My HP printer is region-locked. When I moved from Europe to the US it refused to accept ink cartridges bought in the US.
My plane ticket to Europe was region-locked. I bought it in the US, flew to Europe, and then couldn't come home. Wouldn't work.
The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
101–110 of 233 posts
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#102If 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.
Do they work behind the scenes with the carriers? Absolutely, but the consumer doesn't see it. They see that their iPhone works. Consistently and without any branding or experience difference accross cariers. AT&T doesn't get to customize or pre-install anything and Verizon can't lock out features. (Teathering is perhaps a small exception in this, but the point is largely true). The point is that as you model a product/service experience, don't confuse what happens behind the line of visibility -- it doesn't matter to the consumer -- and Apple has done a great job of shifting that line of visibility to abstract away the carrier experience as much as it can.
As others have mentioned, don't for a second think the consumer isn't paying the full cost of the phone. They are and more -- but that subsidy doesn't differentiate any carrier from another. They all do it. So, once again, the consumer fails to see any differentiation based on carrier. As I discuss at length above, consumers are primarily buying the Apple experience and platform -- and the carrier is secondary.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#103This (german) source says that the free of charge unlock by a Samsung service partner will make the device accept any SIM-Card. So it is not locked to the new region:
http://allaboutsamsung.de/2013/09/samsung-gibt-statement-gal...
But why Samsung? Why?
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Curiously, a SIM can enforce bookmarks and contacts on a new iPhone- but they're certainly deletable.
A sim can have contacts, but bookmarks? Are you sure?
I just put in Italian Vodafone SIM into unlocked iPhone 4S with iOS 7 and got Vodafone bookmark in Safari, which is indeed deletable. Haven't noticed new contacts so far.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
I pay $30/month in the US for a t-mobile month-to-month sim with 5gb data (soft cap), unlimited texts and 100 minutes on my nexus 4
Do you have a contract? That maybe why price you pay is cheaper. Seems like parent was only in US for a short period of time, so he probably didn't wanted to sign a, say 12 months, contract.
I'm on the same plan. No contract.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
I pay $30/month in the US for a t-mobile month-to-month sim with 5gb data (soft cap), unlimited texts and 100 minutes on my nexus 4
Do you have a contract? That maybe why price you pay is cheaper. Seems like parent was only in US for a short period of time, so he probably didn't wanted to sign a, say 12 months, contract.
[deleted]
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#107Samsung Germany issued a statement on the issue. Apparently, more flagships will be regionally locked, but users will get to unlock the phones at Samsung’s service centers.
http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-note-3-region-lock-s...
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#108Different regions have different frequencies, so this might just be a warning that the Note 3 isn't penta-band.
It isn't. The Note 3 has a list of blacklisted cellular operators outside your region, if you try to use a sim card created by one of them you get an error on the screen and it refuses to connect.
The leaflet is just a leaflet, the issue here is that Samsung have added software intentionally designed to block cross-region usage.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
I pay $30/month in the US for a t-mobile month-to-month sim with 5gb data (soft cap), unlimited texts and 100 minutes on my nexus 4
Do you have a contract? That maybe why price you pay is cheaper. Seems like parent was only in US for a short period of time, so he probably didn't wanted to sign a, say 12 months, contract.
It's a prepaid plan with T-Mobile. No contract. Every Nexus 4 owner loves to talk about it. Go look at the Nexus 4 subreddit, it's a circle jerk of people who are "beating the system" by using a low-end phone on a sub-par carrier and getting "unlimited data".
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
#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?
Yes I do, it just comes from Apple themselves. There are several icons you can't get rid of on the iphone for apple products and services.