Monday, July 2, 2007

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (5 сообщений)

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)  RSS  The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
http://www.tuaw.com
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  • Drudge: Universal Music will not renew iTunes contract

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    The Drudge Report has posted a newsflash claiming that Universal Music Group will not renew its annual iTunes contract. So what's going on? Hard negotiations? The recent EMI/iTunes Plus deal? Or maybe UMG just doesn't like earning a ton of money through iTunes? I'm not all that familiar with the Drudge Report and since no sources are cited I suspect this "flash" should be taken with a rather large grain of salt.

    Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

    Update: Pretty much confirmed by WSJ--Thanks Charles

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  • 5 Things You Might Not Know About an Unactivated iPhone

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    Not much I can do about my unactivated iPhone so here are a few things I've figured out while waiting for my iPhone to start working.

    1. The SIM number is listed on the box. You'll find both the SIM number (the subscriber identity module or ICCID) and the associated IMEI (the international mobile equipment identity) on the bottom of your iPhone box. They are the bottom-most two barcodes, left and right. The IMEI consists of 15 numbers that uniquely identifies your mobile phone. The SIM number is a 20-digit identity that allows you to access the AT&T network.

    2. You can display your SIM and IMEI numbers on the un-activated iPhone. Press the little "i" button on the main screen.

    3. Attaching peripherals to the unactivated iPhone's dock connector may produce odd effects. I attached speakers and it offered to put my iPhone in Airplane mode (not a good idea, by the way). TUAW reader Tim O. connected a Kensington Pico FM Transmitter and was able to access the iPod application.

    4. You can turn the iPhone off and on--but you probably don't want to. The press the sleep/wake and menu button trick works in terms of turning your iPhone off but it may have unpredictable results. Doing this (under instructions from the AT&T tech) apparently (but not provably) wiped my first SIM card.

    5. Tapping the screen keeps it awake before you can adjust those activation-required settings. This is particularly helpful when you're trying to read the ICCID and IMEI numbers off your screen to the AT&T tech.

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  • Prepaid iPhone in a Nutshell

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    After spending far too many hours trying to set up pre-paid iPhone directly with AT&T, I decided to take matters into my own hands this evening. Instead of trying to connect my newly provisioned AT&T account, I iSigned up using iTunes and entered 999-99-9999 as my social security number (as recommended by one of the more clueful AT&T people).

    Of course, this failed the credit check and I was offered the prepaid plan. I selected it, agreed to the terms, and pretty much 1-2-3, I was put into the activation queue. At this time, I'm getting the "Your activation requires additional time to complete"/"You will receive an email confirmation", but my iBrick has taken some major steps forward in its uselessness.

    Gallery: iPhone Prepaid Gallery

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  • Two possible fixes for iPhone activation problems

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    For those still stuck in iPhone activation limbo, we have a couple of tips and tricks might help you to get on your way. While these might not be sure-fire solutions for everyone, they sound general enough and have worked for at least two individuals, so they just might work for you as well.

    First up is a three-step process from Download Squad's Alex Hung which involves shuffling a couple of SIM cards around. After waiting far too long like so many others, Alex called AT&T who told him that the iPhone activation process involves two basic steps: the first is the SIM activation, while the second is some sort of iTunes verification process (if I had to guess, this is for Apple's records to keep track of who owns which phones and how many, since they get a cut of every AT&T iPhone contract). Like many others, Alex received the email that the SIM activation process had completed, but his iPhone still wasn't working. After a phone call and some clever deduction, here is Alex's trick that might help some of you get your iBricks to start working more like iPhones. Note, however, that this requires you to already be an AT&T customer with a Cingular or AT&T phone and SIM card separate from the iPhone:
    1. Assuming you've already gone through the initial activation process and are stuck somewhere in limbo like so many others, power down your iPhone and swap out the iPhone's SIM (outlined in this downloadable iPhone User Guide - your first search result in that document for "SIM" should do it) for the SIM from your old phone. Power the phone back on.
    2. Plug the iPhone back into iTunes to force a new activation process (every time you swap the iPhone's SIM, it will need to be plugged into iTunes and verified before your iPhone will work). Your activation might or might not work this second time around with your old SIM, but once you complete it, power the phone back down. Proceed to step 3.
    3. Swap out the SIM cards again and re-insert the SIM that originally came with your iPhone. For the heck of it, wait a minute or two before powering the iPhone back on. If all goes well, your new iPhone SIM and iTunes verification will have finally straightened out, allowing you to use your iPhone as Apple originally intended.
    You might have to power cycle the phone one more time (Alex did), as the iPhone might actually request you to do so, but this trick just might work for some of you. If it does, or if you have any modifications to the steps that ultimately get your iPhone up and running, please share in the comments. A catch with this method, however, is that we really aren't sure what will happen to your other activation requests if this trick actually succeeds. We also aren't sure whether this is a 'good' way to get your iPhone up and running, since you will technically be entering a second activation process into AT&T's (and possibly Apple's) systems, which could potentially cause more problems. If anyone knows something we don't about this trick, please share that in the comments as well and we'll be happy to update this post.

    The second method is detailed by Rogue Amoeba's Paul Kafasis on the company's blog. This one is a bit simpler, though potentially more time consuming: Paul essentially called a specific AT&T number (1-877-800-3701), selected the proper extension (#1) and waited 45 minutes until getting a representative who explained the situation. Turns out that Paul's activation was a manual process that wasn't fully completed by the original rep who handled it. After this new rep apparently fixed a small issue by adding a required feature and clicking the "Yes, Paul can use his iPhone now" button, he was up and running with his iPhone.

    Of course, these solutions might not work for everyone, but we sure hope they can bring a smile to at least some of you who have had a less-than-stellar experience getting their iPhones actually working like iPhones. Of course, if you have your own ideas or modifications to these solutions, please share them in the comments and we'll update this post.
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  • Couldn't buy an iPhone? Maybe you can win one.

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    Looks like lots of readers were able to nab an iPhone or two, but what if you just can't afford the thing? Or perhaps you want one but don't really NEED one. Why not try and win one? That's right, Engadget is giving away an iPhone. Simply leave a comment and you're entered! [That is, leave a comment at that Engadget post, not to this post!]

    Online video sharing site Viddler (which hosted some of our WWDC interviews) is giving away 2 iPhones over the next month. You have to do a little more than leave a comment to enter, so check out this video post for all the details.

    Know of anyone else giving away iPhones? Leave a comment and I'll update this post.
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