Sometimes it just pays to leave things as they are…

I’ve been in the mobile phone biz for a while now. Actually, I’ve been in mobile devices since 1997…10 years and small change. I’ve been concentrating on converged devices, like Apple’s iPhone for about 5 years…give or take 6 months or so. I’m fascinated by gadgets and combining functionality to make them smaller, allowing me to carry less and do more, just makes my toes curl.

Doing more with less… that’s been the mantra of corporate America for years…less is more. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. I’ve been a little detached lately because my wife is 9 months pregnant, and due to deliver our 3^rd child this coming Thursday, 13-Sep-07. I apologize for this week’s column being a little late.

Anyway, Apple’s iPhone has been the darling of the mobile devices community for a month or so. In "Internet time," that’s almost an eternity. I learned a few days ago, that while someone was trying to unlock their iPhone so they could use it on a different GSM carrier and/or overseas, that it exploded on them.

iPhone explodes…story at 11! So WAY not good.

Many users trying to unlock their iPhone have reported a loss of BT or Wi-Fi connectivity. In some cases, the device simply won’t power on after the unlock attempt. In one of the most serious cases that I saw on MacFixIt, the device shorted out and blew some of the electronics.

I don’t know that there’s a good solution to the unlock problem. Honestly, I wouldn’t try it, given all of the issues I’ve heard about users trying to manually unlock their devices… I understand the need to have this happen; but I also thought that the carrier HAD to do it, if you requested it, due to some ruling/lawsuit. You may have to wait a bit to do it, but ATT should do it if you ask them and you jump through the right hoops…