Bitstopr Forum - Busiest Online Entertainment Forum

Bitstopr Forum - Busiest Online Entertainment Forum

Unlocking Old iPhones: Should Business Users Bother?

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 08:47 AM PDT

On April 6, AT&T revealed that it would allow owners of old, off-contract iPhones to unlock them starting April 8. AT&T has kept old iPhones locked to its network since the original iPhone launched in 2007, so this is a huge change in stance for the carrier. Before April 8, the only way to unlock an iPhone from AT&T's network was to jailbreak it.
AT&T explained, "The only requirements are that a customer's account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade olicies or paid an early termination fee."In other words, as long as the iPhone you want to unlock is gathering dust in a drawer somewhere, AT&T will probably unlock it. If you or your business bought an iPhone 4S once it became available in October, you can't unlock it. It's probably still under contract. This policy is more likely to apply to the iPhone 4 (but probably only if you upgraded to the iPhone 4S), iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, and the original iPhone (if you still have that old hunk of smartphone history laying about).The process to get the old iPhones unlocked is fairly simple: Call AT&T or go to an AT&T store, give them the IMEI number, wait for an email from Apple with the necessary code and instructions, follow the stops, and voila, you now have an unlocked iPhone.
What does this do for you, and more importantly, does this do anything for your business?
Nearly every smartphone is locked to the carrier that sells it. Locked devices can only be used on a particular carrier's network, meaning a device you buy from AT&T can't be used on T-Mobile's network and vice versa. However, many phones can also be unlocked. Customers willing to spend a few moments on the phone and (sometimes) pay a fee, could get their devices unlocked. Some carriers require that the user fulfills 60 days of the contract before agreeing to unlock the device, but AT&T has never agreed to unlock the iPhone.
For example, in 2008, I upgraded from the original iPhone to the iPhone 3G. After switching devices, I noticed that my old iPhone couldn't be used with other carriers. Even though I had purchased the device for full price, AT&T and Apple wouldn't unlock it. Basically, the device had been downgraded to an iPod Touch. I was furious. That iPhone was 100% my property. How dare they keep it locked!
Unlocked phones can be used on the networks carriers other than the one that sells it. For the iPhone--especially the older GSM-only models--this means you can take your old iPhone to any carrier (such as T-Mobile USA), buy a SIM card, and enjoy wireless service. In T-Mobile's case, the iPhone doesn't support its 3G network, but can still use T-Mobile's EDGE 2.5G network. In fact, many people do this (after jailbreaking their devices).
Now that AT&T and Apple will officially unlock old iPhones, you no longer have to jailbreak an iPhone to use it on the carrier of your choice.
For business users, this isn't all that relevant. Most business users are probably signed to current contracts and can't unlock their current devices. The chief benefit of having an unlocked phone is so that it can be used on other networks. You've always been able to use the AT&T SIM card from an iPhone in another AT&T device and use AT&T's services. That doesn't change.
The one important factor, however, is security. Jailbreaking iPhones creates security holes that can be breached. (Businesses shouldn't allow employees to jailbreak their devices in the first place.) Now that jailbreaking is no longer required, IT can breath a sigh of relief knowing that at least one avenue has been roped off.
The bottom line here is the following: Old iPhones are now slightly more useful, because they can be used on networks other than AT&T's. Who does this benefit? People who actually have old iPhones on hand. Most business users probably don't. It also means the secondary market for used iPhones just got more exciting, something else that most businesses shouldn't care all that much about.
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The Titanic sinks again, on TV and movie screens

