As before (with the 3G and 3GS) I scoured Hong Kong, only to find the iPhone 4 was backordered and generally not available, even through the Apple Store HK.  Then I read an article where Canada (and the UK) were also selling factory unlocked versions. This is in addition to those already available (due to local laws) in Australia, Italy, and the previously mentioned HK.

So I started watching prices.  I see I shouldn’t have waited.  There was the initial flood, then somewhat limited availability, then they became available, but at a premium.

I saved my pennies (and nickels, dimes, and dollars) to pay for the approximate $200 "premium" for the factory unlocked version.  My need for this device is, as mentioned before, that I use GCI service here in Alaska (since I work for them.)

I was also lucky, I later found out, as the device came with iOS 4.0.1.  The key here is that I do use several apps only available by jailbreaking (a couple of them being iRealSMS or SwirlyMMS.)  The newest, at this writing iOS 4.0.2, can not be jailbroken.  In fact, that was the primary reason Apple distributed this release. (There is also a PDF security patch, but that can be downloaded separately via Cydia on a jailbroken device.)  (*** Update:  Apple has released 4.1)

So I charged the device, and after swapping the GCI SIM from my 3GS, activated the phone.  I barely took a glance at the new features before heading straight to http://jailbreakme.com.  A few minutes later Cydia and Rock were installed and off I went.

I added a few jailbroken apps and other than some minor annoying operational glitches with iRealSMS, all was fine.  Or so I thought…

I had placed a few calls, but didn’t think there was a problem.  Then a received a call and picked it up with my Plantronics Voyager Pro BT headset.  After being on the phone for several minutes, the caller finally interrupted and said they were having trouble hearing me.  I spoke up a bit and repeated what I had said.  Still they were having trouble, and a minute later, again said they couldn’t hear me; I was "muffled."  All along, I could hear them fine.

I didn’t give it much more thought, but then on a later call, I was once again told I sounded "muffled."  This time, however, I wasn’t on the headset, so that was really disconcerting. 

After searching Google and the Apple discussion groups I found where there was indeed a "muffled audio" issue, but only saw it associated with Bluetooth audio.  Several people had done a multitude of things to attempt to resolve — all with limited success.

In the process, I also read about "slow upload speeds."  I hadn’t noticed, but decided to check.  Sure enough, I was getting ‘normal’ download speeds, but barely achieving GPRS data upload throughput.  Wow!

Finally, after a few days of use, I started to notice another anomaly, that of the "proximity sensor bug."  Essentially there is a problem with screen control (on / off) when you raise or lower the phone to your ear.  My issue was noticed, on a few occasions, where when I removed the phone from my ear (for example to hang up, or dial a number to continue in voicemail) and the screen remained dark.  It would *not* come back on, even pressing the home button or sleep button, tapping the screen, etc.  This was a real problem (albeit very infrequent in the scheme of things) and sent me back to Google and the Apple support site.

There were all sorts of things to try to fix any or all of these problems.  I started with the least drastic, and did a "Reset All Settings".  That way, I didn’t have to do a restore, mess with my jailbreak or approved apps, etc.  Everything was fine, with the exception of re-entering the network settings for GCI and my various wi-fi connections.  I also had to re-enter a number of (but strangely not all) passwords.

I did a reboot of the phone, and checked the easiest thing first.  Lo and behold, but upload speed problem disappeared.  I was getting normal EDGE (GCI doesn’t have 3G on GSM, only on the CDMA side) speeds.  In due course, made a couple of phone calls, with and without the headset, and the person on the other end didn’t report muffled audio.  The next item, the proximity sensor bug, has not reappeared after the reset.

So, all in all, I am very pleased with the new device.  It is much faster, has a fantastic screen, and on and on.  In general, I have really taken to new features that I really didn’t think I would use, such as multi-tasking.  Time will tell, and with the release of iOS 4.1, I hope a jailbreak will follow soon.

Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone 4, 3G, 3GS, GCI, iRealSMS, SwirlyMMS, jailbreakme.com, jailbreak, Alaska

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Tonight, beginning somewhere between 17:52 and 17:57 there was a total Internet blackout. I thought it must be me, but other than resetting the DSL modem didn’t do much until I checked a bit further.

I then noticed that I had no Internet connectivity on my cell, nor on the Franklin Wireless CDU-680 CDMA modem. I looked at the iPhone, and also my 10Mbps 12Mbps cable modem.  Connectivity was fine on each. Looking at the network status on the ACS website, I saw no planned or unscheduled outages. The network was apparently fine, except it was not.

So I called the number and got a recorded message. You can listen to the ACS Internet outage notice here.

Apparently there was a “server failure” in Seattle, effectively preventing all traffic to and from ACS customers to flow. I assume it was a core gateway router, but that is just a guess.

In any event, it looks like TheCzechs.net, as well as the other ACS Internet pathways are back as of 18:50.  Essentially the outage lasted an hour…

UPDATE: While writing this entry, I checked the links in the message.  When I followed the link to GCI, I saw to my surprise, that the max download speed on my 10Mbps cable modem service is now 12Mbps!  I don’t know when this change occurred.  Sure, folks in the L48 get easily two or sometimes more throughput than that, but this is a big deal for Alaska.  Thanks, GCI.

(And now for the disclaimer…  I work in GCI’s Industrial Telecom Group, as a Sr. PM for projects serving the oil and gas industry.)

I waited a couple of days, but then couldn’t resist the upgrade. The thought of waiting till I got home was painful. But, the idea of bricking my phone while I was away or having other problems made me wait… but only a couple of days.

The upgrade itself went smooth, as it should. But I did run in to problems associated with the jailbreak. Finally after the umpteenth time I had a stable phone. That was back in June, and been using it daily without a hitch.

Other than copy-and-paste and MMS, and a few new features, I didn’t really explore many of the new enhancements. But one thing that peaked my curiosity was tethering. I’ve done that with the Blackberries and several other phones. It has always worked fine, and serves in a pinch when no other connectivity is available.

iPhone 3.0 advertised tethering as one of the enhancements. I searched Google to find out how to configure and saw many blogs and posts, either folks saying it works great, or not at all. But when I looked at my unlocked 3G from HK, I didn’t have the tethering option. I even went to the “3″ site in Hong Kong to see if they had instructions. As a matter of fact they did, but there was a screen option under network settings that didn’t appear on my phone.

I searched high and low, and finally found a way to enable it! It was almost painless, too. Go to help.benm.at on with Safari on your iPhone. You can run the Mobileconfig Generator and as long as you know the APN settings, etc., you will be tethering in no time.

I set it up, but then never used it after that time. So I decided (since I had trouble on the Slope this past week) to give it a work out. This entry is being written while the iPhone is tethered via USB. While Bluetooth tethering is also an option, to me it really doesn’t make sense. While USB involves the cable, it serves to keep the phone charged as well.

After the past half hour or so, it’s working fine. Throughput is similar to (with the upload twice as fast compared to the iPhone itself) and the phone has not gotten warm. (BTW, this is great for EDGE; we don’t have 3G service here…

I’ve noticed email is still received, but voice calls get directed straight to voicemail. I only know this because Laura called me on my other cell phone and said she just tried to call the iPhone, but the call went to VM.

All in all, worth using if there is no other connectivity. I should qualify that; at least here in Alaska, with GCI service. A side note, I “roamed” on AT&T while on the Slope. GCI hasn’t turned up their cell service in Deadhorse yet. When I attempted to tether, AT&T sensed that and actually deleted the tethering option on my phone. I had to download and re-enable the profile. Once I did that, I tried to tether again. This time, I got a message that said I must contact my provider to enable this service. At least AT&T didn’t blow it away the second time.