Er... Hmmm. Note the "Windows Mobile" jacket:

Let's see: a company is importing those devices into the country, and even though people are buying an iPod with phone, they can't connect it directly to the local GSM (for now) operator Vodafone New Zealand. Why? Because it's locked to AT&T's network in the U.S.

So the options are:

a) buy an iPhone and use it as an iPod only and browse the Internet through Wi-Fi (which is not available everywhere you know) therefore having an iPhone without the phone, or

b) buy an iPhone and use it as an iPhone but with an AT&T number, paying to roaming fees to place and receive phone calls, paying four times the normal SMS prices and forcing your friends to place long distance international calls to reach you on an American number (did I mention you'd be paying to receive those calls as well?)

Now, what the article (and the importer) fails to mentions is that AT&T policy is that if the network detects more than four months of usage outside their "home" location, the cellular connection is cut:

An obliging customer service agent explained that if AT&T's computer sees four months of chitchatting in Alaska (or elsewhere out of AT&T coverage area), service will be automatically canceled.

But if you call AT&T ahead of time and explain to them that you'll be on an extended trip, you can avoid service termination -- at least for a little while.

In a second phone call, Siegel testily confirmed the four-month figure.

The importer also conrfuses EDGE with GPRS: "Surfing via wireless broadband network is fast; web access via EDGE on Vodafone is much slower" but fail to let users know that there's no Vodafone EDGE network in New Zealand, it's all GPRS - and patchy performance as we know. Of course the New Zealand Herald doesn't mention this in the article either.

In the meantime, kiwis could look for the cheap Chinese knock off on Trade Me, the tPhone.

lduncan:

Who's willing to pay $1000 for a (surprisingly poor) Chinese ripoff? With the dollar where it is, a real iPhone is less expensive.

lduncan: Doesn't it irritate you when you see reporters commenting on things they clearly have done little to no research on, and don't understand.

Who's willing to pay $1000 for a (surprisingly poor) Chinese ripoff? With the dollar where it is, a real iPhone is less expensive.

There has been a breakthough in the hacking attempt in the last few days.

The team have got a basic toolchain working (interestingly it uses llmv-gcc) and have compiled and successfully run a "Hello World" application.

The last component is breaking the SIM lock (the really hard part). They know how to send the unlock code to the cellular baseband, but they suspect after 3-10 attempts at entering a unlock code, the phone will be hard locked to at&t. So they need to be able to generate a valid network control key.

So close, yet so far...