This sounds fishy as the end of day clean out at the fish markets. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a 17 year old has become the licensee for the iPhone software unlock from the US (that has been demo’ed as legit, but has yet to sell due to the companies legal fears).
This kid only spoke to the paper on condition of anonymity. All we know is he’s a schoolboy from Mildura. Huh? He’s taking $59 a pop from Australian’s to pre-order the software and he won’t actually tell us who he is? You can only order through his website that looks as dodgy as a vi@kgra reseller.
Mate, if you read Giz – hope you do – come clean and act like a legit business. And if I were you, I’d be charging more… or you’re going to burn out in a flash and give no extended service should the unlock be killed by an Apple software update.
UPDATE (Sat 12:57): I’ve had an email exchange with Angus, and I’m finding out more about the guy. This isn’t his first gadget biz and it does sound like he’s got things under control. Seems pretty cool. So read on for a rant I no longer stand by… except the part about iPhone unlockers being itchy pants gadget fiends… At least use some third-party to genuinely verify who you are and that people will see something for their $59. Right now you stink, and with today’s sexy new iPods I hope a lot more Aussies will be happy to go for a touch, or just wait it out ’til a bona fide local iPhone, with all features intact plus 3G capabilities, arrives. This software unlock could be undone in a flash by an iPhone software update from Apple, and these guys admit that readily. All they can say is that they’ll try to update the unlock should such occur. A quick calculation puts the margins for this local boy at around $12 a license. That’s a lot of work to follow up with every user for very little gain. I wouldn’t be surprised to see his service close after selling a few batches of software. I hope you prove me wrong, mate, but if it was my business I’d either be charging more or not bothering.
If you can’t wait for the real thing or a free software unlock to launch, then caveat emptor, you itchy pants gadget fiends.
[Aussie iPhone unlock]