Buying hacked hardware is risky. Make sure you are willing to accept the risk before you spend $400.00 or more.  Hacking (or unlocking) a device on your own is also risky. Make sure you know what the trade-offs are beforehand.

Never before has a cellular product been released with such fast adoption as the iPhone. And the phone is really cool. The downside of course, is the service. Sorry AT&T, but I am just calling it straight. The edge network is kinda slow, and unreliable at times. The cellular service in my area (yes I have owned an iPhone now for about 2 months) drops calls regularly. So why not unlock an iPhone and move it over to another carrier?

Please consider these items before you unlock, or purchase and unlocked phone:

1) Voiding you warranty

- I purchased the iPhone for $400.00 and added a $20 monthly service fee to get this phone. Definately worth every penny. However, one of the most valuable features of this purchase is the 1 year warranty that came with the phone. Unlocking the phone is essentially HACKING the phones features and voids this warranty, making the product far less valuable.

2) "Bricking" the phone

 - Many users have tried to install the free software update from Apple (which includes many updates and fixes) after unlocking their phone. Unfortunately, with unlocked phones, the update will most likely make the phone useless. So, IF YOU HAVE UNLOCKED YOUR PHONE, DO NOT INSTALL THE SOFTWARE UPDATE!!!!

*Please see the quoted disclaimer directly from Apple below

3) Disabling features (or limiting them)

- Visual voice was a feature co-developed by AT&T and Apple. This feature requires back end systems (at AT&T) in order to function properly. You will most likely still be able to call in and retrieve voice mail messages the old fashion way. But, it may be cumbersome or inefficient.

- YouTube, GoogleMaps, Stocks, Weather, and Web Browsing  -  These features rely upon the user having a WiFi signal or access to an EDGE network. Whether we like AT&T or not, they have the largest data network in the USA which is EDGE. That being said, switching to T-Mobile will make EDGE access less reliable. So this should definitely be taken into consideration. Wifi connection speeds should not suffer. One thing to note here; is that the iPhone hardware is not capable of utilizing 3G networks. So make sure you can use data services in your country (or area) if you are planning on using the phone outside the USA.

4) Software Updates

 - Aside from the aforementioned "Bricking."  Receiving FREE software updates from Apple is another BIG benefit of buying an iPhone. As new features are released, they are packaged in a firmware update which can be installed on the phone via iTunes. Unlocked or Hacked iPhones (so far) cannot receive these new features.

 - An example of this is the iTunes mobile music store. Using this application you can buy music whenever you have a Wifi signal. This is part of the iPhone software v1.1.1. If you have an older hacked version... guess what? You won't have this app. Many people will say they don't want it. But, I have actually used it. You can search, preview, buy, and download songs right on the iPhone. It's instant gratification at it's best. No, I don't use it a lot, but it is there if I want to browse listen to music in the store.

5) The Law

 - Some of the Unlocking programs have been shown to alter the IMEI numbers on the phone. This is more than voiding your warranty, hacking your device, or breaking your contract. This is actually against the law. Most software which change IMEI numbers is done so in order to clone another account. Cellular systems which recognize a modified IMEI device sometimes label the device as illegal and lock it out of their network. As a result, there is a risk (albeit slim) that your phone will not be able to make or receive calls.

In Summary

I do own an iPhone, and I am very happy with the product. It is not perfect. I have gotten the device to lock up, freeze, and restart. Which it recovered from quite well. I have gotten Safari (which is a beta) to crash several times. This is the price of the early adopter. This is also well within my expectation because I am a "power user" using programs and features that most people will not try. Overall, the experience is excellent, and I do not regret at all the purchase. This is the first portable device that handles web browsing in a decent manner, and the multitouch interface is quite impressive.

The device will be coming out in other countries soon. In fact as I write this iPhones are being shipped to stores in Europe. And, I am sure that Apple will be trying to set up contracts with cellular services around the globe as quickly as they can. As far as the USA goes, AT&T is an exclusive contract currently. And it will probably be some time before the iPhones are legitimately available on T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, etc...

On the horizon:

Apple is currently looking into a 3G version of the phone. Which means broadband speed, and saying goodbye to the crappy EDGE dependency. Also, if you look at the iPod Touch you will notice a very thin version with 16 GB of storage. It's only a matter of time before Apple doubles the capacity on the iPhone. The software will continue to get better. It's not 100% stable right now, but it's getting better. And with future releases of hardware, the software will be even more solid. Now throw in the usual improvements of screen resolution, battery life, features, etc... and the device will definitely get better with time. And best of all, it will eventually be fully compatible with a fast network in your area.

*Quoted From Apple:

"Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed. ... Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty."