Hasta La Gadget!

It was great while it lasted, but the days of users legally unlocking their own phones is over. Back in October of last year, the Library of Congress added an exemption to the DMCA to allow folks to free their new phones for 90 days. That three month window has now closed. Of course, carriers are still free to offer unlocked handsets themselves, and some will also unlock them for you as long as certain conditions are met. “Legacy” or used handsets purchased before today can still be unlocked without any finger-wagging from federal courts.

So, what does this mean exactly? Well, Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Mitch Stoltz told us, “What’s happening is not that the Copyright Office is declaring unlocking to be illegal, but rather that they’re taking away a shield that unlockers could use in court if they get sued.” This does make lawsuits much more likely according to him, but it’s still up to the courts to decide the actual legality of phone unlocking. Indeed, it’s a grim day for those who want true freedom over their own devices. Stoltz said to us, “This shows just how absurd the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is: a law that was supposed to stop the breaking of digital locks on copyrighted materials has led to the Librarian of Congress trying to regulate the used cellphone market.”

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Via: Tech News Daily

Source: Library of Congress (Amazon)

T-Mobile USA isn’t just happy to have an official deal with Apple in place; it’s ready to crow about the fans who’ve already signed up. CEO John Legere told those at a Citi conference that his carrier is activating 100,000 new iPhones every month, despite many of those users still having to chase down an unlocked model and forgo 3G until T-Mobile’s spectrum refarming comes their way. That rate mate be accelerating — there’s 1.9 million total iPhone customers on Magenta’s network, or 200,000 more since they were last counted on December 6th. Legere wasn’t about to predict how that statistic would change once T-Mobile was clear to sell Apple gear in an official capacity; something tells us, however, that the rate won’t exactly slow down.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, T-Mobile

Comments

Source: TmoNews

If you’re soon to be in the market for a new smartphone and you’re looking for an unlocked device that you won’t have to stick with a contract for, BLU Products’ Vivo 4.65 HD might be perfect for you.

This smartphone has a large 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display promising HD resolution. The processor inside the device is a dual core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 and the smartphone supports 3G/HSPA connectivity. The phone also features 1 GB of integrated RAM. Other hardware features include an eight-megapixel autofocus camera that can record HD resolution video. The device will ship with the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system. The smartphone also supports dual SIM cards allowing both to be active and receive calls at the same time.

The unlocked Blu Vivo 4.65 HD smartphone will be available in major US retailers in January 2013 at a price of $299.99(USD). While it definitely doesn’t have top-of-the-line specs, it sounds like a good deal if you want to avoid a phone contract.

It’s that special time of the year… that is, when Apple decides to unfetter the iPhone for US shoppers. The Cupertino crew has quietly started selling the iPhone 5 in an unlocked, off-contract form that will work on GSM, HSPA+ and (if you’re in the right countries) LTE networks. There’s few surprises versus what we’ve seen in years past, or in other regions: the unlocked iPhone 5 ships in the same capacities and colors as the carrier-bound model, and starts from $649. That’s still expensive for those still used to buying on an agreement, and it won’t represent as much bang-for-the-buck as a $350 Nexus 4. If you’re yearning for the LTE the Nexus 4 lacks and don’t mind living in an iOS universe, however, Apple is ready and waiting.

Update: Apple doesn’t explicitly say which LTE bands this iPhone covers, although its sharing a similar core part number with the Canadian unlocked variant (MD293) suggests it might be the A1428, which offers LTE on AT&T and Canadian carriers. We’re working to confirm this, but we wouldn’t count on LTE beyond North America.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple

Comments

Via: AppleInsider

Source: Apple

Digging the idea of picking up an Atrix HD, but bummed about that whole “locked bootloader” situation? Problem solved. Motorola has just introduced the Atrix HD Developer Edition, which offers up the exact same specifications as the original, but allows near infinite customizations thanks to an unlockable bootloader. For the laypeople in attendance, that allows tinkerers to install custom ROMs on the phone without any additional hackeration, thus giving them to power to overhaul Android’s look and feel in a major way. As of now, Moto’s not talking pricing or release, but you can follow the source link to sign up for updates. (Oh, and if you’re hoping for a quick turnaround, don’t even think about looking at how long it took the Galaxy S III Developer Edition to finally go on sale.)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Motorola reveals Atrix HD Developer Edition, highlights unlockable bootloader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Motorola  | Email this | Comments