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iPhones sold in Japan cannot...

daihard

daihard

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 19, 2008
973
7
Seattle, WA
iPhones sold in Japan cannot have the camera shutter sound turned off. Even though you activate the silent mode, taking a picture will still produce the shutter sound.

I don't live there or have one of those "special" iPhones so it doesn't affect me. OTOH, the curious mind cannot help but wonder... is it done on the hardware level, or on the OS level? If the latter, how does Apple make sure an iPhone bound for Japan will always get the version of iPhone OS with this limitation built-in, no matter where it is used?

Any ideas, feedback, suggestions... they would all be appreciated!
 
Probably software that looks at the provider (and if it's an official Japanese provider) enables the sound. Unlike Nokia, apple has the sense to limit this "feature" to only the country that requires it not all Asian countries.
 
garethjs said:
Probably software that looks at the provider (and if it's an official Japanese provider) enables the sound. Unlike Nokia, apple has the sense to limit this "feature" to only the country that requires it not all Asian countries.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

That makes sense. I guess they can figure out who the carrier is by looking at the carrier file or something like that. Yes, I realize this "feature" is for Japan only.
 
daihard said:
iPhones sold in Japan cannot have the camera shutter sound turned off. Even though you activate the silent mode, taking a picture will still produce the shutter sound.
Click to expand...
I recall reading a news story a while back where some lawmakers in the US were considering the same thing because of perverts taking their cameras into bathrooms and such. By forcing the sound they thought they'd be able to reduce such incidents. Not sure if that's true or not (reduction of incidents). I don't know what happened to that talk, it seemed to have petered out for some reason. I guess it didn't peter out in Japan.

I guess apple is doing this via the carrier file, and I'm sure there's ways to get around this. I haven't really given it any thought, partly because I don't live in Japan and partly because I don't care :p
 
Apple's product IDs might have a location code, or some other code in the phone will have it, and the OS will check for this code and if it's Japanese it will enable the camera sound thing.
 
We need several volunteers to test this out:
1) One volunteer should have a non-Japanese iPhone, still locked to their original carrier and using their original carrier's SIM card. They should travel to Japan and use the iPhone whilst roaming internationally with their home carrier. Take some pictures to see if the shutter sound can be muted. In all probability, the shutter sound will still be mutable, but it is possible that some other magic is going on to identify the underlying physical network and apply the rule anyway.

2) Another volunteer should also travel to Japan with a non-Japanese iPhone, unlocked by unofficial means, and use a local prepaid SIM card from an official Japanese carrier. Take some pictures and see whether the camera can be muted.

3) A third volunteer should travel to Japan with an officially factory-unlocked iPhone, and use a local prepaid SIM card. Try taking some pictures with it.

I have no plans to travel to Japan any time soon. Any other volunteers? :D
 
goosnarrggh said:
We need several volunteers to test this out:
1) One volunteer should have a non-Japanese iPhone, still locked to their original carrier and using their original carrier's SIM card. They should travel to Japan and use the iPhone whilst roaming internationally with their home carrier. Take some pictures to see if the shutter sound can be muted. In all probability, the shutter sound will still be mutable, but it is possible that some other magic is going on to identify the underlying physical network and apply the rule anyway.

2) Another volunteer should also travel to Japan with a non-Japanese iPhone, unlocked by unofficial means, and use a local prepaid SIM card from an official Japanese carrier. Take some pictures and see whether the camera can be muted.

3) A third volunteer should travel to Japan with an officially factory-unlocked iPhone, and use a local prepaid SIM card. Try taking some pictures with it.

I have no plans to travel to Japan any time soon. Any other volunteers? :D
Click to expand...

Or someone with a jailbroken iPhone can see what there is relating to camera sounds in the plists and such :p
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. :)

I have gotten to talk to a guy who has two iPhones - one bought in Japan and the other bought here. He has tried numerous things to see if he can disable the shutter sound on the Japanese-bound iPhone, including changing the carrier files, to no avail. :eek:

His suspicion is that the code is embedded in the iPhone's ROM and cannot be easily overwritten.
 
Does it play the sound through the headphones when they are plugged in, or is it only through the internal speaker (or both)?
fr0
 
Ill take my 3GS jailbroken UK bought iPhone and test it out (later on).

I suspect its inside the firmware based on seeing "softbank" or something like that as the carrier.
 
fr0 said:
Does it play the sound through the headphones when they are plugged in, or is it only through the internal speaker (or both)?
fr0
Click to expand...

That's a good question. Given the nature of the original issue, I am pretty sure the shutter sound plays through the speaker whether or not the iPhone has headphones plugged in. I'll ask the guy about it.
 
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