app store soon since we got the iphone 3G last week...) so i guess ill be upgrading to 2.2 if we get an app store then

oh and when i click the app store button i get the US app store cuz my computer was bought from the US...but there is an option to change countries..so i was thinking maybe it will work if i change to a neighboring country...buy itunes cards from there...and get apps normally....

 

[bmms8]

how much was the factory unlocked iPhone if you don't mind?

 

[boogy12]

$950 from dubai...Its a lot i know but ive been saving up...plus it comes up to the same price as getting the locked one and paying monthly fees for a year...

The problem we're having here in jordan is that the 3G license is gonna go to only one of our two major providers (Orange and zain) and the iphone is provided by orange so if down the road zain gets the 3G license, and it probably will cuz its the biggest company in jordan, then u're stuck with a locked iphone with no 3G capabilities...

any ideas on the app store problem? and i guess as ellsworth said, no activation is necessary right?

 

[ignus graius]

any ideas on the app store problem? and i guess as ellsworth said, no activation is necessary right?

So I trust someone will inform me if this is against forum policy, but you don't have to have a credit card to open an iTunes account for a particular country... just an email address.

All you have to do is attempt to download a free app in whichever store you desire an account. As long as you're trying to download a free app you won't have to enter a credit card #, just an address.

The best part is that the same account can then be used to download free songs from that other country's page.

 

[KidneyMerchant]

^ I don't think that works anymore. I've tried and failed.

 

[ignus graius]

^ I don't think that works anymore. I've tried and failed.

I just watched someone do this five minutes ago for the Netherlands store. As long as you're trying to download a free app, you'll have the option of choosing "None" when it comes time to enter payment information. This "None" option is only available when you attempt to download a free app; if you try the same thing with a free song you won't have the "None" option at the time of entering payment information.

 

[boogy12]

Im trying to do it that way but itunes gives me a message that my account isn't set up to use the itunes store...it then takes me to my account information where i have to enter a valid credit card and address for that country...am i doing something wrong?

P.S. I ended up getting the locked iphone...figured its safer for the warranty and all...

 

[ignus graius]

Im trying to do it that way but itunes gives me a message that my account isn't set up to use the itunes store...it then takes me to my account information where i have to enter a valid credit card and address for that country...am i doing something wrong?

I think my friend created a completely different email address for this purpose. When signed out completely, click to download a free app--you'll then be asked to sign into an iTunes account or create one. When you go to create an account, you'll have the option of either entering a credit card number or choosing "None."

 

[boogy12]

Worked like a charm....thanks a lot, appreciate your help...now all i have to do is wait for the app store to be available here