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 08:30 AM PDT

We all know how it ended.No one alive has first-hand memories of the sinking of the Titanic, which will have its 100th anniversary on April 15. The last survivor, Millvina Dean, died in 2009 - and she was an infant at the time of the voyage. But all of us have an image of it; perhaps from James Cameron's 1997 movie "Titanic," perhaps from earlier movies like 1953's "A Night to Remember," perhaps from reading one of the multitudes of books published about the disaster, perhaps simply from recognizing the tragedy that set the events of "Downton Abbey" in motion. (The wildly popular British miniseries kicked off its first season with news of the sinking of the Titanic - and thereby the death of the estate's heir.)We've heard the stories of heroism and cowardice; of unpreparedness and panic; of not enough lifeboats; of a moonless night and calm, icy waters. And we may know the chilling numbers: approximately 2,200 people on board (estimates of passengers and crew vary), bound from Southampton to New York, of whom more than 1,500 died.The story has always held fascination for many - and now, with the anniversary looming like an iceberg (let's just get that metaphor out of the way right now, shall we?), interest is stirred up even further. Titanic is, it seems, everywhere. Cameron's multiple Oscar-winning film, starring the young Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, is back in theaters; this time in remastered 3D. Julian Fellowes, creator of "Downton Abbey," has scripted a "Titanic" miniseries, airing on ABC next weekend and telling the story of the disaster from the perspective of a number of different characters. New documentaries about the remains of the Titanic have begun airing on the National Geographic Channel; new and reissued books about the disaster abound.The appetite for all things Titanic seems insatiable - remember how the movie dominated multiplexes for months in early 1998, with fans returning multiple times to watch people drown or freeze to death in excruciating detail? - and a little unsettling. While the currently booming Titanic industry is hardly the first to benefit from a tragedy, it does give us pause to remember that there wouldn't be much money, or much of a legend, if everyone on board had survived. The stories of Titanic require us to get attached to characters who we then see die; to watch them entering a beautiful ship with bright optimism, as those real people did a century ago, that turns out to have been terribly misplaced. And while these characters are often fictionalized for the screen, the story is no less real for the changing of names: people's husbands and wives and mothers and fathers and children died on that icy night, and you wonder why we're so drawn to reliving it.Perhaps it's because the Titanic's fate seemed to be a sort of snowglobe of humanity: the best and the worst of us, brought out by disaster. There are despicable stories of behavior that night: third class passengers were, for a time, kept behind locked doors while the ship sank deeper and the wealthy were ushered into lifeboats; survivors in the water, clinging to wrong-side-up boats, reportedly tried to push away others who sought safety; at least one wealthy passenger was alleged to have bribed his half-empty lifeboat's rowers to pull away from desperate swimmers. Many of the lifeboats were launched only partially full - despite the fact that Titanic had far too few lifeboats to begin with - and very few returned to look for survivors.
Read more here: The Titanic sinks again, on TV and movie screens - Movies Wires - MiamiHerald.com

Mission Impossible 4 Review

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 03:43 AM PDT

Hey guys I've just downloaded the movie Mission Impossible 4 (Ghost Protocol). After couple of hours I'm gonna start watching the movie. If there anyone who already seen it, they should give their opinion here.


How was the movie?????

Millions of Mac Laptops infected by A New Mac Virus

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 03:14 AM PDT

A new Mac virus "Flashback trojan" affects 600000 Mac laptops in the world. And Half a million mac laptop infected malware. This flashback trojan malware disabled the computer's security software's when it is downloaded. A computer specialist said that, Most of the Mac laptops in USA are infected with the virus.

A Russian anti-virus company said, Apple is infected with virus. More that half a million mac laptops are now affected with flashback trojan virus.

Apple confirmed the news & released a new update for the mac users. The told that, all mac users specially USA users should update their system to get rid of mac virus. Vulnerable laptops should update everything as soon as possible.

An analyst of Kaspersky Lab, Timur Tsoriev said aloud that, "People used to say that Apple computers, unlike Windows PCs, can't ever be infected- but now its a myth."

"Mac user be careful from the mac virus. If it affect you, take necessary as soon as possible"

Top 5 Rumours about samsung galaxy sIII

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 12:05 AM PDT

Are you ready for some more rumors about the next line of Samsung Galaxy S Android phones? Well we don't any new ones for you yet, we are going to go over what is most likely going to be in the Samsung Galaxy S3. We've been seeing rumors of the Galaxy s III since late last year, and they have been getting stronger and multiplying ever since. Last year the Galaxy S2 was announced at Mobile World Congress which is set to take place next month from Barcelona and we are expecting to see the Samsung Galaxy S3 make an appearance this year.
Samsung Galaxy S3, HD or 3D?

