Gizmodo Australia » unlocked

HTC Hero: Unlocked At Harvey Norman For $799

Nick Broughall — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:47:32 +0000

Yesterday afternoon, the folks at HTC finally announced the Aussie release of the HTC Hero and HTC Tattoo. The good news? They’re being sold unlocked through Harvey Norman for $799 and $599 respectively. The bad news? That means you’ll have to find your own contract with a data plan, which isn’t necessarily the easiest thing in the world.

Both phones only work on the 900/2100MHz HSPA networks, which means you’re on Voda or Optus (and not Telstra like we heard), unless you’re happy sitting on 2G speeds. The Tattoo will also let you buy custom body cases for $30 from Garskin.

The lack of a carrier partner means that there won’t be any over-the-air software updates, which probably won’t phase too many Optus Dream owners. And while that price is a bit more expensive than getting an unlocked version from overseas, HTC were quick to point out that you won’t get a proper Australian warranty if you grey import.

For everyone who has been waiting for the Hero to launch in Australia, what do you think about this launch strategy? Is selling it unlocked a good or bad move on HTC’s part?

$US800 Gets You a Never-Locked Overseas iPhone From Buy.com

Jason Chen — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:11:39 +0000

Buy.com seems to be buying iPhones from foreign countries where it hasn’t been locked down to a specific carrier, then selling them in the US for $US800.

The sales description says that these phones work fine with software updates—something software unlocks don’t—but your instructions may come in a language that’s not English. That’s a small price to pay for an unlocked iPhone. A big price to pay? $US800. [Buy via 9to5Mac]

SIM- and Hardware-Unlocked G1 Available to Developers (or You) for $400

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:00:00 +0000

The Android Dev Phone 1, a totally unlocked G1, is available to “developers” for only $US399 after paying a small setup fee. Just register as a developer over at the Android Market and the phone is yours.

Registration as a developer at the Market costs $US25, but after that, you’re eligible for the cheap, unlocked goodness. The Android Dev Phone 1 is fully compatible with Android 1.0, and being able to swap out the SIM card effectively breaks the yoke of T-Mobile’s not-so-widespread service. It’ll also let you flash custom Android builds that work with the newly unlocked bootloader. The phone even ships for free with fancy detailing on the back. Google warns that it’s not really meant for non-developers, but we’re sure that won’t stop even the least adventurous Googler. [Google and Engadget]

Apple Not Selling Unlocked iPhones In Australia

Nick Broughall — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:30:25 +0000

You know how we showed you that Apple were selling unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong? Not happening in Australia.

According to Fran Foo over at Australian IT, Apple are more than happy with the relationship they have offering the phone through Telstra, Optus, Virgin and Vodafone.

So if you do want an unlocked iPhone, you still have to pony up the cash to one of the carriers before you can unlock it (for a fee) so that it will work with any carrier. Or you could just jailbreak the thing and be done with it – whatever you want…

[Australian IT]

Officially Unlocked iPhones On Sale at Hong Kong Apple Store

Kit Eaton — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:47:00 +0000

Check out the Hong Kong Apple store online and you’ll see a couple of lines of text that’ll tempt, tease and beguile you if you’re dreaming of an unlocked iPhone 3G: “iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.” About $US700 will get you an unlocked 8GB version, and the 16GB is just $US800. Handy for the dev team, no doubt. [Hong Kong Apple Store via Slashphone]