How often can I request an Unlock code from my wireless carrier?

Most GSM carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile) allow you to request one unlock code per line every 90 days (3 months). So if you have 2 phone line with T-Mobile, you can request total of 8 unlock code per year.

Of course, there are some exceptions: AT&T has exclusive contract with Apple iPhone until 2010. So they won't give you unlock code on iPhone.

Also, I've tried to get unlock code for G1 from T-Mobile, which they haven't granted after 3 weeks waiting.

How to buy a G1 phone without 2 year contract

I bought my G1 Android without service contract from here.

How to buy an iPhone without 2 year contract?

I bought my iPhone 3G without service contract from here.

iPhone 2.2, should I upgrade?

Now iPhone released the latest software upgrade, 2.2. Should we upgrade? If you are using iPhone with AT&T plan, sure, go ahead and upgrade. If you are using a TurboSIM card to unlock your iPhone and use it with T-Mobile or other carriers, DO NOT UPGRADE!!

The 2.2 software does NOT work with your TurboSIM, and after you upgrade it, you WON'T BE ABLE TO DOWNGRADE to 2.1 anymore. Your iPhone 3G with 2.2 software can only work with AT&T at this moment!

T-Mobile G1 Android vs. AT&T iPhone 3G side by side

I bought my G1 Android without service contract from here.

I bought my iPhone 3G without service contract from here.

Hardware:

o First, the Size

§ The G1 is a bit longer and narrower. It is about twice as thick as iPhone since comes with a full size keyboard

o The Touch Screen. Both offer the same resolution, 320x480.

§ G1’s screen is little smaller, 3.2” diagonal comparing with iPhone, which is 3.5” diagonal.

o The Camera

§ G1 comes with a 3MP camera

§ iPhone is equipped with a 2MP camera

§ Neither of them supports video capture

o Connectivity

§ Both phones support Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G wireless network (although they operates on different 3G frequency and are not compatible with other 3G network)

o Sensor:

§ G1 has built-in compass. In google street view, you can move the phone to see all 360 degrees around you.

§ iPhone has built-in tilt sensor. Automatically switch to landscape mode. G1 switches to landscape mode only if you slide out the keyboard.

o Buttons

§ iPhone has very few hardware buttons. Just one home button and volume control buttons.

§ In addition to the full size keyboard, G1 has 6 other buttons including a camera shutter release button. There is a blackberry pearl like trackball at the bottom for easier single handed operation.

o Headphone jack

§ iPhone has a normal 3.5mm head phone jack

§ G1 does not have a headphone jack. It has a mini-usb port, and includes a special usb port headset.

o Storage

§ G1 has one microSD slot that supports the latest SD 2.0 standard. Currently you can buy a SDHC microSD card upto 32GB.

§ iPhone has no external storage slot. It only comes with built-in 8 or 16GB flash memory.

o Battery

§ G1’s battery is easily replaceable. You just need to open the back cover, and the battery is right there.

§ iPhone’s battery is not accessable. Your warranty will be void if you try to open the phone.

Software:

o Visual Voicemail:

· iPhone and AT&T provides visual voicemail service. You can see a list of voicemail with caller ID and phone number.

· G1 do not have visual voicemail support

o Both phones support full internet browser, and other popular apps like Google Map, and YouTube.

o Mail

§ Both support POP3 mail account

§ G1 does not support exchange server yet.

o Editing

§ G1 supports Copy/Paste, where iPhone does not.

o 3^rd party software

§ Android is an open source platform. Although G1 Market only has about 35 applications right now, I’m sure you will see much more free applications coming very soon.

§ iPhone offers App store. Since it’s iPhone has been out there for quite a while, it has tons of applications already. But there are restrictions for iPhone developers. For example no GPS applications are allowed. Also, 3^rd party applications are not allowed to run in the background mode.

o Music:

· G1 has integrated access to Amazon mp3 store, and you can download DRM free music.

· iPhone can download music from iTunes. Most of them are DRM protected.

o Menu:

· G1 has a home screen, where you can put shortcuts and icons there. But by default, it just show you a wall paper with most of the space unused. You have to click a button to bring up the full menu.

· iPhone does not have a home screen. You see the menu page directly.

o Multi-touch is only available on iPhone. If you are using G1, you would have to click on the zoom in button to enlarge the view.

o G1 has a full size QWERTY keyboard, iPhone doesn’t. Although iPhone tries to be smart and auto-correct your typo, but it’s really painful when you need to type something that’s not in its dictionary, for example, your password. Also it’s annoying to switch between number and alphabet keyboard.

o International Language support:

· iPhone supports both view and input in many different languages. For example, it even has hand writing support for inputting Chinese.

· G1 can display in other languages, but no international keyboard or input is supported.