Guess I won't be buying a Note 3. Sorry Samsung I use my money to vote and I vote not to accept your terms.
The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
41–50 of 233 posts
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#42Disappointing, but not a surprise: 1. Galaxy S 3 includes undeletable Pizza Hut bookmark http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1707047 2. Galaxy custom web browser allows random web sites to make links that wipe and reset the phone: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/117422-samsung-galaxy-s-3-re...
Is the Pizza Hut bookmark from Vodafone or Samsung? I have a Galaxy S 3 from T-Mobile and I don't have any bookmarks like that. It does have useless undeletable T-Mobile apps, but that's clearly T-Mobile's fault.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#43Disappointing, but not a surprise: 1. Galaxy S 3 includes undeletable Pizza Hut bookmark http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1707047 2. Galaxy custom web browser allows random web sites to make links that wipe and reset the phone: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/117422-samsung-galaxy-s-3-re...
#1 is not a GS3 problem, it is a carrier problem specific to Vodafone, which had a marketing deal with Pizza Hut at the time of the GS3's release. Other carriers did not forcibly include undeletable Pizza Hut bookmarks.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#44Pure speculation here, but my guess is that this has to do with different models being certified by different bodies. IE, perhaps the model sold in Europe is subtly different and hasn't passed FCC or some other certification for use in the states, ergo, they lock them to where they HAVE been certified. Doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't buy it, but I don't think it is something that is done for some evil reason…
If it was a certification issue it would affect every mobile device by every device manufacturer. My guess is that this may be an attempt by Samsung to crack down on grey market imports of their devices. The author suggests it might be a requirement buy carriers, but again that would affect more than just one manufacturer. At the moment we're all just speculating.
No, it wouldn't have to hold for every device, only those that have different SKUs for different regions. Maybe the EU Note3s have some tweaks for the LTE bands in use there or vice versa.
Either way it might also be a purely legal thing, by having the sticker they indemnify themselves from the FCC saying you can't sell this for use in the US because it isn't certified.
People always jump to crazy conclusions when there are much simpler explanations that don't involve companies shooting themselves in the foot. Samsung as a brand is killing it in the world in general, they have no incentive to do something like this.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#45Buy something else. Stat. It doesn't matter even if this is just a sticker put up by some product marketing idiot, it shows that they feel good about imposing these region-specific restrictions in a phone that operates according to a global standard.
The nexus devices are generally good about this sort of thing. Most of Samsung's other carrier-partnered phones are loaded with absolute crap anyway, this is another good reason not to buy them.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#46Disappointing, but not a surprise: 1. Galaxy S 3 includes undeletable Pizza Hut bookmark http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1707047 2. Galaxy custom web browser allows random web sites to make links that wipe and reset the phone: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/117422-samsung-galaxy-s-3-re...
#1 is not a GS3 problem, it is a carrier problem specific to Vodafone, which had a marketing deal with Pizza Hut at the time of the GS3's release. Other carriers did not forcibly include undeletable Pizza Hut bookmarks.
Would Apple let Vodafone do the same?
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#47Disappointing, but not a surprise: 1. Galaxy S 3 includes undeletable Pizza Hut bookmark http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1707047 2. Galaxy custom web browser allows random web sites to make links that wipe and reset the phone: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/117422-samsung-galaxy-s-3-re...
#1 is not a GS3 problem, it is a carrier problem specific to Vodafone, which had a marketing deal with Pizza Hut at the time of the GS3's release. Other carriers did not forcibly include undeletable Pizza Hut bookmarks.
No. It's a Samsung problem. You don't see crapware on iPhones do you?
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#48If this is driven by carrier request, as the article speculates, then it is yet another example of how the mobile market is broken... Are phone manufacturers selling to consumers/end-users or are they selling to networks/providers? You can't do both, equally -- at least not at the moment -- because the carrier's interests and profit models generally directly conflict with the interests of consumers. Until the wireles…
Apple still works with the carriers quite a bit. For example, you can't turn on tethering unless the carrier allows it (often requiring you to pay more money), and most iPhones sold in the US are locked to a single carriers. But who can blame them? Of the $650 cost of a new iPhone, the user only pays $200, while the carrier pays $450. Apple knows where their bread is buttered.
In my experience, Apple will enable/disable the following features by carrier:
- Tethering
- FaceTime over 3G
- 3G, LTE, toggles to turn 3G or LTE on or off
- APN settings
And unlike on Android, where these features just get disabled on the phones locked to/distibuted by that carrier, even unlocked iPhones bought on another continent will lock these features when they see the carrier's SIM card.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it was a certification issue it would affect every mobile device by every device manufacturer. My guess is that this may be an attempt by Samsung to crack down on grey market imports of their devices. The author suggests it might be a requirement buy carriers, but again that would affect more than just one manufacturer. At the moment we're all just speculating.
My guess is that this may be an attempt by Samsung to crack down on grey market imports of their devices. Why would they want to do this? I could understand it in the case of a low-priced device intended for poor regions of the world, but this is a high-end phone that is presumably a similar (high) price everywhere it's sold.
Not really. I can either buy phone from local distribution or pay 10-20% less and get an imported one (wouldn't be surprised if it were from richer region, such as NA). That is the shop is still making money after they moved it half a globe and paid import taxes on it.
Because of that local distributors make much less money - they have to price lower and they don't sell as much. And probably forced this onto Samsung, which couldn't care less I guess since they still sold the phone in the end.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#50If this is driven by carrier request, as the article speculates, then it is yet another example of how the mobile market is broken... Are phone manufacturers selling to consumers/end-users or are they selling to networks/providers? You can't do both, equally -- at least not at the moment -- because the carrier's interests and profit models generally directly conflict with the interests of consumers. Until the wireles…
> The exception are models like Apple's where they've figured out how to consistently drive profits by focusing on the consumer and using the phone as a platform for selling other things (i.e.: apps and content like movies and music) -- the carriers are almost incidental in Apple's model. Almost.
This is absolutely untrue. Apple's business model is to sell $650 phones to carriers, who then turn around and sell them to consumers for the same price as $350 dollar phones. This is why they have fantastic margins. If the carrier model ever goes away it would be bad news for Apple, who would have to compete on price to a greater extent than they do today.