The big question, will the Galaxy S3 be 3D or HD? We just saw Samsung and AT&T launch the Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket HD at CES earlier this month which has a 4.65-inch and 720p resolution display. It's much more likely we will see an HD phone whether then a 3D device. We haven't heard to much about 3D since the hype about HTC's EVO 3D went away, So here's to hoping for an HD device from Samsung.
Gingerbread of Ice Cream Sandwich?

I would really hope it comes with Ice Cream Sandwich and not Gingerbread. At CES we were expecting to see some phones with Ice Cream Sandwich launching, but the only ones we saw would not be out anytime soon. With Ice Cream Sandwich being announced last October, I'd expect for Samsung to give their Galaxy S3 a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich to go with their Touchwiz User Interface. But Gingerbread isn't to bad, it's still way ahead of the technology on other smartphone platforms like Blackberry, iPhone and Windows Mobile.
Dual or Quad Core?

This is the big one, is Samsung going to put in a Dual-core Exynos processor or a Quad-core Exynos processor? Many of us are hoping for a quad-core, we always want more power right? I think the more important issue is which one works better with the battery? As long as the phone runs fast like the Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch on Sprint does, I am happy with dual-core as long as the battery is adequate to last the entire day.
1 or 2GB of Memory

Most phones are coming standard with 1GB of RAM these days, except for HTC they are still putting only 768MB of RAM in their phones with their heavy skin, Sense. But will we see a boost in the amount of RAM the Korean manufacturer of the Galaxy S lineup puts in their third generation of Galaxy S Android phones? If we see quad-core processor I believe we will see a boost to 1.5GB or maybe 2GB of RAM.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Pricing and Release Date

For the most part I am expecting the same pricing that we saw on the Galaxy S2 lineup. As far as release dates, if the latest rumors about the Galaxy S3 being a no show at MWC this year are any indication it looks like Samsung wants to make a smoother launch and launch the International and US versions together. Last year the International version was released many months before it was released on Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile.
Opinions? What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy S3 so far? I am really hoping the renders we've seen lately are fake, with the screen going all the way to the edge with no bezel? It just looks odd, but I guess we could all get used to it right? We always want more screen real estate. Let us know in the comments what you think.

Mad Men Recap: Ghosts of Don's Relationships Past Come Back to Haunt Him

Posted: 08 Apr 2012 10:47 PM PDT

Last week's Mad Men was all about Betty's (January Jones) um, changing appearance, but this week Don (Jon Hamm) is the one ailing.Mad Men treads into very dark territory when his past flings threatened to derail his new marriage. But who's marriage crumbled this week? Find out now: WHAT WE LEARNEDMarriage on the Rocks: We all know very well that Don Draper has had his share of female companions in Manhattan, but there nothing as awkward as an elevator ride with your wife and a flirting ex-fling. And things only get worse for Don as he battles a terrible cold. Deliriously bedding a beauty and then killing her, Don's fever was fortunately responsible for his crazy imagination. This would be a whole different show with Don behind bars. But do his crazy dreams reveal some fractures in his new marriage?Perfect Peggy: This season Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) seems like she is floundering a bit. But this episode she had the chance to shine, while swindling Roger (John Slattery) out of 400 bucks. That's our girl! Another victim of nurse-murder nervousness has her bringing home Don's new secretary. We love it when Peggy has a chance to really speak her mind. While she has a writer boyfriend and a lesbian best friend, it seems like she has no one to confide in. Of course she takes the opportunity to tell her captive audience that she might not have it in her to act like a man after all.Hello Goodbye: Everyone's favorite failed surgeon and rapist is back. We expected Joan (Christina Hendricks) to throw Greg (Sam Page) a parade when he gave her the good news that he's going back to Saigon but she's broken up about it. That is until she remembers she is awesome and doesn't need that jerk. Nice knowing you Greg! Murder History: Did we mention this episode was dark? Don murdering girls in his sleep creepily echoes this week's history tie-in: the nurse murders. Sally (Kiernan Shipka) is bored at home with step-grandma Pauline (Pamela Dunlap) and the two oddly bond over the gruesome story. Mass murders really do bridge the gap.

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