iPhone 3.0 Released | Hacker News Reader

iPhone 3.0 Released

apple.com

68 pointsmarkbao25 comments

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Ars Technica has their usual thorough review here:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/06/hands-on-review...

The iPhone 3.0 SDK is public now as well. I'm downloading it now.

Is anyone else's update failing with "The iPhone activation server is temporarily unavailable."?

Yes. I am too.

Fourth time rebooting, finally got activated.

No need for rebooting, just keep trying.

Yes, everyone's is: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=iphone+activation+server.

If you start the update, and then while it is extracting, disconnect your Internet connection, the update process doesn't try to contact the activation server.

http://twitter.com/JeremyCurry/statuses/2211487905

(I'm confirming that this works)

Now, all I need is PwnageTool/QuickPwn.

I'm an iPhone 3G customer in the States (AT&T), but I'm in Japan at the moment, roaming on either Softbank or NTT Docomo, depending on the particulars of my location. It's not clear to me exactly what the activation process does after an upgrade; does it need access to the home carrier's mobile network, or does everything happen over the Internet? Anyone know whether upgrading to 3.0 from a foreign country brick the phone until I get back to the U.S.?

I'm in same situation. Did you figure it out?

No, not yet. Earlier today Apple's activation servers were down, and people got around it by disconnecting from the Internet while updating the firmware; apparently this bypasses the Internet part of the activation at least, c.f.,

http://twitter.com/JeremyCurry/statuses/2211487905

(This workaround was verified by multiple people on Twitter and on HN, see other posts in this thread.) So it sounds like there is a portion of the activation that happens over the Internet, but I don't know whether there's also a carrier wireless network activation.

I just upgraded to 3.0 from my hotel room in Osaka and it worked fine. I put the phone into airplane mode before upgrading, but after the firmware update finished, it was out of airplane mode and communicating with the Softbank mobile network again, so I don't think it made any difference.

The iPhone 3.0 SDK GM seed has been available for a while now.

Finally!

I think I agree with the conclusion: If you already have an iPhone 3G, this update is more than good enough reason not to even consider a iPhone 3G S.

I agree, although I'd love to have the updated camera. Andy Ihnatko got to review it early, and he posted some pictures from it to Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/sets/72157619833958006/

His actual review is quite positive on the 3G S:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1626818,ihnatko-iphone-3-re...

I tend to feel like I'm waiting for my iPhone slightly more often, and I'm already bumping my head against 16GB of storage, so I'm sorely tempted - especially now that AT&T has relaxed slightly on the iPhone contract timing.

How have they relaxed on iPhone contract timing? An upgrade to a 32GB iPhone is $399, if you qualify for early upgrade and $699 if you don't!

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/17/atandt-relents-a-little-l...

(I probably should have said "upgrade timing" and not "contract timing". Either way, my full-subsidy upgrade date is July 12th, so I could pick one up for $299 on Friday.)

Well, AT&T posted a page today about the pricing specifics, for those who were confused. No one can really figure out if it's any different from before:

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574

It appears there's a half-subsidy upgrade price of $499 between the $299 full-subsidy and $699 no-commitment price. Eligibility seems to be 1 year after your last subsidy.

If you spend a lot monthly, you might be eligible for a full subsidy at 12- or 18- months rather than the full two years' time.

And, it might even be possible to pay a smaller cancellation fee (perhaps $125-$175), then return as a full-subsidy new customer. One rep I spoke to a while ago seemed to see no problems with that approach.

Finally, an old phone may fetch $200-$300 without a contract.

So the net costs aren't as scary as $699 with a little extra effort.

I have the 3G and I'm considering the 3G S for the improved camera, the video and as a bonus, the improved performance. I also only have an 8 gig 3G, and I'm starting to want more room.

smart to wait for a couple of days to weed out any bugs, it's what I plan to do.

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