Taiwan Finally Gets their iPhone 3G, Unlocked.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

After the wait that seemed like an eternity, on December 13th, Taiwanese finally gets their hands on iPhone 3Gs. To their surprise, the NT$26,000 (US$800) 8GB or NT $29,900($900) 16GB iPhone 3Gs come unlocked. This occurs despite the main carrier, Chunghwa Telecom’s claim that iPhone 3Gs will only work on its network. The only missing feature is Chunghwa’s network-specific web services which can’t be accessed with another carrier’s SIM card.

This is great news for iPhone loving Taiwanese businessmen and women. This week Taiwan celebrates the historic China-Taiwan Direct Flights. Previously Taiwanese who wish to fly to mainland China need to go to a third country before transferring a flight to China. Now, Taiwanese can land in China, change their SIM card, and hopefully get updated on the continuing drama of their ex-President’s corruption and money laundering scandal with their iPhone anywhere. Opps, guess not, as the Chinese censor all news from Taiwanese websites.

Unlocked iPhones could still possibly be relocked with a firmware if it is an error on the part of Apple. Hopefully unlocked iPhone 3G will stay unlocked. Otherwise, they can still go to Hong Kong and grab a fully unlocked iPhone 3G that can work with any carrier!