Originally Posted by thecompkid

Oh, did you hear? The iPhone's modem is software upgradeable to 3G.

Are you joking?

Originally Posted by Nikolas.A

Are you joking?

/evil

Technically, no. :p

The thing that amazed me was that at the press release of the iPhone, Steve Jobs actually told some reporters that 3G network wasn't widely available, neglect the fact that their exclusive carrier, AT&T, had a 3G network. He also said that 3G was not necessary, as WIFI network was everywhere nowadays. WTF! That's my immediate reaction to such an unprofessional bullshit. It was like telling us to steal neighbors' internet access which is a felony in most states.

For clarification:

Technically, the iPhone's modem can have its software upgraded to support 3G.... however that doesn't mean it has all the hardware required to use the software for 3G.

For the modem in the iPhone to support 3G, at least two things need to happen:
1) A WCDMA coprocessor needs to be attached. (no, there's little chance of the iPhone hacker community doing this enmass. It's a chip.)
2) The software on the modem needs to be flashed to support 3G. (what thecompkid was saying)

Originally Posted by thecompkid

Technically, no. :p

He's half right, half wrong about 3G.

AT&T's 3G network isn't really widely available. Sure, in a few major cities, it's there.

If you contrast with Sprint/Verizon, which has a 3G service available pretty much anywhere, then AT&T's is more like a test deployment than anything else.

On the other hand, it was too easy for the IS-95/EVDO carriers to deploy this as it was pretty much a software upgrade to their towers.
AT&T has to install new hardware to deploy WCDMA.

As for WIFI, keep in mind that he's near Mountain View... where Google has free WiFi all around the city.

Originally Posted by NotFound

The thing that amazed me was that at the press release of the iPhone, Steve Jobs actually told some reporters that 3G network wasn't widely available, neglect the fact that their exclusive carrier, AT&T, had a 3G network. He also said that 3G was not necessary, as WIFI network was everywhere nowadays. WTF! That's my immediate reaction to such an unprofessional bullshit. It was like telling us to steal neighbors' internet access which is a felony in most states.