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I was planning to upgrade to iPhone 4 when I was eligible in February this year. I ended up getting a Windows Phone 7, Samsung Focus. I needed to know a way to give away my old iPhone 3G and now the 3GS. What I mean is, being able to use them in India.

First I had to update the iTunes to the latest version. Without this, limera1n wouldn’t show up after installing.

I used limera1n to unlock. I read in many places that I should not use it if I plan to use other jailbreak software later. I forgot what they were.

There are plenty of web sites that told me how to install limera1n but it was very simple. Downloaded the app, ran it and followed on screen instructions. I could even run it multiple times without causing problems. I don’t know which bootrom image is in my iPhone 3GS.

Once the limera1n app showed up on the iPhone, ran it. There is an option to install Cydia. I used WiFi at the time. Installed Cydia and that is it. So far I have installed only one app. SBSettings. I hid the limera1n, cydia and other apps so that things won’t get messed up when I give the phone away.

Here are some screen shots of the unlocked, jail broken iPhone 3GS. The theme I am using is KillSignCarbonBlue.

Here is how I took screenshots of my iPhone screens. I didn’t know such a simple feature existed.

I have more images of my old 3G and 3GS on Airtel in India, I will try to upload later. Oh and the phantom vibration of iPhone, that is an AT&T phenomenon. No vibration after inserting Airtel SIM.

I have been an AT&T customer for almost a decade. Well, I came to AT&T as a Cingular customer. I am not terribly unhappy about AT&T but there are few areas I think they keep ignoring.

Every time I complete the contract and go to a new phone, my old phone becomes a paper weight. AT&T doesn’t seem to have a policy on unlocking the phone once the contract term is complete. I would like to give away the phone, like my iPhone 3G to someone outside US. Sure you can find ways to jailbreak and unlock it. But I prefer a simple mechanism to do that. Apple doesn’t seem to help either. This is not an environmentally responsible policy from either AT&T or Apple.

AT&T’s call quality (this could be the fault of iPhone as well) is not that good. AT&T 3G in the Silicon Valley is terrible. I am tired of submitting reports through that app. All the places I have had 3G or coverage problems, I still have the problem. May be Silicon Valley is not a priority for AT&T or the local governments do not cooperate with them. Either way, I do not get a good voice or data service from AT&T.

I did not like iPhone 4 design. The flat back side and sharp edges are not for me. I am a Windows user and iTunes is not really good Windows citizen. I also don’t like an application requires a few background processes even when I don’t need them.

Here are a few things I would be looking to if I make a switch, in addition to the above 2 primary requirements.

iPhone on another network could be tempting. Hopefully without those sharp edges.

No need for a computer to download and sync. May be it is not a big deal but iTunes turned me off from the idea of updating and syncing via a computer.

I prefer the OS update comes from the OS vendor, not the hardware or service provider. They do not have enough motivation to keep my phone up to date. If the last supported update to the phone comes 6 months to an year after the phone release, then it becomes a paper weight.

Here is another case against iPhone and Apple controlling the ecosystem. This is message pops up as of today on Grooveshark web site for iPhone.

Grooveshark Is Not Supported On The iPhone

Right now there is not a Grooveshark application for iPhones through Apple’s iPhone App Store. Unfortunately at this time, Apple is unwilling to work with Grooveshark to approve our application. This means that iPhones are unable to download Grooveshark for iPhone unless they are jailbroken. We are sincerely sorry to be unable to offer Grooveshark to all iPhones, as we’ve done everything in our power to have it included in Apple’s App Store.

If your iPhone is jailbroken, you are able to download the Grooveshark app. Read our blog post to find out more.

That is lame. I don’t know the reasons why the app is not approved. This is what holds me back from buying more Apple products. I definitely have plans to buy an iPad but whenever I see something like this, I really wish there was a good alternative.

On the preferences->devices tab, I have checked the prevent iPhones and iPods from syncing automatically. I do not want the sync kicking in every time I connect my iPhone to the computer. It stops the playback of whatever I am listening to and won’t go back and continue playing whatever I was playing before the sync kicked in. It is an annoyance. At least it should provide an option not to auto sync when I am playing something or running an application.

So, here is the problem. Whenever I connect my iPhone to the computer, iTunes does a short sync of sort even though I have disabled the auto sync. I don’t know what it is doing but it does reset whatever I was playing. All the podcasts I listened since the last sync are reset back to the state of the last sync.

I do have a workaround though. I close the iTunes before I connect the iPhone to the computer. Once I connect and the iPhone beeps/vibrates, I can open the iTunes. Now it won’t do that short sync. The problem is I keep forgetting to close the iTunes before I connect my iPhone to the computer. Most of the times I just scrub through the podcasts I already listened to get around this. When the number of podcasts I already listened are large, I have to listen a bit to figure out if I already listened them.

Update: This workaround doesn’t work! I just had one instance where it did sync and mess up my podcasts.

I have no guesses on what is the real purpose of this sync. If this problem does not appear on iPod Touch, my guess would be something pushed by AT&T through iTunes.

I also don’t know if the same issue occurs on the Mac version of iTunes.

I am trying to create an iTunes store account that can be used on the second (old) iPhone. I did not want to attach a credit card to that account. Apple wouldn’t let me do that. I ask myself why do they need a credit card information until I make a purchase? Need a new law preventing such practice. No business should ask for credit card or social security number unless it is required to complete a transaction.

I found out a workaround that is to use a gift card to complete the account creation. So I go to the iTunes store and try to purchase a gift card. It won’t let me either. It gave me an error saying my legit account that I use on my new iPhone and successfully used for other transactions is not eligible. The error message is “This account is not currently eligible to purchase gift certificates”. Right. I can buy a certificate that they will mail to me but not something that can be used right away. The reason: not eligible! With Apple you never know what that means. You don’t need to know. You just need to be protected. Sound familiar?

There are some discussions at apple forums about this but not answered.

This is one of the reasons why I always wanted a Windows Mobile phone. But I ended up with not one but two iPhones. Wonder why?

Update 13 Feb, 2011: Yes, now I own a Windows Phone 7 (Samsung Focus). Not what I expected as an update to Windows Mobile phones, but here I am.

Also, the reason Apple is not allowing purchase of gift cards online is due to fraud from overseas. At least, that is what I heard.