absolutelyBangkok archive · Fashion & Style
Originally published Oct. 10, 2007
It’s the must-have-thingy in Bangkok: A shiny new iPhone — illegally imported from the US.
In that very Bangkok though, where global trends are copied before they even started, the iPhone is old news already.
According to reliable sources that most-revolutionary-simplifier-of-life has already shown up at Soi Nana and Soi Cowboy. Trustworthy sources have seen it in the hands of bored cuties typing SMSs to their “teeraks”. Them holding that holy iPhone — probably a present of some Japanese — with that apathetic ignorance as if it were a prehistoric StarTAC.
The other day Ben, a good friend from Spain, inconspicuously unpocketed his brand new iPhone.
Without giving a little cough he called his girlfriend — with that nonchalant attitude as if he would be stirring his coffee. He didn’t even deign to look at me, knowing I was staring with those possessed eyes: “I want it I need it can’t live without it.”
Turns out Ben bought the iPhone at Maboonkrong MBK — at Winner Telecom, shop 444 on the 4th floor. Where the phone was first sold for 40,000 baht right after the open source SIM hack had shown up. By now the 8gb version is down to around 22,000 baht.
Winner Telecom’s gals and boys dressed in black truly know their craft. In some dark hidden room at MBK they’re even working on their own iPhone software hack. But what the heck with that hack:
A.H., who was among the team who built up mobile provider Orange in Thailand, recently told me: “Apple would be the first to succeed with a locked phone. They all tried it. They all failed in the end.”
Writes an iPhone punter in a Bangkok forum: “They are already offering a Thai language menu as an alternative to the English language menu together with a Thai language keyboard — pretty impressive.”
Go figure. Thai kids can produce language packets for their iPhones — and iPods! Apple won’t. Why?
Winner also regularly updates their English language software — offering a whole host of third party applications. As we all know though those get lost with the iPhone’s firmware upgrade 1.1.1, turning an unlocked iPhone into that iBrick.
Stick with older firmwares — up to 1.1.1 and enjoy other Winner innovations such as working the keyboard in landscape mode.
MBK obviously uses the iPhoneDevTeam’s anySIM-hack, not altering the hardware, but flashing the baseband with software.
But to heck with those hacks: Seems to be a question of time until hacks against Apple’s anti-hack turns up.
Or torture yourself with the long wait for the legal arrivals.
According to a story in the Bangkok Post in January ’08 already 60,000 iPhones have been illegally imported into Thailand. Local market leader AIS is currently in talks with Apple to get the rights for iPhone sales in Thailand — but Apple’s usual business model of getting a share of the airtime-revenue would not work in Thailand with the minute going for 1 baht.
My bet: The legal iPhone will be harshly priced in Thailand.
Addendum: There’s a massive stock of iPhones at MBK — with new firmwares. They’re all over on the 4th floor.
Sales are flat. Goodies are thrown in, such as free screen protector and a cover case — but who wants to hide that beauty?
And because: Who wants to buy before breaks are available?
But let the dust settle. Listen to Todd, the iPhreak.
Nobody in Thailand knows the iPhone and its hacks better than Todd.
The iPhreak just told absolutelyBangkok.com that he’s confident a crack would be found rather sooner than later.
Mid-January though 1.1.3 was announced — before the next siblings were announced…:
“Here it comes,” wrote the iPhreak Todd:
“Hello fellow iPhreak-a-Zoids. Steve Jobs has released another iPhone firmware update into the wild. But don’t get too excited about since we all know the iPhone Unlocker mantra: DO NOT UPDATE OR RISK BRICKING YOUR PHONE.”
“Let’s let the dust settle and when news of an upgrade path is worked out.”
Maybe Apple takes another leap ahead?
It has furthermore come to our attention that you have to be very careful to buy an iPhone these days at MBK. Messed-up phones are sold as virgin, but in resealed boxes.
Perhaps it is worth to wait for the “legit” arrivals some time in 2008.
Told us the iPhreak recently:
“The stores have all new stock with the new 1.1.X firmware which has the new bootloader. This new bootloader is what the hackers can not unlock.
The word on the iPhone unlock forums is that they are close to unlocking Out of the Box (OTB or OOB) 1.1.X iPhones. All they need is a new Apple firmware update that includes an update to bootloader. This update will give them the clue they need to unlock OTB 1.1.X. The bad news is that many think (nobody knows for sure) Apple will not update the current bootloader. So it looks like we are so close, yet maybe will never get that last clue needed.”
Plan B being: The hardware hack to the SIM card of the customer. It has certain advantages over the software unlock, mainly that it works on OTB 1.1.X phones. The main disadvantage is cost. And now even newer firmwares are out and 2.0 is in the pipeline…
By now everybody anyway has an iPhone here. You can’t go to a party without people showing off and talking about their illegits.
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