Public warned over iPhone

SHOPPERS have been warned they could be buying a load of trouble by investing in ‘cracked’ versions of the latest Apple iPhones now on sale in Bahrain.

The phones, which allow users to communicate, play videos and music and boasts touch screen technology, is likely to be the “must buy” item following its official launch in the kingdom in the new year.

However, the ‘chipped’ gadget has been available at BD359 this week at Geant supermarket in Sanabis … more than double the price you would pay for one in the US.

The cracked version is filling the demand from consumers who want to be amongst the first to own the gadget. However, many are left disappointed.

“We have already received calls from people telling us their phones have been locked. There is nothing we can do,” said a spokesman at the Apple Centre on Exhibition Avenue, Manama.

Geant, however, states that it has sold more than 100 phones in a matter of days and claimed customers will be able to officially upgrade and download Apple applications in a few weeks time.

Apple launched the iPhone in coordination with the AT&T mobile service providers in the US. The phones which have made their way on to the shelves early in Bahrain have been ‘unlocked’ so that users in the kingdom can place their current ‘Sim Cards’ into the units.

However, when users try to download any application from the Apple website to the cracked devices, or try to update the iTunes library after connecting the device to a computer, the company is alerted and the phones are locked and made useless.

And to make matters worse the cracked device does not come with an Apple warranty.

Geant says that it is warning customers not to update or download any applications from the Apple website for the time-being.

According to industry groups within days after hearing of one user’s run-in with Apple over his “locked” iPhone the company released an official statement warning users that “unauthorised iPhone unlocking programmes” could cause “irreparable damage to the iPhone’s software”.

Furthermore, the firm stated that these applications could result in the handset becoming “permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed”.

Geant, however, is providing customers with a ‘one-year’ warranty to customers who buy the inflated-priced chipped version.

Also, the supermarket has on display iPhones it claims boast an “inbuilt GPS feature” – the popular address locating system. The phone has no such feature and when GulfWeekly quizzed the Geant salesman the newspaper was told it was “accessible through Google”.

GulfWeekly also contacted iMachines, an Apple dealer in the kingdom based in Hoora, and a spokeswoman said it was “not selling” the iPhone at present.

Apple requires iPhone owners to take out a lengthy contract with AT&T in the US but there are a number of programmes on the Internet that unlock the device.

An Apple spokesman in the US said: “Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorised unlocking programmes 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.”

Nadeem Khan, central merchandising manager for electronics at Geant, said the unlocked iPhones had been purchased from a dealer in Dubai. “The official launch of the phone here is March, 2008, and our customers have been pleading with us to find some stock as soon as possible.

“There are no problems with the phones and we only advise our customers not to download anything from the Internet until next month when we have been told Apple will be launching software which will enable customers to download applications.

“We have sold more than 100 and only six or seven customers have come back saying their phones are locked and we have replaced them under our one-year warranty. The price is high because there is more demand than supply.”

However, Apple refused to confirm or deny the launch of any new software for owners of cracked iPhones.