Egyptian Apple

So you are using an iPhone in Egypt, which means your iPhone is unlocked (all 2G iPhones are locked by default to only work on AT&T in the states, unlocking means using it in other countries by hacking the iPhone) and jailbroken (hacks the iPhone so you can install more apps), odds are you are one of the many people who still didn’t upgrade to 2.x also. The current iPhone firmware version is 2.1 and 2.2 is on its way very soon.

Most popular “solvable” concerns for not upgrading:

In this post I will tackle all these concerns, and explain a few things along the way. First off lets start with a small history lesson, Apple first launched it’s 1st gen iPhone (some people also refer to it as the iPhone 2G) on Jun 29 2007. A little short of a year after, on Jun 09 2008 the iPhone 3G came out, boasting more superior features over the 1st gen iPhone like faster 3G connectivity, GPS,  etc…

 

Apple has released several iPhone firmware versions:

As you might have guessed a firmware is a software update that updates your iPhone’s internal software. With each update Apple software developers include more bug fixes, and more features that way your iPhone will stay loaded with the latest technology, having a new major firmware update is almost like having a new phone. I bought my unlocked, jailbroken iPhone with version 1.1.4 and later on upgraded to 2.0.1, my main reason was that I wanted to use iTunes Appstore. Appstore is the official location where you can download all the latest (free and paid apps) for the iPhone. Before the Appstore there were two known un-official places to get apps for your phone “installer” and “cydia”. So now the majority of newly developed apps by iPhone app developers will be on Appstore only themes and hacks will be on cydia and  installer. With version 2.x upwards you can have the best of both worlds official and unofficial (of course you have to jailbreak the iPhone to install unofficial installer and cydia reposotries). For those who have decided to take the step forward there are many step by step guides on how to updgrade. Some mobile shops in Egypt offer to do this for a fee I’m not sure exactly how much but I’m against the idea of paying someone to do this even if you don’t mind and you can afford it, because they really rip you off, everything is available for free online and in easy to follow steps that will take you 30 mins, if you have a techy friend they can do it for you. For those worried about losing data, everything is backed up via iTunes so all your data will be there since your last sync (so make sure you sync before upgrading). Before version 2.x Apple was not yet intending for developers to make apps for the iPhone, the developers had to hack the iPhone to do this, so its obvious that any app before 2.x will not work. There is arabic support via a paid for application from iPhone Islam called Arabtaller. So supposed you upgraded, the last problem is how to get apps from the Appstore? First you make an account there are a couple of ways to doing this online (google it) for non-U.S residents (again this unofficial).

 

We are all waiting for the official launch, and save us the hassle,  tick tock tick tock!

check out this post to read about possible reasons for launch delay.

*update* iPhone 3G launched on 13 November 08.

*update* here are also some convincing features as quoted by Apple.